Why would Orochimaru want to harm Sasori? Yuji turned this over in his mind.
The Sand Village was currently at the height of its power. Even Konoha would not dare provoke it openly. And yet a rogue ninja like Orochimaru wanted to pick a fight with the Sand Village? Did he not fear retaliation? Who had given him this confidence?
Furthermore, in Yuji's assessment, Orochimaru was an intelligent man. He would not do something like this without a reason.
Fortunately Sasori's strength was not weak. If it had been someone else, like Rasa, they might genuinely have fallen victim to the attack.
As for how Orochimaru had managed to escape Konoha in this timeline, Yuji still found it strange. Unless, as in the original story, Sarutobi Hiruzen had personally confronted Orochimaru without revealing anything to Minato or anyone else beforehand. Otherwise the outcome should have been different.
"From what we can see, there is no particular enmity between our Sand Village and Orochimaru. You have no dealings with him either. Regardless of his reasons for attacking, if he dares to do this, he will certainly pay a heavy price," Yuji said in a low voice.
He continued thinking aloud.
"The Sand Village and Konoha have ceased hostilities. The only reason I can think of is this. Orochimaru and I had a confrontation before, so there is a small existing grudge there. Furthermore, Konoha was originally the strongest of the Five Great Hidden Villages. Because of the Sand Village's rise, Konoha is now weaker and its internal power structure has shifted.
Orochimaru, having once been a core Konoha member, may be blaming the Sand Village for this. And since I am the Kazekage and have spent years in the Sand Village, he could not bring himself to directly target me. So he set his sights on Sasori instead."
"But this kind of behavior is still too radical. There are many ways to harm the Sand Village. With Orochimaru's character, he would not be so reckless without a deeper purpose."
"This does not quite match his usual approach. Something is hidden within this. And do not be fooled by Orochimaru having become a rogue ninja. The more I look at it, the more I believe he definitely maintains some kind of connection with Danzo."
"You do not need to intervene."
Sasori's voice carried an unmistakable implied meaning.
Yuji laughed coldly upon hearing it.
"This matter is now between me and Orochimaru. It has nothing to do with the village. I intend to personally kill him and turn him into a puppet. You stay here in the village."
Sasori said this, then turned and departed with Hiruko.
Watching him leave, Yuji said nothing further.
He understood Sasori's character. He wanted to handle Orochimaru alone and make Orochimaru pay dearly for his recklessness. If Yuji intervened, Sasori would be very unhappy.
With Sasori's current strength, in a direct one-on-one confrontation, Yuji did not believe Orochimaru would be his match. The arsenal in Sasori's hands was formidable. The Third Kazekage puppet, the Third Raikage puppet, Hanzo of the Salamander, and his puppet army capable of rivaling an entire nation's military force. Against this kind of firepower, even Orochimaru would have to think carefully before acting.
And that level of strength was from some time ago. Sasori had been secretly refining his puppets and his art ever since, so his combat power had only grown stronger.
But what worried Yuji more was that in life-or-death battles between ninja, strength was never the only determining factor. Strategy and cunning played equally important roles. In this area, Orochimaru happened to excel. He could be considered among the most cunning figures in the entire ninja world.
Sasori's personality was somewhat too straightforward, making him potentially vulnerable to traps and schemes.
And beyond all of this, something about the whole situation gave Yuji an uneasy feeling. There was a hint of conspiracy underneath it all.
After Sasori left, only Yuji and Pakura remained in the office.
"With Sasori's strength, there should not be any real problem, right?" Pakura noticed his worry and stepped forward.
"Orochimaru cannot be judged by common sense. Every step he takes is certainly part of a larger plan," Yuji said, his mind still racing.
"But Orochimaru is now a rogue ninja. We cannot use this incident to demand an explanation from Konoha. And the ninja world is vast. Even now, if this matter becomes known publicly, finding Orochimaru's whereabouts would not be easy. That is probably why he feels bold enough to act recklessly without fear," Pakura said.
