Ryūnosuke stared at Sasori in disbelief — he couldn't accept it. How could the thirteen-year-old Sasori have harbored intentions to kill him from the start?
Ryūnosuke wanted nothing more than to unleash a single Magnet Release and shred this ungrateful traitor to pieces, but he had already completely lost that ability. He could only watch, helpless, as Sasori's puppet repeatedly pierced his heart — and thus the Third Kazekage, Ryūnosuke, fell.
With the Third Kazekage collapsed on the floor, Sasori gave a small shake of his hands and ten threads of chakra shot from his fingers, attaching themselves to Ryūnosuke's body.
Under Sasori's control, the dead Ryūnosuke made a series of grotesque, robotic movements — a sight that satisfied Sasori greatly. The man who had been called the strongest Kazekage in history still radiated power, even as a puppet.
After erasing every trace of his presence from the Kazekage's office, Sasori sealed Ryūnosuke into a scroll, slung it on his back, and left the building without looking back, heading straight out of the village.
Ryūnosuke was missing.
It wasn't until the next morning that ANBU discovered the grim truth. Also missing was the beloved grandson of Elder Chiyo, the genius puppeteer known as "Sasori of the Red Sand."
Some people connected the two disappearances, but not a single person believed that Sasori of the Red Sand had killed the Third Kazekage. Even Rasa, who had always disliked Sasori, wouldn't think such a thing.
After all, Sasori was just a thirteen-year-old boy, while the Third Kazekage was the strongest Kazekage in history.
Regardless, Sunagakure suddenly found itself leaderless. The village had no choice but to ask Chiyo and the jinchūriki, Bunpuku, to temporarily take over the village.
After a heated high-level meeting, the elders decided to keep the Third Kazekage's disappearance a secret and officially list Sasori as a missing nin, causing Chiyo to storm out of the room in a rage.
Since the Third Kazekage Ryūnosuke had only disappeared and it wasn't confirmed whether he was truly dead, the Suna shinobi could not begin a new Kazekage election. Instead, they dispatched large numbers of Suna shinobi to search everywhere, hoping to find any news of the Third Kazekage.
Sasori's leaving the Land of Wind with the Third Kazekage's puppet had been concealed from most, but it could not escape the notice of White Zetsu, whose eyes and ears were spread throughout the shinobi world.
Uchiha Madara had long since made preparations for this; he had been closely monitoring Sunagakure and Kirigakure for the past three years. Thus, news of Sasori's actions reached Madara's ears almost immediately.
...
In a dim underground cavern, an already extremely weakened Madara listened to White Zetsu's report. Despite his frailty, he rose abruptly and walked to the shinobi-world map, laughing aloud:
"Heaven helps me — truly, heaven helps me," he said.
Madara had been contemplating whether to have White Zetsu provoke a conflict to ignite war, and before he could act, Sunagakure had created a huge problem for itself. With Sunagakure in chaos, the rest of his plan became far easier: the fuse had already been lit; he only needed to strike the match.
Waving his hand, Madara ordered: "Issue the command — let the news of the Third Kazekage's disappearance reach the desks of the major villages within half a month. I will make Nagato truly understand the despair of this world with a great war! Also, keep a close eye on Kirigakure — didn't they recently elevate a new Fourth Mizukage? Monitor him closely; he could become a very useful pawn."
...
While the shinobi world was on the verge of being swept by a tidal wave of conflict, Konoha remained in the calm before the storm.
The entire village of Konoha was mobilized, celebrating together with joy and excitement over a single piece of news: their beloved Fourth Hokage, Tsunade-hime, had finally announced her wedding date.
After knowing each other for thirty years, the Fourth Hokage Tsunade-sama and Hoshiyomi-sama had recently completed their engagement, and they finally decided to hold their wedding at the end of this month.
Even though it had been stated in advance that the two did not plan to make it a grand affair, the villagers still spontaneously wanted to send their blessings to the guardians of their village. Under the leadership of these two great figures, Konoha had weathered its most difficult wartime hardships and introduced many new policies that benefited the common people. Because of these policies, everyone's lives had been improving steadily.
All of this was clear in the eyes of the villagers. In their hearts, Tsunade's influence had already surpassed that of the Third Hokage, and her prestige was second only to the First and Second Hokage. Tsunade might not be the strongest Hokage, but she was certainly the one who cared most for the people. Since she treated the villagers well, the villagers naturally wanted to repay her.
So everyone began hanging lanterns and putting up decorations early, expressing their blessings for the couple in their own way. For a time, the entire Konoha was full of prosperity and festivity, as lively as New Year's.
While the villagers busied themselves with the wedding preparations, the bride and groom themselves were overwhelmed. Despite Hoshiyomi being a man who had lived two lifetimes — together nearly fifty years — this was his first time marrying. Until the wedding drew near, he had never realized just how exhausting marriage preparations could be.
Although most of the arrangements were handled by his mother and Tsunade's mother, Moka, there were still heaps of tasks left on Hoshiyomi's shoulders. In just the past two days, trying on clothes, writing invitations, and decorating the wedding house had kept him running ragged.
Even though they said they wouldn't hold a grand ceremony, given their status as Konoha's current leaders, the wedding's scale could never truly be small. No matter how much they wished to keep it private, there were things Tsunade and Hoshiyomi couldn't avoid — such as the clan heads of all the great Konoha families, who would certainly attend.
And then there were the many others — acquaintances, distant colleagues, high-ranking Konoha officials — some close, some simply looking to curry favor. Even if you didn't send them invitations, they would come forward with gifts. Altogether, these added up to more than a hundred people, and with friends and family on top of that, the numbers alone were enough to give anyone a headache.
But despite the busyness and complaints, Hoshiyomi's heart was ultimately full of joy. After all, this was his and Tsunade's wedding. Thirty years had been more than enough for him to completely integrate into this world. Truthfully, he barely remembered his past life anymore.
Compared to that, the shinobi world of Naruto felt much more like home. He had already made up his mind to build a family with Tsunade. He no longer dreamed of being a savior or ruling over the shinobi world. Now, all he wanted was something simple: to make a home with Tsunade, and live a happy life together.