Sasori of the Red Sand!

In the afternoon, Ryo set off with Maki, Shisui, and Kakashi.

Ryo could use the Teleportation Barrier, but instead preferred to run his way to the Sand Country along with the three.

After Minato's succession, Kakashi was assigned at the Anbu, and was performing several tasks with them. Ryo hadn't seen him for a long time.

When the request was made by Pakura, Ryo immediately asked for Kakashi to come along. Minato thought about and then agreed to the request.

Ryo had two main purposes. One was letting Shisui and Kakashi face a Biju, and the other was to talk to Kakashi about Shisui's introduction into the Anbu.

It had been a while since Ryo was thinking of this; it should be the perfect next step for Shisui's evolution. Minato approved the idea, and only discussing the matter with Kakashi was left.

This introduction into the Anbu should get Shisui in contact with actual combat more frequently and improve his experience. Following Kakashi could help him grow faster.

After listening to Ryo, Kakashi looked at Shisui and said to him coldly: "Alright, just don't drag us down…"

Shisui did not care about Kakashi's attitude. Instead, he said to Kakashi with great enthusiasm: "I will not, Kakashi san!"

With the weakest among the four being a Tokubetsu Jonin, they were moving fast enough to reach the Wind Country in about a day or so.

After entering the Wind Country, Maki took the initiative to lead the way, and other three stopped talking.

After a certain distance, Ryo suddenly felt that someone was hiding under the sand dunes.

Not knowing whether the one hiding was an enemy or friend, Ryo entered Ice Elementization out of caution. At the same time, he established a telepathic link with Kakashi and Shisui, telling them to be careful.

Maki was also a sensor Ninja. In the Anime, she was skillful enough to detect Hayate Gekko with his Invisibility Justu, and now she also noticed the one in the Sand.

Not wanting to let them notice, she acted as if nothing was going on. Therefore, when picking the path for the group, she deliberately went through the sand dunes.

But it seemed like the one in the sand did not want them to leave, aiming a poisonous needle at Kakashi.

Ryo couldn't remain idle anymore, flickering to block the needle for Kakashi, and aiming a Chidori Eiso at the shooter.

Facing the attack, the one in the sand did not seem to want to dodge, instead throwing a few more Shuriken at Kakashi.

The young Quasi Kage wasn't about to fall for some Shuriken; he easily dodged them.

By then, Ryo's Chidori Eiso hit its target. However, to his surprise, the attack did not seem to cause any harm to the enemy, who slowly rose from the sand. At this time, everyone could see what he looked like!

Ryo frowned at its sight, for he looked a lot like Sasori's main doll he saw in the Anime!

"Hiruko! What do you want?" Maki sounded like she recognized this person, and she began to ask questions.

"Nothing, I just saw that someone alongside you that reminded me of an old friend from many years ago!" Hiruko looked at Kakashi with a mix of excitement and despise.

"Kakashi, it seems like this person is an enemy of Sakumo san." Ryo said.

Kakashi reluctantly sighed. This wasn't the first time he saw someone traumatized by his father. He just wanted to explain that he wasn't his father, and had nothing to do with what he did in war, but he was interrupted by the sight of a blade flying towards Hiruko and injuring him!

Ryo immediately released his spiritual power, perceiving the surroundings, and his face immediately became gloomy.

In the distance, behind Hiruko, he could perceive the man who should be Sasori of the Red Sand. It seemed like he was "hunting" Hiruko who was still alive!

"Kakashi, don't try to explain, the one behind him is going to kill him! Let's not interfere and just go!"

After saying that, Ryo turned around and left. Shisui and Kakashi still had their doubts, but they could only follow him.

As they stepped away, they heard a violent scream! It was Hiruko, killed by the 3rd Kazekage's puppet!

But Hiruko's death wasn't just enough, for Sasori noticed Kakashi as well! Both his parents were killed by Sakumo during the 2nd World War, so he wasn't going to let his son just walk away…

After collecting Hiruko's bleeding corpse, the 3rd Kazekage's puppet immediately chased Ryo's group.

Ryo did not want to kill Sasori so early, but he wasn't just going to late him reap Kakashi's soul. Helplessly, he said: "Kakashi, Shisui, you should be very careful! This one behind us will not be easy to deal with!"

Hearing this, Kakashi's face changed greatly, for someone who could make Ryo so vigilant could only be Kage tier.

"Sensei, who's this person? Do you know him?" Shisui asked.

"I don't know him, but I can guess who he is; I think you've all heard of the Sand's Missing-Nin, Sasori of the Red Sand!"

Maki's body trembled in fear as she heard that name. Being a Sand Ninja herself, she was well familiar with the legend of Sasori, the man who's said to have enough mastery over the secret arts of puppeteers to crush a country single handedly!

Soon, Sasori arrived before Ryo and the others, ignoring them all besides Kakashi at whom he stared saying: "Hatake Kakashi, am I right? I'm adding you to my collection!"

Immediately after finishing his words, he controlled the 3rd's puppet to rush at Kakashi.

The puppet was moving too fast for Kakashi to see, and he had to instantly activate his Sharingan, and then block its first attack.

Naturally, that wasn't all that was coming. The 3rd's puppet condensed its iron sand into a massive spear that went straight towards Kakashi.

This formed a pattern, as the attack of the puppets and its Iron Sand weapons came in one after the other, overwhelming Kakashi. He could not fight back, and all he was able to do was to dodge as much as possible.

The Iron Sand got scattered all around him, and a simple mistake was going to end his life.

Even though the Sharingan was integrated into his body, it still consumed his Chakra quickly when activated. He gradually lost his physical power, and Ryo could no longer just watch.

The latter entered the Ice-Lightning Chakra Mode, and flickered before Sasori in an instant, severing the Chakra string between him and the puppet with his Ice Scalpel.

Ryo could only know how to precisely act just because he saw Sakumo dealing with Chiyo so many times before.

The 3rd Kazekage's puppet lost its Chakra support, and the Iron Sand weapons disintegrated and fell to the ground!