Sasori halted the Third Kazekage puppet in mid-air, watching the masked Leaf brat and the blue-black giant snake disappear into the distance.
At the end of the day, that jutsu was simply unreasonable—too fast to react to.
If he were still in his original flesh-and-blood body instead of this puppet form, he would likely be gravely injured.
His gaze fell on the iron sand scattered across the desert.
"It can even annihilate the chakra controlling the iron sand?"
"The Leaf, Cloud, Rock, and Mist all have successors. Only the Sand is trapped in internal strife, with no one to carry the torch."
Sasori didn't have a huge number of spies in the Sand Village, but they were placed in key positions, constantly reporting village events to him.
For instance, he knew that a faction of Jonin was currently rallying around Chiyo, wanting to nominate her as the Fourth Kazekage.
Laughable!
If Chiyo became the Fourth Kazekage, she would launch a hysterical invasion of the Leaf.
Even that simple-minded Rasa would be better than her.
"Chase or not?"
"The Leaf brat is clearly exhausted and can't refine much chakra. I can catch him. Besides, that blue-black snake feels strange to me; it has research value."
Sasori of the Red Sand fell into unprecedented indecision.
It took him ten minutes to finally make up his mind.
Chase.
The Leaf brat definitely couldn't use that terrifying jutsu a second time!
The Kazekage puppet accelerated, tracking Byakuya and Tagorihime under Sasori's control.
The regenerative core in his left chest produced a ceaseless stream of chakra.
The chakra trail left by the human and snake in the wind and sand acted like an invisible wake, guiding Sasori.
"Sand Village?"
"Will you reach the Sand Village first, or will I catch you first?"
"I heard the Slug Princess Tsunade, one of your Leaf Sannin, likes to gamble. Let's gamble on this."
This wasn't fair to Byakuya. If he lost, he'd lose his life and everything else.
If Sasori lost, the worst that would happen is the Sand Village would find out he assassinated the Third Kazekage.
Despite making up his mind.
Sasori was still apprehensive.
After all, he had truly brushed shoulders with death. If that beam had pierced his regenerative core, he would have died in this vast desert.
---
Meanwhile.
Tagorihime asked Byakuya, who was sitting cross-legged on her head, "Should we turn around and sneak back to the Land of Rivers?"
Byakuya felt dizzy and whispered, "We can't go back. Sasori has a special tracking jutsu. Based on my analysis, he must have memorized our chakra signatures. As long as we don't leave his sensory range, we can't escape."
Sasori of the Red Sand was definitely a Kage-level powerhouse. Judging by the intensity of their exchange, he was even stronger than Pakura.
Fighting him to this draw was a testament to the significant increase in Byakuya's strength recently.
If he had his previous skill level from when he first entered the Land of Rivers, he would be dead for sure.
No wonder top-tier powerhouses like him could capture Jinchuriki after joining the Akatsuki.
"Hey, hey, your body is getting a little better," Tagorihime said happily.
Just now, Byakuya had been so weak he looked like he was dying—stamina drained, life force plummeting. It scared her so much she almost disregarded the Ryuchi Cave trial rules to take him to the Sage for help.
He forced himself to cheer up and smiled weakly. "Although I can't call my vitality powerful yet, I've touched the threshold. I won't die easily."
"Once Byakuya learns Ryuchi Cave Senjutsu, you won't be afraid of that puppet bad guy anymore."
The heaven-defying aspect of Ryuchi Cave Senjutsu was Inorganic Reincarnation, which allowed the user to control inorganic substances to attack.
This Sage Art meant that anywhere with inorganic matter was home turf.
Compared to Inorganic Reincarnation, other Sage Arts seemed mediocre—of course, that's comparing it to Itachi Uchiha's Izanami.
"Tagorihime, you'll have to change your training location from now on."
"Yeah, I thought so too. Byakuya is afraid of death, and so am I."
"There are many primeval forests in the Land of Fire..."
Byakuya suddenly remembered a place outside the Leaf Village that might suit her.
The Forest of Death.
Where Naruto took the Chunin Exams.
But on second thought, he dismissed it. It was too close to the village; accidents might happen.
Tagorihime asked, "Land of Fire? Okay, I'll listen to you."
"When I return to the Leaf, we'll travel together and pick a hidden spot."
"Okay, Tagorihime listens to her good friend."
She suddenly said anxiously, "Byakuya, that puppet bad guy is catching up again."
Byakuya sighed helplessly. "I thought I could deter him."
With that Storm Style: Thousand Blades Second Stage Transformation, he had tried his best to control the direction, aiming for Sasori's left chest in hopes of piercing the regenerative core.
Unfortunately, it fell just short.
Even with Storm chakra compressed to that degree, it was incredibly hard to control.
