Land of Water.
Kirigakure.
Sasori of the Red Sands received a reply from his grandmother, Chiyo. Although she agreed to let him remain in the Land of Water, she sternly warned him not to continue researching the evil Human Puppet Technique.
Hmm...
Still, as they said, a general in the field need not obey every order from headquarters.
Naturally, he ignored the latter half of that saying.
After all, telling Sasori not to play with human figurines was like telling Deidara not to make bombs, Orochimaru not to research immortality, Jiraiya not to peek into women's bathhouses, or Black Zetsu not to save his mother.
What meaning would his life have then?
So, he selectively read only the first half of the letter, tossing Chiyo's lengthy and earnest warnings aside. Then, he eagerly sought out Araki and asked impatiently:
"When are we going to Bluefish Island again?"
"Bluefish Island?"
Araki set down the ninjutsu scroll in his hands and looked up. "There's no rush to exchange prisoners. We need to see Konoha's sincerity first."
"Not for that. I need to make new puppets. I've already used up the materials I picked before," Sasori explained.
"You used them all? You've gotten much faster!"
Araki was somewhat surprised.
When they had returned from Bluefish Island, Sasori had brought back quite a few materials. How many days had it been? He had burned through them that quickly?
"I made several mechanical puppets specifically for modifying Human Puppets. The efficiency has improved considerably."
There was a hint of pride in Sasori's tone.
Good lord, are you trying to build a puppet factory assembly line?
Araki grumbled inwardly, then rose to his feet. "Wait a moment. I'll also bring some people over to spar with those Konoha ninja and make use of their remaining value."