Naruto: The Hyuga Mastermind

Chapter 171: The Automatic Edo Tensei Researcher

Looking down at Chiyo, who was heavily injured and forced to lie on the ground without her usual dignity after being ambushed by the "Anbu," Pakura's eyes glinted with amusement. "It's been a while, Elder Chiyo. Elder Shinji was merely following my orders, so please don't blame him."

"Pakura!"

Seeing Uchiya Shinji standing obediently behind Pakura, and the "Anbu" who remained calm after carrying out the attack, Chiyo, lying on the ground, felt as if her heart was bleeding.

Even Sunagakure elders had betrayed them. She could hardly imagine the current state of her village...

With a grim expression, she spoke, "It's true that the mistakes of the past were Sunagakure's fault, but there are many innocent people in the village. There's no need to exterminate them all, is there? You were a hero of Sunagakure!"

If she and the Konoha emissaries who were about to arrive all died here, there would be no chance of reconciliation between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire.

"Is that what you think? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I truly despise this village," Pakura said with a faint smile. "But you might have misunderstood this time. I don't intend to annihilate anyone. Elder Shinji wanted to offer a perfect token of loyalty, and I simply gave him the opportunity."

Noticing Pakura's gaze, Uchiya Shinji looked at Chiyo with an impassive expression and said, "Elder Chiyo, I'd rather live than die. Earlier, I lied to you. At the time, no elder wanted to confront Shukaku. That wasn't a jinchūriki but a fully freed tailed beast. None of us wanted to throw our old lives away for such a hopeless cause."

"So you chose to defect to Pakura when faced with her?" Chiyo said in a low voice. "Cowards!"

"For so many years, I've dedicated myself to Sunagakure's development without regard for my own life. But the result? Each new generation is worse than the last, and now we've ended up in this situation. Since Sunagakure is doomed, why not find a new path? Why shouldn't I value my life?"

Uchiya Shinji sneered. "What I don't understand is you. I didn't lie about what I told you earlier. After the attack on Konoha's embassy in Sunagakure, the ninja responsible for communicating with you abandoned you and sold you out to Konoha."

"I thought you'd have some reaction to that news, or that you'd already lost faith in Sunagakure. That's why I entertained this conversation with you for so long. I didn't expect you to be so naive…"

"Don't lump me in with the likes of you." Chiyo struggled to her feet. "Today, I'll clean house for Sunagakure!"

Her hand unconsciously dropped to her waist, where she grasped a scroll containing her puppets. She leapt backward, intending to release them—but the same white blade flashed again. Despite being prepared this time, Chiyo couldn't avoid the swift strike.

The hand holding the scroll was severed in an instant, blood splattering everywhere.

Her severed arm and the scroll rolled far away.

"Elder Chiyo, at this distance, it's impossible for you to evade my attacks. Without your puppets, a puppeteer like you is doomed once a ninja like me gets close. Your son died the same way at my hands, so please, don't make any futile resistance."

The "Anbu" removed his mask and dispelled the Transformation Jutsu, revealing a familiar face with white hair. Chiyo's expression changed instantly as she pressed her severed arm to stop the bleeding with a healing technique.

"White Fang?"

White Fang—Hatake Sakumo, known for his mastery of the Body Flicker Technique and swordsmanship, was the nightmare of Sunagakure.

He was also the man Chiyo could never forget, having killed two of her loved ones and driven Sasori away from Sunagakure. And now, he stood alive right before her eyes!

"It's been a long time. The last time we met was on the battlefield, wasn't it?"

Sakumo's smile was gentle, but Chiyo's emotions were anything but calm.

She wanted to charge forward and kill White Fang to avenge her family, but the loss of her right arm reminded her that at this distance, she couldn't pull off any tricks under his watchful gaze. She could only reluctantly suppress her emotions and stare at Hatake Sakumo, contemplating her next move.

Seeing that Chiyo made no move and only glared at him, Sakumo shrugged. "It seems you haven't let it go… Well, that's understandable. Hatred isn't something that can truly be forgotten."

The one who had brought up this heart-wrenching subject was Sakumo himself, yet he seemed completely unaware of the pain he caused.

After all, even the concept of life and death was blurred for him now.

"Seeing both Pakura and me here, you should realize that someone has mastered a resurrection technique. You've always cared about the deaths of your son and daughter-in-law, haven't you? Don't you want… to bring them back to life?"

The blatant temptation caused Chiyo's heart to waver for a moment. But thinking of Sasori, who had defected, and Sunagakure's current state, she scoffed coldly.

"Wishful thinking!"

Uchiya Shinji frowned and wanted to step forward to persuade her further.

Compared to a dead Chiyo, a living one was obviously more valuable.

However, Pakura stopped him. "We can wait for you to make your decision. After all, to us, you're not indispensable. To him, simply bringing back your corpse will suffice."

Before Chiyo could process this, Sakumo's lips twitched slightly, and he glanced at her with a hint of pity.

Wouldn't it be better to stay alive?

Why insist on ending up like those stubborn Edo Tensei ninjas, enduring unnecessary suffering?

If the resurrected ninjas under Hyuga Fuji were to be ranked by fate, Sakumo believed his own situation was the best.

He had pledged loyalty to Hyuga Fuji early on and avoided any torment.

Second were those like Kakuzu and Hidan, who had been forced into servitude and were now running missions around the clock, losing all their previous freedom.

And the most miserable of all were the "automatic Edo Tensei researchers."

These were ninjas with research capabilities who had been reanimated but stubbornly refused to submit to Hyuga Fuji.

Hyuga Fuji had modified the control talisman for Edo Tensei ninjas, causing them to instinctively focus on research instead of combat.

Once these reanimated researchers entered a lab, they would relentlessly pursue their studies. When they hit a bottleneck in one area, they would move on to another. Hyuga Fuji referred to them as "automatic Edo Tensei researchers."

Researching tirelessly 24/7, Sakumo occasionally saw them and felt as though their souls were on the verge of ascending to the heavens.

If Chiyo died, she would likely share that fate. Just thinking about it was tragic...

Oh well, it wasn't really his concern.

Sometimes, experiencing something firsthand made people wiser.

After finishing her remarks, Pakura ordered Uchiya Shinji to take Chiyo away and imprison her.

'I stand no chance. I'll have to plan carefully.'

Chiyo, looking at Pakura and Hatake Sakumo before her, understood that she had no room to resist. Allowing Uchiya Shinji to seal her chakra, she could only worry in her heart about the state of Sunagakure.

Pakura and Hatake Sakumo.

One was Sunagakure's former hero, the other a ninja Sunagakure had once feared the most.

Their cooperation alone was enough to spell disaster for Sunagakure.

And with traitors within, even the border fortress seemed to have fallen into their hands.

What exactly was the current state of Sunagakure?

(End of Chapter)