Naruto: I'm really not an evil scientist!

Meanwhile, a ninja squad from Konoha was also heading towards Shai Village.

In recent days, a series of bizarre events have occurred in the Land of Wind: the grave of the Fifth Kazekage has been dug up, Gaara, who had long been dead, has mysteriously revived, and the unconscious Kazekage has even appeared at the entrance of the Three-Eyed Village.

This series of strange events left the villagers of Sunagakure bewildered and uncertain.

After Gaara regained consciousness, he told the villagers that he seemed to have been deliberately resurrected.

I vaguely remember that when I was resurrected, I was surrounded by Granny Chiyo and Sakura, as well as a white-haired man with a diamond-shaped crystal embedded in his forehead.

Apart from that, they did not have any further information, and everything became increasingly confusing.

The people of Sunagakure could not confirm the veracity of the information Gaara provided, and even began to doubt Gaara's identity.

However, Gaara's immense strength and the sand control techniques he inherited are not things that ordinary people can fake.

Furthermore, many details of his lifestyle habits also indicate that this is Gaara himself.

In addition, there was the information provided by Hanfeng, and Elder Chiyo had developed a forbidden technique that could resurrect the dead.

The people of Sunagakure had no choice but to temporarily accept that the resurrected Kazekage was real, and that his resurrection might be related to Orochimaru.

In order to uncover the truth and find missing persons such as Granny Chiyo and Sakura, the Sand Village began to investigate the surrounding area based on clues provided by Gaara.

Meanwhile, as an ally of Konoha, Sunagakure also informed Konoha of the matter, hoping that Konoha could send people to help Sunagakure clarify the ins and outs of the situation.

After all, Konoha ninja Sakura Haruno and Elder Chiyo had both disappeared.

During a wider search, they discovered some clues linking Orochimaru to him.

Perhaps this is related to Orochimaru's subordinates acting recklessly and not knowing how to conduct a discreet investigation; they even attempted to find Sakura's whereabouts by possessing Gaara.

Orochimaru is active in the desert, and Sasuke has information about him.

So when Naruto learns of Gaara's resurrection, he will naturally join the team heading to Sunagakure in order to find his best friend.

To ensure everyone's safety and prevent any further accidents, this operation was led by Jiraiya, accompanied by Yamato, who is skilled in taijutsu, and Kakashi Hatake, the original teacher of Team 7.

At the same time, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji, who had just paid their respects to Asuma, Yamanaka Ino, who was skilled in taijutsu, and Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and others, who were skilled in reconnaissance, also went along.

This time, when he learned that Gaara was possessed by an unknown force, Nara Shikamaru, who was usually calm and intelligent, was somewhat dazed.

A thought quietly emerged: Since Gaara was able to be resurrected, does that mean that Asuma also has hope of being resurrected as long as the relevant person is found?

In the vast yellow desert, the sun hangs high, the wind howls, and sand flies everywhere.

Two tall figures wearing straw hats and long black robes with red clouds were slowly walking on the soft sand.

"Mr. Itachi, we've been walking for a long time. Would you like to rest for a bit?" Kisame Hoshigaki asked considerately.

He was well aware that Itachi Uchiha's physical condition was not as good as before due to a serious illness.

Despite his cold and stern demeanor, seemingly fierce, he is actually very caring towards his friend, Uchiha Itachi.

"Don't worry about me, let's keep going. The task the leader gave us is important, and we'll be at Akatsuki's former stronghold soon. We can rest there for a while; there's no need to waste time along the way." Itachi Uchiha directly rejected Kisame's suggestion.

“Alright then, since Mr. Itachi insists.” Kisame always listened to Itachi.

As a member of the Akatsuki organization, he was well aware of the organization's rules.

If it were just the death of a comrade, that would be one thing, but the Akatsuki organization would not let a traitor like Orochimaru off easily.

Orochimaru was once a member of the Akatsuki organization, but now he has defected and his fate is unknown. Even the ring he used to communicate with has become invalid, making him a disgrace to the Akatsuki organization.

