After Dinner
As the time for Rashōmon was running out, the "Demon of the Hidden Mist" (Momochi Zabuza) called Link aside.
"Hey, kid," Zabuza said, his gaze flickering slightly as he looked at the Konoha forehead protector. Then he continued, "I've decided to agree to your deal."
"As for this dinner… I'll fight for you once."
Anyway, back when he was alive, he'd taken on jobs as a ninja for others. Now that he was dead, working for someone in exchange for returning to the living world didn't make much difference. After thinking it over during the meal—and noticing Baki in a similar situation—Zabuza decided to accept. He couldn't really resist, after all.
"But each time you summon me, you have to bring Haku along," he added.
As a famous ninja, he'd died and acknowledged his loss to Kakashi, but Haku was still young and shouldn't have to remain in the Pure Land the same way he did—or be used by anyone.
"No problem," Link agreed readily. A transaction worked best if both sides gained something. Simple threats never led to stable cooperation.
Zabuza snorted and leapt out of the courtyard, wanting nothing more to do with that detestable Konoha brat. If it were Naruto, fine—but not him.
"I'm sorry…" said Haku, apologetic, then bounded after Zabuza.
Meanwhile, Baki stood off to the side, arms at his sides. "I hear there's going to be a Three-Nation Summit?"
"Aren't you going to chat with Gaara and the others?" Link asked, turning his head slightly.
Baki didn't respond to that, but asked instead, "So Gaara and his siblings will be heading back to Sunagakure, right?"
With a solid grasp of political nuances, he'd gleaned bits of information from Link's three subordinates regarding the Land of Rivers and recent happenings. He quickly figured out the rest.
"What's on your mind?" Link replied, not confirming or denying anything. After all, such matters are hard to hide—jinchūriki are invaluable bargaining chips, so it only makes sense to use them in a Three-Nation Summit.
"I mentioned to you before about going to Sunagakure," Baki said. "Chances are you'll go to that Three-Nation Summit. Let me meet with the Fourth Kazekage. In return, I'll teach you all the Wind Release ninjutsu I know."
Seeing that Link still didn't agree, Baki added, "If you have other requests, just let me know."
"I'll consider it," Link responded. Making deals behind the scenes with someone from another village was tricky enough; it was one thing to trade with or "show them" the dead in a gray area, but involving the Kazekage himself was another level entirely.
Who knew what intelligence Baki might have gleaned through the battles he fought for Link? And if he went to see the Fourth Kazekage, he'd inevitably share it all. Gaara's trio was different—being less skilled, there was a limit to how much they'd figure out. But an old pro like Baki, who had experienced numerous battles, definitely had deeper insights.
Money is precious, ninjutsu even more so—but Link's allegiances were with Konoha. In that sense, both were out of the question.
Baki, seeing Link was not interested in pressing further, gazed up at the night sky with a somewhat sorrowful expression.
When he was alive, he never knew a single day of peaceful sleep. Who would have guessed that even in death, he'd have to give his all for the village?
Sunagakure's situation was worse than outsiders realized. The Land of Wind was notoriously poor, yet its shinobi specialized in puppet arts and poison—techniques that were extremely expensive to develop.
Why did they cling so tightly to Magnet Release when they already had such powerful puppet users as the Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets, developed ages ago? Because they were poor. The Third Kazekage was hailed as the Strongest Kazekage and had brought Sunagakure into a thriving era simply because he could produce Iron Sand.
In a world at war, being able to forge weapons (ninja tools) anywhere and anytime was a massive source of revenue. When the Third Kazekage disappeared, the village fell into chaos, waging war externally and turmoil internally—simply out of poverty.
Even after the Fourth Kazekage took over, panning for gold in the desert was far less profitable than producing Iron Sand. Gold wasn't a necessity, and merchants or profiteers would push prices down; keeping the village running was an ordeal.
In his fight against Sasori, Baki had personally witnessed the Third Kazekage Puppet wielding Iron Sand. Whether turning a human into a puppet violated morality was secondary—that was the key to Sunagakure's resurgence. In crude terms, transforming the Third Kazekage from a living person into a puppet not only let him single-handedly make Iron Sand, but also turned him into a heritage treasure, a spiritual pillar for the village…
Hence, Baki had deliberately gone easy on Sasori and kept in touch with him afterward. If they could restore the Iron Sand–wielding puppet, the village's finances might recover. And Baki himself would be first to welcome Sasori back to the village as the Fifth Kazekage.
But he hadn't shared Sasori's contact info with his subordinates, not because he distrusted them, but because they lived in Konoha. Knowing too much was dangerous for everyone.
"Time's up."
Feeling his soul and body being pulled back, Baki took one last look at the starry sky, and in the instant he was dragged into Rashōmon, he wondered:
"How long until I can finally rest in peace…?"
…
Somewhere in the Land of Wind, in an underground hideout…
"Swoosh! Thud!"
Sasori fired kunai from a puppet he was controlling, testing the shooting trajectory a few times. After confirming the flight path, he carefully retrieved the thrown ninja tools and started fine-tuning the puppet once again.
He wasn't doing well lately.
In the most literal sense.
His two battles with Link had cost him dearly. In the heat of the moment, he'd lost sight of everything else; in hindsight, he was now suffering from those losses.
Ordinary human puppets were one thing—he could always capture someone new and make more. Human puppets were cheap by comparison: each one retained the abilities from its "material," and Baking them cost less money than building advanced mechanical puppets. That fit his style perfectly, being a shinobi from impoverished Sunagakure.
But losing the Third Kazekage Puppet had been devastating.
Though human puppets might cost less than mechanical ones, he didn't mean it was free. To turn a corpse into a puppet as advanced as the "Hiruko" puppet, or the Third Kazekage, or to enhance his own body as he had done, required astronomical expenses.
Moreover, Sasori's typical fighting style involved throwing large quantities of ninja tools. The gear and scrolls for that cost a fortune, especially since he used them up so quickly in combat.
He used to rely on the Iron Sand ability of the Third Kazekage to produce many of the ninja tools himself. Now, he had to purchase them all, which left him dirt-poor.
"No idea if Baki has passed on that intel yet…"
Sasori set aside the puppet in his hands, reflecting gloomily. He'd lost track of Orochimaru and had spent all this time lurking in the Land of Wind, waiting for someone from Sunagakure to show up with an offer of cooperation.
~~~
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