The entrance to the Sand Hidden Village.
The Red Sand Scorpion sighed helplessly, "Deidara, it seems I can't wait for you to return this time."
After being defeated and captured, the Red Sand Scorpion had no intention of rescuing him.
Although he boasted of his strength, it was still insufficient against an entire ninja village.
Even the tank-like Third Raikage was killed after wrestling with 10,000 Shinobi for three days and nights.
Moreover, he was a relatively fragile puppet master. Facing swarming ninja troops, he would only perish.
The Puppet Master's defense and attack power were low; his damage mainly relied on poison.
"Found it!"
Just as the Red Sand Scorpion was about to retreat, Kankuro rushed over with ninja troops from Sunagakure Village.
They spotted the shape immediately—the strange red sand scorpion was definitely not a ninja from the Hidden Sand Village.
"Puppet show!"
Kankuro was excited to have found his enemy. Without hesitation, he unleashed his three puppets from their sealed scroll.
"Intruder, I will make you pay," Kankuro said proudly, not noticing the disappointment in the Red Sand Scorpion's eyes.
"After so many years, Sand Hidden Village's puppetry skills haven't improved at all."
"The puppets I created back then still haven't been eliminated."
The Red Sand Scorpion spoke slowly as the tail stabbed toward Kankuro.
Kankuro fought with his puppets but was defeated, laid out like a vegetable.
The puppets Kankuro used were all transformed from the Red Sand Scorpion. It was strange that someone could defeat him.
---
Kazekage Office
This time, although Sunagakure Village lost Deidara as a teammate, it brought back several former subordinates.
After dealing with them, the Red Sand Scorpion left with his men without hesitation.
When Kankuro rushed back to the street, he brought the others here.
The Hidden Sand Village ninjas did not last long.
The Red Sand Scorpion knew each of Kankuro's puppets' weaknesses and easily dismantled them.
"Kazekage-sama, Kankuro-sama is injured," a Sunagakure ninja reported, bringing Gaara back to his senses after confusion.
"Let's discuss this later."
"My brother is injured; I need to check on him," Gaara said solemnly to Zenkichi, then prepared to leave with the ninja who came in.
"You all, please entertain Mr. Zenkichi!"
Gaara called a few ANBU ninjas and asked them to stay and keep Zenkichi company.
After all, where Zenkichi was—the Kazekage office—was a place full of secrets.
Gaara would not feel at ease leaving Zenkichi there alone.
"I know some medical ninjutsu. Let me go with you!" Zenkichi said with a chuckle, uninterested in staying put.
"That's good!"
Thinking of Zenkichi's powerful skills, Gaara agreed.
---
Sunagakure Village Clinic
A group of medical ninjas were busy tending to unconscious Kankuro, collecting blood data and applying medical ninjutsu.
"Kankuro-sama has been poisoned by a powerful toxin. We can't resolve it here."
"But Kazekage-sama, don't worry, we've already sent for Chiyo and Ebizo."
After Gaara's capture in the original timeline, Chiyo and Ebizo took a long time to descend the mountain.
That was because no one dared to seek them without permission. But now, things were different.
Gaara, the Kazekage, was here; no one dared take his brother's injury lightly.
Without Gaara's orders, someone would have already requested Chiyo and Ebizo's help.
At this moment, two elderly walked in—it was Chiyo and Ebizo.
Chiyo approached Kankuro expressionless, examined his condition, then moved to a pile of medicinal herbs to prepare remedies.
After a while, Chiyo returned and placed a pill into Kankuro's mouth.
"My medicine treats symptoms but not the root cause," Chiyo said. "An excellent medical ninja is needed to detoxify him."
Gaara thought briefly before deciding, "An excellent medical ninja? Ask Konoha for help."
The best medical ninja in the world today was Tsunade, Konoha's Fifth Hokage.
Gaara and Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha were good friends. In such matters, he decisively sought help from Konoha.
After taking the pill, Kankuro slowly awoke.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he said to Gaara, "I discovered the invasion. The attacker was an accomplice of the killer, but i failed to defeat him, and the attacker escaped."
"But I got an important clue. The intruder seemed to be a rebellious ninja from Sunagakure Village. He personally told me that the three puppets I used were all modified by him."
"I didn't believe it at first, but seeing how easily he found and destroyed the weaknesses of my puppets, I do now. However, I don't know which puppet master modified those three puppets."
Chiyo asked, "Which models are the puppets?"
Kankuro named his three puppets, and Chiyo's face suddenly turned pale.
Gaara noticed and asked quickly, "Grandma Chiyo, did you recognize something?"
Chiyo hesitated before replying, "The one who modified those puppets was my grandson, Sasori. But he disappeared many years ago. I thought someone might be impersonating him."
Zenkichi said calmly, "As far as I know, the Red Sand Scorpion is not dead. In my world, he poisoned the Third Kazekage and transformed him into a human puppet…"
Before Zenkichi finished, everyone looked at him in horror.
"What did you say?" Chiyo stared at him seriously.
Ebizo looked at Zenkichi with a murderous glare and said, "Kazekage-sama, who is this person? We are discussing Sunagakure here. Not everyone should overhear important village matters."
Zenkichi smiled gently, "Don't bluff; that only exposes your guilty conscience and weakness. Don't threaten me; it won't scare me."
"If you wonder why… in my world, you were still in your prime and peak strength, yet you were easily killed by me."
"Now that you are old and frail, I can send you to meet the First Kazekage with just a few gestures. Your bravado seems ridiculous, so let's end this farce."
Zenkichi spoke calmly, but his words shocked everyone present.
"Kazekage-sama, what exactly is going on?" Chiyo suddenly turned to Gaara and asked sharply.
Gaara had no choice but to explain what Zenkichi had just said.
---
┌(・.・)┘♪
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