Drive Them Mad

Is Sasori, in the end, a rational person or an emotional one?

Nietzsche once proposed a philosophical concept in The Birth of Tragedy, categorizing ancient Greek mythology, culture, and art into a duality.

The Dionysian spirit, representing irrational impulse, instinctual indulgence, and the primal release of life force, and the Apollonian spirit, representing rational order, formal beauty, and the principle of moderation.

These two spirits exist in opposition yet are unified with one another.

Aesthetics are like this, and so are people; even the most rational person has an irrational side, and even the most emotional person has moments of rationality.

Sasori is a person who is rational the vast majority of the time. He is cautious and prudent, acting only after careful deliberation, and rarely does anything that lacks reason.

Yet, it is precisely because he is consistently calm and rational that, as the saying goes, "things turn into their opposites when they reach the extreme," giving rise to an irrational side at this very moment.

Because his reason and wisdom tell him that his reason and wisdom are no longer of any use.

Should he flee?

Sunagakure is teeming with experts, and he has lost his greatest trump card capable of threatening the village. Escaping would be incredibly difficult. Even if he were lucky enough to escape, what then?

Neither Rasa nor Jiang Feng would let him go.

No matter how he calculates it, his death is not far off.

Of course, to say he is doomed without a doubt is not entirely accurate; there are still a considerable number of low-probability events that could offer him a chance at life—for instance, if Sunagakure and Konoha were to suddenly fall into total war before he could be hunted down and killed...

But a truly rational person would never pin their hopes on such illusory, low-probability possibilities.

From a rational analysis, he has reached a dead end.

Since that is the case, then let there be madness, let there be a dance, and before the final curtain falls, let him take revenge on the Sunagakure that the Third Kazekage loved so dearly, and on this utterly disgusting world.

Sasori of the Red Sands' eyes turned blood-red—red to the point of being striking, red to the point of being dazzling. He suddenly raised his hands, releasing thousands of Chakra threads that coiled toward the surrounding spectators.

Jiang Feng, who had long since seen through Sasori of the Red Sands' intentions using the Heavenly Son's Qi Observation Technique, tapped his fingers repeatedly. A continuous stream of power, like spring rain, flew out and struck those Chakra threads with precision, thwarting Sasori's desperate final counterattack.

Rasa also seized the moment to use Magnet Release: Gold Dust, either shielding the ordinary spectators near Sasori of the Red Sands or moving them to safety.

Whether it was Jiang Feng or Rasa, both saw that Sasori of the Red Sands was doomed to die today. They were in no rush to attack him, instead focusing their efforts on protecting the ordinary spectators within the venue.

"I'd like to see how many of them you can save!"

Sasori of the Red Sands sneered. At this dead end, he finally unleashed his ultimate trump card. With a wave of his hand, he released a Human Puppet from a Sealing Scroll.

The Third Kazekage, master of Magnet Release: Iron Sand, the Kazekage known as the strongest in history.

"Sasori!"

"You actually turned the Kazekage's corpse into a Human Puppet! Ten thousand deaths wouldn't be enough for you!"

"Lord Kazekage!"

"How dare you desecrate the body of Lord Kazekage! I will kill you!"

Rasa, Chiyo, Ebizo, and the many Sunagakure ninja within the venue were all wide-eyed with fury upon seeing the human puppet of the Third Kazekage.

Although they had long suspected that Sasori of the Red Sands would inevitably turn the Kazekage's corpse into a human puppet, seeing it with their own eyes still filled them with incomparable rage.

Desecrating a corpse had always been a despicable and detestable act in the ninja world. It was precisely for this reason that forbidden techniques like the Impure World Reincarnation and human puppetry were classified as such.

Several Sunagakure ninja who had been evacuating the audience and were positioned closest to Sasori lunged toward him, burning with rage.

"Kill me ten thousand times?"

"What a pity. I only have one life. Even if you kill me ten thousand times, you can only take it once. But there are far more than ten thousand lives in this Sunagakure!"

Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle!

Sasori of the Red Sands manipulated the Kazekage puppet, unleashing the Third Kazekage's signature technique. In an instant, he summoned a sea of Iron Sand that blotted out the sky, forming countless needle-like projectiles that rained down indiscriminately upon the entire venue.

The Sunagakure ninja who had lunged at Sasori were riddled with holes on the spot, dying instantly.

Having been selected by the Sunagakure high command as guards for the Chunin Exam, every one of them was an elite among ninja, each possessing a distinguished service record and formidable strength.

But their strength was by no means greater than that of the Third Kazekage.

And so, they died.

Rasa once again manipulated his Gold Dust, creating a canopy to block the rain of Iron Sand needles, shielding the vast majority of the audience who had not yet managed to escape.

As Sasori of the Red Sands prepared his next move, he suddenly saw a figure, swift as the wind and scorching as fire, charging toward him.

"Sasori, you traitor! You finally dare to show your face. I will have my revenge for Lord Kazekage!"

Surrounded by several small fireballs, Pakura returned to the venue with murder in her eyes. Without a word, she shot toward Sasori of the Red Sands like a blazing meteor.

Having been repeatedly outmaneuvered by Sasori, seeing the Kazekage she respected assassinated, and witnessing her beloved village invaded by him, Pakura had been bottling up her rage. Now, she had finally found the opportunity to face him in direct combat.

Combat, exhilarating!

Sasori of the Red Sands frowned slightly. He manipulated the Kazekage puppet to block Pakura, extending his chakra threads as he retreated to put distance between them.

He had no intention of letting Pakura get close.

Perhaps Sasori was stronger, or perhaps Pakura held the edge, but the gap in their strength was not enough to decide the outcome in a short amount of time.

In the blink of an eye, Pakura exchanged over a dozen blows with Sasori as he controlled the Kazekage puppet. While Sasori held the upper hand, he found it difficult to defeat her, which made things miserable for Rasa.

Pakura might still be concerned about the audience in the venue, but Sasori had no such scruples. Or rather, he hoped to make the scene as chaotic as possible, the more innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire, the better.

The iron sand that Pakura dodged or shattered into fragments was entirely blocked by Rasa using his Gold Dust technique.

Jiang Feng was not idle either.

Perhaps to others, Jiang Feng was merely standing quietly on the viewing platform, guarding the Daimyo and the various aristocrats, remaining vigilant against any potential surprise attack from Sasori of the Red Sands.

But in reality, Jiang Feng had already joined the battle—he was participating through the Heavenly Son's Qi Observation Technique.

From the moment Pakura and Sasori of the Red Sands officially clashed, Jiang Feng began to observe and analyze Sasori's energy, momentum, personality, emotions, the flow of his Chakra, his methods and techniques for manipulating puppets, and his combat style...

Flawless.

Theoretically speaking, Sasori of the Red Sands' puppet manipulation skills and combat intelligence were nearly flawless. In his hands, the Kazekage puppet exerted a comprehensive combat power that was not much weaker than the Kazekage himself appearing in person.

Even now, as he was pushed to the brink, there were no significant or obvious weaknesses in Sasori's techniques or combat logic.

Since that was the case, he would simply create a weakness.

Jiang Feng utilized the Heavenly Son's Qi Observation Technique to manipulate the Qi and momentum of the surrounding world, imbuing them upon Sasori of the Red Sands. He made the entire surrounding area, and even the flow of the air, subtly revolve around Sasori as if he were the center of the world.

To destroy someone, one must first make them go mad.

At this moment, Sasori was not yet deranged enough, not yet insane enough; this fire was not yet burning hot enough.