[V2] - Chapter 83. Secret of Sunagakure
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What a scare that was!
Who would've thought—
Even after going blind, Madara-sama still had such powerful sensory abilities. In that case... who needs someone to support him?!
White Zetsu 9527 emerged from the ground, watching as Uchiha Madara gradually disappeared from sight. Only after he completely vanished did he slowly stand back up from the earth. "These few days during the Chunin Exams are just way too dangerous!"
It looks like it's best not to go out if there's nothing important to do.
Otherwise—
If he's discovered, then he's truly finished.
What a pity.
It seems like he won't get to enjoy the buy-one-get-one-free milk tea promotion during the Chunin Exam festivities…
A loss!
A huge loss!
It feels like he's lost billions!
Of course—
He only came to buy milk tea as a side task. The real reason was that the bunch living on the moon had asked him to buy a few things.
After all, although it was said long ago that in the future… delivery and takeout services would be available on the moon, that was in the future—right now, they haven't started yet!
So if they wanted to buy things, they still had to rely on errand services—and the fees were crazy high!
Even though those guys secretly moved without telling him, they were still "his people," after all. So, after thinking it over, he still came out to do the shopping!
Right now—
The entire household was relying solely on his salary to get by!
Fortunately, Boss Yumi had money; otherwise, he really wouldn't be able to support them on his own!
After packing everything up, White Zetsu quietly made his way to Konoha's Express Delivery station. "Here, sending a package!"
"Where to?"
"To the moon!"
"Remote area, huh~ That's going to be expensive!"
"I know! Just send it!" White Zetsu 9527 sighed, then painfully pulled out the salary he had worked so hard for over this period and filled in the delivery details.
Given how tense things were lately, and worrying that the new base might be discovered too, he only filled in a moon-side pickup point.
He trusted that once the delivery arrived there, those guys would collect it themselves!
After settling everything, White Zetsu 9527 let out another sigh, walked out, pulled out his phone, and dialed that secret number. Once the call connected: "Hey! The package's been sent! Make sure to pick it up! Over here… I'll serve the new boss well!"
For some reason—
He couldn't help but feel like… a city worker struggling to earn money, sending cash and supplies to the wife and kids back home!
Not even a single coin left from what he earned.
It's too exhausting!!!
After the call, he sighed again, put away his phone, and quietly sneaked off toward the "company."
It's time to get back to "work."
…
Meanwhile.
At this moment, Yuto…
He still had no idea that his precious little daughter had unexpectedly taken over Uchiha Madara's position and become Zetsu's new "boss."
Of course—
For a girl barely three years old… to become the mastermind behind the scenes?!
Probably no normal person would believe that!
Right now—
He was eating ramen…
It had been quite a while since he had Ichiraku Ramen, and since Asuka suddenly wanted some, he decided to bring the whole family out for a long-overdue ramen dinner.
Only—
He didn't expect to run into the Sunagakure team here for the Chunin Exams. Since they knew each other, they simply sat together.
These days, Ichiraku Ramen was no longer the humble little stall from years ago. In recent years, the handmade ramen of Boss Ichiraku had made quite a fortune, and he had bought out a decent-sized shop. So now, ramen was served indoors like a proper restaurant!
Looking at Pakura, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, Yuto asked in surprise: "You guys from Sunagakure came this early?"
Although the Chunin Exams were fast approaching, there was still nearly a week left before they began.
According to the usual habits of ninja, most participants would time their arrival one or two days before the exams start.
Of course.
It might also be to save on lodging costs or something~
Yuto wasn't sure.
Anyway, the usual routine is to arrive just in time!
So how come Sunagakure showed up more than a week early before the competition even started?!
Just as he finished speaking—
"You're one to talk!" Pakura rolled her eyes at Yuto, then gave him a slightly resentful look. "It's all your fault!"
"???"
My fault?
What does anything from Sunagakure have to do with a businessman like him?
It's not like he suggested they arrive early!
Just as Yuto was still puzzled—
He saw—
Pakura sigh helplessly, cheeks puffed as she slurped her noodles, then said slowly, "The Third Kazekage has been resurrected!"
"So what? Don't tell me the Third and Fourth Kazekage are fighting over the title now?"
"No, not that!" Pakura shook her head. Looking at the confused Yuto, her eyes hesitated for a moment, but then she lowered her voice and said, "This is classified info from Sunagakure. I'm telling you, but don't spread it around." She sighed again, her eyes still full of helplessness. "You probably know about the Third Kazekage's sudden disappearance back then, right?"
"…"
He roughly understood what had happened in Sunagakure.
After all, the Third Kazekage was…
"That's right! He was assassinated by a ninja from within the village!" Pakura sighed emotionally. "To think—back then we suspected Konoha did it, but it turns out it was our own people! And do you know who it was? The once-genius puppeteer of the village, Advisor Chiyo's very own grandson—Sasori of the Red Sand! When the Third Kazekage returned, he exposed everything, and everyone was shocked!"
"So, the Third Kazekage and Advisor Chiyo clashed?"
"Eh~ not really! Advisor Chiyo understood that what her grandson did was unforgivable! Later, with help from the Fourth Kazekage, she sincerely apologized to the Third Kazekage. The Third Kazekage also valued the hard-won peace and didn't want to stir up unrest in the village. Plus, he had already been revived, so he decided not to pursue the matter further. However, he stated that Sasori must never return to the village again! He is to be considered already dead—if he ever shows up, the Third Kazekage will personally take action!"
"That's actually not bad, right?"
"Yeah~ sounds pretty good, right?" Pakura nodded, but her tone was still full of helplessness. "It's just that… Advisor Chiyo still wants to find her long-lost grandson. After all, he's the only family she has left. So afterward, things between her and the Third Kazekage turned quite unpleasant, which made the village tense! To prevent further conflict between the two, they sent me early with the Third Kazekage and our team to participate in the Chunin Exams."
She shook her head again, speaking with a tinge of melancholy, "Lately, Advisor Chiyo has been searching for her grandson nonstop. She even posted missing-person notices online and hired ninja to help track him down! But tell me—where in the world did that Sasori run off to all these years? How come there's not even a trace?"
Just as she finished speaking—
Yuto raised an eyebrow and said flatly, "Have you ever watched that prison break movie from a few years ago?"
"Rain Prison Redemption?" Pakura nodded. "Yeah, I've seen it! Why bring that up? But I have to say, it was a really well-made film! Because of that, Sunagakure even upgraded its prison security!"
"Well, that's great then!"
"???"
So… why did you bring that up?
Pakura gave Yuto a puzzled look, but didn't press further.
After all, this was a matter concerning Sunagakure, and this guy probably wouldn't know where Sasori was hiding. The fact that he had been able to assassinate the Third Kazekage without anyone knowing showed just how cunning he truly was.
"That's why the village is worried he might still be hiding in the shadows, possibly plotting something."
"Maybe he's already done his time in prison and just wants to be a good person now?"
"As if! That's Sasori of the Red Sand—we're talking about the guy who assassinated the Kazekage!"
"…You've got a point!"