Hiruzen murmured, his fingertip pressing heavily on the paragraph describing Kakuzu's attire in the intelligence report.
"The same description, Kakuzu and these two unidentified individuals."
A clear connection quickly formed in his mind.
This was no mere coincidence!
Orochimaru had established a mysterious organization with powerful members and unknown objectives. This organization recruited dangerous rogue ninjas like Kakuzu and the masked man.
This mysterious organization's potential danger far exceeded the threat of a single rogue ninja.
"Effective immediately, the investigation into the mysterious organization is designated an S-rank priority mission. Mobilize all available resources for a full-scale pursuit."
"At the same time, the intelligence provided by the Mizukage shall be transmitted as a top-secret attachment to the allied ninja villages that have agreed to a joint pursuit."
Hiruzen distributed this information to the village's ninjas and assigned them their respective missions. Satoshi was naturally among them.
"Satoshi, besides seeking help from Sunagakure, there's one more thing I need you to do."
As he spoke, Hiruzen took out a box and handed it to Satoshi.
"The Kazekage has written me many letters, all about his financial difficulties, hoping I could lend him some money. You can give this to him as well."
Satoshi scratched his head. "Given Sunagakure's financial situation, if this money is lent out, will they ever return it?"
Hiruzen coughed a few times.
Satoshi was still too young.
"Whether or not they repay the money is not for you to consider. Just go quickly."
[Sunagakure borrowing money and not repaying it? Where did they get the nerve?]
[New Mission: Discipline Sunagakure and let them know who calls the shots in the Ninja World.]
Walking out of the Hokage Building, Satoshi's face broke into a smile.
See, you all saw it, the system wouldn't let him give it.
After returning home, Satoshi lifted the floorboards and hid the money inside.
He greeted Fugaku, then set off.
He knew that the Land of Wind's economic conditions were very poor. As its heart, Sunagakure was naturally dirt poor.
The Fourth Kazekage, besides handling various village tasks, also served as a gold miner. Working during the day, and still having to pan for gold at night, striving to fill the bottomless financial pit.
Satoshi had reason to believe that when Rasa successfully ascended to power, half of it was due to his Kekkei Genkai.
At this moment, he embarked alone on this land scorched by the blazing sun.
The harsh weather conditions of the Land of Wind were even worse than he imagined. Dry, scorching sandstorms scraped against his skin like sandpaper.
As far as the eye could see, there was little color besides rolling sand dunes.
Food and water were strategic resources more precious than gold here.
Along the way, Satoshi had already seen many people from the Land of Wind fighting fiercely over water sources. Some even tried to extort him for a 'toll fee.' So Satoshi challenged their leader and even found half a piece of placer gold on him.
He idly kicked at the sand, trying to find some fun to pass the arduous journey.
Finally, at the edge of his vision, the gate of Sunagakure, constructed from massive rocks, appeared.
"It wasn't easy..."
Kazekage Building.
"Kazekage-sama, the Konoha envoy has arrived." Baki reported respectfully.
"Hmm." Rasa nodded faintly.
"You go and receive him. I still have matters to attend to here."
"Understood."
Today was the day he had meticulously planned to once again send someone to assassinate his own son, Gaara. He needed to personally verify the results, to confirm with his own eyes whether that dangerous existence was controllable.
He put down the scroll, rose, and walked to the window.
Rasa believed he bore an unimaginable burden.
Looking at other ninja villages, more or less all of them had mastered some methods of controlling their Jinchuriki, ensuring they wouldn't easily rampage and harm others in their normal state.
Only Sunagakure had consistently been unable to tame the One Tail. And his son, Gaara, was this dangerous vessel.
Gaara's birth led to the death of his wife, Karura, which twisted Rasa's feelings towards Gaara immensely. Thus, he repeatedly made various abstract decisions.
Sending various people to assassinate his own son.
He stood behind the window, his gaze coldly fixed on the lonely red figure at the edge of the training ground, without a trace of a father's warmth in his eyes.
Gaara had heavy dark circles under his eyes, and the character for 'love' was carved into his forehead.
Prolonged fear made him almost afraid to sleep.
