Chapter 337: The Akatsuki Mercenaries
Land of Wind, a remote canyon.
"Finally complete. Eternal art... a body that will never decay." Looking at the puppet on the operating table, Sasori muttered to himself, his voice laced with a hint of madness.
Ever since he had killed the Third Kazekage and defected from the Sand Village, he had been hiding in this canyon, honing his puppetry skills while secretly amassing funds.
Just now, having achieved a breakthrough in his technique, Sasori had successfully converted the Third Kazekage into a human puppet. At this moment, a thought rose from the depths of his heart.
"If I turn myself into a human puppet as well, wouldn't I gain eternal life...?" The faces of his parents, who had died when he was young, flashed before his eyes, solidifying his resolve to transform himself.
However, the difficulty of this procedure was significantly higher. To become a puppet while retaining one's own consciousness was a daunting challenge for the current Sasori.
But time was the one thing Sasori had in abundance. He believed that one day, he would achieve eternal life.
Outside Sasori's secret base, two figures had been watching for a long time.
"Boring. Is a guy who failed during the Chunin Exams really worth our effort to recruit?" a man wearing a mask and radiating a powerful aura said, looking down at the hidden entrance in the sand with disdain.
"We cannot complete the plan alone. Recent events have proven that," the other figure, dressed almost identically, stated flatly.
These two were Obito and Dark Owl, who had left the affairs of the Mist Village to come here.
After the Nine-Tails incident and the failure with Nagato, both of them clearly understood that their current strength was absolutely insufficient to achieve their goals. Thus, they turned their attention to powerful rogue ninja wandering the world, planning to use them to reorganize the Akatsuki.
Now that Nagato's Rinnegan had been stolen, Obito had no choice but to step forward personally. He intended to use the name of "Uchiha Madara" to rally strong warriors. As for how to eventually activate the Infinite Tsukuyomi, he had a rough plan.
First, continue with the original plan: use these powerful shinobi to capture the Tailed Beasts one by one. As long as he could gather the Tailed Beasts, he would have the power to seize the Rinnegan back.
The second option was a backup plan in case stealing the Rinnegan failed. If he ultimately couldn't defeat Kyosuke, Obito prepared to awaken the Rinnegan with his own power, just as Madara Uchiha had done.
However, this was a last resort born of desperation. It was time-consuming and there was no guarantee of success, so Obito needed to make additional preparations.
Setting aside other matters, they had come here today to recruit the Sand Village's S-rank missing-nin, Sasori of the Red Sand, to bolster Akatsuki's strength.
Over the past half-year, Obito had tirelessly traveled the ninja world. Figures from the original story, such as Juzo Biwa and Kakuzu, had already chosen to join the Akatsuki, somewhat making up for the loss of the Rinnegan.
With Kakuzu's addition, Akatsuki's financial situation had finally improved. Furthermore, Obito decided that before the main plan began, Akatsuki would operate as a mercenary organization. This would allow them to hone the members' skills while accumulating wealth.
Two failures had finally made Obito mature. Although his heart was tormented every moment, he had the patience to wait for the arrival of the World of Dreams.
Waiting for the day he could completely destroy Konoha.
BOOM!
A Fire Release jutsu shattered the entrance to the secret base. Dark Owl said nothing and charged toward the red figure that suddenly emerged.
Unlike Obito, Dark Owl's confidence in defeating Kyosuke had been shaken like never before.
Previously, she could deceive herself by saying she hadn't fully mastered her powers when Kyosuke defeated her. But Saori, whom she could once defeat in a few moves, had managed to fight her to a draw where both were grievously injured... this made Dark Owl doubt her own strength.
Now that the Rinnegan had fallen into Kyosuke's hands, regardless of who he transplanted it into, his faction's power would increase further. Dark Owl knew she had been working hard, but the gap between her and Kyosuke wasn't shrinking; as time passed, it was widening.
Is the only way, as he said, to gather strong allies and use the power of the Tailed Beasts to achieve our goal...? Dark Owl ignored Sasori rushing toward her, her mind racing with the pros and cons.
Ultimately, she had to admit that perhaps this was the only way to contend with Kyosuke. Only by using the power of the Tailed Beasts could they completely crush the enemy.
"Damn it, who are you people?" Controlling the Third Kazekage puppet floating behind him, Sasori stared cautiously at the masked figure before him.
Unfortunately, Dark Owl was in a foul mood and had no interest in talking nonsense. The white skeleton of her Susanoo materialized, and a spear was instantly hurled at Sasori.
"Damn it, how dare you underestimate me!" It had to be said, the current Sasori was far from the calm and composed figure he would become later. Facing Dark Owl's blatant scorn, he flew into a rage.
"Secret Technique: Iron Sand Gathering Assault!"
Manipulating the Third Kazekage's chakra, a massive cloud of black iron sand erupted from the ground. It compressed into high density, forming a giant black rectangle that blocked Sasori's path.
The energy spear thrown by the Susanoo collided instantly with the iron sand. Although the sand was continuously stripped away from the block, the spear failed to pierce it completely.
Seeing this, Dark Owl, who had been lost in thought, finally paid some attention to her opponent.
"I see. No wonder that guy came personally. This move alone is enough to qualify him for the new Akatsuki."
"However... blame your bad luck. If you want to survive, try living through this attack."
Dark Owl, whose mood was still unpleasant, didn't hold back just because Sasori showed potential. On the contrary, her powerful chakra surged, and a formidable Wood Release jutsu was unleashed instantly.
"Wood Style Secret Jutsu: Deep Forest Emergence!"
"What?!"
Looking at the unconscious Sasori on the ground, Dark Owl kicked him toward Obito, then lowered her head in thought again.
Suddenly, she asked Obito softly, "Why does Uchiha Kyosuke have the ability to heal wounds without hand signs?"
Before Obito could answer, Dark Owl muttered to herself again.
"...Find Orochimaru. I need his help."