"Damn... those bastards, I will definitely not let them go!"
Realizing that he was too late, Naruto slammed his fist on the rock wall of the cave and shouted in frustration.
"The smell disappears here; the other party should have used the Flying Raijin Technique to leave." Kakashi pulled down his forehead protector to cover his left eye.
"Kakashi-sensei, Sato... there is a message on the wall over there."
At this time, Hinata, who had been keeping her Byakugan active, suddenly pointed to a wall and spoke.
After everyone got closer, they saw some writing on it.
But when Chiyo read these words, her expression became very complicated, and she said: "Kazekage was killed, and the other party's body was taken by the Second Tsuchikage... accurately hit by someone who is good at playing with souls."
The reason why her expression looked complicated wasn't just depression or anger.
It was because....
Chiyo discovered that these words were left by her grandson.
In other words, her grandson is not dead, but he is unwilling to meet her.
"Since the Kazekage was killed, it means that our mission is over."
Sato put on his Anbu mask again and asked Team 7: "I'm going back to report these things to Lady Hokage. Do you want to go back with us?"
"Let's forget it; you go back first."
Kakashi glanced at Chiyo absent-mindedly, shook his head at Sato, and said.
As one of Konoha's Elite Jōnin, Sato also understood Kakashi's meaning.
If it were Temari who had come with them, then Team 7 could return with the special team.
But the one following them was one of the elders of Sunagakure, so they needed to escort her back to the village safely. Otherwise, if something happened to Chiyo on the road, it could easily cause conflicts between the two countries.
Especially in the current situation, Kazekage Gaara has been confirmed to have been killed. If Sunagakure loses another respected elder, then Sunagakure might blame Konoha again.
Therefore, Team 7 must escort Chiyo back to the village before returning to Konoha.
"This is my Flying Raijin Kunai. If you encounter any accidents, you can infuse Chakra into it."
Sato nodded, took out a Flying Raijin Kunai, and handed it to Kakashi. Then, he put a hand on each of Hinata and Karin's shoulders, and with a Flying Raijin, took them back from the Land of Rivers to his home in Konoha.
As soon as he got home, Sato went to the Hokage building to report the mission to Tsunade.
"What? Reanimation Jutsu... the Five Kage of the past?"
Hearing the words Reanimation Jutsu, Tsunade stood up subconsciously and immediately thought of that man: "Is it Orochimaru? Could it be that he returned to the Akatsuki organization?"
"The Reanimation Jutsu user was the Second Tsuchikage, but it was just a Fission Clone of the Second Tsuchikage."
Sato started to act, frowning as he said: "More importantly, the Second Tsuchikage had already perished with Kirigakure's Second Mizukage in the First Ninja World War, but he didn't have any traces of the Reanimation Jutsu on him."
"It's either his Fission Clone, using the Transformation Technique to cover up the traces, or it's a special 'resurrection' by a guy who is good at playing with souls and put him on the front lines."
Hearing this, Tsunade also calmed down, sat back in her chair again, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and said in a deep voice: "If there is someone else, it should be that the Akatsuki organization has obtained the Reanimation Jutsu through Orochimaru."
"And without anyone noticing, they sneaked into the cemeteries of the Five Great Ninja Villages and stole the corpses or body tissues of the Five Kage of the past."
"No matter which one it is, we need to re-evaluate the danger level of the Akatsuki organization."
"Now that the Kazekage has been killed, we must disclose the purpose of the Akatsuki organization to other ninja villages so that they can take care of their own Jinchūriki."
After speaking, Tsunade smiled at Sato again: "You did a good job. If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known that the Nine-Tails in Naruto's body was only half."
"Your decision will make Naruto another major asset against the Akatsuki organization."
"From the fact that Akatsuki broke into Sunagakure and captured their Fifth Kazekage, it can already be seen that their coveting of Tailed Beasts is undisguised, and time is very unfavorable to us."
"So when Naruto and the others come back, I'm going to let you, Jiraiya, and Karin help Naruto master the power of the Nine-Tails."
".....Understood."
Sato nodded; he was thinking about it.
Only if Naruto becomes stronger—plus himself, who holds Wood Style.
After Nagato's death, Uchiha Obito, who would be unable to deal with Konoha alone, would choose to join forces with Yomi or Yakushi Kabuto to launch the Fourth Ninja World War just like in the original story.
In this way, I can use their hands to extract the Nine-Tails from Naruto's body and restore the Ten-Tails to its complete form.
After chatting with Tsunade for a few more words, Sato left the Hokage's office.
Walking out of the Hokage building, Sato didn't go home immediately but went to the gate of the Ninja Academy, waiting for Hanabi to finish her class.
At this point in time, it wasn't long before the end of the school day. Therefore, Sato went to pick up his sister-in-law on the way.
The arrival of Sato undoubtedly gave Hanabi a surprise.
"Sato Big Brother...."
After school was over, Hanabi walked out of the school with two female classmates...
After seeing Sato standing under a tree, she trotted over with surprise on her face. There was still more than one meter away from Sato, and Hanabi rushed over directly.
And Sato also bent down and reached out to hug Hanabi.
"Sato Big Brother, when did you come back?"
Sitting in Sato's arms, Hanabi was not afraid that when she came to class tomorrow, someone would laugh at her for being so big yet wanting to be hugged by a big brother. Instead, she hugged Sato's neck with both hands and asked with a sweet smile.
"I just came back. This mission was more complicated, so it took a week," Sato simply explained.
Then he put Hanabi down, held his sister-in-law's little hand, and walked home with her.
On the way home, Sato took Hanabi past Ino's flower shop to see if Ino had returned home.
This time, in the flower shop, he saw his familiar lover.
And Ino also seemed to be aware of Sato's gaze and couldn't help turning her head to look over.
"Sato, you are back!"
As soon as their eyes met, Sato saw a bright smile on Ino's face. She trotted out and threw herself into Sato's arms just like Hanabi did just now.
Maybe it's because of the height difference. Except for the shy Hinata who rarely does it, all the girls Sato knows like to throw themselves into his arms. It is also through this kind of behavior that Sato can detect who has grown up every once in a while.
"Just came back. When did you come back?"
Holding the little hands of Ino and Hanabi one by one, Sato and Ino closed the door of the flower shop together and then returned home while chatting with Ino.
"We came back five days ago, and just after we got home, we heard from Hanabi that you guys went out to do missions again."
"Well, we went to reinforce Team 7. There was an accident at Sunagakure. I will tell you when we get home."
"Hmm... It's rare that everyone is at home. Do you want to have a dinner at home?"
"Okay, let's do it tomorrow. I just want to rest today."
"Hee hee... It seems that these past few days, Hinata and Karin have drained you, Sato!"
Smack—
A hand chop landed on Ino's head. Sato said with black lines all over his forehead: "Idiot, don't say these words in front of children."
"I was wrong, hee hee..."
Ino stuck out her tongue immediately, then took Sato's arm and laughed again.
Neither of them saw it, but Hanabi's little face flushed red with her head lowered.
Obviously, she understood the conversation between Sato and Ino.
Sister-in-law has really grown up