The Sand ninja's tax collection methods were uncouth. Seeing the guesthouse owner resist, they pressed a kunai against his throat.
Money or your life?
The owner instantly caved and chose to pay.
Filled with pent-up anger, he picked on the maid, scolding her a few times, then puffed fiercely on his pipe.
"If the Leaf doesn't collect taxes, I'd rather have Leaf ninja take over the Town of Sasori."
After venting to Byakuya, the guesthouse owner sighed emotionally. "If only everyone could do what those Rain ninja said—stop fighting, sit down and talk, understand each other. Only then would life be worth living."
"Aren't there many Rain ninja coming to town?"
"Let me think..."
The owner puffed on his pipe, murmuring, "The leader called himself Yahiko. There was also a man and a woman, but I don't know their names."
"So they went to the Land of Wind?"
"Yes, I saw them heading towards the Land of Wind with my own eyes."
Byakuya thought to himself, So the Yahiko trio visited the Land of Wind too. Makes sense; the Land of Wind borders the Land of Rain. Maybe Yahiko had a plan that required the Sand's help.
But the militant faction of the Sand was currently hell-bent on invading the Leaf and had no interest in the Land of Rain.
The main battlefields between the Leaf and Rock were in the Land of Grass and Land of Rain, mostly involving grueling attrition warfare. Since the Leaf also had to deal with the Cloud, the flames of war from the Rock had burned into the Land of Fire several times. It took Minato Namikaze's repeated interventions to resolve the crises.
Introducing a new great nation into the mix might actually create a dangerous sort of balance.
He didn't know what Yahiko was planning. Surely he wasn't asking the Sand to act as mediators for peace talks between the Leaf and Rock?
That was even more naive than Pakura!
"Why is the town called the Town of Sasori?"
"It didn't used to be called that. Sasori of the Red Sand from the Sand Village changed it."
"Sasori of the Red Sand? Who is he?" Byakuya feigned ignorance.
"I heard he's the grandson of Lady Chiyo, a high-ranking Sand official. He's an exceptionally powerful ninja. A few years ago, he killed over a dozen Rock ninja in our town."
"Where is Sasori now?"
The guesthouse owner suddenly made a shushing gesture, walked over to sit beside Byakuya, and whispered, "Don't tell anyone else."
"Don't worry. I'm going to stay with relatives and won't be in the Town of Sasori for long. Besides, my lips are sealed tight. I'm leaving in two days."
"Lord Sasori is in the Town of Sasori right now. That hot spring hotel belongs to him."
Hearing this, Byakuya slowly put down his chopsticks and asked, feigning indifference, "When did Lord Sasori arrive in town?"
"How would I know?"
"How do you know he's here?"
"Well, the hot spring egg you're eating was bought from the hot spring hotel. The maid there told me. Heh, kid, don't underestimate middle-aged men. I've got plenty of charm!"
"Uh-huh." Byakuya instantly put on a look of incomprehension and went back to shoveling food into his mouth.
"Thanks for the meal."
"Full?"
"It was delicious. Does anyone else in town know Sasori is at the hotel?"
"Absolutely not."
"Are you that certain, boss?"
"Of course. Only two... well, now three people in the entire Town of Sasori know: that maid, me, and you."
"Sleep, sleep. Traveling has exhausted me."
Byakuya returned to his room and closed the door.
He took out paper and pen from his storage scroll and wrote down Sasori's whereabouts.
There were no Root operatives in the Town of Sasori.
However, in the Village of Sand Trees within the Land of Wind, about forty-seven miles away, there was an intelligence operative arranged by Root. The method to contact this person was recorded in the intel packet about Pakura given to him. Byakuya hadn't paid much attention to it before, but now it seemed necessary.
In reality, reporting this intelligence back to Root had little value. The Leaf, ANBU, and Root couldn't spare extra manpower to investigate or deal with it.
Byakuya did it merely to imply to Danzo that he was indeed executing the mission seriously.
Look, I stumbled upon Sasori of the Red Sand's trail during the mission and reported it immediately without holding back.
