After finishing his training and returning to the base, Shindai sneezed several times.
Shindai touched his forehead; his temperature was normal, so it wasn't a cold.
Shindai rubbed his nose and muttered, "Which bastard is thinking of me? If I don't know who it is, then it's uniformly Obito, anyway, everything is Obito's fault!"
...
The next day, in Hidden Sand Village.
Several Ninja found Chiyo and Ebizo drinking tea.
"Chiyo Advisor, Ebizo Advisor, the Sandaime suddenly disappeared. Do you know where he went, Chiyo Advisor?"
Chiyo wondered, "I don't know. Have you searched other places?"
"We've searched everywhere, the entire Hidden Sand Village, and even some hidden places within the Village, but there's no trace of the Sandaime."
Chiyo guessed, "Could it be that the Sandaime left the Village for somewhere?"
Ebizo frowned slightly, "That's not right, Sister. If the Sandaime were to leave the Village, he would never just leave without saying a word."
Chiyo's expression also grew serious. "Speaking of which, I've had an inexplicable feeling of unease since last night, but the Sandaime was still in the Village yesterday, and his strength is also very great. Even if he were attacked, there wouldn't be absolutely no commotion."
Ebizo gave instructions to the Ninja, "Regardless, first find the Sandaime. Perhaps he is still in the Village, and some places were overlooked. Then, dispatch a team of Ninja to search near the Village's outskirts as well! Report any findings to us immediately."
"Yes!"
The Sunagakure Ninja began searching for the Third Kazekage inside and outside Hidden Sand Village.
Ebizo noticed Chiyo's hand holding the teacup was trembling. "Sister?"
Chiyo put down the teacup in her hand and said gravely, "Ebizo, I have a very bad premonition right now. You stay here, I'll go check on Sasori!"
Before Ebizo could reply, Chiyo had already left in a hurry.
Chiyo arrived at Sasori's house, calling for Sasori.
Chiyo's brows furrowed tighter and tighter as she murmured, "Why isn't Sasori here either?"
Just as Chiyo was about to leave, she noticed something strange on the ground near a shelf.
There were obvious drag marks on the ground around this shelf, and such marks would only appear from frequent dragging.
Chiyo moved the shelf based on the marks on the ground and discovered an underground passage.
Seeing this passage, Chiyo's heart began to beat faster and faster.
With a feeling of unease, Chiyo walked into the underground passage and quickly entered a hidden room.
When Chiyo entered the room, she smelled an extremely unpleasant odor.
This hidden room was very clean, which was completely at odds with the smell.
Because the room was not ventilated, the smell could not dissipate at all.
Chiyo's expression darkened; she was very familiar with this smell.
The smell of decaying blood.
Something must have happened in this room, and it must have been something bad.
Chiyo, with a heavy heart, walked out of the basement.
"Sister!"
As soon as she left the room, Chiyo heard Ebizo's call. Chiyo subconsciously put the shelf back in place, not letting Ebizo discover the basement.
Chiyo asked, "Ebizo, what's wrong?"
Ebizo handed a scroll to Chiyo. "This was found in the sand not far outside the Village. It was buried in the sand when found, meaning it must have happened last night. After a night of wind, the sand buried the scroll, and faint traces of blood can be seen on the surrounding sand."
Chiyo opened the scroll, which contained only one sentence.
[Uncle Kaito, I have very important Konoha intelligence that I must report to you in person. Please, Uncle Kaito, come to meet me outside Hidden Sand Village now.]
Seeing this sentence, Chiyo subtly breathed a sigh of relief.
Chiyo regained her composure and frowned, "Uncle Kaito? Konoha intelligence? So, this scroll is from the spy the Sandaime sent to Konoha?"
Ebizo's next words made Chiyo's heart tighten. "No, this scroll is very likely a forgery."
Chiyo immediately asked, "Why would it be a forgery?"
Ebizo pointed to the writing on it and said, "Look at the ink on it, and the ink stains around it. Because the scroll was rolled up, the writing on it is still a bit damp. The writing could not have been done more than ten hours ago.
When I opened the scroll, I clearly saw signs of the wet ink sticking together. This kind of sign only appears when the scroll is opened for the first time, so this scroll has not been opened since it was written.
If the Sandaime hadn't opened this scroll, how would he know its contents and leave Hidden Sand Village to meet him?
Therefore, I judge that someone wrote this scroll afterwards and then discarded it in the sand, wanting to frame our spy.
That person could do this, and the Sandaime is missing... Sister, we need to prepare for the worst."
Chiyo thought of Sasori, but she couldn't believe her grandson would do such a thing.
Because she believed, Chiyo took a deep breath and said to Ebizo, "Ebizo, besides the Sandaime, Sasori is also missing."
However, Chiyo still didn't mention the basement. Despite her belief, Chiyo felt a bit uneasy inside.
"Sasori is also missing?"
The Third Kazekage can't be found, and now Sasori is also missing.
No matter how you look at it, there's a connection between the two.
Chiyo said anxiously, "Ebizo, Sasori would absolutely never betray the Village!"
Ebizo comforted Chiyo, "Don't worry, Sister, no one said Sasori was problematic. Let's send people to search for both of them first."
Chiyo said in a deep voice, "Ebizo, let's find the Sandaime first. Sasori's matter can wait."
A forged scroll was found in the sand, asking the Third Kazekage to meet him, and there were bloodstains in the sand...
No matter how you look at it, the Third Kazekage seems to be in a bad situation.
The person who could make the Third Kazekage leave Hidden Sand Village to meet him must be someone the Third Kazekage knew.
So, if the Third Kazekage and Sasori are searched for together, it could easily link the Third Kazekage's disappearance to Sasori.
Seeing the flustered Chiyo, Ebizo sighed, "Then let's put Sasori's matter aside for now. Now, immediately send people to search for the Sandaime!"
Chiyo and Ebizo immediately gathered a large number of Ninja and spread out to search for the Third Kazekage, centered around Hidden Sand Village. They searched for ten straight days.
However, how could the Sunagakure Ninja find the Third Kazekage? In the end, they could only return empty-handed.
The Third Kazekage had not appeared for ten days, which made the Sunagakure Ninja very anxious.
The leader of the Village was missing, and the situation in the Ninja World was so tense. In just ten days, the atmosphere in Hidden Sand Village also began to become very tense.