"A strange smell," someone remarked.

"Strange?" another asked.

"Hard to explain...," Pakkun, perched on Kakashi's shoulder, scratched his head with a paw, looking puzzled. "I've never smelled anything like it before. It's so odd... The scent of a person is very faint."

Kakashi was stunned by the odd description. What did that even mean, "the scent of a person is faint"? It was such a peculiar thing to say, but interesting nonetheless.

"Could it be that the young man isn't human?" the leader of the corpse disposal unit standing nearby exclaimed in shock.

"No, it's not that simple. There's still a trace of human scent, but it's just very faint, like... I don't know how to describe it," Pakkun muttered, clearly frustrated. The task of sniffing out scents today was unusually difficult. Putting up with the overwhelming stench of corpses just to maintain some control over his shampoo choices was bad enough, but now the smell he was supposed to identify was so bizarre that he had no idea how to describe it. This kind of scent was new to him.

"Besides the faint human scent, there's also a mix of metal and wood. These smells together... they feel somewhat familiar," Pakkun added.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. Metal? Wood? Something in his mind stirred at the mention of those materials, but with so little information, it was impossible to make any solid conclusions about who this "Sasori" person might be. They were still just a suspect, with no concrete evidence linking them to the crime.

"Captain Takano, where are you storing the bodies? Please take me to see them," Kakashi requested.

"This way," Takano led them to the temple's library. The temple wasn't large enough to have a dedicated building for storing scripture, and there weren't enough books to fill the space, so a good portion of the small library remained empty.

"This is the temple's library. All the scrolls containing the sealed bodies are kept here."

On the left side of the room were stacks of scripture, while the right side held piles of scrolls—well over a hundred. Contrary to popular belief, scrolls didn't have unlimited storage capacity. In most cases, a single scroll could only seal about ten bodies at most.

The recent battle had left thousands of Konoha ninja dead, so it made sense that hundreds of scrolls were required.

As for scrolls with much larger storage capacities, they were incredibly rare. The process of making them was similar to creating explosive tags, which required mastery of Fire Release. Likewise, making scrolls required proficiency in sealing techniques.

Compared to Fire Release, mastering sealing techniques was far more difficult.

This naturally led to scrolls having a high labor cost, and scrolls with huge capacities were especially expensive. Unless you were someone wealthy—like the future owner of Konoha's biggest tool shop, a legendary kunoichi who could summon entire oceans and ships—it was nearly impossible to afford such scrolls. And even then, scrolls with immense capacity weren't available for general sale; they had to be custom-made or crafted by oneself.

"How many scrolls have been stolen?" Kakashi asked, looking at the pile of identical scrolls on the shelves.

"Twelve scrolls are missing. They contained a total of 117 bodies—43 jōnin and 74 special jōnin."

"Twelve scrolls," Kakashi repeated, thinking for a few moments. He had a theory. The thief likely worked alone, because scrolls couldn't be sealed into other scrolls. They had to be carried, and a person could realistically only carry about a dozen. Any more, and they wouldn't have room for them.

Because of this, the thief only took the most valuable ones.

"Kakashi," Pakkun, still on his shoulder, raised a paw and tapped him. "I smell the same scent here."

"The same scent as on the signature?" Kakashi asked.

"Exactly."

Kakashi immediately turned to Takano. "Captain Takano, has anyone named Sasori been here?"

"No, this is where we store the scrolls. It's not open to the public. Unless there's an order from the Hokage's advisors, no one except members of the corpse disposal unit can come here," Takano replied, shaking his head.

Then it hit him.

An outsider's scent in the restricted area meant only one thing: there had been an intrusion.

"The scent here is stronger than on the paper. Whoever left it hasn't been gone for more than twelve hours," Pakkun added.

Twelve hours? That wasn't critical information. Takano had said that he had checked the scrolls at 11 PM the previous night, and all were accounted for. But by morning, they were gone. The theft had clearly happened overnight, and it was now around noon.

What mattered more was what Pakkun had said next: the scent in the library was clearer than the one on the documents. "Pakkun, can you try tracking it?" Kakashi asked. If the scent here was stronger, there was a chance Pakkun could track the intruder.

"I'm not sure, but... it didn't rain last night, so I'll give it a try."

Pakkun jumped from Kakashi's shoulder and sniffed the air carefully before suddenly darting off like a rabbit. Kakashi immediately followed, while Takano hesitated for a couple of seconds before chasing after them. But by the time he reached the western wall, Kakashi was already leaping over it, leaving Takano behind.

Standing on the wall, Takano hesitated, unsure if he should follow. But when he climbed over, Kakashi was already out of sight.

"Captain Takano?" A voice called from below.

Snapping out of his daze, Takano looked down to see Uchiha Itachi and Kaguya Kimimaro.

"It's you, Itachi. You're back so quickly!" Takano greeted.

"Captain Takano, where did Kakashi-senpai go?" Itachi asked, noticing Kakashi's absence.

"Well... it's a bit complicated..." Takano launched into a somewhat long-winded explanation of what had just happened. Fortunately, Itachi was patient, and Kimimaro wasn't the impulsive type, so they both listened carefully.

"So, Kakashi-senpai has found a trail of this Sasori person and has gone to track them down?" Itachi summarized.

"That's right," Takano confirmed.

Takano nodded.

He looked down at the two little kids standing in front of him, both with stiff expressions, and hesitantly asked, "So, Itachi, did you find any trace of this Sasori guy?"

"There's no one by that name in the army."

