"It's severe," Seiki muttered after briefly examining Pakura, then frowned as he started treating her.
Objectively speaking, Pakura wasn't weak at all. It was simply because the Third Kazekage was far too powerful for her to withstand for even a minute. Although slightly slower and less responsive as a puppet, she still had various hidden mechanisms and poisoned techniques that fully compensated for her shortcomings. Unfortunately, those very tactics happened to be ineffective against him.
"Jonin Seiki, Lady Pakura..."
After seeing the iron sand vanish from the sky and briefly hurrying away in confusion, the Suna ninjas quietly returned. Then they witnessed the shocking scene before them.
Puppet fragments lay everywhere. The earth had been torn apart, with molten iron sand flowing like lava across the ground. Even more horrifying was Pakura, pierced like a porcupine by countless blades on the ground.
Seeing their worried expressions, Seiki reassured them, "Don't worry. She has a lot of poison in her body, but it hasn't set in deep yet—it should be relatively easy to cleanse."
Hearing this, everyone visibly relaxed, murmuring, "That's a relief... That's a relief."
Noticing their awkwardness, Seiki smiled, "If I were you, I'd be gathering up these battle spoils right now. Even with just scraps left, given how skilled Sasori was, even broken remains should carry serious worth."
Chuura and others' eyes lit up. If word spread about Sasori having commanded an army of one hundred puppets, even if only some broken pieces remained, they'd surely fetch high prices from obsessive puppet masters.
Still, they felt somewhat embarrassed. "We didn't do anything. These spoils rightly belong to you, Jonin Seiki."
Seiki shrugged with a smile. "What would I, a Konoha ninja, want with these puppets?"
Chuura and the others exchanged glances, then happily began picking up the wreckage.
Half a day later, everyone appeared in front of Sunagakure's gates, carrying large and small packages.
Upon seeing their return, the guard ninja quickly came down to open the gate, then seeing Pakura slung over Seiki's shoulder, cried out in shock, "What happened to Lady Pakura?"
"Injured, but she should be fine now," Seiki answered succinctly, then asked, "Where is the Kazekage? We have something to report to him."
"The Kazekage might be at the Kage building right now."
At the Kazekage building.
Rasa frowned coldly. "You're saying even Rain Country dares to invade Sunagakure?"
Ebizō sighed. "Probably because we merely defend against Iwagakure's invasions without counterattacking!"
The other jonin looked displeased. Letting Iwa slide was bad enough—just who did Amegakure think they were to dare provoke us?
Kazekage furrowed his brow. He wasn't afraid of Rain Country—but what if this was Iwa's trap in disguise?
Maybe they should just stay on their knees then?
Just as he hesitated indecisively, outside voices reported, "Lord Kazekage, Lady Pakura and Special Envoy Seiki have returned."
Rasa, grasping for an excuse to stall, immediately laughed, "Haha, let's go check them out..."
Yet someone moved faster than him.
Seeing that Chiyo had already vanished from her seat, Rasa couldn't help but sigh. "I hope things don't come to blows!"
Just then, a sudden shout rang out from outside.
"Chio Elder, are you trying to silence us permanently?"
Realizing the situation was taking an odd turn, Rasa and others hurriedly stepped outside.
"Silence permanently?" Chiyo was still puzzled when Saseki and others stepped forward angrily, accusing.
"Elder Chiyo, could it really be your order behind that incident?"
"How despicable! So this is who you truly are, Elder Chiyo!"
They were already furious about Sasori killing off The Third Kazekage, but after being rescued by Seiki, they felt indebted. So now, they've fully thrown their support behind Seiki—and are absolutely livid.
Of course, they wouldn't reveal the truth publicly.
Even so, Rasa and others emerged completely confused.
...
Half an hour later, inside the meeting room.
A group of Jonin looked as though they had seen a ghost.
"The Third Kazekage was assassinated by Sasori?"
"That bastard even turned the previous Kazekage into a puppet?"
"Impossible! He was only fifteen years old two years ago!"
"You've got to be kidding! Can he really control over a hundred puppets at once?"
Rasa rubbed his temples, wondering if he had just worked too late yesterday and wasn't fully awake yet.
Chiyo, meanwhile, stood aside, dazed and disoriented. [Human Puppet]? You've finally gone this far!
"Everyone, quiet down!" Rasa raised his right hand and turned toward Chuura. "Is it confirmed that Sasori assassinated The Third Kazekage?"
Chuura nodded heavily. "Sasori himself admitted it. He said it was just a test of his own abilities."
Rasa said angrily, "He killed The Third Kazekage just for some stupid test? That's totally unforgivable!"
An upper ninja couldn't help but ask, "Is it true that Sasori can control over a hundred puppets simultaneously?"
Saseki replied solemnly, "Worse yet—he handles them all effortlessly, not even slowing down!"
Everyone inhaled sharply. How is it that none of us in Sunagakure could even stand a chance against Sasori?
Rasa asked suspiciously, "If his power is indeed that strong, how did you manage to escape?"
Chuura honestly replied, "A jonin named Seiki defeated Sasori, so we managed to escape."
Saseki added, "Jonin Seiki alone shattered Sasori's puppet army and smashed the puppet version of The Third Kazekage onto the ground like nothing!"
As those words fell, the meeting room instantly erupted.
"Impossible! That's absolutely impossible!"
"I figured it out—those must have been modified puppets of Sasori's, stripped of most of The Third Kazekage's original strength!"
From a rational standpoint, none of them were willing to accept that a young Konoha ninja had surpassed their strongest ever leader.
Chuura sighed deeply. "It's true. The puppet Third Kazekage not only retained the Magnet Release ability but also came equipped with many traps and poisoned mechanisms. His strength may even surpass the original Kazekage!"
Saseki continued, "Even fighting the puppet Third Kazekage *after* it had been severely weakened by Jonin Seiki, Yugito still couldn't last even a minute."
"This..."
Everyone fell silent.
They all knew Pakura's strength well. While her reputation as a hero of Sunagakure might have been slightly exaggerated, she was definitely one of the stronger Jonin. Yet even she had been defeated by the Puppet of the Third Kazekage in less than a minute.
That could only mean one thing—the Jonin named Seiki truly possessed terrifying power!
After a while, someone awkwardly remarked, "Haha! The Third Kazekage really is strong!"
The others looked at him helplessly—what did it matter how strong he was? He'd still just been brutally beaten by a Konoha ninja.
Both were prodigies, yet while Seiki helped turn the tide of war for his village, Sasori went so far as to kill his own Kage.
Even more frustrating was that despite that, Sasori still lost to the enemy.
Seeing Sunagakure's confidence nearly crushed, Rasa hastily steered the conversation elsewhere. "Let's put Sasori aside for now. Our top priority right now should be figuring out how to get Seiki to keep his mouth shut."
If the scandal of their own prodigy assassinating the Kage ever spread, it would be a devastating blow to Sunagakure's unity and pride.
Ensuring Chuura and the others stayed silent wouldn't be difficult. As for Sasori, he himself wasn't the kind to draw attention anyway, and judging from his reaction this time, he apparently also didn't want news about the Puppet of the Third Kazekage to spread.
Therefore, the only person they needed to worry about keeping quiet was Seiki.
But here was the problem… How exactly could they silence him?
"Assassination?" One Jonin trembled involuntarily at the mere thought. Given Seiki's power, he could just as easily wipe them all out instead.
"Bribery?" Rasa shook his head almost immediately after thinking about it. Considering that man's popularity, perhaps it would be more effective to use a reverse seduction tactic on him—Sunagakure kunoichi wouldn't stand a chance.
Sighing deeply… this wasn't going to be easy!
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