Year fifty-four of the Hokage era.
In this year, people across the ninja world began calling the Sand Village the number one hidden village.
The Sand Village's vibrant assistance in rebuilding the Land of Rain had helped the people there solve famine and survival problems, facilitating resource trade within the region and stimulating the broader ninja trade economy. The Land of Rain, which had been plagued by war for many years, was finally experiencing peace and stability.
Following this, Sand Village soldiers were constructing massive infrastructure projects in neighboring countries with overwhelming momentum. The people of the Land of Rain had also spontaneously begun improving the Land of Wind's environment, systematically planting sand-resistant vegetation.
The Sand Village, already considered the victor of the Third Great Ninja War, had then brought further changes to the ninja world through its pharmaceuticals, medical teams, and weaponry. And these were only the foundation.
Up until now, Konoha had sent Tsunade and others to study the Sand Village's medical knowledge. The Hidden Stone Village and Hidden Mist Village had soon followed, sending their own people to study abroad in the Sand Village.
These actions had temporarily made the Sand Village the focal point of the entire ninja world's attention.
Then came the newly produced gene-modifying medicines, further elevating the Sand Village's influence across the ninja world.
The outside world had only recently begun calling the Sand Village the number one ninja village. In the context of the current ninja world, it could even be said the Sand Village was in its golden era. Its status and prestige had reached their peak.
It was difficult to imagine that within the Sand Village you could now see people from Konoha, the Hidden Stone Village, and the Hidden Mist Village all gathered together. Furthermore, several major hidden villages were quietly imitating and copying the Sand Village's systems, redefining their own village management approaches. These gradual unconscious changes, after years of accumulation, were approaching a tipping point.
In the Kazekage's office, the atmosphere was somewhat unusual.
After a long absence, Sasori had finally returned.
His return was prompted by a specific event. He had heard that Yuji was preparing to marry Pakura.
Initially, when villagers said Yuji was in a relationship with Pakura, Sasori had not believed it at all. Because given his understanding of Yuji's personality, the more he knew Yuji, the less he could imagine him having any interest in this kind of traditional marriage arrangement.
Like Sasori himself, Yuji pursued what might be called the ultimate ninja path. Yuji's goal was to change the ninja world, to become something like what Senju Hashirama had once been.
Marriage? Impossible.
Or so he had thought.
Until he received a letter written by Yuji himself. Only then did he confirm the truth.
"That is how it is. In short, the timing felt right. And Pakura and I have known each other since childhood and have genuine feelings for each other," Yuji explained the situation simply in the room.
At this point, after more than a month of being together, his feelings for Pakura had become stable and settled. They had officially become a couple. Taking advantage of the village's current strong and stable state, with no pressing crises demanding attention, he was preparing to hold a wedding ceremony.
"You married her for the sake of producing an heir, correct?" Sasori glanced at Pakura, considered briefly, then spoke.
"She is nothing more than a tool for bearing children."
Pakura, hearing this, showed a trace of awkwardness and a noticeable drop in energy.
Because she understood the relationship between Yuji and Sasori. If one were to discuss their bond, even she as Yuji's prospective wife could not compare to what Sasori represented to him.
Furthermore, Sasori's status and position within the village were close to Yuji's own level. The Sand Village's current success was undoubtedly due to Yuji's leadership, but Sasori was equally an absolute contributor. Without Sasori, the Sand Village as it existed today would not be possible.
If this had been the old Pakura, she would have argued back at least several times. But her personality had become considerably gentler now. Even if Sasori was being unreasonable, deep down she still respected this senior figure.
"Having children is indeed part of the plan, but our feelings for each other are genuine," Yuji said.
"Whatever you want. As long as it does not interfere with important matters," Sasori replied blandly with a single sentence.
Then, changing the subject:
"I returned this time simply to confirm that your goals have not changed, and also to collect some funds."
"Research costs and collected documentation."
Upon hearing this, even Yuji's throat tightened involuntarily. His heart trembled slightly.