He had once lost control during a brief sleep, causing Shukaku to rampage and bringing immense disaster and casualties to the village.
At this moment, he couldn't help but yawn, wanting to find another place to zone out.
Just as he turned, a whistling sound of wind, imbued with killing intent, shrilled from behind him.
A Sunagakure Anbu, dispatched for the task, appeared like a phantom. The kunai in his hand glinted coldly, accurately and viciously stabbing towards Gaara's defenseless back.
However, just as the kunai was about to touch his clothes, the yellow sand beneath Gaara's feet seemed to come alive, instantly coiling around the attacker like a giant python, firmly imprisoning him in mid-air.
Gaara then slowly raised his head, his empty eyes devoid of emotion.
"Sand Coffin."
The moment the words fell, the sand sphere encasing the Anbu suddenly compressed inward with frantic force.
Accompanied by a grating sound of bones shattering and a short, shrill scream, the sand sphere violently contracted. Then, with a 'poof,' it dispersed onto the ground, leaving only a pool of glaring crimson residue.
Gaara expressionlessly released his palm, as if he had merely crushed an insignificant insect.
"Boring."
Rasa, behind the window, witnessed all of this. He turned around expressionlessly and returned to his desk.
—
At the same time, Satoshi, still some distance from the Sunagakure gate, suddenly paused.
He clearly felt a violent burst of Chakra erupt from a corner of the village.
Combining this with his knowledge of Sunagakure's intel, he instantly understood what had just happened.
"Tsk."
Satoshi shook his head. "Another abstract father."
They say Uchiha are madmen, but now it seems there are hardly any normal people in the Ninja World. It's like the pot calling the kettle black.
At the gate, Baki was already waiting.
The two sides exchanged insincere pleasantries for a while, then Baki led Satoshi to the Kazekage Building.
Satoshi handed over the personal letter from the Third Hokage, Hiruzen.
On the way, he had rewritten it, imitating Hiruzen's handwriting, and removed the part about the money.
Satoshi said, "Kazekage-sama, we might need a small favor from your village."
Rasa took the letter, his gaze quickly scanning it.
A moment later, he put down the letter and responded in a calm tone, "Since Konoha is an ally, Sunagakure will naturally do its best."
"Then thank you, Kazekage-sama."
After speaking, Satoshi took small sips of the hard-to-come-by plain water.
Rasa smiled at Satoshi, with a hint of expectation in his eyes. "Satoshi, did Hokage-sama not mention anything else?"
"No."
Rasa's expression immediately soured.
You, Hokage, promised so well to lend money, and now you're pretending not to know, huh?
Besides, a mere fifty million is nothing to your Konoha. We are allies, what's wrong with helping us out? I don't see any sincerity in your Konoha's cooperation.
So he changed the subject, "But then again, searching for Orochimaru and the masked man in the Land of Wind will incur significant costs."
"This matter is difficult."
Satoshi scratched his head.
What did he mean? The cost of helping with this was not small?
No more pretending, directly asking for benefits?
Grandson, what strength do you have to act so arrogant with Konoha?
Don't look at how poor this desolate place, Sunagakure, is, but the ninjas, from top to bottom, are all unbelievably tough.
Is this the legendary 'poor but fierce'?
It's also because the previous two Hokage have died. Otherwise, if you acted tough today, tomorrow your village would be torn down.
Seeing Satoshi remain silent, Rasa became even more restless.
Did the Hokage not properly teach this brat?
According to the script, it should go like this:
Satoshi: "Help me out."
Rasa: "Okay, but it's a bit difficult."
Satoshi: "Don't worry, I won't let you help for free, there's money involved."
Rasa: "Do it, do it now. All hands on deck!"
But why the hell wasn't this white-haired guy saying a word? Was he really stupid or just pretending?
Satoshi, of course, knew.
If it were an ordinary ninja, they would certainly follow Hiruzen's instructions. After all, the mission comes first.
But Satoshi was a madman from the Uchiha clan, how could he do such a thing?
"Alright, if it's so difficult, then don't do it."
Satoshi tidied his belongings and said, "I'm going back to Konoha. Goodbye."