As Uchiha Itachi spoke, he leaped onto the wall, scanning the horizon. Although he couldn't see any sign of Kakashi, this small challenge wasn't enough to stop him. He bit his thumb, formed seals, and used the Summoning Technique to call forth Shisui's trained crows.

These crows couldn't speak, but they were incredibly sharp and could even be used to channel visual prowess, acting as bridges for casting genjutsu. After receiving orders, the crows soared into the sky, looking down from above as they searched for a white-haired man with a mask, likely accompanied by a small dog.

"No such person?"

Hearing Itachi's response, Takano was stunned for several seconds before realizing what that meant. There really was no such person in the army, meaning that the young man claiming to be Sasori probably wasn't a Konoha ninja.

"So... I was tricked?"

Takano muttered under his breath, an extreme sense of guilt flashing across his face as he recalled his encounter with the young man. It seemed like he had foolishly let slip a lot of information.

"Caw—Caw—"

The crows let out hoarse cries in the sky.

Standing on the wall, Uchiha Itachi's expression became serious as he shouted, "We've found Kakashi. Kimimaro, let's go."

Before leaving, Itachi glanced back at Takano, who was drowning in guilt. "Don't be too hard on yourself, Captain Takano. From the looks of it, the other party had planned this very carefully. It would've been difficult for anyone to be on guard in advance without knowing the situation."

With those words, Uchiha Itachi dashed westward, with Kimimaro following closely behind. The crows flew swiftly overhead, guiding them. It didn't take long for them to find Kakashi, thanks to the crows.

Unlike Itachi and Kimimaro, who were focused on their journey, Kakashi and Pakkun's tracking was a stop-and-go process. Even though it hadn't rained the previous night, and the scent in the air hadn't been washed away, Pakkun still needed to pause occasionally to confirm the direction.

"Kakashi-senpai, we're back."

"Any findings?"

Kakashi glanced back at the two.

"No trace of the person."

"No trace?"

"Yes, there's no one named Sasori on the roster. We even checked the list of the fallen, and there's no one by that name. At first, I suspected it was an alias, but when the clan leader heard the name Sasori, he said if it wasn't an alias, then the culprit might be a rogue ninja from Sunagakure."

"Ah... that puppet master genius from Sunagakure, Sasori of the Red Sand."

Kakashi suddenly remembered.

He was quite famous. Originally a rising star from Sunagakure, Sasori was expected to be a key figure, but shortly after the death of the Third Kazekage, the Third Great Ninja War broke out. Instead of being Sunagakure's secret weapon, Sasori was declared a rogue ninja.

Back then, many people in Konoha were pleased with the news. One less troublesome enemy was definitely a good thing.

"Sasori of the Red Sand... a puppet master? No wonder I smelled metal and wood—it must've been puppets!" Pakkun suddenly realized. Despite his small size, he was actually quite old, having accompanied Konoha's White Fang on missions before Sakumo's death, including encounters with Sunagakure's puppet masters. Those two puppet masters were formidable, though no match for the White Fang in the end.

"But why would a puppet master steal bodies?"

Even after realizing the true identity of the thief, Pakkun was left with more questions. From what he knew, puppet masters used puppets made of wood and steel. What could Sasori want with corpses? Was he trying to sell them for money? Something didn't add up.

Pakkun wasn't the only one puzzled—Kakashi was also completely baffled.

Even after figuring out the identity of the thief, it didn't lead to any epiphanies. Instead, it made things more confusing. Why would Sasori of the Red Sand resort to such sneaky behavior? It didn't make any sense.

"The clan leader gave an explanation."

Uchiha Itachi suddenly spoke, causing Kakashi to halt in his tracks. Pakkun also stopped and turned to look at him.

"Before I left, the clan leader told me that if the thief is really Sasori, we should be cautious of his puppets. Sasori doesn't just use the typical wooden and steel puppets we're familiar with; he's mastered a technique known as 'human puppets'." Without waiting for Kakashi to ask, Itachi quickly relayed everything the clan leader had said.

"Human puppets?"

Hearing this unfamiliar term and thinking about the stolen bodies, a chilling thought crossed Kakashi's mind. "Could it be that these 'human puppets' are made from ninja corpses?"

"That's exactly what the clan leader said. Sasori's human puppets retain the chakra pathways of the ninja and can use the jutsu and kekkei genkai they had in life. He also said..." Itachi swallowed, trying to maintain his composure despite the shocking nature of the information.

"He also said that the Third Kazekage was likely turned into one of Sasori's human puppets. If we do encounter Sasori, we need to be cautious of the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand technique. The clan leader also told me to let you know, Kakashi-senpai, that we don't need to fight Sasori to the death. If we can't win, we're allowed to retreat at any time."

Kakashi was stunned.

The Third Kazekage... turned into a human puppet?

That's earth-shattering news. The disappearance of the Third Kazekage had sparked suspicion that Konoha was responsible, leading to the outbreak of the Third Great Ninja War. Regardless of the deeper reasons behind the war, it was common knowledge that the Kazekage's disappearance was the trigger.

But even after the war ended, no one had ever found the missing Kazekage. It became one of the most famous unsolved cases in the ninja world. It was said that Sunagakure still hadn't given up on searching for their strongest Kazekage to date.

If the Hokage's advisor's information is correct,

then the disappearance of the Third Kazekage was an inside job by Sunagakure itself? And yet, they pinned the blame on Konoha, sparking a war that led to countless Konoha ninja deaths, including Kakashi's teammates, Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin.