Gathering in Amegakure

After cursing, Sasori felt quite a bit better.

Then he hunched over and began picking up the scattered pieces of his puppet.

Most of the parts were no longer usable, but they were still worth salvaging. Sasori had always been a thrifty, sensible young man.

Hearing Sasori's question, Sigurd scratched his head awkwardly. The leader hadn't said what to do after recruiting Sasori.

He could take Sasori straight to Amegakure and throw him a welcome party.

But as a good employee, he knew better than to do any work his boss hadn't explicitly assigned.

After all, if anything went wrong, he'd be the one taking the blame.

But if the boss clearly spelled out what to do, then he could go ahead without worrying.

After all, if something did go wrong, he could pin the blame on the boss.

That was an essential survival guide for modern wage slaves. Anyone about to enter the workforce would be wise to study it.

Sigurd was a half-capitalist who knew the ways of the workplace inside and out. He certainly wouldn't leave himself open to taking the fall.

So Sigurd immediately channeled chakra into his ring and said, "Hey, Leader. I've successfully recruited Sasori of the Red Sands. What should I do next? Please give me clear instructions."

A response soon came through the ring. Deva Path Pain praised him first: "Well done, Suzaku!"

Sigurd could only roll his eyes. What good was praise? Couldn't he get something more tangible?

As Sigurd grumbled to himself, the ring transmitted further instructions: "Take Sasori of the Red Sands and meet us in Amegakure. Understood?"

Hearing the leader's order, Sigurd answered seriously, "Understood, Leader. I'll bring Sir Sasori back as soon as possible."

When his boss gave him clear directions, Sigurd always responded with the utmost seriousness.

But once he'd answered, it was time to get cheeky.

Sigurd immediately changed his tune and asked the ring, "By the way, Leader, since I've completed this mission, could you approve the leave I requested last time?"

Nagato, on the other end, was speechless at Sigurd's request.

"Get lost!"

After a long silence, that was all Nagato said through the ring. Then it fell quiet again.

Hearing this, Sigurd pursed his lips in displeasure.

He had once submitted a request to Deva Path Pain for six months of leave, and the answer had come back that very day.

Denied!

Deva Path Pain must have seen how hard I worked and decided to squeeze every last bit of value out of me.

Sigurd had protested countless times, only to have his appeals dismissed as unreasonable.

It left him feeling deeply aggrieved. All he wanted was some time off. What had he done wrong?

Just then, Sasori, who had finished collecting the pieces, asked, "What's that ring of yours?"

Sasori was very interested in the device that allowed long-distance communication.

The Ninja World had radios, of course, but their range was limited.

The ring on Sigurd's finger was clearly different. Its communication range had to be enormous, judging by the conversation he'd just heard.

What was more, Sasori had sensed Sigurd channel chakra into the ring before using it.

In other words, the device was powered by chakra.

That alone made it far more useful to shinobi than any electric-powered device.

If he could give his future puppet body this function, contacting the spies he had placed in various locations would become much easier.

"Oh, you mean this?" Sigurd said, wiggling the ring on his finger. "It was made by our leader."

"It has many functions, but its main purpose is long-distance communication."

"Of course, if something urgent comes up, you can also project your image into the organization's base and hold a meeting."

After hearing Sigurd's explanation, Sasori grew even more interested. He really wanted to get his hands on a ring and study it.

As if he had seen through Sasori's thoughts, Sigurd said, "Don't worry. You may not be as strong as me, but with your current abilities, I'm sure the leader will give you a ring too."

Sasori was much like Orochimaru. Both were talented researchers, though one leaned more toward biology and the other toward technology.

That was why, in the original story, Orochimaru joined the Akatsuki after defecting from Konoha and was partnered with Sasori. AB really knew what he was doing.

But now that Sasori was joining, who would Nagato pair him with? Surely not me?

That wouldn't do. He still had the merchant association to worry about. He couldn't spare the time to drag a partner all over the world doing bounty missions.

He'd have to find a chance to lure Orochimaru or Deidara over and pair one of them with Sasori. He'd be better off operating alone.

Just as Sigurd was deciding Sasori's future partner, Sasori grew furious at Sigurd's claim that he wasn't as strong as him and cursed, "You only won by luck! Once I complete my ultimate art, you won't stand a chance against me!"

Sigurd shrugged helplessly. "Sure, sure. Say that again once you've finished this so-called ultimate art of yours!"

"Bastard!"

Hearing the dismissive tone in Sigurd's voice, Sasori gritted his teeth in anger again.

He hadn't turned himself into a puppet yet, so he still had plenty of emotions.

Seeing that Sasori seemed genuinely angry, Sigurd quickly waved a hand. "All right, Sir Sasori. The leader isn't very patient. We'd better get moving."

"Hmph!" Sasori snorted, then continued, "You destroyed the shell of my Hiruko. I need to make a new one."

Sigurd could only shrug helplessly. "Fine. Just make it quick."

With that, Sigurd found a fairly flat boulder, lay down on it, and began to doze.

Sasori took out a Space Scroll and pulled out all kinds of puppet parts, then started hammering them together.

He had collected those parts bit by bit after defecting from Sunagakure.

Seeing the sudden pile of materials, Sigurd thought there were enough to make two more Hiruko shells.

As Sasori worked on rebuilding Hiruko, he suddenly asked, "Hey, tell me something. The leader said we were going to meet in Amegakure, right?"

Sigurd nodded, puzzled. "So what?"

Sasori thought for a moment, then voiced the question on his mind. "If it's Amegakure, does that mean our leader is Salamander Hanzō?"