As one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Sunagakure might have begun showing signs of decline due to the accumulation of countless factors, but once its intelligence agency started operating at full capacity with a clear target in mind, its efficiency was still enough to make anyone take notice.
Three days later, Sunagakure's intelligence agency brought back several pieces of extremely unsettling information.
"…In other words, aside from the bodies of those Konoha shinobi discovered near the border of the Land of Rain, nearly ten more Konoha shinobi who were carrying out missions had their corpses abandoned in the deserts of the Land of Wind?"
Inside the round-table council chamber usually used for high-level meetings in Sunagakure, Rasa listened to the report from his Anbu and frowned deeply, looking toward Nagato, whose expression had also grown grave after hearing the news.
"It seems that compared to Kirigakure, that force operating in the dark bears an even deeper hatred toward Konoha, Leader of Akatsuki."
"Perhaps. But that is not exactly a good thing."
Nagato sighed noncommittally.
"As the shinobi village occupying the richest land in the shinobi world, Konoha has far more enemies than Kirigakure, which has remained isolated overseas and closed itself off. If the killers came specifically for Konoha, then it will be much harder to reverse-engineer their identities based on their methods."
"No. Not necessarily."
Ebizo, who was responsible for Sunagakure's intelligence system, spoke and refuted Nagato's statement.
When Nagato's gaze turned toward him, a sharp, intimidating gleam slowly emerged in the eyes of this intelligence officer, who was already extremely old and looked as if he had long since reached the age where he should retire.
"Although Sunagakure has been gripped by unease recently, we have still been carrying out the most basic patrol missions, each led by jonin with sufficient ability. Among the intelligence gathered this time, several locations were areas that Sunagakure jonin had previously inspected. The methods used to conceal the bodies were not particularly brilliant either. And yet they completely failed to detect anything abnormal during their patrols…"
"Someone secretly became an accomplice to the killers?"
Nagato's expression darkened slightly.
"No. More likely, someone secretly altered their memories and perception."
Ebizo shook his head and gave another explanation, one that sent a chill through everyone present.
"The mastermind's goal should be to provoke conflict between other shinobi villages and Sunagakure through assassination incidents occurring within the territory of the Land of Wind. And the most important point here is that before the other villages come to question us, we Sunagakure must not notice the matter first…
Under those conditions, even if a Sunagakure shinobi discovered their secret, the mastermind likely would not dare to silence them by killing them. They could only make them forget what they had discovered by altering their perception and memory."
"There are not many people capable of doing such a thing. And they would also need a deep understanding of Sunagakure's patrol system… When those two conditions are combined, I cannot help but arrive at a very terrible guess."
Rasa narrowed his eyes.
Today's meeting had a very high confidentiality level. Logically speaking, as the Kazekage's advisors, Chiyo and Ebizo should both have been present.
But today, Chiyo had claimed to be feeling somewhat unwell and had only allowed Ebizo to attend the meeting alone. Judging from her usual way of handling matters, that alone was already suspicious.
And if that was combined with the solemn expression Ebizo now wore as he said he had a terrible guess…
"Lord Ebizo, you do not mean to say that… Sasori of the Red Sand, whose whereabouts remain unknown, has already joined the organization behind the attackers and participated in this operation, do you?"
Facing Rasa's question, Ebizo showed a helpless, bitter smile.
Then he slowly closed his eyes, his presence withdrawing inward.
It was as good as silently acknowledging Rasa's judgment.
"No wonder."
Nagato looked at the silent, closed-eyed Ebizo, then at Rasa, whose face had grown complicated, and asked in a low voice, "Sasori of the Red Sand… was he perhaps an important figure who defected from Sunagakure?"
"Yes. He is Granny Chiyo's grandson, and he was once recognized by the village as a genius puppet craftsman. Although his personality was somewhat withdrawn and cold, back when the Third Kazekage was still present, he was also one of the strong contenders for the position of Fourth Kazekage."
Rasa recalled the days when Sasori of the Red Sand was still in the village, his tone somewhat emotional.
"But afterward, the Third Kazekage suddenly disappeared. Not long after that, Sasori also left the village without permission and vanished without a trace… Heh. If he really is involved behind this assassination incident, then this will be a reunion that no one can feel even the slightest bit happy about."
Nagato calmly listened to Rasa's sigh.
As he recalled the intelligence he had obtained from Rei Kaguya, intelligence unexpectedly gathered by Shisui Uchiha from the Land of Demons, he asked the two men before him, "Then, if we use this Sasori as a starting point to locate the mastermind, does Sunagakure have any relevant information that can serve as a reference?"
"Unfortunately, Sasori was an extremely solitary person. He liked puppets more than he liked humans. Aside from Lady Chiyo knowing some of his habits from when he was young, we cannot provide many useful clues."
Rasa shook his head in frustration.
"Then does he possess any special ability like a Kekkei Genkai? For example… Magnet Release?"
"Why suddenly ask such a question, Leader of Akatsuki?"
The silent Ebizo suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Nagato with a serious expression after hearing him ask such a sensitive question.
"Because I received a piece of intelligence of uncertain authenticity from Kirigakure's investigator."
Nagato did not hide the fact that he was still maintaining contact with Kirigakure. He said in a low voice, "He began his investigation with Aoba Mizunotsuki, the jonin who was attacked near the border between the Land of Demons and the Land of Swamps. According to a piece of information he obtained from the Priestess of the Land of Demons, on the day Aoba Mizunotsuki was attacked, a guard from the Land of Demons saw a black cloud near the national border. It was most likely created by ninjutsu and could change shape freely…"
"Based on the puppet wreckage and damaged hidden weapons left at the scene, he judged that the cloud-like object that looked like a black storm cloud from afar had a fairly high chance of being something created by Sunagakure's Kekkei Genkai—Magnet Release.
But at present, the only shinobi in Sunagakure who openly possesses Magnet Release is you, Fourth Kazekage. And an assassination incident occurring in another nation being personally led by the Kage of a country would be far too illogical. So when he exchanged intelligence with me, he only listed it casually as a reference point."
"…Sasori is an ordinary shinobi without a Kekkei Genkai. His parents, as well as my elder sister and her husband, have always been pure puppet masters."
Ebizo took a deep breath and answered the question Nagato had not received an answer to earlier.
"But?"
Nagato looked at Ebizo's aged face, which was now filled with complex emotion, and waited for him to say the turning point.
"But if one insists on putting it that way, aside from the Fourth, Sunagakure does have one other person who possessed the power of Magnet Release."
Ebizo's expression became bitter, as if he were forcibly tearing open a bloody wound on his own body. His voice trembled as he said, "That would be the man who has been missing for several years, the man we Sunagakure sent countless people to search for yet could never find the slightest trace or whereabouts of…
The Third Kazekage."
When Ebizo spoke those words, the statue of the Third Kazekage standing together with the statues of every past Kazekage inside the round-table chamber, silently watching everyone in the room with its firm and unchanging gaze, suddenly developed a tiny crack across its face for reasons unknown.
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