"There, there, there, there…"
Habara vigorously ruffled the little tiger's head fur while simultaneously stuffing three chakra crystals into its mouth, showcasing both his impressive head-ruffling technique and some remarkably smooth patter.
After completing the Suna support mission and returning to the Land of Fire, Habara and Kakashi hadn't immediately headed back to Konoha. Instead, they detoured south, arriving at the "Artificial Sanctum" nestled in the nameless mountains.
Kakashi stared blankly with his usual dead-fish eyes, his left hand continuously clutching his right shoulder. "Um, can we speed this up a bit? I think I need prompt medical attention right about now."
"Kakashi-senpai, believe me, I miss the beds at Konoha Hospital too," Habara said. "But we still have some unfinished business, don't we? You know, priorities."
Despite his words, he released the summoning beast—which seemed a bit lacking in the intelligence department—and strode deeper into the sanctum. Soon, he entered the familiar cave and approached the large, red gourd.
Kakashi merely followed silently behind Habara. Truth be told, he was far more familiar with this place than Habara was; after all, he'd dug it out bit by bit. Every time he came here, he couldn't help but recall his glorious days as a slave laborer.
This was the location of Daigo's true form. As the master of this sanctum, she had naturally sensed their arrival long before they entered.
"Habara? Did something happen?"
Daigo sounded somewhat puzzled by Habara's sudden appearance. Her "humanoid user interface" was usually stationed in Konoha, allowing for normal communication there. There was typically no need for him to come all the way out here. His unexpected arrival made her wonder if some major crisis had occurred.
Clearly, she was overthinking it.
"It's nothing," Habara explained briefly. "Just that we acquired something quite nice during our last mission, and it happens to make a perfect gift for you."
He paused for dramatic effect, beginning his pitch, "Made from carefully selected, exquisite raw materials, slow-roasted over a low flame for forty-eight days, passed through seventy-two manufacturing processes, hand-polished the entire way, completely natural… and packed full of preservatives—"
"Ahem, okay, maybe I got a bit carried away," Habara coughed, abandoning his ad copy. He pulled out a scroll, undid the seal, and first scattered a pile of iron sand onto the ground. Then, a puppet tumbled out of the scroll, landing atop the sand.
"This is…?" Daigo asked, still confused.
"A puppet made from the corpse of the Third Kazekage," Habara explained. "Hailed as the Strongest Kazekage, he could wield the unique Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai both in life and after death. Once you learn to control this puppet, this place will finally have a proper means of self-defense. In the shinobi world, very few can breach the Third Kazekage's defenses."
This precious, life-sized 'action figure' would significantly compensate for the sanctum's weaknesses. Although Habara and the others had previously set up sufficient barriers, those were all passive defenses. With this puppet, the sanctum gained offensive capabilities.
Combining Daigo's massive chakra reserves with a puppet like the Third Kazekage essentially gave her 'area-clearing' potential.
The Third Kazekage puppet was an extremely powerful shinobi tool; calling it a corpse possessing 'Shadow-level strength' wouldn't be an exaggeration. However, despite its power, it was somewhat superfluous for Habara himself.
Carrying it around would be largely useless, as the Third Kazekage puppet's abilities overlapped with his own, and his own techniques were superior.
Therefore, it made more sense to leave it with Daigo to bolster her strength. With such a puppet, this sanctum would be virtually foolproof.
This brought up an unsolved mystery: Habara still couldn't fathom how the combination of "Sasori of the Red Sand + the Strongest Kazekage" had ever lost to the duo of "decrepit old Chiyo + crippled little Sakura."
Putting that aside, upon hearing Habara's explanation, Daigo began attempting to manipulate the puppet. As a being of pure chakra energy, she inherently had an advantage in controlling puppets. Furthermore, she had been controlling her own physical form for some time, making her quite adept at puppetry in general.
Surely, someone capable of controlling their own puppet body wouldn't be unable to control someone else's, right? Of course, the specifics differed. Daigo's own puppet body was quite primitive, possessing only basic functions. The Third Kazekage puppet, however, was intricately crafted—a top-tier model among puppets. Its operation was naturally more complex, and Daigo certainly couldn't instantly match Sasori's level of control.
However, leveraging her existing experience, Daigo soon managed to make the Third Kazekage puppet hover unsteadily. Then, remarkably, she began experimenting with controlling the iron sand. Sasori's skill truly was exquisite, Habara noted silently; the puppet's construction was practically flawless. Daigo felt her chakra flow through the Kazekage puppet's residual chakra pathways and meridian system, instantly transforming its nature into Magnet Release chakra. With this, she could begin utilizing its various control methods.
