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The Longest Road

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~Chapter 35. The musings

The tomb was looking exactly like other ones. A plain, white, smooth stone with only her name carved in it. Naturally, in years to come it would inevitably change. The blazing sun and the desert winds would work together over it until it would erode, and the name would gradually vanish.

But now, the inscription was still perfectly legible. Chiyo, it said.

Baki has been standing in front of the grave for quite a long time, pondering. Even though Chiyo had been often declaring her indifference to the village's future, she had still lent a hand when the circumstances called for it. She had agreed to proceed with unsealing Shukaku, and would certainly transfer the demon back into its kettle if not for the interruption.

That was where Baki's frown deepened.

He still didn't know who the attackers were. Donned in the black coats with the pattern of red clouds, they had fought well enough to effortlessly slay too many of Baki's best people. Nothing could be more shocking though than discovering that Akasuna no Sasori was one of them but it definitely explained a lot. In the end, even Chiyo was no match for her grandson.

Squeezing the bridge of his nose, Baki exhaled deeply. He had sent the pursuits after the nukenins, although he doubted they would gather any intel. The attackers had left the village flying, after all. Once they found out that the jinchūriki was gone, they'd been scooped by the white bird looking as if made of clay - and then it had occurred to Baki that the blond one could be Iwagakure ninja once - and they had just run away.

Did they take Gaara with them? Did Sasori have more sleeping agents in the village apart from Yūra? There were so many questions regarding an attack and Gaara's disappearance, that it was giving Baki a headache a few times in a day.

Chiyo's brother, Ebizō-jisama, suggested to deal with those two riddles separately until it would be confirmed that Sasori and his companion had actually captured the jinchūriki. The elder argued that jinchūriki could even escape by himself. Gaara had been since long known as a tough opponent, after all.

Baki remained unconvinced, though. How come Gaara would recover from the drug's effects and the shock of unsealing? Not only recover but actually run away from the village unnoticed. Yes, Gaara was tough, but still human. He had limits just like everyone else. That was why they could capture him in the end. That was why someone captured him while the village was under attack, and Baki needed to know who it was. It might have been that the attack was just a diversion. Sasori and the other nukenin might have been the ones to tie Suna ninjas down while someone else - and obviously not Yūra - was meant to carry Gaara away. That mysterious person had obviously attacked Suname, and went into the village in his guise, leaving the paralyzed chūnin in the rock crevice. Judging from nukenins' ruthless assaults, they wouldn't left Suname alive if they would capture him. That meant someone else had done it, someone who had been using a poisoned senbon that was made in Sunagakure. Naturally, Baki suspected Kankurō but the puppeteer had been on the mission at that time. Plus, Sasori was also a puppeteer from Suna. He could have been a person who gave a senbon to an infiltrator—

An ANBU appeared near, keeping the distance until the Kazekage would call him. Baki cast a sidelong glance at his subordinate, and nodded. The masked ninja stepped up closer, his voice hushed as he uttered. "Kazekage-sama, we have found the jinchūriki's location."

Baki stiffened, holding his breath.

"The pursuers?" he inquired briefly.

"No," the ANBU replied. "Isago and others returned from the capital city. The news they brought..." He trailed off momentarily before he cleared his throat. "Actually, it turned out that the jinchūriki is being daimyō's personal bodyguard at the moment."

The end of the chapter 35.

The next chapter: The list

Isago is a canon character. He's Baki's right hand in the manga.