After finishing his cultivation, Kamishiro returned to the camp and sneezed several times.
Kamishiro touched his forehead. The temperature was normal, so it wasn't a cold.
Kamishiro rubbed his nose and muttered, "Who the hell is thinking about me? Since I don't know who it is, I'll just blame it on that brat Obito Uchiha. Anyway, it's all Obito Uchiha's fault!"
...
The next day in Sunagakure.
Several ninjas found Chiyo and Ebizo, who were drinking tea.
"Advisor Chiyo, Advisor Ebizo, the Third Kazekage has suddenly gone missing. Do you know where the Third Kazekage has gone, Advisor Chiyo?"
Chiyo looked puzzled and asked, "No, I don't. Have you searched other places?"
"Yes, we've searched the entire Sunagakure, even some hidden places in the village, but there's no sign of the Third Kazekage."
Chiyo guessed, "Could it be that the Third Kazekage left the village and went somewhere?"
Ebizo frowned slightly and said, "Something's not right, sister. If the Third Kazekage were to leave the village, he would never just leave without saying a word."
Chiyo's expression also became solemn. "Come to think of it, I've been feeling inexplicably uneasy since last night. The Third Kazekage was still in the village yesterday. He's very powerful. Even if he was attacked, there should have been some commotion."
Ebizo gave the order to the ninjas. "Anyway, find the Third Kazekage first. Maybe he's still in the village and we just missed some places. Then send a team of ninjas to search around outside the village too! Report any findings to us immediately."
"Yes!"
The Sunagakure ninjas started searching for the Third Kazekage both inside and outside Sunagakure.
Ebizo noticed that Chiyo's hand holding the teacup was trembling. "Sister?"
Chiyo put down the teacup and said seriously, "Ebizo, I have a really bad feeling right now. You stay here. I'll go check on Sasori!"
Before Ebizo could reply, Chiyo had already left in a hurry.
Chiyo went to Sasori's house and called out to him.
Chiyo's frown deepened as she murmured, "Why isn't Sasori here either?"
Just as Chiyo was about to leave, she noticed something strange on the floor near a shelf.
There were obvious dragging marks on the floor around the shelf, and such marks could only be left by frequent dragging.
Following the marks on the floor, Chiyo moved the shelf aside and found an underground passage.
Seeing this passage, Chiyo's heart started beating faster and faster.
With a nervous and uneasy feeling, Chiyo walked into the underground passage and soon entered a hidden room.
As soon as Chiyo entered the room, she smelled an extremely foul odor.
This hidden room was very clean, which clashed with the foul smell.
Since the room was poorly ventilated, the smell simply wouldn't dissipate.
Chiyo's expression darkened. She was all too familiar with this smell.
It was the smell of rotting blood.
Something bad must have happened in this room.
With a heavy heart, Chiyo walked out of the basement.
"Sister!"
As soon as she left the room, Chiyo heard Ebizo calling her. Subconsciously, she put the shelf back to hide the entrance to the basement from Ebizo.
Chiyo asked, "Ebizo, what's up?"
Ebizo handed a Scroll to Chiyo. "This was found in the sand not far outside the village. It was buried in the sand when we found it, which means it must have happened last night. After a night of wind, the sand covered the Scroll. Faint traces of blood could be seen on the surrounding sand."
Chiyo opened the Scroll. There was only one sentence written inside.
[Uncle Kuitou, I have very important intelligence about Konoha that I must report to you in person. Please come outside Sunagakure right now to meet me.]
Seeing this, Chiyo gave a barely noticeable sigh of relief.
After regaining her composure, Chiyo frowned and asked, "Uncle Kuitou? Intelligence about Konoha? Does this mean this Scroll is from the undercover agent sent to Konoha by the Third Kazekage?"
Ebizo's next words made Chiyo's heart skip a beat. "No, this Scroll is very likely a forgery."
Chiyo immediately asked, "Why do you think it's a forgery?"
Ebizo pointed at the words on it and said, "Look at the ink on it and the smudges around it. Since the Scroll was rolled up, the words are still a bit damp. This Scroll couldn't have been written over ten hours ago.
When I opened the Scroll, I clearly saw the damp ink had stuck together, a sign that only appears when the Scroll is opened for the first time. This means no one had opened it after it was written.
If the Third Kazekage didn't open this Scroll, how would he know what was inside and leave Sunagakure to meet the sender?
So, I think someone wrote this Scroll later and then left it on the sand, trying to frame our undercover agent.
That person could do this, and the Third Kazekage is missing... Sister, we need to prepare for the worst."
Chiyo thought of Sasori, but she just couldn't believe her grandson would pull such a stunt.
Because of her belief, Chiyo took a deep breath and then said to Ebizo, "Ebizo, besides the Third Kazekage, Sasori is also missing."
However, Chiyo still didn't mention the basement. Despite her belief, she still felt a little uneasy.
"Sasori is also missing?"
The Third Kazekage couldn't be found, and now Sasori was also gone.
It seemed obvious that there was a connection between the two.
Chiyo said anxiously, "Ebizo, Sasori would never betray the village!"
Ebizo comforted Chiyo, saying, "Don't be in a hurry, sister. No one said Sasori has a problem. Let's send someone to look for the two of them first."
Chiyo said gravely, "Ebizo, let's look for the Third Kazekage first. We'll deal with Sasori's matter later."
The Forged Scroll was found on the sand, which stated that the Third Kazekage was requested to meet someone. There was also blood on the sand...
No matter how you looked at it, the situation of the Third Kazekage didn't seem good.
The person who could make the Third Kazekage leave Sunagakure to meet must be someone the Third Kazekage knew.
So, if they looked for the Third Kazekage and Sasori together, it would be easy for people to associate the disappearance of the Third Kazekage with Sasori.
Seeing the flustered Chiyo, Ebizo sighed and said, "Let's put Sasori's matter aside for now. Send someone immediately to look for the Third Kazekage!"
Chiyo and Ebizo immediately gathered a large number of ninjas and, centered around Sunagakure, they spread out to look for the Third Kazekage. They searched for ten days in a row.
However, how could the Sunagakure ninjas find the Third Kazekage? In the end, they could only return empty-handed.
The Third Kazekage hadn't appeared for ten days, which made the Sunagakure ninjas very panicked.
The village leader was missing, and the situation in the ninja world was so tense. In just ten days, the atmosphere in Sunagakure began to become very tense.