It was no wonder Hanabi was surprised; Hinata and Ino's posture at that moment indeed looked questionable to an outsider.
Ino was tall, Hinata was short, and now the short one was hugging the tall one from behind, covering the tall one's mouth, with the two pressed quite tightly together, a naturally very strange sight.
Hinata was dumbfounded, her mind a blank, not knowing how to explain.
In the crucial moment, it was Ino who came through; she calmly bluffed: "Do you know your sister is filming a movie with the big star Kazehana Koyuki? There's a scene like this in the movie icha icha paradise, and we're just imitating the movie plot."
Hanabi's attention was immediately diverted, and she asked many questions about filming. Ino rambled, managing to gloss over the situation.
Swimming ultimately didn't happen. Hanabi had already returned home from school, so it was naturally evening, and she also had to go home.
"I'll come again tomorrow!" Ino waved to Hinata at the door.
"Ah?" Hinata's small face fell. Again tomorrow?
The next day, as soon as Ino left her house, she was called away by ANBU Ninja for an out-of-Village mission. Upon hearing the news, Hinata secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Ino's methods were too complicated; she would stick to drinking milk honestly for the next few days.
The chaos in Hidden Sand Village had escalated from verbal arguments in meetings to open armed conflict.
The faction originally loyal to Gaara, the moderate faction friendly to Konoha, was suppressed by the hardliners. Faced with no other options, the rather bold Temari sent someone to Konoha for aid.
No matter what, the two Ninja Villages were still allies.
If your neighbors are fighting at home, shouldn't you go over, ask about it, and mediate? Konoha was now playing that role.
Sending several thousand Ninja troops wouldn't be mediation; that would be war. Ultimately, Jiraiya sent out the Ino–Shika–Choji trio of Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji.
The status of the Sixteenth Generation Ino–Shika–Choji was high enough. Ino's combat prowess and Shikamaru's strategic mind were both assets, making them perfectly capable as mediators.
As the vanguard, the three of them set off for Hidden Sand Village with a host of missions, including reconnaissance, mediation, sowing discord, and winning over allies.
Even if something unexpected happened in the end, with the Flying Thunder God Technique, they were few in number and could escape back if they needed to.
On the other side.
Orochimaru was cultivating himself under the surveillance of Konoha Anbu. His former subordinate, Yakushi Kabuto, did not know he had been resurrected, nor did he have any means of knowing such secret information.
Yakushi Kabuto was indeed a talent. He took Orochimaru's body and defected to Sasori.
He was originally a double agent for both Sasori and Orochimaru, but before, he followed Orochimaru's orders to gather intelligence on Sasori's side. Now that Orochimaru was gone, he didn't even need to transfer his records; he just packed his surgical equipment and went to work for Sasori.
Sasori was very interested in Orochimaru's body.
Orochimaru had no Bloodline Limit, so his value was far less than that of the Third Kazekage.
But the feud between them was significant, and Sasori was delighted to have the body of his old rival fall into his hands. With a few quick movements, he turned Orochimaru's body into a Human Puppet and added it to his collection of figures.
He manipulated Orochimaru's Human Puppet to release a few Wind Release Ninjutsu, but the effect was mediocre. There was a momentary emotional fluctuation when he acquired the body, but now he found it utterly uninteresting.
Sasori's human body was reduced to only the cylindrical piece of flesh, like a masturbator, where his heart was located; the rest of his body was entirely puppetized.
The conventional puppet materials in Hidden Sand Village were mostly wood. Different types of wood retained different amounts of life force internally, and the difficulty of controlling them also varied.
Sasori's Human Puppet technique was unique. He directly puppetized human bodies, preserving the human life force and Chakra pathways while removing the decaying flesh and filling it with puppet technology, ultimately creating unique Human Puppets.
Sasori was a classic example of someone who "learned one thing in a short life, believed human capabilities were limited, and therefore stopped being human."
First, he killed his only friend and turned him into a Human Puppet, then he turned the Village's Third Kazekage into a Human Puppet, and finally, himself.
Sasori's situation was similar to mechanical augmentation. After his body was fully puppetized, his lifespan was extended, he was immune to a host of negative statuses, and he could maintain peak combat strength for a long time.
However, this state also had weaknesses. His way of thinking was no longer like a human's. Humans regulate themselves with emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness; emotions fluctuate, which is what makes a normal and healthy human being.
Kakashi used icha icha paradise to resolve the gloom in his heart, Sasuke used arduous training to dispel hatred, and Ino also had many ways to alleviate the malevolence within her.
Including Uchiha Madara and Obito, they set a goal for themselves, constantly adjusted their inner balance, and maintained sufficient rationality and motivation.
Their psychological state was always near the healthy line, either slightly above or slightly below.
Some Ninja engaged in burning, killing, and looting, committing all sorts of evil, giving up on themselves. In fact, this was also a way to relieve stress; they still had their sanity, they weren't mad.
Sasori was different; he no longer had these means of emotional regulation. He wouldn't react to a beautiful woman because he lacked those functions.
In the original timeline, when Chiyo attacked him with "parents," his inner emotions mixed with memories surged out, his mentality exploded, and he actively sought death. This was a drawback of being a Human Puppet; a normal Kage-level expert's mind wouldn't be so fragile.
Sasori's current life form had maximum resistance to toxins, diseases, and aging, but extremely low resistance to memory, emotion, and the mind—one could even say negative. Such a being could only survive for a few days in the Ninja World; if he entered space, he would be brainwashed by higher life forms in minutes.
The chaos in Hidden Sand Village also made Sasori somewhat intrigued. He tricked Deidara away, then returned to the Village with Yakushi Kabuto to take a look.
He still had a few acquaintances in Hidden Sand Village. He wanted to turn all his acquaintances into Human Puppets so they could be with him forever.
Sasori used the "Mind-Controlling Sand Technique" to manipulate the memories of Yura, a Jonin from Hidden Sand Village. Now, by breaking the old seal and entering Hidden Sand Village, he immediately gained the allegiance of Jonin Yura. This high-ranking Hidden Sand Village official immediately knelt before Sasori, opening a secret passage into Hidden Sand Village for him.
Sasori-sama, pedaling his Hiruko, perfectly embodied what it meant to be "emotionless."
He showed no concern for the disappearance of Chiyo and Ebizo.
Yura shared some analyses from the Hidden Sand Village leadership: Iwagakure was the biggest suspect, and Konoha Village was also under suspicion.
Sasori showed no reaction. "Say whatever you want," he seemed to think, "I'll listen like a story, in one ear and out the other," and continued pedaling his tricycle forward.
"What's wrong with those guys?" He saw several Ninja sitting under a tree playing shamisen.
Yura replied with a look of disgust: "They've all gone mad. Perhaps the scene of the Tailed Beast battle was too brutal, causing them to become mentally deranged and turn into lunatics."
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/SolyuraMT
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"