"Amazing…"
After playing with the iron sand for a while, Daigo couldn't help but sigh in admiration. Partly, she recognized the immense value of the Kazekage puppet, and partly, experimenting with Magnet Release gave her a firsthand appreciation for the source of Habara's own formidable power.
"Right? I knew you'd like this gift," Habara said with a smile.
If the Third Kazekage knew that even in death he could still serve his enemies, he'd surely be turning over—contentedly, of course—in his grave.
Leaving Daigo to familiarize herself with her new large toy, Habara and Kakashi finally departed for Konoha. Neither had been joking earlier; they genuinely yearned for the beds at Konoha Hospital.
...
Setting aside the mission debriefing and hospital admission that followed the duo's return to Konoha, the crucial point was that the joint mission with Suna had been a success. That made everything else manageable.
In any of the five great shinobi villages, completing a mission was simply expected of a ninja. Failure, conversely, was considered a disgrace, leaving one practically stripped of basic dignity—truly treated as nothing more than an expendable tool.
However, with mission completion came rewards, and those were definitely forthcoming. The original objective—capturing Sasori of the Red Sand—was already an S-rank mission. After Habara and Kakashi provided a full report of the events, including their encounter, their reward was increased significantly. They had found traces of Orochimaru and even engaged him in battle, which was no small matter for Konoha.
Konoha would undoubtedly take action soon in pursuit of the infamous rogue ninja.
But even before Konoha could formulate its response, someone within the village had already received more detailed intelligence regarding Orochimaru.
Several days passed. Habara and Kakashi were still stuck in hospital beds when a summoning snake infiltrated Konoha. Utilizing the village's intricate network of underground pipes, it expertly navigated its way to its destination.
Underground, here lay the sunless domain of Root.
In a room situated in the deepest recesses of the Root headquarters, Danzo Shimura sat silently in a chair, motionless, lost in thought.
One might charitably say he projected an aura of somberness, deep calculation, and unshakeable composure.
Less charitably, this cancerous growth of Konoha festered perpetually in the damp, dark underground, constantly rotting and breeding maggots, stinking up the place.
The messenger snake slithered up the leg of the desk, inch by inch, finally reaching the tabletop. Meeting Danzo's piercing gaze, it coiled its body, showing no fear. Instead, it raised its head high and spat out a scroll.
In the limited imagination of the snake's simple brain cells, it probably didn't conceive that a ninja would harm a harmless summoning beast like itself. In reality, a master like Danzo was akin to a universally detested bratty child in terms of sheer destructive potential; whether it was toads or serpents, he'd kill them without hesitation. Tearing up a patch of turf just because he felt like it wouldn't even be surprising.
However, given that this snake belonged to Orochimaru, Danzo refrained from acting immediately. He knew such communication was unusual. After Orochimaru defected from Konoha, contact between these two schemers had ceased—until this snake appeared before him now.
This was their first contact in a long time, and Danzo afforded it the appropriate level of attention.
Of course, even when dealing with his former subordinate, Danzo remained vigilant. After all, those who plot against others fear most being plotted against themselves.
After confirming the scroll posed no immediate threat, he carefully unrolled it and began reading the text.
Having read it once, Danzo's brow furrowed. He fell silent for a moment, then couldn't resist lowering his head to read it through again…
Tap. Tap. Tap. Danzo tapped his knuckles lightly on the desk surface.
The crisp sound echoed faintly, and a Root ninja quickly appeared before him.
"Lord Danzo, your orders?"
"Several years ago, we collaborated with Hanzo of Amegakure," Danzo began, recalling the events. "The objective was to eliminate a faction of rogue ninja within the Land of Rain. If I remember correctly, that faction consisted of a group of naive young shinobi…"
"Yes, sir," replied the ninja who appeared before Danzo—clearly someone from an intelligence post. Prompted by Danzo, he only needed a moment's thought to recall the mission from years past. "Regarding that operation, the intelligence provided by Amegakure was flawed, resulting in heavy casualties among our forces."
The ninja didn't know why Danzo was suddenly bringing this up, but he adhered strictly to a subordinate's duty: answer what is asked, and remain ignorant of what isn't pertinent.
"Retrieve the complete file for that mission. I want to review it now," Danzo commanded.
"Yes, Lord Danzo."
It had to be said, although Orochimaru was the Third Hokage's student, more often than not, he shared the same stench as Danzo Shimura.
A nest of snakes and rats, indeed.