Granny Chiyo was old.
At over sixty years of age, she had thought she would spend the rest of her days alone. Yet seeing the strong young man behind her, she couldn't help but feel slightly pleased.
"What are you trying to do to an old lady?!" she cried out in fear.
As if! You're faking it big time!
Ye Liang instinctively knocked away the shuriken aimed at him and nervously pinned Granny Chiyo to the ground.
Just as Chiyo screamed, a shuriken shot straight toward Ye Liang's face from between her fingers. If it weren't for Ye Liang's quick reflexes, he would have been scarred by now!
"Damn it, so it really was you who killed the Fourth Kazekage! I've always known you Konoha shinobi were no good! Shouldn't have wasted my breath talking to you!"
Granny Chiyo struggled to escape Ye Liang's grip, writhing violently—but to no avail.
"The Fourth is dead?"
Ye Liang was completely confused.
"No wonder everyone looked at me with hostility when we arrived—it must be because they lost their leader!"
It suddenly dawned on him.
Still, something puzzled him. The Fourth Kazekage was someone on par with Hiruzen Sarutobi—how could he just die like that? And according to Chiyo, he was even killed by Ye Liang himself?
Ye Liang shook his head.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but the Kazekage's death has nothing to do with us—we only arrived in the Land of Wind today."
"Hmph! Still trying to trick me?! What kind of people are you Konoha shinobi anyway?! Don't take me for a fool! You're all ruthless bastards!"
After finishing her words, Chiyo spat directly at Ye Liang, clearly showing her disbelief.
Ye Liang felt helpless.
He calmly wiped the spit off his face and released his grip on Chiyo.
"If I'm not mistaken, you should be one of Sunagakure's advisors—Granny Chiyo, right?"
"How did you find out?"
"Forget how I found out. I also know why you hate Konoha so much—it's because your son was killed by a Konoha ninja. But that was personal revenge. Please, don't let this private grudge interfere with the friendly relations being built between our villages."
"You… you understand nothing!"
"I understand everything!"
Ye Liang shrugged.
Chiyo's son was also a jonin from Sunagakure. At the peak of his life, he encountered none other than Sakumo Hatake on a mission.
Sakumo Hatake was Kakashi's father—and also known across the ninja world as the Legend of the White Fang!
This guy was no pushover. It was said he wiped out entire battalions of over a thousand enemy ninja in battle—truly a merciless legend!
Unfortunately, Chiyo's son crossed paths with this legendary warrior.
Well, technically, even if he'd encountered him, it wouldn't have been a big deal—
But her son was weak, and insisted on provoking trouble…
In the end, he not only got himself killed, but dragged down his wife—who was on the same mission—with him. Two lives lost in one fell swoop.
That was exactly why Granny Chiyo harbored such hatred for Konoha. Especially after seeing the White Fang's son here today—Kakashi!
"I see! It must've been that old man Hiruzen who told you all this! Makes sense—if he sent you as an envoy to Sunagakure, naturally he'd tell you all these details!"
"Alright, you caught me!"
"All right, fine." Ye Liang sighed, resigned. That was the only explanation he could offer for now.
"We just arrived at Sunagakure today. If you don't believe me, check the neighboring villages—we left traces of our presence there."
"Also, I can tell your village has already started stabilizing again. That means the Kazekage must have died some time ago. So, this has nothing to do with us!"
"Are you sure it wasn't you? Could it be a Transformation Jutsu?"
"If you're gonna play hard to get, we've got nothing left to talk about!"
Ye Liang turned and started walking away. If they insisted on blaming them, there was no point in explaining further.
"Wait! Wait a second."
Chiyo finally hesitated.
As Ye Liang had said, if she wanted to confirm whether they had committed the assassination, all she needed to do was investigate the neighboring villages. Besides, they wouldn't have come here deliberately to fall into a trap.
"Believe me now?"
"Hmm."
"Then why don't you explain properly why you suspected Konoha? It really doesn't make sense." Ye Liang asked patiently.
Chiyo didn't answer but instead led Ye Liang toward a cabinet.
She pulled three keys out from inside her robe and unlocked it.
It was a custom lock mechanism!
Inside was a forehead protector bearing scratched marks—a leaf insignia etched with scars.
"What is this?"
Ye Liang picked up the protector and immediately understood why Sunagakure had suspected Konoha.
This was the forehead protector of a Konoha rogue ninja!
The scratches indicated a rogue ninja, while the leaf symbol was Konoha's emblem!
"This was found at the crime scene, which is why we suspect your Hidden Leaf Village was responsible."
"I see," Ye Liang nodded slightly. "I've got an idea who attacked your Kazekage. But I'm still figuring out what they're after."
"Who was it?"
"I can't say yet. But as long as you follow my plan, I guarantee we'll catch him!"
Chiyo nodded.
As long as Ye Liang could ensure the culprit was captured, the entire incident could be completely resolved.
As one of Sunagakure's advisors, she naturally didn't want a full-scale conflict with Konoha over this matter, because ultimately, Sunagakure would be the one to lose.
"In that case, I'll go back to prepare for the plan. Should anything come up later, I'll send someone to inform you."
"Alright."
Ye Liang nodded and quickly returned to his lodging.
...
The Inn.
After calling Kakashi out and giving him some instructions, Ye Liang fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning,
"I'll head back to report back on the mission. You guys can hang out here for a while if you want—have fun!" With that, Ye Liang walked out of the village.
What's going on?
Just like that? He's leaving?
Obito blanked out for a second.
He sat on the sand dunes, speechless for a long time.
"Since the teacher gave us some free time, let's go and have some fun!" Rin Nohara said cheerfully.
"Yeah," Kakashi nodded, though a shadow passed through his gaze.
"I wonder why the teacher didn't tell Obito anything—he was supposed to be the core part of this mission?" Kakashi shook his head, but since it was Ye Liang's decision, he didn't dwell on it further.
With their plans finalized, the group went straight to Sunagakure Village's marketplace.
The street vendors were still there, but when they looked at Kakashi and his group, their expressions turned grim.
"Chief! Advisor Chiyo said they weren't involved. Why are we arresting them?"
"Don't ask questions. It's an order from above."
"Understood!"
Taking advantage of Kakashi's group slightly lowering their guard, several street vendors immediately launched an attack.
[Fire Release - Great Fireball Jutsu!]
Obito instantly fired back. Although Ye Liang had told them not to start any trouble, Obito always felt something was off about the situation, so he remained on high alert.
Kakashi also unleashed a Lightning Release jutsu with full force, but it was immediately disrupted by a shuriken from one of the vendors.
"A shuriken actually disrupted a Lightning Release? That can't be real!"
Uchiha Obito was stunned!
Then, he watched as Kakashi and Rin were quickly knocked unconscious by their attackers.
"Rin!"
"F***! You've got a death wish for touching my woman!"
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