Chapter 1021

He had to admit, this strangeness had a great deal to do with his daughter Hinata Lin Cheng; the changes in such a short span of time made him very uneasy. Even though no one else found anything odd about it, Hyuga Hiashi had nonetheless noticed that his daughter seemed somehow different…

It was truly ironic—the daughter's companions, teammates, and even her jōnin instructor had all failed to notice anything amiss, yet he, the father who ought to have cared for his daughter most of all, felt as though he hadn't seen her in years.

That sudden, in-between moment of realizing the other person's appearance differed vastly from the impression in one's memory—that strange feeling.

As for this eldest daughter of his, he was finding her increasingly impossible to read—so thought Hyuga Hiashi. Thinking of Lin Cheng's image lately, her looks gradually shedding their childishness, and her height shooting up sharply of late, could be explained by growing older; the timidity and lack of presence in her temperament could be seen as her having regained her confidence, and what she had originally used to appear more self-assured was no longer needed.

After being deliberately kept long for a long time, even stimulated to grow with chakra, it now nearly reached her heels.

Most important of all was the gaze. Some Huokending Society would surely say something like, "The Hyuga clan has nothing in terms of gaze except the Byakugan?" But in truth, the Hyuga clan's eyes are not white, but a pale blue… So anyone who says such a thing must be dragged away and treated to a full sixty-four-fist set—every punch landing squarely on flesh, force reaching the heart.

Ahem, off-topic… Lin Cheng's gaze had changed. What Hyuga Hiashi was most pleased with was the calmness revealed in Lin Cheng's eyes; paired with her now almost sovereign-like presence, a qualified clan leader seemed to stand right before him. Anyway, no one ever plays by the script.

Lin Cheng was nearly fourteen now; perhaps certain secrets should be entrusted to her? Hyuga Hiashi unconsciously touched the tatami he sat on—if one lifted it, one would find a hidden compartment beneath, a hollowed-out wooden box. Notably, no one knew what species of wood it was; without opening it, even the Byakugan could not see what lay inside…

There was no other promising development to hope for, and no reinforcements from the village would arrive. For Kankurō and Temari, who had not yet grown into their strength, an impassable chasm lay between them and Sasori of the Red Sand; thus, resistance could only end one way.

"I will never let you take my Gaara away!" Even if the opponent possessed the puppet-killer's sand-iron, he could not simply offer no resistance! Kankurō activated his puppet "Crow"; accompanied by the sound of mechanisms turning, Crow's four hands simultaneously flicked out blades and charged straight at Sasori's face.

It looked like a suicidal move—as though a casual slash could easily block it—but Sasori did not raise a hand, merely letting Crow rush up to him without the slightest sign of resistance.

"Got him!" Though he didn't know why the opponent wouldn't move, even so, Kankurō would not hold back; on the contrary, he would strike all the more decisively!

Then—crackle, snap, pop!

Kankurō suddenly realized Crow had stopped moving. No matter how he drove it with chakra, everything was like a clay ox entering the sea—utterly still. Crow remained frozen in the posture of its four blades aimed at the opponent; at some unknown moment, the sand-iron had already seized every movable limb of Crow.

"Want me to tell you the truth?" Sensing that Kankurō was still wasting his effort, Sasori said as he leisurely used a chūnin's blade to chop off Crow's four obstructing hands one by one. Then, without caring whether Kankurō wished to hear or not, he continued: "I simply can't believe that as the son of the Kazekage… you could be this weak."

Unreserved contempt, a single simple word—weak. That was Sasori of the Red Sand's evaluation of Kankurō, who, after Sasori left the village, had been called by the people the most gifted puppeteer of the new generation of Sand Village.

"Stop looking down on me, you traitor who betrayed the village!" A fury stronger than anyone's surged within Kankurō…

Sasori of the Red Sand was the genius he had admired—ever since becoming a puppeteer, the only person besides Granny Chiyo he had ever looked up to. He could not understand why such a genius would leave the Sand Village that had borne and raised him; precisely because of this, he cared about this senior more than anyone else.

But now (Wang Zhao Zhao), he had his wish and met the man face to face—even as enemies, he didn't care—but the assessment of his strength the other gave him was "too weak." Years of perseverance seemed worthless. Kankurō was unwilling to accept it; he had clearly worked so very hard.

The mechanism turned once more. As a puppet, "Crow" could not be judged by common sense—even with limbs disabled, other parts could still move. Under Kankurō's control, its mouth opened, and senbon coated in deadly poison fired at Sasori in a Wan Jianqi barrage at close range.

As if he had long foreseen such a thing, Sasori tilted his head slightly and dodged those lethal flying needles. Though no harm was done, at least this time Sasori finally made a move.