Recently, Orochimaru has been active near the Land of Wind, coupled with Gaara's mysterious resurrection.

Both Nagato, the leader of Akatsuki, and Obito, who was pulling the strings behind the scenes, sensed that the situation was turbulent and something big was about to happen.

Therefore, in addition to speeding up the original plan, they also issued a mission to the organization members to eliminate the traitor Orochimaru and to investigate and monitor the movements of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

When Itachi Uchiha heard Pain issue the mission to eliminate Orochimaru, he responded immediately while the other members were still chatting and joking.

In his view, Sasuke was far too unsafe with Orochimaru, and this guy who had been coveting Sasuke's body must be eliminated as soon as possible.

Furthermore, Orochimaru instigated Sasuke to defect from Konoha, causing Sasuke to deviate from the path Orochimaru had planned for him years earlier.

From that moment on, Itachi kept Orochimaru in his heart and even secretly planned countless times how to deal with Orochimaru.

The mission Payne issued was exactly what he wanted.

After careful consideration, Pain assigned Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki to carry out this mission.

Within the Akatsuki organization, someone like Deidara, who is always thinking about explosions and is impulsive and easily angered, is simply not suitable for this mission.

Kisame and Itachi, however, were able to work together very well.

Moreover, Hidan has already disappeared, and Kakuzu is only thinking about making money. What if he runs off to do odd jobs at some weird place halfway through the mission?

Kakuzu is also a bit of a nutcase; he only cares about money and is completely unreliable.

After much deliberation, it seems that Itachi Uchiha's group is the most reliable for carrying out this mission.

They are composed and always take their tasks seriously, so they will surely give it their all.

"Your mission is to defeat Kisame Hoshigaki and obtain the Samehada sword!" Orochimaru said to Sasuke with a smile before the mission began.

However, Sasuke knew that defeating Kisame Hoshigaki was not the main focus of this mission.

The key to this mission is to seize the greatsword Samehada, since Hiruko enjoys researching these strange and unusual things.

"Sasuke, you looked calm after completing the final trial, so you probably don't care much about characters like Kisame."

There are no restrictions on whether you wish to perform this task.

Inside this Solar Furnace Tower, you are free to choose your favorite teammates, as long as they are willing to follow you.

Orochimaru casually gave Sasuke a hint, his words suggesting he cared about Sasuke quite a bit, practically implying that Sasuke should just go with him.

Sasuke completely ignored the cunning old man in front of him, nodded, and said rationally, "I understand."

After all, he knew that if he wanted to defeat Kisame Hoshigaki, he would need teammates to help him hold off the other Akatsuki members.

In this way, Kisame's performance can be limited to the greatest extent.

Moreover, he possesses human puppets made from the corpses of the Third and Fifth Kazekage, which are highly advantageous for combat in desert regions.

"Uchiha Itachi..." he muttered to himself, beginning his pre-battle analysis.

He had learned through his organization's intelligence system that Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki had entered the desert area.

Meanwhile, Akatsuki members deployed in various locations have prepared their local strongholds and are ready for battle.

Inside the Solar Furnace Tower, Scorpion manipulates combat-integrated puppets, which are not only his combat partners but also his research assistants.

Recently, he seems to have gained some inspiration from life and has started tinkering with a combination puppet of electromechanical heating weapons and chakra cannons, slowly developing in the direction of Gundam.

Furthermore, Scorpion has recently developed a technology for wirelessly remotely controlling puppets.

In Sasuke Uchiha's view, besides Pain, the most dangerous person in this base right now is Sasori, who has been quietly researching and developing.

During this time, Scorpion became increasingly frenzied, robbing graves everywhere, obtaining the cells of the dead, and cloning and resurrecting them.

The bodies of those who died were basically used as materials for Scorpion to make puppets; he was an expert in this field.

Scorpion, a master of puppetry, has always been renowned for his exquisite puppet-making skills.

For example, Gaara, who was recently resurrected by Hiruko, now has a cloned body, not his original one.

