"Lord Kazekage has just had a child, so naturally he does not have time to concern himself with Orochimaru, this dangerous hidden threat. But Lord Sasori, if we do not take advantage of this opportunity to deal with Orochimaru now, his future threat to the Sand Village will only grow."
"He dared to attack you. This shows he does not even consider the Sand Village worth respecting."
"Now he has established the Hidden Sound Village. When the Great Ninja War comes, the Hidden Sound Village will surely become our enemy."
A few days later, Sasori was at a secret base outside the village. He appeared to be busy with something, the ground around him covered with various scattered objects and components in various states of assembly.
Standing behind him was Black Zetsu.
It had found Sasori and was preparing to instigate a confrontation between Sasori and Orochimaru.
"Did the Kazekage send you to find me?" Sasori turned and fixed Black Zetsu with a cold look.
The Sand Village's core senior members were well aware of Black Zetsu's existence. It was not a secret among them, but they understood clearly that Yuji kept it at arm's length, allowing it to roam outside the village without interfering in the Sand Village's power structure. For some time now it had rarely appeared in the village itself. Even when Black Zetsu did return to the Sand Village, it only reported work-related matters to the Kazekage.
To outsiders, Black Zetsu appeared to be nothing more than a minor subordinate. But for the Sand Village's core members like Sasori, the true background was no secret.
"No," Black Zetsu answered immediately and honestly.
"I am suggesting that Lord Kazekage personally go to the Hidden Sound Village to eliminate Orochimaru. That way it can be done silently and discreetly with no one on the surface being the wiser.
Furthermore, the Land of Rice has not publicly announced that Orochimaru is the founder of the Hidden Sound Village. Therefore, even if Orochimaru dies, the outside world will simply think the Kazekage eliminated a Konoha traitor," Black Zetsu said.
Then, shifting its approach, it continued.
"The reason I came to you specifically is simply because I feel that Lord Kazekage's circumstances make direct travel inconvenient. His identity is extremely prominent and sensitive. But this potential threat, Orochimaru, must be eliminated. Once the Hidden Sound Village develops further..."
"This is also for the sake of the Sand Village. I believe Lord Sasori will understand."
"Cutting the grass at its roots, eliminating future troubles, taking advantage of the fact that the Hidden Sound Village has not yet developed into a significant force."
"Besides, Orochimaru was foolish enough to come cause you trouble first. Even if you cannot kill him, giving him a painful lesson is only right," Black Zetsu said in a deliberately provocative tone.
"Cannot kill him? Are you underestimating me?"
"Of course not!" Black Zetsu immediately changed its tone.
"It is also because I know that right now, within the village, only Lord Sasori has the capability to handle Orochimaru, which is why I came to find you directly. Lord Kazekage does not know about this either."
"Hmph."
Hiruko, its entire body concealed beneath a loose robe with its feet invisible beneath it, moved slowly forward.
"Wait here. I will go inform my people below."
"Yes," Black Zetsu replied.
Its mind stirred with satisfaction.
Done.
Sasori still needed to oversee the progress of the mountain excavation and canal construction projects, but at this point he no longer needed to personally intervene or manage the teams directly. Through years of accumulated practice, the Sand Village construction teams were already thoroughly familiar with the work. Therefore Sasori had time to disappear into his secret base and pursue his art.
Black Zetsu had naturally developed some understanding of Sasori through observation. And it was very accurate in its judgment of people.
The more it considered this type of person, the more certain it was. Making any further moves against Yuji directly would displease Sasori and risk everything. But Sasori was ruthless and decisive, cold-blooded in temperament.
Although the Sand Village had changed enormously in recent years, none of this had significantly altered Sasori's underlying nature. Akasuna no Sasori was still the same person who had once been as infamous as the Blood-Clad Yuji, equally decisive and merciless on the battlefield.
Most critically, Sasori had a temper. He held grudges and did not let them go.
This type of person, with just a small amount of provocation, would fall directly into the trap.
"If he makes a move, it will signify that the Sand Village is secretly conspiring against the Land of Rice, launching an unprovoked attack. At that point, even if the Fourth Kazekage wanted to refuse the consequences, it would not be easy to do so."
"Furthermore, the Land of Rice has a Daimyo's government. The Daimyo can completely utilize political mechanisms to seek assistance from Konoha or the Hidden Cloud Village on behalf of the country and village."
"Just a slight shift, a single spark, is enough."
"Ideally, we deal with Sasori in the process. Given his relationship with the Kazekage, Sasori's death would definitely provoke the Sand Village's full wrath," Black Zetsu thought to itself with quiet satisfaction.
It seemed to have already envisioned the outbreak of the Fourth Great Ninja War. The Sand Village and the Fourth Kazekage would become the target of criticism from all sides, drawing the focused attacks of every major hidden village.
Then it would not be long before Sasori emerged from the base.
He had a Sand Village member traveling with him, a subordinate and puppet corps fighter who served as his assistant.
"Let us go," Hiruko said, fixing Black Zetsu with its gaze and speaking.
According to Black Zetsu's information, Orochimaru's presence in the Hidden Sound Village this time was uncertain. He might flee soon. Therefore they needed to act as quickly as possible.
Immediately they set out, heading straight toward the Land of Rice with Sasori leading the way.
The next day, news arrived.
Sasori, while passing through a neighboring country, had temporarily delegated his ongoing responsibilities to his subordinates.
Yuji himself did not entirely know what he had set in motion.
The calmer he remained, the more clearly he understood that Black Zetsu was up to something. The more he watched that creature stick its hand into the situation, the more precisely he could read what it was after.
As someone who had grown up alongside Sasori and knew him better than anyone, no one understood Sasori more clearly than Yuji did.
The message he had sent Sasori had been a calculated move aimed directly at Black Zetsu's scheme. He also knew he could not stop Sasori even if he tried. Even Yuji himself would not necessarily be listened to, because Orochimaru actively coming to seek out Sasori first was something absolutely intolerable in Sasori's eyes.
That was simply the kind of person he was.
So Yuji had gone with the flow, playing along with the situation. This also allowed Sasori to vent some of his anger and find some thrill and intense feeling in the act of combat.
In this peaceful era the ninja world had become like this, everything perfectly calm and tranquil. For someone like Sasori, having lived like this for so long, there was genuine boredom in the stillness. He definitely still preferred the atmosphere of war. He preferred decisive killing and collecting powerful individuals as his form of art.
Orochimaru was clearly also a rare and worthy specimen in that regard.
Given all of this, Yuji was actually less concerned about the outcome than even Sasori himself was. The last time Orochimaru and Sasori had crossed paths, the battle had not been a full engagement and neither side had used their true capabilities. Orochimaru had launched a surprise attack on Sasori that had not succeeded. Once Sasori began to counterattack, Orochimaru had escaped.
"This is a good opportunity to see what kind of talent the Hidden Sound Village has managed to gather," Yuji thought, leaning back in his chair with a quiet smile.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the equation, before Sasori and Black Zetsu had even arrived in the Land of Rice, news had already reached Orochimaru's ears.
"Ha ha."
At this moment, in a dimly lit room deep within the Hidden Sound Village, Orochimaru's pale face revealed a cold and sinister smile.
"It seems the Kazekage has not noticed either."
He curled his lips, his voice carrying a hint of dark amusement.
"The truly big fish has not taken the bait. But catching a fish of comparable size is not bad at all."