"Can you use that jutsu again?"
"It's hard to refine enough chakra for it."
Byakuya thought for a moment. "Judging by my physical condition, I have less than ten percent of my peak chakra left. I need to save this last bit for emergencies."
He liked judging chakra this way; it was intuitive.
Whether he could refine chakra and how much—he knew at a glance. (Some Naruto fanfics equate chakra to internal energy/qi for intuitiveness, giving readers a number for reference.)
Glancing back, he indeed saw a black dot pop up on the horizon.
The black dot grew larger, and gradually, he could clearly see Sasori squatting on the Kazekage puppet.
Truly troublesome.
Or rather, all future Akatsuki members were troublesome.
He unrolled the storage scroll he carried and took out a large number of kunai and explosive tags.
These tags had been tied to the kunai handles by Byakuya back in the Academy warehouse.
Sitting on an "arsenal," he wouldn't shortchange himself.
As for the village higher-ups sending someone to audit the inventory? He'd deal with that later.
Facing Sasori.
Tagorihime moved very fast, kicking up yellow sand that pattered painfully against the back of Byakuya's head.
Checking the kunai and confirming they were fine, Byakuya refined Storm chakra and coated them.
Time to switch tactics.
Storm Style had this application too.
His right hand reached into the soldier pill pouch at his waist, grabbed a handful, and stuffed them into his mouth. Whatever chakra he could recover, he would take. For a sliver of survival, no detail could be ignored.
"Byakuya, he's here!"
Tagorihime's voice was anxious.
"Yeah, I know. If something goes wrong, I'll cancel the Summoning Jutsu beforehand."
"Ah! Good friend, are you planning to die in battle?"
"I don't plan on dying! If! If!" Byakuya coughed a few times, forcing a small joke to ease Tagorihime's tension.
Sasori's voice was now audible.
"Kid, what's your code name under Danzo?"
No harm in telling him.
Byakuya shouted calmly, "Shuten-doji."
"Shuten-doji, if you can still use that jutsu from earlier, I'll leave immediately."
"Body overdrawn, can't use it."
"Really?"
"Absolutely true."
"You cunning Leaf brat, why do I find that hard to believe?"
"Senior Sasori must have made a judgment, otherwise you wouldn't continue chasing me."
"Haha... I advise you to save your strength. Talking consumes physical energy too. Haven't you realized I'm stalling you?"
Sasori reached the range for Byakuya's Storm kunai control.
Instantly, Byakuya threw ten kunai.
Like guided missiles, their only target was Sasori of the Red Sand.
"Iron Sand Wall."
Iron sand drifted from the Kazekage puppet's mouth again, forming a thick iron wall. During this, his speed slowed significantly.
The kunai curved around the Iron Sand Wall.
They exploded amidst Sasori's surprise.
Byakuya observed the result calmly and threw another ten kunai.
Storm chakra coating them for precise guidance.
After realizing the kunai could bypass the wall, Sasori immediately manipulated the Kazekage puppet to form an iron sand sphere, encasing them both.
The explosive tags detonated on the surface of the sphere, achieving nothing.
Byakuya had anticipated this result.
When Akatsuki's Deidara captured the One-Tail Jinchuriki Gaara, Gaara used sand to wrap himself up to defend against Deidara's clay explosions.
Possessing the Magnet Style Kekkei Genkai, the Kazekage puppet couldn't possibly be incapable of this maneuver. Or rather, the battle-hardened Sasori definitely knew how to use Magnet Style rationally.
"Damn it, Magnet Style is so hard to deal with. Good for offense and defense. How did the Third Kazekage die at Sasori's hands? Did he die of stupidity?!"
"No swearing," Tagorihime reminded him.
Byakuya didn't expect the explosive tags to injure Sasori; the goal was still to delay his pursuit.
"Byakuya, how is your body recovering?"
Tagorihime seemed to sense something and asked.
"Recovery isn't slow, but I still can't use that jutsu. My spiritual energy is also severely depleted."
Eating and sleeping were the best ways for a ninja to recover physically. Recovery of spiritual energy relied even more on such simple, direct rest.
With his mind highly tense like this, how could he recover spiritual energy?
After Pain attacked the Leaf, the first thing Tsunade did upon waking from her coma was eat—eat a massive amount of food. This showed just how singular a ninja's rapid recovery methods were.
Naruto Uzumaki didn't count. Being an Uzumaki, a Jinchuriki, and the reincarnation of Asura... training Wind Style nature transformation with multiple Shadow Clones? Other ninja couldn't compare.
He temporarily shook off Sasori.
Byakuya took a moment to glance at the map.
This map was given to him by Root; Pakura wouldn't hand over something involving sensitive Land of Wind information.
