Ryou felt a bit pained by Sasori's waste; what a beautiful flower, crushed just like that by a Unwinged Angel fellow like Sasori.
But Ryou could still forgive Sasori, because he was kind.
"Sasori, I'll give you a chance right now. Use your human puppet technique to modify that girl immediately."
"You must ensure she is completely intact, without a single flaw, and she must have an autonomous heating function!"
Sasori was furious: "Bastard Uchiha, is my human puppet technique meant for you to make things like that?"
In his anger, Sasori opened Hiruko's large mouth, releasing a series of high-speed poisonous needles.
Hiruko: Eight Waves of Needles!
Ryou stood there straight, not moving a single step.
A kind-hearted person in the back shouted: "Young man, hurry and dodge! His needles are poisonous; the Ninjas in our town were taken down by his poison needles."
Ryou was somewhat surprised, because speaking out at this time undoubtedly told Sasori his location; it was seeking death.
In this cold world, there are always some people who can't become truly good, but won't sink into being truly bad.
They are... ordinary people!
Susanoo, Second Form!
Just when everyone thought Ryou would be shot into a sieve by Sasori's poison needles, Ryou's location was immediately covered by a black giant made of Chakra.
Sasori's poison needles were all blocked by Ryou's Chakra giant.
After blocking them, he naturally followed up with traditional Ninjutsu, stopping just at the right point.
Sasori also showed Ninja etiquette and did not attack Ryou again.
Because at this moment, Sasori inside Hiruko had his eyes wide open.
"This... what is this thing?"
The fearful crowd behind them also widened their eyes.
"What... is this?!"
Ryou's Susanoo raised a war fan; the fan's surface was arc-shaped, painted with two pairs of iconic six-tomoe gourd patterns.
The fan handle was thick, connected to a long chain, and the overall design was ancient and heavy.
This was the spiritual tool of Ryou's Susanoo—the Uchiha Gunbai.
Naturally, it also possessed the functions of the Gunbai, capable of releasing powerful Wind Release reflection Ninjutsu.
Ryou's Susanoo raised the Gunbai and swung it fiercely towards Sasori's position.
"Susanoo: Hurricane!"
Instantly, Ryou's Susanoo fanned out a powerful blast of Wind Release, blowing Sasori several hundred meters away.
Ryou then retracted his Susanoo and used the Body Flicker to rush in the direction where Sasori had been blown away.
Sasori was hit by Ryou's Wind Release for hundreds of meters, breaking several large trees before coming to a stop.
Hiruko was shattered by this intense attack, and Sasori's true body emerged wretchedly from the broken puppet fragments of Hiruko.
Sasori's true body was different from the ugly Hiruko; beneath the bloated, hideous Hiruko was a handsome young body.
Sasori had neat red hair, with bangs slightly falling over his forehead; his facial lines were exquisite and cold, and his black eyes were sharp as cold arrows.
However, this handsomeness seemed to be frozen in time.
Because Sasori had turned himself into a human puppet.
On the left part of Sasori's chest was a heart marked with the character for "Sasori"; that was Sasori's Chakra core, also known as the regeneration core.
All of Sasori's Chakra was sealed within it.
Sasori had already abandoned his human body and become a cold puppet.
When exactly did Sasori transform himself into a human puppet?
One could tell just by looking at his current appearance.
Probably around the age of fifteen, Sasori transformed himself into a human puppet.
Since then, he had always maintained his youthful appearance.
Ryou stood on a large tree, arms crossed, looking down at Sasori who had been forced out of his shell.
He looked at the broken Hiruko behind Sasori, searching for any traces of a tricycle.
None!
This proved that Sasori used Chakra to control Hiruko's movement from within, rather than standing up to pedal a tricycle.
Sasori looked up at Ryou, his eyes filled with gravity: "You are definitely not a nameless nobody. Who exactly are you?"
Based on that Chakra giant from earlier, Sasori knew he had encountered a tough opponent.
This was absolutely not a technique an ordinary Ninja could possess.
Sasori had also never heard of the Uchiha Clan having such a terrifying Ninjutsu.
Announcing one's own name would be quite undignified; it was more stylish to let a subordinate do it.
Ryou gestured to Candy on his left shoulder.
Candy was speechless, spat out the lollipop in his mouth, and then shouted loudly: "Listen up, kid! My master is the SSS-rank rogue ninja who defected from Konoha, Uchiha Ryou!"
"The current head of the Uchiha Clan, the leader of the Hidden Rain Village, and the Uchiha General of the Land of Rain!"
"If you know what's good for you, hand over your money and Ninjutsu, and my master will spare your life."
As soon as Candy said this, Sasori immediately sucked in a breath of cold air.
"Uchiha Ryou?!"
Ryou was somewhat pleasantly surprised: "You know me?!"
Sasori shook his head: "I don't!"
"Damn it, you're playing with me!"
Sasori was lying to Ryou; he had heard the name Ryou.
A while ago, Ryou's Immortality Technique caused quite a stir in the black market, and Sasori had heard of it.
Sasori actually quite admired Ryou.
Because Sasori's philosophy was eternal art; he felt utter despair at the fragility of life and viewed puppetry as 'eternal art'.
Only puppets could escape the shackles of life, death, time, and emotion.
Sasori transformed himself into a human puppet at a young age precisely to become part of 'eternity' himself, completely detaching from the fragility and impermanence of life.
The Immortality Technique allowed one to escape the aging and death of life, which also belonged to the concept of eternity.
Therefore, Sasori viewed Ryou as his own kind and naturally remembered his name.
Later, after Sasori heard about Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan in the black market, he prepared to join Madara.
Because Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan also aligned well with the philosophy of eternity.
To join Madara, he naturally had to understand Madara's location and members.
Sasori found out in the black market that Ryou was Madara's top henchman.
Having found the organization, Sasori simply decided not to pursue the matter of Hiruko being destroyed by Ryou upon their meeting.
He said: "Uchiha Ryou, I acknowledge your strength. I'm joining your organization; take me to see Uchiha Madara immediately."
"I strongly agree with his Eye of the Moon Plan. We can cooperate; I can turn the corpses of the strong into human puppets while retaining the abilities they had in life."
Ryou looked at Sasori, who seemed to fully agree with Madara's philosophy, and was somewhat surprised: "Even an old demon like Madara has followers?"
Where there is light in this world, there must be shadow; some are won over by Hashirama's love, and similarly, there will be terrorists who are devout because of Madara's terror.
Sasori was just such a terrorist.
In the original work, the Akatsuki was a group of eccentric people, representing ten human dreams.
Those seeking peace, those seeking art, those seeking explosions... it was like a melting pot with all kinds of people.
But not many knew about the Eye of the Moon Plan; before this, they all thought the Akatsuki was pursuing a 'terror peace'—using powerful Ninjutsu to deter the nations of the Ninja World from starting wars.
Only Obito, Kisame, and Black and White Zetsu knew about the Eye of the Moon Plan.
If everyone in the Akatsuki knew about the Eye of the Moon Plan, who would agree and who would refuse?
Ryou then asked Sasori: "Sasori, do you really pursue eternal art?"
Sasori nodded: "Of course. I'm already a puppet myself; isn't that artistic enough?"
Ryou looked at Sasori's art; Ryou was no artist.
The art he encountered in his previous life was adult films, and he even skipped through those, which showed how vulgar he was.
Ryou didn't understand Sasori's art, but he could see the type of art it was.
Sasori's art was the Van Gogh type; it couldn't be appreciated while he was alive.