The sudden appearance of the Third Kazekage completely caught Chiyo off guard. As he slowly stepped into the room, his voice rang out clearly with every word: "This turbulent Ninja World needs a new order. To achieve that, the power of Sunagakure alone is not enough. That's why I established the Zero Organization."
Chiyo's eyes widened as realization hit. "So that's it," she said.
"That's right," the Kazekage replied meaningfully. "After being missing for so long, you didn't really think I'd been stuck in the ruins all this time, did you?"
Hearing this, Chiyo felt like she finally understood everything. After a brief silence, she said solemnly, "Lord Kazekage, I'd like to join this organization too."
Understanding her request, the Kazekage first showed surprise before grasping her intentions. He hesitated before saying, "Sasori has already grown up. He doesn't need you watching over him constantly. If you join the organization, you might act emotionally. I need to think about this."
Chiyo didn't insist and simply nodded. "Okay."
The Kazekage continued, "Since you've returned, give me a detailed report on how this battle unfolded."
"Yes, sir." Chiyo began her explanation about the fight against Konoha with a serious tone, completely unaware that at that moment, the Kazekage and Sasori shared an eerily similar expression.
As Chiyo finished her explanation, the Kazekage's eyes flickered slightly. He said to her, "Go activate the village barrier. Someone's coming."
Confused but obedient, Chiyo nodded. "Alright."
Beside her, Sasori wore a faint smile as he followed Chiyo outside.
Seeing this, Chiyo assumed Sasori was happy about her request to join the organization and felt greatly pleased.
Once the barrier was activated, they saw a familiar puppet flying toward them from across the desert.
Distant memories surged back: "That's the Hawk Puppet. Kurotsuchi... he's actually come here."
The newcomers were none other than Anya and Kakuzu, who had hurried here. After landing, Anya retracted her puppet and walked toward the two figures. To avoid drawing attention, both wore masks. Anya also activated the puppet mark Sasori had given her, giving advance notice of her arrival.
Seeing both of them come out to greet her, and noticing Chiyo hadn't immediately attacked, Anya already understood—Sasori must have kept her under control. Sighing with relief, she stepped forward. "Lady Chiyo, hello again. It's been a while."
Although the Third Kazekage's words had eased Chiyo's murderous intent toward Anya, she still disliked her due to her complicated identity and responded only with a cold acknowledgment.
Sasori didn't care about Chiyo's attitude. He stepped closer and gave Anya a quick hug. "Big Brother Kurotsuchi, long time no see."
Anya chuckled. "Hmm, not that long. How have you been lately?"
Sasori understood the hidden meaning behind Anya's question—he wanted to know exactly how much control Sasori had gained over [Ryumyaku Chakra Control]. Excitedly, Sasori replied, "Big Brother Kurotsuchi, come with me. Let me show you my latest achievement."
Without waiting, Sasori grabbed Anya's hand and pulled her toward his puppet research base, leaving the two older people behind.
"Wait a moment."
Anya pulled out some fishing gear from her belongings and said, "Since I'm back, I'll go see Master first. I'll find you later. Oh, and Hercules wants to join Sunagakure. Lord Kazekage will need to make some arrangements for that."
Sasori could only nod and said, "Okay, follow me then."
After Sasori left with Kakuzu, Anya turned to Chiyo and asked, "Is Master in the village?"
"My younger brother is already so old, where else could he possibly go?" Chiyo glanced at the items in Anya's hands, her expression softening slightly. "Come with me."
Water resources were extremely scarce in Sunagakure Village. Because of this, Chiyo and Ebizō had built a small pond inside their home where they often fished for fun.
When they walked into the house, Ebizō was sitting there fishing with a fishing rod, his whole body swaying like a wobbly doll, seemingly asleep.
Anya couldn't understand the appeal of the scene at all.
"Little brother, wake up, your student has come to visit you," Chiyo called out.
Ebizō showed no reaction at all, appearing deeply asleep.
Chiyo suddenly shouted, "Fish! Biting!"
Still half-asleep, Ebizō reflexively jolted awake and quickly lifted his fishing rod, but it was completely empty.
Fully awake now, Ebizō shot his sister a resentful look and sighed helplessly.
Then his gaze fell on Anya, who had already removed her mask. Who is this? She looked familiar... He just couldn't recall immediately.
Smiling, Anya stepped forward and said, "Master, long time no see. You're still the same, loving fishing. This is some new fishing gear I bought, please accept it."
"Aren't you Kurotsuchi?" Ebizō, from that simple word 'master,' finally fully awakened. He stared at Anya in disbelief, taking a good long look before finally saying, "It's really you! You didn't die. So where have you been all these years?"
Ebizō had always genuinely liked Anya as a student, even planning to pass down his legacy to her. Unfortunately, news of her death arrived on the very first day of battle, leaving Ebizō heartbroken for a long time. He never expected to see her alive again today.
"She was assigned a secret mission by the Kazekage, so she couldn't return," Chiyo explained.
After hearing this, Ebizō quickly asked, "Now that you've returned, will you leave again?"
Anya replied, "I'm afraid I can only stay for half a day. Being seen here in Sunagakure Village now would be too risky."
Since Ebizō worked in intelligence, he understood exactly what Anya meant. He tightly gripped Anya's hand and said, "You've endured so much all these years."
Moved by Ebizō's genuine concern, Anya felt a pang of guilt and picked up the fallen fishing rod from the ground, saying, "Master, let me fish with you for a while."
Ebizō laughed aloud and said, "Great! Let me try out this fishing gear you bought."
With limited time, Anya prepared to leave after a while. Ebizō took out a scroll from his belongings and unhesitatingly shoved it directly into Anya's hands.
Next to them, Chiyo, upon seeing this scroll, revealed an expression of shock, seemed about to say something, but finally just sighed without speaking further.
Arriving at the Kazekage's Office, several members of the Organization reunited once more. After Sasori casually set up a barrier, Mabui immediately ran over and shouted, "You finally came! I need to get out of here!"
"Why? Did Sasori bully you?" Anya glanced at Sasori.
"What do you *think*?"
"Look at this pile of documents on the table. All of them are my responsibility. The thing is, I don't know much about Sunagakure Village. I even went to ask Sasori about some of these files, and do you know what he said? Sasori told me to figure it out myself. I'm not the Kazekage, so how am I supposed to know what to do? Ever since joining this organization, I haven't gotten a decent night's sleep." Mabui grew more emotional as she spoke, her eyes turning red with anger.
"Sasori, you've gone too far," Anya scolded before patting Mabui's shoulder in comfort. "Try thinking differently. Actually, right now—you're acting as the Kazekage. With Sunagakure's current state, you can mess around however you want. It's not your village — Sunagakure — so there's no need to take it that seriously."
"No matter what you say today, I'm leaving for sure. Unless you damn well kill me," Mabui must have been furious to let such harsh words slip out.
Anya gave Sasori and Kakuzu a desperate look before saying, "Looks like our girl Mabui's really mad. How do we calm her down? Need advice fast."
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