Sasuke seemed to see through his thoughts. Lowering his voice, he said quietly, "Kakashi-sensei, I already know about that matter. So please don't blame yourself too much."
"Jiraiya-sama told you?" Kakashi was slightly surprised, then seemed to understand. "I see. So Jiraiya-sama must have acknowledged your strength."
The two exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly.
"All right, then follow me."
Without hesitation, Kakashi gathered the team and followed Chiyo's footsteps.
"Have you found any trace of the Aurora Order?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes, Sasuke, you don't know, but after Gaara was kidnapped, Kankuro immediately chased after them," Sakura quickly filled in the information for Sasuke.
"Later, Kankuro was quickly defeated, but he tore a piece of cloth from the enemy's body."
While they spoke, Kakashi had already summoned his ninja beast — a Komainu dog appeared.
"Pakkun, lead us to this guy."
"Don't underestimate Pakkun~" Sakura whispered close to Sasuke's ear. "Pakkun is a very powerful ninja dog with an excellent sense of smell. As long as there's any scent, he can track the enemy."
"Follow me!"
Pakkun sniffed for two seconds and quickly darted forward.
"Keep up!"
Kakashi's team, along with the Sand Village's senior advisor Chiyo, followed Pakkun toward the direction of Land of River.
Meanwhile, inside a cave within the borders of the Land of Rivers.
Uchiha Itachi sat on a chair, playfully scrutinizing the shadowy humanoid figure before him. "Gaara you asked for, we have already captured him. What's the next step, Black Zetsu?"
Yes, that shadowy humanoid was none other than the long-missing Black Zetsu.
After several consecutive failures, he had no choice but to seek out the Aurora Order, planning a deep collaboration.
Using the power of the God Tree Fruit as bait, he successfully brought the Aurora Order into the plan.
"The next step is how to extract the tailed beast."
In Black Zetsu's eyes as he looked at Uchiha Itachi, there was a mixture of caution and a trace of fear.
Uchiha Itachi was more terrifying than Uchiha Sogetsu, Uchiha Obito, and Uchiha Madara. This guy was unpredictable, and it was obvious he had mental issues.
"How do we extract the tailed beast?"
Uchiha Itachi still sat in his chair, inspecting Black Zetsu with great interest.
"Normally, if you have the Rinnegan, it wouldn't be too troublesome."
Black Zetsu said, somewhat troubled, "But now, without the Rinnegan, we have to forcibly summon the Outer Path Statue, then extract the tailed beast from the jinchūriki."
"How do you summon it?"
Uchiha Itachi asked.
"Leave that to me."
Black Zetsu grinned, "No Rinnegan means it's a bit more troublesome, but give me about ten hours, and I'll have it done."
"Ten hours."
Uchiha Itachi lightly tapped his index finger on the armrest, his eyes flickering. "The people from Konoha seem to have found us. Looks like we need to buy some time, don't you think?"
Black Zetsu bowed respectfully. "No problem. Leave the Konoha people to me."
"Oh?"
Uchiha Itachi looked at Black Zetsu with a playful gaze.
"Pawns? I have plenty of those," Black Zetsu said with a smile.
As he spoke, another figure appeared.
Looking at the newly arrived figure, Black Zetsu's mouth twisted into a chilling, sinister smile. "Then it's up to you. Go stop them."
"Yes."
The figure nodded and vanished into the cave.
The Konoha group who had just arrived in the Land of Rivers immediately bumped into a man dressed in black.
"Enemy reinforcements?"
Kakashi stopped abruptly and stared warily at the mysterious black-clothed man. He raised his caution silently. "Be careful. Until we know his abilities, we can't let our guard down."
"This is... the Aurora Order?!"
Seeing the enemy so close, Chiyo could not control her anger and tore open her scroll.
Two puppets appeared, radiating fierce energy as they lunged at the black-clothed man.
"Leave the job of probing their information to me," Chiyo said.
As a former strongest puppeteer, her puppet control was exquisite.
Although the puppets looked ordinary, their agility far surpassed that of ordinary ninja. They attacked the black-clothed man from front and back.
"Using puppets to probe enemy abilities?"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, and the three tomoe of his Sharingan quietly appeared.
However, just as the two puppets neared the black-clothed man and were about to swing their weapons, a black mist drifted around him.
In the next moment, the puppets suddenly froze in place. Their limbs and joints began to rust severely, emitting harsh mechanical grinding sounds.
"That's... iron sand?!"
With the help of his Sharingan, Sasuke immediately realized the truth behind the black mist.
In the next instant, the mist rapidly solidified into what looked like a pitch-black iron pillar, dragging terrifying pressure as it crashed toward the Konoha squad.
Just then, Sasuke stepped forward boldly, her five fingers clenched into a fist.
Bang!!!
The clash of metal echoed loudly, sending waves of air rushing outward, sweeping across tens of meters around them.
Sasuke's punch directly blasted the iron pillar away. The terrifying power stunned even Kakashi and Sakura standing nearby.
"The strange strength of that young woman Tsunade?" Chiyo immediately recognized it.
Sasuke was using the 'enemy's'—Tsunade's- chakra enhanced punch.
After blasting the iron pillar away, Sasuke landed again and said in a deep voice, "Be careful. That guy can control iron sand. He's tricky!"
"Iron sand, iron sand..." Chiyo's expression grew complicated as she looked at the man in black. On her aged face appeared a trace of disbelief.
"In my memory, the only technique that can manipulate iron sand was the Magnet Release used by the Third Kazekage of the Sand Village."
"The Third Kazekage?!"
At these words, everyone was shocked.
"Is that you, Lord Third Kazekage?"
Chiyo shakily walked toward the man in black, her eyes reddening, still unable to believe it.
But the man in black pulled down his hood, revealing a face that Chiyo knew all too well — the Third Kazekage of the Sand Village, still looking as young as in his prime.
"Long time no see, Chiyo."
The Third Kazekage looked at the aged Chiyo, a hint of nostalgia flashing in his eyes.
"Who would have thought that the desert flower, Chiyo, who once fought me for power, would end up like this."
"Why... why are you helping the Aurora Order?!"
Chiyo's eyes blazed with anger, forcibly suppressing her fury.
"Do you know the Aurora Order kidnapped the Fifth Kazekage?!"
"Is that all you want to say?"
The Third Kazekage sneered, his eyes full of mockery.
"If it's about that, I already knew a long time ago."
"So, you willingly chose to help the Aurora Order?" Chiyo gritted her teeth, loudly questioning.
"You understand nothing, Chiyo."
Iron sand swirled fiercely around the Third Kazekage's body, murder flashing in his eyes.
"The Aurora Order is the hope of the ninja world. For that future, sacrificing a small number of people is worth it!"
*******
Support me on my patreon and read upto 20 early chapters.
https://www.patreon.com/c/Unique_Writer