After Uchiha Yuan met up with Kakashi—who was dressed like a regular shinobi—and Baki at the village gate, the three left Konoha together.
On the way, Baki seemed very nervous. He had taken part in the Battle of Kikyo Pass. Uchiha Yuan's performance during that battle left a deep impression on him—so young, yet able to force back seasoned Kage-level opponents.
The ninja world always respected strength, so Baki didn't dare show any disrespect.
"Baki, your Third Kazekage had the Magnet Release kekkei genkai, right?"
Yuan's sudden question startled Baki, who quickly nodded and replied, "Yes, Lord Yuan. The Third Kazekage specialized in Magnet Release."
"I've never met your Third Kazekage before, but a while back, in a small town in the southeast of the Land of Wind, I came across a strange puppeteer.
This guy was using a puppet with a unique Magnet Release kekkei genkai. Its application of Magnet Release was so refined that I nearly got caught off guard.
And the puppet looked just like a real person. After returning to the village and investigating a little, I learned that such puppets are called 'human puppets'—they're made from real people.
The person turned into that puppet also knew Magnet Release..."
Yuan trailed off mid-sentence. Some things are best left half-said, letting others fill in the blanks themselves.
Sure enough, Baki fell silent.
He knew his own village's secrets well. To his knowledge, only Chiyo's grandson Sasori had mastered the level of puppet arts required to create human puppets—those of Akahigi-class(Akahigi=Red Secret Technique), capable of turning the dead into puppets with chakra cores.
That meant Sasori was the only one capable of creating a human puppet.
Because human puppets retained their chakra core, they could use all the jutsu and kekkei genkai they had in life.
And the Third Kazekage had disappeared while pursuing the defector—Sasori.
The puppet Yuan encountered could flawlessly use Magnet Release and had even made Yuan cautious.
A Magnet Release user of that caliber could only have been the Third Kazekage.
Realizing this, Baki had a horrifying thought.
"Lord Yuan, if I may ask—what did that puppeteer and puppet look like?"
Yuan described Sasori and the puppet resembling the Third Kazekage.
Upon hearing the description, Baki sighed. His suspicions had been confirmed.
As for whether Yuan was lying—Baki found that unlikely.
After all, other villages only had superficial information about human puppets. The true core information was confidential, and even within Suna, only a few knew the details.
Yuan had described so many details about human puppets—it was likely he had really seen the Third Kazekage's human puppet.
And Sasori was the only puppeteer in the world capable of making them—not to mention the Third Kazekage had disappeared while pursuing Sasori.
Everything lined up.
(PS: In the original canon, Sasori is the only known puppeteer who can create human puppets. Other puppeteers, no matter how lifelike their puppets, cannot create true human puppets.)
Baki quickened his pace. This news was too important. He had to report it to Rasa and Chiyo immediately.
The trio hurried along, and one day later they arrived at Sunagakure.
Baki brought Yuan and Kakashi into the village and arranged for them to wait in a meeting room inside the Kazekage Tower.
Meanwhile, Baki rushed to the Kazekage's office to report Sasori's matter to Rasa.
Knock knock—
Rasa and Chiyo were in the middle of discussing the sealing of Shukaku when the knock interrupted them.
They paused and allowed the visitor to enter.
Upon receiving permission, Baki pushed the door open and stepped in.
"Baki? You're pretty quick. Has Uchiha Yuan arrived?" Chiyo asked casually.
"Yes, Elder Chiyo. Lord Yuan has arrived. But I'm not here to report that—I have news regarding the Third Kazekage."
The Third Kazekage was Rasa's teacher, practically a father figure to him. Hearing this, Rasa's expression turned grim.
Chiyo was also visibly anxious and urged, "Baki, what is it? Speak quickly!"
Baki recounted to Rasa and Chiyo the incident Yuan described involving Sasori.
Crack! Rasa crushed the teacup in his hand.
"Damn Sasori! So my teacher's disappearance was his doing. That bastard dared to turn my teacher into a puppet!"
Chiyo, meanwhile, slumped into her chair. She couldn't believe her own grandson had been the one who killed the Third Kazekage.
Thankfully, Rasa still held respect for Chiyo. Seeing her expression, he suppressed some of his anger.
He took a deep breath to calm down, then said, "Elder Chiyo, let's not jump to conclusions. What if Yuan made this up to turn you against Sasori?"
Chiyo sighed. "Rasa, I may be old, but I'm not senile. Sasori is the only one in the entire ninja world who can create human puppets. I believe it's true.
Still, we must not publicize this. Let's secretly dispatch forces to capture Sasori.
It's not about saving face for me—it's about protecting Sunagakure's honor."
"Don't worry, Elder Chiyo. I'll handle it."
"Good. Then go welcome Uchiha Yuan. I need a moment alone."
Rasa nodded and left with Baki.
"Where are they waiting?" Rasa asked.
"In the meeting room. Shall I go with you?"
"No need. You've worked hard—go rest."
Rasa declined and went alone to the meeting room.
Yuan and Kakashi had been waiting for more than ten minutes, with no one from Suna showing up.
Kakashi was getting a bit impatient and quietly grumbled, "Yuan, Suna's being awfully rude. We've waited this long, and no one's greeted us. Doesn't feel like they're the ones asking for help."
"Baki just got a major revelation about the Third Kazekage. It concerns a village's Kage. It's already good that their leadership isn't in total chaos. Be more understanding."
Kakashi looked at Yuan like he was an alien. "Yuan, since when are you this considerate?"
Yuan certainly wasn't going to tell Kakashi that the puppet of the Third Kazekage was currently in Hyuga Asana's hands. He was just covering for her, making up an excuse.
A few minutes later, Rasa opened the door and entered.
"Gentlemen, sorry to keep you waiting," Rasa said as he walked in and immediately offered his apologies.
"It's fine, don't worry about it," Yuan waved it off.
Seeing that Yuan wasn't upset, Rasa was relieved. After some small talk, they moved on to the main topic—sealing the One-Tail.
From Rasa's words, Yuan finally understood why Sunagakure had come to Konoha for help.
(To Be Continued...)