Visitor
"So, you're the little brat who defeated Sasori?"
Chiyo scrutinized Lin Ke, then turned her head to say, "Hey, Third Hokage, you're not so senile that you've got the wrong person, are you?"
"Watch your words!" Before the Third Hokage could speak, Utatane Koharu beside him said sternly.
This old woman had caused Konoha Village quite a bit of trouble in the past and was a very annoying enemy. Who would have thought that she would come all the way here after retiring at such an old age?
"Sister," Ebizo reminded her.
Lin Ke drew out the scroll containing the sealed 'Sasori' puppet and said, "The puppet he used himself is in here."
"..."
Chiyo looked at him for a few seconds, then took the scroll and opened it. A Human Puppet that looked exactly like a young Sasori fell to the ground. Its hollowed-out body and the steel cables dragging on the ground made her narrow her eyes.
Lin Ke placed another scroll containing the Third Kazekage Human Puppet on the table and said, "This is the 'Third Kazekage' puppet that Sasori of the Red Sand used."
Chiyo stroked the puppet's lifeless cheek and said in a low voice, "I understand." It seemed that she hadn't come for the Third Kazekage's whereabouts at all.
On the other hand, Ebizo, after exchanging a look with the Third Hokage, used the Summoning Jutsu to open another scroll.
The Third Kazekage Human Puppet, with only one arm, a head, and half of its body remaining, appeared.
As expected.
His expression didn't change, and he sighed inwardly. That child, Sasori, had not only defected from the village but had even killed the Third Kazekage, and now he was causing such a thing.
He resealed the Human Puppet, threw the scroll over, and looked at his sister beside him.
"To actually do such a thing..."
Chiyo said in a low voice. She actually knew that Sasori of the Red Sand had joined the Akatsuki and was active in the world—
In the manga, she knew that Sasori's subordinates had instigated Orochimaru to attack the Fourth Kazekage. This old woman knew a lot, but she hadn't revealed any information to her village.
In her heart, her grandson's status was quite high. Only after Sasori attacked the Kazekage three times did she decide to defeat her grandson.
"This puppet, what does Konoha want in exchange for it?" Chiyo raised her head and asked.
Ebizo's expression became helpless. Even if she wanted it, she couldn't say it like that. They would definitely make an unacceptable request.
However, it didn't matter. Apart from some secret techniques, the village had nothing else to offer.
Utatane Koharu was about to speak, but the Third Hokage preempted her, "Since it's Lin Ke's spoils of war, you can decide how to trade."
"Hey, little brat over there," Chiyo turned her head to look over, "What do you want in exchange for it?"
She didn't mention the Third Kazekage's Human Puppet. Even if that thing was important to the village, it was meaningless to her, an old, widowed woman.
"Money, or Ninjutsu, either will do," Lin Ke said after glancing at the Third Hokage, "You should understand its value as a Puppet Master."
"I understand." Chiyo resealed the 'Sasori' puppet into the scroll, threw it back, and said, "As long as the follow-up makes you satisfied, right?"
She turned and left without hesitation. Utatane Koharu was already very unhappy with this old woman, and coupled with the fact that Hiruzen casually let a Special Jonin decide on important things, she revealed an angry expression on her face as she left.
"Regarding 'Akatsuki'," Ebizo immediately said, "Sand Ninja Village is willing to join Konoha in hunting down this organization."
"Sasori of the Red Sand, as a member of Akatsuki..." He quickly got into the state, representing Sand Ninja Village and began to discuss the follow-up matters with Konoha.
Lin Ke exchanged a glance with Yura, the Jonin from Sand Ninja Village standing behind Ebizo. He remembered that this Jonin seemed to be a subordinate that Sasori had controlled with the Mind Control Sand Manipulation Technique a long time ago.
Discussing how to hunt down someone in front of their subordinate.
It felt a bit abstract.
He wasn't asked to leave, but quietly stayed beside them and listened to the entire secret conversation. In addition to hunting down Akatsuki and Sasori of the Red Sand, there was also the issue of the Land of Rivers.
The situation in the Land of Rivers, which had become chaotic again, was very bad. Previously, it had provided a large number of missions to the nearby villages because of the war. These days, because it had completely lost hope of unification in the short term, the degree of chaos had risen to another level. Even without a war zone, there were war zones everywhere.
The basic order no longer existed in that country, and the number of missions had decreased along with it.
War was the best. In chaotic areas where even war didn't exist, there was no room for high-level missions to exist.
Sand Ninja Village's idea was to help the Land of Rivers return to peace as much as possible, which required the cooperation of Konoha Village.
A meeting of the Land of Wind, the Land of Fire, and the Land of Rain should be held later. Although Rain Hidden Village had been in internal strife until now, Salamander Hanzo's reputation was still very loud, so it was necessary to invite the Land of Rain to join.
...
The next day, Seventh Training Ground.
Refining Chakra, forming hand seals, releasing—
"Success."
Lin Ke looked at the distant ground that had turned into a swamp, a bit puzzled. He wondered why the released A-rank Ninjutsu, Earth Release: Underworld Swamp, didn't seem to have changed much.
If the swamp's appearance hadn't changed, then the 'Underworld' part...
Could it be connected to the Pure Land? But directly sending someone to the Pure Land seemed a bit too strange.
He first threw a Kunai over, and it silently disappeared into the brownish-yellow swamp without any reaction. Then, he found an adorable bunny and tossed it in.
"Squeak squeak squeak!" The bunny let out a shrill cry, splattering mud everywhere. Its body slowly sank, and at this rate, it would take at least a minute to sink completely. Moreover—
"Flap!" It actually struggled and ran out!
It shook its body back and forth, flinging mud everywhere.
Wait, what was going on? Was it even worse than the original Underworld Swamp? At least that one could trap Orochimaru; his version couldn't even hold an ordinary rabbit.
Lin Ke frowned and pondered for a long while before forming hand seals and summoning Rashomon.
"What is it this time?" Maki walked out expressionlessly.
He was already somewhat numb to being brought back to life and then dying again. The feeling of being pulled out whenever he was idle was really unpleasant.
Especially since the other party often harassed him in the Pure Land. In the beginning, it was just seduction, but it had turned into nonsense...
If it continued like this, it would probably soon escalate into even more troublesome forms of harassment. Even the dead couldn't have a peaceful sleep, constantly subjected to such harassment. Who could stand it?
He should have known better than to enter the Pure Land.
"I have a new technique I'd like you to help me test," Lin Ke said, pointing to the swamp that hadn't disappeared yet.
Since it was an 'Underworld' Swamp, having a dead person help test it should reveal its secrets, right?
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