"Yes."
Sasori answered coldly and sparingly, turning to glance at Kiyoshi.
He truly had no good feelings toward ninja from Konoha.
"Then your parents were simply too weak. That's why they died. You can't blame anyone else."
"!"
Hearing Kiyoshi's mocking words, Sasori frowned tightly. A trace of anger flashed through his eyes as he tried to speak—
But Kiyoshi moved faster.
A crimson glint flashed inside his eyes.
The moment Sasori's emotions wavered, Kiyoshi used his ocular power to invade Sasori's brain through eye contact.
The Sharingan's genjutsu was more than enough to hypnotize him instantly.
It couldn't compare to Tsukuyomi, which could drag someone into an illusionary world for three whole days while only an instant passed outside.
But compared to ordinary genjutsu, it was vastly superior.
Especially with Kiyoshi's current eye power—even with only two tomoe, his Sharingan rivaled the strength of a normal three-tomoe Sharingan.
"When are you planning to do the thing you most want to do right now?"
Kiyoshi spoke calmly.
The noisy crowd around them drowned out his voice.
Through the perception of his Sharingan, Kiyoshi confirmed that very few people were monitoring him here.
Most of the surveillance was focused on Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin.
On the surface, Kiyoshi was merely a newly promoted Chūnin.
"…A year from now… against the Third Kazekage…"
Sasori's expression became hazy.
The light faded from his eyes.
Even his voice sounded distant and weak.
"Change it to tonight. Thoughts of your dead parents are burning hotter and hotter inside you. After you finish, eliminate all the watchers and come find me. Bring every ninjutsu you know written onto scrolls."
Kiyoshi's whisper sounded like a devil's temptation.
Sasori nodded blankly.
Seeing that, Kiyoshi stopped pouring ocular power into him.
Most of the power inside his eyes had already been consumed and was slowly recovering.
A smile appeared on Kiyoshi's lips.
Sharingan genjutsu possessed the ability to hypnotize others.
Just like Obito had used the Sharingan to control the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura.
As long as one's eye power was strong enough, such things were easy.
The weakness was that the user needed to periodically reinforce the genjutsu with ocular power, otherwise the target might wake up.
Kiyoshi hadn't forcefully overwritten Sasori's mind.
Instead, he simply amplified Sasori's own desires and pushed him further toward what he already wanted to do.
That made the manipulation much harder to detect.
Because in the end… these were Sasori's own thoughts.
Kiyoshi had merely magnified them.
Gradually, life returned to Sasori's blank expression.
"The pancakes in your village are pretty good."
Kiyoshi casually bought some pancakes from a street vendor and asked Sasori to escort him back.
Sasori nodded, thinking nothing of it.
In fact, returning Kiyoshi quickly suited him perfectly.
He now had something far more important to do.
To make the Third Kazekage pay for causing his parents' deaths.
Hatred burned stronger and stronger within Sasori.
After quickly escorting Kiyoshi back to the temporary residence, he immediately turned and left.
"Kiyoshi, you're back?"
Yuhi Kurenai had only slept for a short while.
The moment she heard movement outside, she hurriedly pushed open the door.
"Yeah. I even brought back some food. Want some?"
Kiyoshi handed her a pancake wrapped in paper while gently brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
That sudden closeness instantly made Kurenai's cheeks flush red.
"Y-you…! We're on a mission right now!"
She tried to sound fierce and tell him not to act like that—
But the slight baby fat still lingering on her cheeks only made her look adorable.
"Even on missions, people still need to eat."
Kiyoshi smiled faintly and placed the pancake into her hands.
Kurenai lowered her head and hurried back into her room.
Kiyoshi chuckled softly before entering his own room.
Sasori had already gone to carry out the plan.
Now there was only one final step left.
Clearing suspicion from Kiyoshi's team.
Otherwise, once Sasori poisoned the Kazekage and escaped with the corpse, Sunagakure might pin the blame on Kiyoshi instead.
Even though the truth was essentially that.
But Kiyoshi had only nudged events forward slightly.
This disaster was something Sunagakure was destined to face sooner or later.
According to the databooks, Sasori's personality was cautious, individualistic, and impatient.
He was already an extremely self-centered person.
Combined with Chiyo's excessive spoiling, he had long since been warped.
After all, Chiyo originally hadn't even wanted to save Gaara.
The only reason she fought Sasori later was because she hoped to use her forbidden technique to resurrect her son and daughter-in-law, giving Sasori a warm family again.
Only after Sasori completely broke her heart did she finally harden herself enough to kill him.
"Time to keep training."
Kiyoshi glanced at his status panel.
His Fatigue Resistance trait had already reached 99%.
The Shrine Maiden Sealing Technique trait had also reached 86%.
Before Sasori finished his work, Kiyoshi could still improve his own strength a little more.
That Night
"Teacher Pakura, tomorrow you have to beat up that Uchiha Kiyoshi!"
Maki waved her small fist excitedly.
She admired Pakura immensely.
Even after seeing Kiyoshi's incredible strength, she still believed that after all her hard training, Pakura would definitely defeat him.
"Of course."
Pakura nodded confidently.
What Kiyoshi had done to her was still unforgettable.
No man had ever treated her that way before.