Before the gene-modifying medicines had reached the market, the Sand Village's business had been thriving and generating enormous profits. Although the Land of Rain reconstruction had been ongoing, it had not actually drained the village's own funds significantly.
But the village's finances had been consistently strained throughout this period.
The biggest reason was Sasori's spending.
Yuji had not seen Sasori in such a long time. But even without seeing him in person, every two or three months without fail a letter would arrive from Sasori demanding money. Each time the amount demanded was staggering.
What made it even more suffocating was that Yuji could not ask about it, nor did he know exactly where Sasori was spending the money. The only thing he knew was that Sasori appeared to have constructed something outside the Sand Village. A private research base.
What the research project was or what was being done there, Yuji had absolutely no idea.
'The progress on the neighboring countries' mountain excavation project has been very promising. This efficiency is entirely due to Sasori's creation of large-scale specialized puppets, particularly for drilling through mountains and transporting rubble and waste materials, where they have played an enormous role.
The construction team currently stationed in the neighboring countries is now primarily composed of puppet corps fighters under Sasori's direction. Other ninja types are no longer the main force.'
Only through this aspect could one see how heavily Sasori had been investing his efforts.
But exactly how the money was being spent, Yuji had no idea. Sasori had no intention of explaining either. He simply kept sending letters demanding more funds.
"How much do you need this time?"
Yuji took a deep breath and cautiously asked.
A long segmented tail extended from beneath Sasori's robe and traced several lines across the table.
"Alright. No problem."
Yuji forced a somewhat pained smile as he looked at the number.
The money he had earned over the past several months appeared ready to be handed over wholesale. The study abroad programs for the three major hidden villages combined with the demand for gene-modifying medicines from various ninja nations had kept him busier than he had ever been.
Meeting delegations from various places, discussing cooperation terms, every successful negotiation bringing in revenue with each stroke of the pen. He had been exhausted from start to finish working himself to the bone, and now it was all going to Sasori.
Making a wedding dress for someone else, as the saying went.
"Okay," came Sasori's satisfied voice from within the Hiruko puppet.
That was right. Sasori was not merely going through the motions of wearing a puppet shell. He had actually concealed himself inside the puppet entirely.
Yuji had seen Hiruko much earlier and had assumed Sasori would not end up doing exactly what he had done in the original story, simply wearing a puppet casing as an outer shell. Unexpectedly, he had gone ahead and essentially built himself a mech to operate from within.
Although his true form was hidden inside Hiruko's body, this puppet appeared somewhat different from the original version. It was considerably more refined. The skin texture, the eyes, the emotional expressiveness. There was absolutely no trace of the puppet's artificial origins. It was essentially indistinguishable from a living breathing person.
Even sharper than the first time Yuji had seen Sasori's puppetry up close.
The manufacturing technology behind this humanoid puppet had advanced an entire level further.
Indeed, Hiruko had become a mutated form of humanoid puppet, a puppet that transformed a person into a human rather than a puppet crafted to merely resemble one. Because it was not just the surface appearance.
Sasori appeared to have used the skeleton, flesh, and blood of the puppet's human base materials to their fullest extent, designing an even greater number of internal mechanisms throughout.
Sasori's intention was essentially to make the puppet feel alive, completely eliminating the inherent fundamental weakness of puppets, their stiffness and lifelessness.
A dead thing was just a dead thing. But not anymore. There was no longer any difference from a living person in appearance or movement.
Sasori appeared to be preparing to do something unpredictable with this technology.
"There is something I want to tell you."
Having received the funds, Sasori's mood was visibly better, his tone less harsh than before.
"Hm?"
"I encountered Orochimaru. We fought."
Sasori said this calmly.
"Orochimaru?" Yuji's eyes narrowed instantly.
"That snake found me and attempted an ambush. It did not succeed. I let him escape," Sasori said without particular emotion.
Upon hearing this, Yuji's expression went cold immediately.