The goddess's cooking… wasn't as bad as he had feared. But it wasn't exactly good either.
Just… average.
Should he say, as expected of a goddess?
She really was multi-talented.
Looked like Black Zetsu might finally get a chance to taste his mother's cooking someday.
As for all that nonsense about how Black Zetsu and White Zetsu don't need to eat, don't poop, and whatever else… What did that have to do with him?
Right now, Rasa had a splitting headache as he read over that morning's reports.
Just as he'd suspected… first thing in the morning, a number of shinobi from the factories expressed extreme dissatisfaction with Advisor Ebizō's unauthorized act of intercepting people outside the village.
Seriously, that old bastard…
There were barely over two hundred workers total—yet he had forcibly snatched away nearly 90% of them! Around 180 people, leaving less than 30 for all the other factories.
That was brutal.
Word had it that the Suna-nin escorting the workers had flat-out refused to hand them over at first.
I mean, come on—they couldn't just hand over people outside the village gate simply because the person demanding it was an old advisor.
What if something went wrong?
According to the Kazekage's orders and Lord Momu's instructions, this batch of workers had to be brought into the village for proper registration and reassignment.
Surely even an elder of the village would know not to break shinobi protocols.
Once a mission is assigned, unless the Kazekage personally issues new orders, everything has to go according to plan.
So what happened?
An overzealous rookie met a sly old fox...
Well—you can imagine the rest.
Right after insisting on protocol, every last Suna-nin escorting the workers mysteriously collapsed in the desert. By the time they woke up, night had fallen—and the two hundred or so Land of Rain civilians they had been guarding?
Gone.
Not a single one remained.
Panicked, assuming they had fallen into a trap laid by an enemy village, they rushed back to Suna to report directly to the Kazekage... only to learn—
All of those Land of Rain civilians had already been registered.
Only about thirty had remained behind.
The rest?
All personally taken by Elder Ebizo.
"This damned old hag. That was dirty," Rasa muttered, rubbing his forehead in frustration.
Didn't I tell him to be careful? Couldn't he have left at least half of them behind?!
And now?
All that was left was scraps.
He shook his head, then quickly put on a serious face as he looked at the factory supervisor in front of him—High-Ranking Jonin Kisa, the refinery's administrator—who stood there fuming with rage.
"This has caused a major disruption," Rasa said solemnly. "Don't worry, Sunagakure absolutely will not tolerate anyone abusing their authority or obstructing the village's progress. I will personally go and severely reprimand Advisor Ebizo to make sure he understands the gravity of this situation—and that it never happens again."
"..."
Kisa stared at Rasa's stern expression and hesitated. "But… there are only thirty people left—"
He didn't get to finish.
Instead, he snapped to attention.
"Understood! Lord Kazekage is righteous and impartial—our most trustworthy leader!"
Complain further?
Complain again and he'd be sent to work with Ebizo like that idiot Teishi.
Didn't he see the Kazekage was clearly trying to brush this whole thing aside?
Looks like Lord Kazekage couldn't bring himself to punish someone who's contributed so much to the village…
Still, Ebizo really messed up this time. Why hadn't he consulted Rasa first?
Now even the Kazekage was stuck cleaning up his mess.
After all, shinobi must obey orders.
And Ebizo's actions had blatantly violated that rule.
"If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave!"
"...This guy~"
Rasa gave a faint smile and shook his head, silent for a few moments.
"Not bad, actually."
As for getting the people back?
That was a pipe dream. Once Ebizo had swallowed them up, there was no prying them loose again.
But next time?
"If this happens again, I'll have Pakura fetch them personally."
...
In the end—
Kabuto still managed to get himself hired.
After all, he played the "tragic orphan" card—alone, parentless, and struggling to survive. And just as expected, the Rain-nin eventually let him in.
But now…
He didn't see a single Suna-nin around.
According to the Rain-nin, Amegakure had entered into a formal partnership with Sunagakure. This current batch of workers would soon be transferred directly to Suna's mines. The work would be hard and exhausting, but the pay was slightly better in return.
However…
They had to wait until tomorrow. Only then would the Suna-nin arrive to pick them up.
If one performed well on the job, they might even get a chance to be sent to Sunagakure for advanced training.
So...
Tomorrow, huh?
Kabuto sat with a polite smile, subtly watching the two mysterious ninja across the room—Sasori and Hebi.
As for Uncle Mizogure—he had taken leave to return to his village for the night, saying he'd be back by noon tomorrow.
Kabuto assumed the old man had gone home to spread the news.
Of course, none of that mattered to him as a Suna-nin. His mission was clear:
Figure out who those two mysterious shinobi are.
Why were they here?
What was their target—Amegakure, or Sunagakure?
Especially that one who seemed like a puppeteer...
He had to get to the bottom of it.
Looks like I'll need to get a message to Sunagakure.
If they were rogue ninja, they'd need to be captured and taken back to the village.
If they were spies from another hidden village—same deal.
What?
They were in the Land of Rain?
Who cares? He was a Suna-nin.
If they caught the spies, then they had the right to bring them back to Sunagakure.
Kabuto furrowed his brows slightly, eyes flashing with a calculating glint. He adjusted his glasses, reached his right hand behind him—and carefully released a small, ant-shaped puppet.
It was a custom-modified version of the Black Ant puppet originally designed by Sasori of the Red Sand.
Small, tough, and equipped with a hidden compartment in its abdomen—perfect for transmitting written messages or coded intel.
Kabuto sent it crawling toward the path where the Suna-nin were expected to arrive tomorrow.
If the escort included a puppeteer, they'd be able to spot it easily.
After all, this little toy had been seen plenty of times back in the village—no one would mistake it.
When he was done, Kabuto's puppet clone remained seated in the small rundown room, smiling softly as he kept an eye on the two mysterious ninja.
His real body?
It had already slipped out with the ant.
He couldn't afford to get too close—nor too far.
Positioning himself near the village gates would be just right.
...
Under the cover of night—
The small mechanical ant crept silently up a pillar near the village gate, completely unnoticed.
Satisfied that everything had gone according to plan, Kabuto smiled from the shadows and nodded to himself.
Then, he quietly disappeared.
But what he didn't realize was—
Not long after he left, a strange wooden bird silently landed on the same pillar.
It pecked the spot gently once—then spread its wings and vanished into the night.
At that exact moment—
Inside the room, Sasori glanced sideways with an eerie glint in his eye, watching the quiet kid sitting calmly on the bed.
A puppeteer, huh?
Then he turned his gaze to the other side—where Hebi lay on his bed, still and silent.
"Hebi"? He's a ninja too?!
A puppeteer… and a guy named Hebi…
Were they both from Sunagakure?
Snake eats scorpion.
The thought made Sasori frown.
Has Sunagakure already discovered my secret? But if so… why haven't they made a move yet?
Could it be they weren't confident enough?