If she didn't defeat him, that incident would haunt her for the rest of her life.
The two girls walked beneath the streetlights toward a restaurant that was still open late at night.
"That's Lord Sasori?"
Maki pointed in one direction.
Sasori appeared to be carrying a bowl of chicken soup toward the Kazekage building.
"Since Sasori is Lady Chiyo's grandson, it's normal for him to be close to the Kazekage."
Pakura shook her head.
Sunagakure was built upon many ninja clans.
And clans valued bloodlines.
Lady Chiyo was one of the village's top officials, so Sasori was practically already her successor.
"I see."
Maki nodded.
"But I still believe Teacher Pakura will become the next Kazekage!"
Maki declared.
Pakura's kekkei genkai was extremely rare in Sunagakure.
Many clans wanted to arrange marriages with her.
If Pakura became Kazekage, there wouldn't be many objections.
"It's too early to talk about that."
Pakura smiled and rubbed her student's head.
Besides… there was still Rasa.
Rasa was older than her and possessed the Magnet Release bloodline.
He had learned many techniques from the Third Kazekage himself.
He also frequently used Magnet Release to gather gold dust from the desert, bringing great profits to the village and earning widespread respect.
Pakura glanced back once more.
Sasori had already entered the Kazekage building carrying the chicken soup.
She then sat down with Maki and prepared to order food.
"Lord Kazekage, Grandmother asked me to bring you some chicken soup."
Sasori pushed open the office door and walked inside.
He placed the large bowl onto the desk and lifted the lid.
A rich aroma immediately spread through the room.
"Chiyo?"
The Third Kazekage frowned.
Since when did Chiyo have this kind of free time?
He looked Sasori over carefully and confirmed he wasn't an impostor.
Out of trust toward his comrades, the Third Kazekage slowly nodded.
"Sasori, I hope you'll one day become a puppet master that makes Sunagakure proud, just like Chiyo."
With that, he picked up the spoon beside the bowl and took a sip to test the flavor.
It tasted excellent.
The chicken used was especially tender.
The Third Kazekage smiled and told Sasori to head home first.
Sasori shook his head.
"I'll wait until Lord Kazekage finishes and collect the bowl afterward."
"That's fine."
The Third Kazekage nodded.
He had been buried in official work all day discussing the alliance with Konoha and hadn't even eaten dinner yet.
After finishing the soup, he handed the empty bowl back to Sasori.
Suddenly—
The bowl slipped from his hand.
The Third Kazekage's pupils shrank.
His hand… was trembling?
"Lord Third Kazekage, please die peacefully. This is all for my parents."
Sasori's emotionless voice echoed through the room.
A chill instantly crawled down the Kazekage's spine.
He had been poisoned.
And Chiyo's grandson intended to betray the village!
He tried to gather chakra—
But under the poison's effects, his chakra refused to circulate.
"Come. I'll grant you dignity. You shall become my perfect… eternal work of art."
Sasori slowly approached.
For the first time, a smile appeared on his usually expressionless face.
Click.
The clock struck four.
The occasional flashes of lightning inside the room suddenly stopped.
A faint knock came from outside the door.
Kiyoshi halted his training and opened it.
Standing there was Sasori, his eyes hollow and lifeless.
"Take me somewhere isolated."
"…Yes."
Sasori nodded blankly.
The two figures moved swiftly through the night.
Sasori had already silently eliminated every Sunagakure ninja assigned to monitor the area.
As the grandson of one of the village's top officials, it wasn't difficult for him to know their positions.
When they reached a secluded alley, Kiyoshi extended his hand.
"Give me every puppet technique, poison recipe, and assassination method you know."
"…Yes."
Sasori answered mechanically.
As he searched his body for scrolls, confusion briefly flashed across his face.
Why was he doing this?
But the confusion quickly faded back into emptiness.
He handed the scrolls over.
There were many of them—at least a dozen.
"Excellent."
Kiyoshi nodded in satisfaction.
Inside were techniques such as:
• Hidden Manipulation Technique
• Performance Technique: Human Body Puppet
• Thousand Hands Manipulation
• Crow Puppet
• Black Ant Puppet
• Poison Great Blade
Even the construction method for Hiruko was included.
Normally, Kiyoshi would never be able to obtain so many forbidden techniques so openly.
But against a future rogue ninja like Sasori, there was no need to hold back.
What was Sasori going to do? Attack Konoha?
Kiyoshi stored every scroll away one by one.
He wasn't particularly interested in puppet techniques themselves.
What interested him were the trait bonuses from learning them—and especially chakra threads.
With chakra threads, he could throw his sword and use it as a long-range weapon.
Chakra threads had far greater range than specialized wire cables, and if broken, they could immediately be recreated.
"Attack me."
Kiyoshi gave Sasori one final command.
The ocular power maintaining the hypnosis was nearly gone.
The final step was having Sasori attack him—
Creating the illusion that Sasori intended to shift suspicion onto Konoha!
Crack… crack…
A collection of puppet-like figures emerged through Sasori's summoning.
Kiyoshi drew his sword and pretended to fight back.
BOOM!
"What happened?!"
Pakura's expression changed drastically while eating dinner.
The disturbance had come from the edge of the village!