Gaara's original body was meticulously crafted by Sasori into a Kazekage-type human puppet.

Among Scorpion's collection, there are quite a few Wind Shadow Puppets.

In addition to the Third and Fifth Kazekage, even Gaara's father, the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, had his body transported back by Kabuto Yakushi as a reserve of materials for making puppets.

The scorpion cleverly used its DNA sample to create a human puppet for continued collection.

These puppets from the Kazekage series are undoubtedly an extremely powerful force in Scorpion's hands.

It is said that the corpse of the Second Tsuchikage Mu, who mastered Dust Release, was recently stolen back by Kabuto Yakushi, and may now be in Sasori's possession, turned into a human puppet.

This guy, Sasori, can control puppets to interfere with the enemy's vision, and he can also use the high-definition digital camera developed by Hiruko to monitor the battlefield, thus avoiding direct eye contact with the enemy.

It can even manipulate sand, exploit the enemy's visual senses, or launch long-range attacks.

All things considered, Sasori is indeed the best candidate to restrain Uchiha Itachi.

"But Sasuke, do you think we can persuade him? He's obsessed with puppetry and won't talk to anyone else." Orochimaru reminded Sasuke to be realistic and not to have too many unrealistic expectations.

"That's true. It seems we need to find a way to hold Itachi off, or separate him from Kisame." Sasuke said in a deep voice. He knew that he was not yet fully confident in dealing with Itachi and Kisame at the same time, and he had no intention of eliminating them both.

After being hit by a series of setbacks, Sasuke has remained relatively calm during this period. Even after developing a new technique, he has not become arrogant as before, and he no longer feels like he is invincible once the sun shines and the rain stops.

Coupled with the torment he suffered in the past, his hatred for Danzo far surpassed his obsession with Itachi Uchiha.

Therefore, he won't rush to kill Itachi before he has accumulated enough power to defeat Danzo.

But his revenge plan had already taken shape in his mind: first kill Danzo, then take down those charlatans in Konoha.

Next, capture Itachi Uchiha and make him repent. Finally, unite the forces of all sides and make the whole world bow down before him.

"In that case, take your time to think it over," Orochimaru said, shaking his head.

"Here's another hint: your former comrade Naruto Uzumaki has also come to the Land of Wind, accompanied by Jiraiya."

Itachi and Kisame are, after all, members of Akatsuki. If we follow their plan, it might lead to conflict with Naruto and the others…

Sasuke Uchiha's eyes flashed with a thoughtful light as he began to seriously consider the feasibility of the plan to kill someone with a borrowed knife.

He wasn't too worried, after all, having been foreshadowed by fate, he knew very well that Danzo, that old fox, had planted many spies between Konoha and Sunagakure.

He is very cunning and would never kill Naruto; he might even intentionally or unintentionally protect Naruto.

"As long as Naruto, that loser, isn't a threat, it's fine," Sasuke thought to himself.

As for the extent of the losses suffered by other people in Konoha or Sunagakure, Sasuke, being a complete stranger to them, naturally wouldn't care too much.

Besides Itachi, he also had some feelings for Kakashi Hatake, who had white hair, after all, they were once members of Team 7.

However, Kakashi's stance is now uncertain, and Sasuke himself doesn't need to worry about the safety of others.

Inside the bright laboratory of the Solar Furnace Tower, Hiruko stood beside the lab table with an unsettling smile on his face, saying to Jugo, who was his lab assistant, "Lie down properly and let your uncle check you out."

Jugo felt uneasy, but he didn't seem too burdened at the lab table. He just asked nervously, "Um... can my illness really be cured?"

Jugo appeared honest and unassuming; he knew very well that the person in front of him was a terrifying existence that even Orochimaru could not match.

Therefore, he is not worried about losing control and hurting people after he goes berserk; on the contrary, he is very nervous about whether he can cure his mental illness that may go berserk at any time.

"Trust me, everything will be fine," Hiruko said confidently.