"Furthermore, Sasori has clearly made this personal with Orochimaru now. If you intervene and he finds out, I am afraid..."
"I understand," Yuji nodded.
"In the short term, Orochimaru should not act rashly again. This matter is not urgent."
"Besides, even if he hides himself extremely well, just because others cannot find him does not mean I cannot," Yuji said coldly.
"Calm down. You should have faith in Sasori. Even if Orochimaru is a genius whose fame rivals yours, I do not think Sasori would lose to him," Pakura offered, her tone genuinely reassuring.
"On the contrary, it is Orochimaru whose life is in danger."
She then looked at him with a slightly surprised expression.
"Are you not angry? After all, Sasori just described me as nothing more than a child-bearing tool."
"He has always been like that. I know it, everyone in the village knows it," Pakura replied simply.
"Besides, he is currently..."
Yuji understood what she meant without her finishing the sentence.
Sasori had even converted himself into a puppet. To outsiders, this kind of existence seemed somewhat pitiable. Sasori's background and the reasons behind his choices were unknown to most people, but Pakura knew them. Therefore she naturally would not argue with Sasori over something like this.
"You have truly grown up. I remember you used to dislike him quite a lot when you were little," Yuji said, giving her a thumbs up.
Pakura glanced at him.
This kind of relaxed and intimate expression and attitude was something she only ever showed in front of Yuji.
It could only come out around him.
It was undeniable that since the two of them had begun spending time together, Pakura's personality had undergone a significant transformation. She had become considerably gentler.
She had even joined what was apparently a well-known informal gathering among the Sand Village's women. With Karura, Mei, and Ayame in the group, these women were practically all mothers at this point. Pakura had essentially become something of a domestic presence among them, frequently seeking advice from these more experienced women on matters of family and household life.
Their influence on her had been considerable.
Knock
At this moment there was a knock at the door.
Pakura straightened her composure. Baki entered and reported.
"Lord Kazekage, the hospital preparations are nearly complete."
"Good."
Hearing this, Yuji stood and led Pakura to the hospital.
Half a day later, upon arriving, they saw a long line of people had already formed outside. Looking around, they were all Sand Village members. The people were laughing and chatting amongst themselves, and upon seeing Yuji they bowed and greeted him warmly.
News of Yuji's upcoming marriage had already spread throughout the entire village. Lately whenever he encountered someone on the street he would be met with joyful congratulations. Yuji responded with a wave of acknowledgment and then walked down the corridor into the hospital, where he saw Saori and Yashamaru, both dressed in white medical robes, leading a group of medical staff in administering the prepared gene-modifying medicines to Sand Village ninja one by one.
Yuji had already explained the advantages and considerations of both the bone cell medicine and the vitality medicine to the village. How each individual ninja chose was up to them.
"We have just begun the vaccinations. So far a small number have been done and there have been no abnormalities," Saori first smiled and nodded toward Pakura standing beside Yuji, then continued her report.
"Right now we are working through the village's active ninja roster. To complete vaccinations for everyone will take at least two days. We will need to wait for those currently away on missions to return before we can vaccinate them one by one. I have already coordinated the timing with Shimizu, so vaccinating all the village's ninja will take approximately two months."
"Then there is the question of quantity and production rate. After the ninja are all vaccinated, we will move on to the ninja academy students and certain staff members."
"Finally, the ordinary villagers."
"Based on the current situation, it will take at least several years to complete the enhancement medicine vaccinations for everyone from ninja down to civilians. The main constraints are production volume and speed," Saori said with a sigh at this point.
"Furthermore, we cannot satisfy the entire village's needs at once, even though Lord Kazekage..."
"My lord, you seem to have no hesitation about collecting money from outside parties. But the village has already entered into numerous cooperation agreements with outside forces, and our partners are urgently pressing for delivery of goods. We cannot simply ignore them. Lady Chiyo has said that even if you personally do not mind, the village's reputation is still very important."
"Ha ha," Yuji chuckled softly.
"That is correct. We must maintain the spirit of cooperation."
...
STONES 💎
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