Since Sasori was here, Byakuya slept through the afternoon until midnight, then dressed fully and quietly left the Town of Sasori.
"Could Sasori be hiding in the hot spring hotel making the Third Kazekage puppet?"
The thought was hellish, but highly probable.
The Sand's puppet technique was unique, meaning the materials for making puppets were most abundant within the Sand Village. Sasori could easily hide nearby, order the hotel maids to purchase various materials from the Sand Village, and craft the special human puppet possessing the Magnet Style Kekkei Genkai.
"Maybe Sasori is also modifying himself, turning himself into a puppet too."
"Ninja in this world are truly insane. So ruthless to themselves."
Trying his best to conceal his chakra signature, Byakuya put the Shuten-doji mask back on, strapped his katana to his back, donned his black trench coat, and used Storm Style Body Flicker to rush out of the Town of Sasori.
He didn't get far.
He stopped abruptly.
Cold sweat broke out on Byakuya's forehead. Maintaining his composure, he turned around and asked, "Are you Lord Sasori of the Red Sand?"
The current Sasori was still in human form, not yet hiding inside Hiruko. He wore a loose black cloak that obscured his expression.
Sasori's voice was completely flat. "The subordinate monitoring the guesthouse told me you were leaving, so I came to see you off. Kid, you're not a Rain ninja."
Sasori wasn't just a Kage-level puppet master; he had his own network. In the original story, Sasori left the spy Yura in the Sand Village and planted a sleeper agent near Orochimaru.
"I am a Rain..."
"You aren't. The entire Town of Sasori is under my control. Your accent and speech habits prove you aren't from the Hidden Rain. You're a ninja from the Hidden Leaf in the Land of Fire, aren't you?"
Byakuya sensed a thick killing intent emanating from Sasori.
"Are you going to kill me?"
"A Leaf ninja. If I didn't have questions for you, I would have already acted."
"What questions?" Byakuya sensed the Flying Thunder God formula he left nearby.
To be safe, he had carved six Flying Thunder God formulas on the outskirts of the town to deal with emergencies.
"Who sent you deep into this territory?"
Sasori stared at Byakuya. Seeing him stay silent, he continued, "Danzo Shimura? It can only be Danzo. The Leaf is under immense pressure; only he has the mind to do something like this."
He walked slowly toward Byakuya.
"Go back and tell Danzo Shimura that he and I can cooperate."
Byakuya was instantly astonished.
Sasori's parents died at the hands of the Leaf's Sakumo Hatake. Why would he be willing to cooperate with Danzo?
As if sensing Byakuya's shock.
Sasori suddenly sneered. "You know my history? From the aura you're emitting, I sense you are very shocked."
"Alright. I will convey the message."
Sasori nodded. "Return to the Leaf immediately. I will wait for your news in the Town of Sasori."
"Apologies, I need to execute another mission."
"Whatever. I'll find someone else to notify Danzo. You... are wasting my time."
He attacked without warning.
A human puppet rose from behind Sasori.
It floated in mid-air, bringing unparalleled pressure upon Byakuya.
At this moment, Byakuya suddenly realized why Sasori wanted to cooperate with Danzo.
Internal strife was the most ruthless. Perhaps he wanted to use Danzo's quest for the Hokage seat to kill as many Leaf ninja as possible, avenging his parents.
The puppet's mouth creaked open eerily.
Iron sand, gleaming with cold metallic light, flew out.
So Sasori had already turned the Third Kazekage into a puppet.
Flying Thunder God Jutsu.
Without a second thought.
Byakuya immediately "tactically retreated."
In a place like this, fighting a Kage-level powerhouse like Sasori was unwise; attracting Sand ninja would be bad.
If it were a different place, Byakuya definitely wouldn't have held back.
Of course, that was just his internal excuse for running away.
Furthermore, this Town of Sasori was extremely strange. If Sasori of the Red Sand completely controlled this place, the Sand Village shouldn't be ignorant of it, and Pakura shouldn't have chosen this place for him to stay.