Three days later, in the Kazekage's office, the Third Kazekage asked incredulously.

"The mission failed?"

He stared at Akasuna in disbelief.

Akasuna was incredibly powerful, capable of taking down an entire village alone, yet he had failed a mission to assassinate a few ninjas from Ame?

"Did Hanzō personally go to the border?"

According to the information relayed by Suna's intelligence ninja, there was no sign of Hanzō among the group from Ame who went to the border to sign the agreement.

The Third Kazekage could only think of one possibility: That Hanzō had used a transformation jutsu to fool the intelligence operatives.

Akasuna shook his head and explained, "No, it wasn't Hanzō. Ame has a new, powerful ninja. I wasn't his match."

"What?!"

The Third Kazekage's expression darkened.

"A powerful new ninja has appeared again!"

He slammed his fist heavily on the desk. He immediately turned to Akasuna: "Later, compile all the intel you have on that ninja."

"Yes," Akasuna nodded.

"Kazekage-sama, now that Konoha has already signed a treaty with Ame, should we…" Ebizō asked tentatively.

The Third Kazekage narrowed his eyes, tapping his fingers on the table. After pondering for a moment, he snorted coldly, "The Land of Rain has been a bunch of cowards for years, and now they suddenly act tough just because of Hanzō? Even if we're going to sign a treaty, we can't let them get too full of themselves."

His gaze shifted to Ebizō. "Draft the agreement and add some conditions, such as giving the Suna ninjas the right to freely enter the Land of Rain, and the right to station troops there..."

After hearing this, Ebizō frowned deeply and hesitated. "Hanzō probably won't agree to that…"

"He won't?"

The Third Kazekage said coldly, "Then we go to war!"

Ebizō looked at the Kazekage for a moment, then said nothing more and stepped back. "Understood."

"You may leave too, Akasuna."

The Kazekage gave him a quick glance.

"Yes."

Akasuna turned to leave, a greedy light flashing in his eyes.

The Third Kazekage's body… was quite good too.

Leaving the Kazekage's office, he followed the memories of the body he had taken, arriving at a small two-story house. The building, made from a mix of sand and stone, had large floor-to-ceiling windows.

A woman and a child stood before the window.

When he saw them, his gaze immediately softened.

"Akasuna!"

Holding Sasori's hand, Mika ran downstairs. She hurriedly opened the door and threw herself into her husband's arms: "You're finally back!"

Akasuna gently stroked her back. "Mm, I'm back."

Mika let go of her husband and lifted their son. "Sasori missed Daddy too, didn't he?"

"Yeah!"

Still chubby-cheeked, Sasori nodded seriously. "Missed Daddy!"

Akasuna couldn't help but laugh. He lifted Sasori into the air, spinning him around, making the boy laugh joyfully.

"Daddy missed Sasori too!"

Akasuna held the boy close, took his wife Mika's hand, and walked into the spacious living room on the first floor.

"Akasuna…"

A middle-aged woman wearing an apron walked out of the kitchen. Based on the memories he had inherited, Akasuna recognized her as this body's mother, Chiyo.

"What happened to your forehead?"

Chiyo's eyes narrowed as she stared at the injury on her son's forehead.

"What happened? Did you get hurt?"

Hearing this, Mika immediately grew worried. She brushed aside the fringe covering Akasuna's forehead, and when she saw the stitched wound, she gasped in shock and looked at him with concern. "You didn't even tell me you were hurt? That place must've been so dangerous."

Sasori cupped Akasuna's head and gently blew on it.

"Daddy isn't hurt. The pain will fly away…"

Akasuna comfortingly rubbed Mika's hand and said gently, "See? I'm fine. Just a little scratch."

"Thank you, Sasori!"

He turned and smiled at the boy in his arms.

Sasori's cheeks flushed slightly as he rested his chin on Akasuna's shoulder, his little arms hugging his father's neck.

"Wasn't this mission supposed to intercept the Ame ninjas sent to sign the treaty?"

Chiyo stepped closer to Akasuna, eyes still locked on the wound. "Don't tell me Hanzō was among them? Otherwise, how could they possibly have hurt you?"

Akasuna looked at Chiyo, his expression turning a bit more serious. "It wasn't Hanzō. It was an unfamiliar ninja, very powerful. I was lucky to escape in time. Otherwise…"

There was no need to say the rest. Chiyo and Mika could already understand what he meant.

Chiyo's brows tightened, her thoughts shifting. "So that means Konoha and Ame have successfully signed a treaty. What is the Kazekage thinking? Does he really plan to go to war with both Konoha and Ame? Ame might be a small village, but their ninjas can't be underestimated, especially Hanzō. And now there's another powerful new ninja…"

"The Kazekage has already sent someone to draft a treaty with Ame," Akasuna added. "But he included a lot of conditions."

Chiyo stared into his eyes, looking a little dazed. For a moment, she forgot what she was about to say: "Fine, just don't act recklessly!"

Mika quickly whispered to her, "You shouldn't talk like that about the Kazekage."

"Hmph!"

Chiyo snorted but didn't say anything more.

"Alright, dinner will be ready soon! Go wash your hands first."

She turned and walked back toward the kitchen.

Akasuna, still holding Sasori, laughed and chatted with Mika as they headed to the bathroom to wash up.

Suddenly, Chiyo turned from the kitchen and stared at Akasuna's back for a long time.

"What is it?" Mika asked, noticing Akasuna suddenly smiling.

Akasuna looked at her, his expression unreadable. "It's good to be alive. I can't bear to leave you and Sasori behind."

"I can't lose Daddy either!"

Sasori hugged Akasuna tightly.

Mika also threw herself into Akasuna's arms. "I'm glad you know that. So you must protect yourself, no matter what!"

Akasuna nodded gently. "I will."

"Where did that crow come from?"

Chiyo's voice came from the living room.

Akasuna walked in with Sasori in his arms and looked at the crow perched on the windowsill. "I brought it back."

Chiyo looked at him, puzzled. "It's just a regular crow. Why would you bring it back?"

"During the mission, it warned me in time. Thanks to it, I dodged a fatal blow."

Akasuna pointed to the stitched wound on his forehead. "Otherwise, the blade would've pierced my brain."

Upon hearing that, Mika quickly stepped forward and gently stroked the crow's feathers. "Thank you… for saving Akasuna."

"If that's the case, then keep it."

Chiyo glanced at Akasuna.

Mika nodded firmly. "We should repay it properly."

"It can also play with Sasori…"

Akasuna ran his fingers through Sasori's short red hair. Sasori reached toward the crow from Akasuna's arms.

Holding the boy, he let him gently run his small, pale hand across the crow's smooth feathers.

The crow's dark eyes watched the people in the living room, unblinking.