Recruiting Sasori of the Red Sands

Sasori unfolded the scroll and pressed his hand firmly against it.

Following a puff of white smoke, a figure clad in a brown robe emerged—it was the human puppet he had crafted from the corpse of the Third Kazekage.

Immediately after, Sasori manipulated Hiruko to shoot out countless chakra threads from its back, instantly connecting them to the Third Kazekage puppet.

The human puppet was activated in an instant, and at that very moment, Sasori controlled the Third Kazekage to open his mouth wide, unleashing a torrent of black iron sand.

These iron sand particles converged in the air, gradually taking the shape of a triangular pyramid.

"Let's see if you can defend against this: Magnet Release: Iron Sand Triangular Pyramid!"

Watching the scene unfold, Sigurd's lips curled upward. With a wave of his hand, he scattered a burst of golden moonlight energy.

Soon, this energy began to condense in the air, eventually forming a golden triangular pyramid roughly the same size as the iron sand one.

"Why bother defending? Watch this: Moonlight: Golden Moon Triangular Pyramid!"

With that, Sigurd maneuvered his triangular pyramid, launching it directly toward Sasori's iron sand pyramid.

"Damn it!"

Seeing his opponent conjure a technique so similar to his own, Sasori cursed in anger.

He immediately launched his own pyramid to intercept the incoming attack.

BOOM!

The two pyramids collided violently in mid-air, producing a deafening roar.

The golden Golden Moon Triangular Pyramid and the black iron sand pyramid entangled, until Sasori's iron sand pyramid began to distort first.

"Damn it!"

Below, Sasori cursed under his breath, then immediately shifted his strategy, abruptly dispersing the condensed iron sand.

The Golden Moon Triangular Pyramid, having lost its target, scattered the surrounding iron sand and headed straight for Sasori.

At that very moment, Sasori once again controlled the Third Kazekage to spew out countless iron sand, forming a wall of iron in front of him.

"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Wall!"

BOOM!

With a thunderous crash, the Golden Moon Triangular Pyramid slammed fiercely into the iron sand wall, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

As the dust settled, Sigurd saw his Golden Moon Triangular Pyramid wedged firmly into the iron sand wall.

In that split second, Sasori manipulated the scattered iron sand in the sky, causing it to re-form into several sharp, giant needles, which he immediately launched at Sigurd.

"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Giant Needles!"

Seeing the giant needles hurtling toward him, the thrusters on Sigurd's legs ignited.

Sigurd's speed surged, allowing him to easily dodge the range of the iron sand needles.

The moment Sigurd evaded the attack, he hurled his magic sword toward Sasori with all his might.

Sasori reacted instantly, raising another black iron sand wall before him, which blocked the incoming magic sword.

Seeing his magic sword stuck in the iron sand wall, a thought crossed Sigurd's mind: If I quietly unleash a powerful ultimate move, he shouldn't die, right?

After all, if he didn't use a major technique in this situation, he felt he would regret it for the rest of his life.

To avoid such regret, Sigurd ignited the thrusters under his feet again, charging toward the iron sand wall in the blink of an eye.

Sigurd threw a punch at the hilt of his magic sword and shouted, "Let this Humble One witness your pride—Bolverk Gram!"

Following Sigurd's roar, a crimson explosion of light erupted from the blade of the magic sword, blasting forward.

The escaping energy, carrying terrifying heat, instantly melted the surrounding iron sand.

Seeing this, Sasori immediately tried to retreat, but he was too slow.

Just as the scorching explosion was about to engulf him, he frantically manipulated the surrounding iron sand to wrap around his body.

The timing was so tight that Sasori didn't even have time to shield the Third Kazekage.

Amidst the explosion, the chakra threads Sasori used to control the Third Kazekage were completely obliterated, and the puppet itself suffered severe damage.

The moment the chakra threads were destroyed, Sasori lost control of the Third Kazekage.

Without the Third Kazekage's control, the iron sand protecting Sasori turned into ordinary sand and was melted into molten iron by the intense heat of the explosion.

Fortunately, the iron sand had absorbed the vast majority of the explosion's damage before losing its control.

This left his true body with only minor burns.

Conversely, the shell of Hiruko, which he used for protection, was almost entirely destroyed by the blast.

After all, aside from the metallic tail stinger, the rest of Hiruko's shell was merely wood, which could never withstand the destructive power of the explosion.

Looking at the red-haired Sasori, who was steaming and covered in burns, Sigurd was slightly stunned; he hadn't expected this Sasori to still possess a human body.

He quickly collected himself, thinking, At this point in time, it seems Sasori hasn't fully transformed himself yet.

"Huff, huff, huff!"

Sasori panted heavily, the searing pain across his skin only hardening his resolve to complete his transformation into a human puppet.

He looked up at Sigurd, who held the Third Kazekage puppet by the neck, and silently began to weigh his options.

If even the Third Kazekage could do nothing against his opponent, his Performance of a Hundred Puppets would likely prove just as useless.

Still, a swarm-based puppet tactic should at least buy him enough time to escape.

With that thought, Sasori reached into his robes to pull out another scroll.

Seeing this, Sigurd immediately tossed the Third Kazekage puppet down in front of Sasori.

The sudden turn of events caused Sasori's hand to pause mid-motion.

Confused, Sasori looked at Sigurd and asked, "What is the meaning of this? Are you trying to humiliate me?"

Sigurd waved a hand dismissively, then extended it again in an inviting gesture. "I told you at the start: I am merely here on behalf of our leader to invite you to join our Akatsuki."

Hearing this, Sasori was momentarily stunned; the man had indeed said something to that effect earlier.

However, because the man's tone had been so casual and arrogant, he hadn't believed it for a second.

But looking at it now, it seemed the man was genuinely here to recruit him.

Although he had never heard of this so-called Akatsuki, the situation was dire, and he knew when to swallow his pride.

He had yet to complete his eternal art; he absolutely could not die here in such an obscure fashion.

Thinking this, Sasori stepped forward and said, "Fine, I agree to join your organization."

Upon hearing this, Sigurd immediately began to clap, welcoming him: "Excellent! Welcome, little comrade Sasori, to our very promising Akatsuki."

At these words, veins bulged on Sasori's forehead as he snapped, "Enough talk! Since I've joined the organization, tell me what I'm supposed to do next!"