Using the Village of Sand Trees as a reference point, he estimated their travel speed. It would take at least ten more hours to reach the Sand Village.
And that was at Tagorihime's speed. If it were him alone, it would take even longer.
When Sasori caught up again.
Continue spamming kunai and explosive tags.
Sasori's tone finally revealed impatience.
"Shuten-doji! Exactly how many explosive tags do you have?"
This time, Byakuya didn't speak. Instead, based on the time it took Sasori to resume advancing after the last explosion, he closed his eyes to rest his mind.
Opened eyes.
Iron sand sphere dispersed.
Spam more kunai and explosive tags.
Close eyes and rest.
Tagorihime shook him off again.
This rest period would be longer.
"Byakuya, there are people ahead."
"Sand ninja? Ram them."
"Not Sand ninja. Their clothes are quite strange."
"Oh?" Byakuya thought of those three. He turned his head. On a sand dune about a kilometer away stood Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, wearing black cloaks with red cloud patterns.
They looked much like Byakuya remembered.
Yahiko had orange hair and an average face.
Nagato had the red hair of the Uzumaki clan and was handsome.
Konan had short, straight blue-purple hair tied in a practical bun with a paper flower; she was also beautiful.
Her style had its own merits compared to Pakura.
Byakuya knew the current Akatsuki was still a peaceful group, not the military organization it became after Yahiko's death.
The Town of Sasori! Before Yahiko died, the Akatsuki had contact with Sasori of the Red Sand in that town. So when the Akatsuki turned into a mercenary group, Sasori joined naturally.
This thought hadn't been clear before, but seeing the three of them solidified it.
The strange feeling Byakuya had earlier was partially explained.
"Go to them."
"Won't it be dangerous?" Tagorihime asked in surprise.
"No."
"Okay."
She turned toward the dune with Byakuya. Yahiko's trio instantly went on high alert.
Byakuya said, "I am an envoy from the Leaf, here to express goodwill to the Sand Village. Unexpectedly, I am being pursued by Sasori of the Red Sand."
Yahiko was naive; this sentence was enough.
"Are you really a Leaf envoy here to show goodwill?"
"Precisely. If not for Sasori's relentless pursuit, I would never have exposed the purpose of this trip."
Nagato frowned in deep thought.
Konan took a step forward, looking at the approaching masked Leaf ninja. "How can you prove what you say is true?"
"The Leaf is surrounded by enemies. We want to make peace not only with the Sand but also negotiate with the Rock."
Konan said coldly, "Really? You Leaf are cunning. You use our Land of Rain as a defense line against the Rock invasion. Countless civilians have died at the hands of ninja from both your nations!"
Byakuya racked his brains to recall details about the Third War from the original story.
Actually, there wasn't much. If he hadn't heard in the Leaf that the Land of Fire and Land of Earth were using the Land of Rain and Land of Grass as battlefields again, he would have thought the Third War took place within the Land of Fire.
While they spoke.
Tagorihime stopped at the base of the dune, not far from Yahiko's trio.
Byakuya said, "If you don't believe me, come with me to the Sand Village. They will have a result soon."
"The Sand Village already knows of the Leaf's goodwill?" Yahiko caught the key information and asked happily.
"Yes. I met Pakura of the Sand in the Land of Rivers. She conveyed the Leaf's goodwill on my behalf."
Nagato whispered, "Yahiko, Konan, I feel like this Leaf ninja isn't telling the whole truth."
Yahiko whispered back, "Do you remember when the Sand high command refused to see us?"
"I remember. A female ninja named Pakura hurried back to the village."
Konan thought hard. "It matches what he said. But whether she conveyed goodwill or just intel is unknown. Based solely on this Leaf ninja's simple words, it's hard to trust him."
Yahiko laughed boisterously. "If we go with him to the Sand Village, won't we know everything?
If the Sand can make peace with the Leaf and stop the conflict in the Land of Rivers, we also have a chance to act as intermediaries for the Leaf, begging the Rock to cease fire and negotiate peace with the Leaf."
Nagato suddenly said, "Wait, I remember the Leaf hasn't had any conflict with the Sand recently."
Before Yahiko could speak, Konan said, "It's coming. This Leaf ninja said he came to express goodwill to the Sand. The Leaf high command must know the Sand shows signs of launching a war, so they sent him to the Land of Wind."
Yahiko asked brightly, "Konan, do you also think we should help him?"
Konan nodded. "I thought about it carefully. We should try. The civilians of the Land of Rain are suffering greatly; many mothers and children live in constant fear... As long as there's a chance, we should try. Sigh..."
"Yes, we don't have time. If the fighting continues, the Land of Rain will become ruins!"
Decision made.
Nagato opened his Rinnegan eyes, looking towards Sasori on the Kazekage puppet. "Then let's help him!"