One's Own Life Reincarnation Puzzle

Sasori of the Red Sands trying to contact him was something Kaedeji had anticipated long ago.

Even Chiyo had coveted his secret technique and specifically sent Sandstorm Araki to abduct him. Sasori of the Red Sands, who worshipped Human Puppets to an extreme degree, needed no further mention.

"I'll only contact you if you survive. If Sandstorm Araki had taken you back to the village, there would have been no need for me to contact you, because everything you possess now would fall into my hands sooner or later."

The puppet's mouth opened and closed, producing an intermittent voice.

Kaedeji looked around. Only a few Konoha Ninja nearby were cleaning up the battlefield. He immediately said, "What exactly are you trying to say? I don't have time to waste on you."

"Let's make a deal. Give me your technique, and in return, I'll give you the village's Human Puppet secret technique," Sasori of the Red Sands said. "Flesh and blood will rot eventually. Sooner or later, you'll come to realize this and walk the same path as I have. We are not enemies."

"That confident?"

"I won't be wrong. Fundamentally, you and I are no different. We have both embarked on the path of controlling corpses; the only difference is how we modify them."

Sasori of the Red Sands said, "You can make corpses use the ninjutsu they possessed in life, while my Human Puppet secret technique can also modify corpses and allow them to use the ninjutsu they possessed in life."

No Puppet Master who knew of Human Puppets could ignore Kaedeji's existence. Obtaining Kaedeji's technique would be equivalent to completely filling in the most crucial missing piece of Human Puppets.

Sasori of the Red Sands said, "I've looked into your information. You haven't been using the Dead Soul Technique for long, so you haven't realized its greatest weakness yet—the corpses themselves will keep rotting. But my Human Puppets are different. As long as their parts are constantly replaced, Human Puppets can continue existing forever."

"What if I ask you for the complete Human Puppet secret technique?"

"That's fine. Then give me every technique you have. I'm very interested in the Space-Time Ninjutsu you use through corpses. If it were applied to my puppets, it would make up for a Puppet Master's weakness."

What did Puppet Masters fear most? Nothing more than enemies like Konoha's White Fang, who excelled at killing with a single strike, suddenly closing in on them.

Even for a Puppet Master controlling Human Puppets, their flesh-and-blood original body remained a weakness. Unless they transformed their entire body into a puppet—but even then, they would ultimately need a flesh-and-blood core to produce Chakra.

But if they could master Space-Time Ninjutsu, even if it only allowed them to teleport a dozen meters or so, it would be a critical ninjutsu capable of changing a Puppet Master's fate.

Battles changed in an instant. For experts, a mere moment of breathing room was often enough to completely turn the tide.

"What a troublesome child. Yakushi Nonō never told me you would be this difficult to deal with. Are you really only six years old?"

"I'm seven now. In the Warring States era, I would have already gone to war and killed many people at my age," Sasori of the Red Sands said coldly.

Kaedeji nodded to himself. That was true. Even in the era of ninja villages, Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Itachi, and others had gone to the battlefield and seen blood at that age.

There was no helping it. This was, after all, a world with extraordinary power. As long as young children could create and use Chakra, killing ordinary people was as easy as chopping vegetables. Their combat power was far beyond that of normal people.

"So, we've reached an understanding? Very good. You and I are the ones walking the same path, and we bear no grudge against each other. On the road toward eternity, I am finally no longer alone." Sasori of the Red Sands's voice carried a rare trace of Emotional Fluctuation.

Even his grandmother probably could not understand his ideas. Instead, he had to join hands with someone from an enemy village to walk this path.

As for how selling the Human Puppet technique amounted to betraying the village, Sasori of the Red Sands did not care in the slightest. The people of Sunagakure were, in the end, merely things destined to fade away.

Kaedeji still did not approach the puppet. Instead, he moved several meters to the side and crouched down, as though retrieving loot left behind by an enemy. "We can put Human Puppets aside for now. I'm interested in another technique. If you can get it for me, we can make the trade immediately."

"Hmph, how cunning. So you had already prepared to contact me."

"There's one thing you said that I agree with. It's better for two people to travel through the unknown together than for one person to stumble about like a headless fly," Kaedeji said slowly.

"...Go on. What do you want?"

"Chiyo's forbidden technique—One's Own Life Reincarnation."

"I've never heard of it. How do you know information that even I don't know?"

Sasori of the Red Sands was actually somewhat surprised.

One's Own Life Reincarnation? What was that supposed to be? Did that old woman Chiyo know such a technique?

"At present, Chiyo probably hasn't truly completed its development yet, but it doesn't matter even if she has only developed part of it. There's no point in hiding it from you. With your intelligence, you'll definitely understand that this is what I truly want, so there's no need for me to disguise that purpose through multiple trades."

Kaedeji coveted this technique immensely.

As long as he could obtain One's Own Life Reincarnation, it did not matter if the technique was still incomplete or riddled with flaws. It would be enough as long as it could be successfully performed!

At this stage, even if Konoha threw the Scroll of Seals at him and let him choose any ninjutsu he wanted from it, none of them could compare to One's Own Life Reincarnation in Chiyo's hands!

To Kaedeji as he was now, One's Own Life Reincarnation was even more important than Impure World Reincarnation!

"One's Own Life Reincarnation... What is this technique for? Judging by its name, it seems to be a resurrection technique. Is it a supplementary ninjutsu for Human Puppets?" Sasori of the Red Sands naturally thought of that possibility.

Chiyo's greatest techniques were nothing more than Human Puppets and the Chikamatsu Collection.

Human Puppets were still incomplete, and it was not suitable to openly deploy them on the battlefield at this time. The moment this technique was revealed, it would become as notorious in the eyes of their enemies as Kaedeji's Dead Soul Technique.

No one could tolerate their enemy possessing such a technique. Ethical and public-opinion risks were only one aspect; they were even more worried that their own people would become the enemy's fighting force after death.

Sunagakure's defeat was becoming increasingly apparent. Bringing out Human Puppets at a time like this would be mindless. Once Konoha won the war, how could it possibly tolerate Sunagakure continuing to possess such a technique?

Then One's Own Life Reincarnation, this technique he had never heard of, ought to be something designed to complement Human Puppets as well.

Kaedeji nodded. "You could say that. This technique was developed for Human Puppets."

"That Yakushi Nonō truly seems formidable. She actually got hold of a secret of this level from the village. I'll find an opportunity to kill her in the future. I hope you won't stop me. I don't want to defeat you."

"That's a matter for the future." Kaedeji neither agreed nor disagreed.

"I'll give you an answer soon. This is the codebook between us. I'll contact you as quickly as possible."

The Chakra stored in the puppet was about to run out. A switch on its chest opened, and a scroll rolled out.

The puppet itself turned into a puff of white smoke with a bang and vanished from where it stood.

Kaedeji pondered, "The Summoning Technique... This Sasori of the Red Sands..."