Chapter 64: The Death of the Third Kazekage

Sasori's Hiruko pierced the body of the Third Kazekage.

The Third Kazekage spat out a mouthful of blood, his shocked eyes fixed on Sasori. "Wh-why?"

"Why, you ask? If you really want to know, I'll grant your dying wish and tell you plainly."

Sasori unfurled a scroll and summoned two puppets—Mother and Father.

"Now do you finally understand why I've done this?"

Staring at the two puppets Sasori had summoned, the Third Kazekage wore an expression of complete confusion.

He knew these were the Mother and Father—puppets modeled after Sasori's parents.

But what did that have to do with Sasori killing him?

Seeing the Kazekage's bewildered look, Sasori grew visibly furious. Though his voice remained calm, the anger behind it was unmistakable. "Still don't get it?

During the Second Great Ninja War, if it weren't for your carelessness, how could Konoha have invaded the Land of Wind? And if not for your negligence, my parents wouldn't have fallen to the legendary White Fang.

And now, I'm making you pay for that mistake with your life—the ultimate price!"

The Kazekage's already incredulous gaze turned even more disbelieving.

Is this guy out of his mind?

Why blame me instead of those Konoha ninjas?

Back then, he had been commanding forces outside the Land of Wind—who could've predicted Konoha would directly invade their homeland?

Was he supposed to stop mid-battle and negotiate with Konoha ninjas like, 'Hey, don't kill Sasori's parents'?

Casualties are normal in war. He'd fought ready to die himself. No one wants to see comrades fall—least of all, had he sent Sasori's parents to their deaths on purpose.

Furious, the Third Kazekage roared at Sasori, *[Your parents gave their lives honorably for the village!] And you, their own flesh and blood, are defiling their legacy! Sasori, you shall never be forgiven! Today... ugh!*

Mid-sentence, the Kazekage couldn't hold back anymore and spat out a large mouthful of blood.

The blood was unmistakably black.

Black lines spread across his entire body now.

These were his poisoned veins turning dark.

Sasori scoffed coldly, "Honor? A fleeting thing that fades with time—it's utterly useless. Like I just said, the tail carried a potent poison. By focusing your chakra, all you're doing is accelerating its effects."

Sasori stepped out from within Hiruko and stood before it, gently stroking the puppet's head with a chilling smile on his face. "You still remember my Hiruko well, don't you? Human flesh will always decay and rot until it becomes nothing but bones. Eventually, even those bones turn into dust.

[But this...]

"It is the ultimate art that never decays, never rots, and never vanishes—the Eternal Art!"

The Third Kazekage's body trembled slightly.

Sasori first declared that human flesh would inevitably decay one day, then proclaimed Hiruko as eternal and indestructible. When combined with Hiruko's incredibly lifelike appearance,

the Third Kazekage was shocked beyond belief. "This... This is a puppet you made from a human being?!"

Sasori's eerie laughter grew increasingly sinister. "Exactly! This is the Eternal Art I have created—the Human Puppet! Kaito, your body is mine now. I'll put it to excellent use by turning you into a Human Puppet."

A chill ran through the Third Kazekage's limbs—not only from the poison but also from Sasori's madness.

He had never imagined that Chiyo's grandson—someone highly respected within Sunagakure—could be so completely unhinged.

As the Third Kazekage prepared to fight back desperately, Sasori acted first, commanding Hiruko to bind him with its tail.

With each tightening squeeze from Hiruko's tail, the Third Kazekage experienced excruciating pain.

Moreover, the poison Sasori used was specially formulated by him—fast-acting and extremely potent.

Even the Kazekage's ability to remain conscious until now impressed Sasori with his resilience.

However, no matter how strong he was, it wouldn't help him now.

During the tightening process, the sharp tip of Hiruko's tail pierced the Third Kazekage's skin, injecting even more deadly toxin into his body.

Sasori wanted the Third Kazekage to die in agony.

Now completely drained of strength, the Third Kazekage saw his life flashing before his eyes.

After becoming a ninja, he had fought constantly for the sake of Sunagakure.

Once he assumed the role of Kazekage, he worked diligently without ever slackening, hoping Sunagakure could grow stronger under his leadership.

Ironically, he didn't fall in battle against an enemy, but at the hands of someone he trusted within his own ranks.

Once again, he recalled the warning words Shindai had given him.

If only he had listened to Shindai back then—would things have ended differently today?

But there were no "what-ifs." This was reality, and reality told him that he was about to die.

When the flash of memories finally stopped, the Third Kazekage closed his eyes, his entire body went limp, and his life faded away completely.

Without expression, Sasori stared at the lifeless body of the Third Kazekage before stuffing it into Hiruko's body.

As he placed the body inside, a sheet of paper dropped onto the ground.

Sasori walked over and picked it up.

Staring at the writing on the page, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Shindai... Is that kid the one?"

Previously, throughout all of Sunagakure, Sasori alone had been capable of crafting unique puppets.

After the Third Kazekage discovered Shindai's talent for puppet-making, Shindai deliberately produced only two mediocre puppets to avoid drawing attention.

The Third Kazekage had once praised Shindai's puppetry in Chiyo's presence. That was why Chiyo later showed the same puppet to Sasori.

Upon inspection, Sasori admitted—grudgingly—that it held a modicum of ingenuity.

Most puppets were left hollow to accommodate internal mechanisms and gears, which limited their precision during manipulation.

But Shindai's puppet was different. Instead of being hollow, it contained a skeletal framework within its body.

The incorporation of a skeletal framework enabled remarkably fine-tuned control over every motion.

That, however, was all it had going for it. Nothing else about the puppet impressed Sasori—it paled in comparison to his own masterpieces.

His Human Puppets already achieved unparalleled precision—they retained their natural skeletal structures.

When it came to puppet-making, if he said he was second best, then no one would dare call themselves first!

"Tch. So you went undercover in Konoha, huh?"

Sasori rummaged through the corpse of the Third Kazekage and retrieved Shindai's letter without hesitation.

Then he took out a blank scroll and imitated the handwriting from Shindai's letter to forge a message.

After finishing, Sasori casually tossed the scroll onto the bloodstained sand.

With one last look at Sunagakure, he turned and activated Hiruko, vanishing into the vast desert beyond.

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