Dawn! One Man Fights Dawn!

"Is this all you have? And you dare talk to me about art?"

Naruto descended slowly from the sky.

In his hand, he held one of Deidara's arms, complete with its tongue and mouth.

Deep Forest Emergence.

Sasori of the Red Sand was already cornered.

Under the siege of Wood Style and the combined attacks of Gaara and Grandma Chiyo, Naruto held absolute control over the situation.

Could it be that I must use the third scroll?

Sasori had been forced into his true form.

The Sasori of the Red Sand who would never age.

Once the strongest puppeteer of the Sand Village.

"I never expected you to still be alive."

Naruto looked down at Sasori of the Red Sand from above.

"With your mastery of Wood Style, you are already the strongest in the Ninja World. I concede."

Seeing Deidara's arm in Naruto's hand, Sasori knew that the mad artist who only knew how to bomb everything had been thoroughly defeated by Naruto.

He was isolated, helpless, and likely about to lose his life.

"At the moment of my death, I have a question for you. With your strength, why help the Sand Village? Or is it that you know more secrets about the Akatsuki?"

Sasori's soul was perhaps the only thing still intact.

"Help the Sand Village?"

Naruto laughed dismissively.

"That is merely your own wishful thinking."

"I simply wanted to finish you two off here."

"So that I could launch a surprise attack on the Rain Village and wipe you all out."

Two coffins rose from the vines beneath Naruto's feet.

He tossed Deidara's arm inside.

"Impure World Reincarnation!"

Rumble!

The coffins opened.

The person who stepped out was none other than Deidara, whom Naruto had just defeated!

"Hahahaha! I'm not dead! I told you, how could a Tailed Beast kill the greatest artist in the Ninja World!"

Deidara laughed wildly.

But after seeing the expressions of the others, he felt something was not quite right.

"Sasori, why are you looking at me like that?"

Deidara stared at Sasori, his hands instinctively spitting out Explosive Clay.

"This is my newly improved Impure World Reincarnation. Once summoned, not only is their strength greater, but they are also much easier to control!"

"Of course, if you lack my strength, you had best not attempt this, or it will easily spiral out of control!"

The first test subject Naruto had chosen was Deidara.

"What!"

Deidara's eyes darted around.

He could not believe he had actually died!

And that he had become a summoned creature bound to obey Naruto's commands!

"Doesn't that mean I've become a puppet? Sasori! Is this true?"

Though his mouth denied it, his hands had already thrown out Explosive Spiders, all of which crawled toward Sasori.

"It seems that even in your subconscious, you still want to attack me."

Sasori looked coldly at Naruto.

He said with great vigilance, "You want to turn all of the Akatsuki into puppets controlled by your Impure World Reincarnation?"

"It is a pity that you will not get your wish. There are quite a few monsters within the Akatsuki who can shatter your illusions!"

"From the god who masters gravity and repulsion, to the absolute master of genjutsu, and even the existence of an immortal monster—any one of them will ensure you meet a death without a burial place."

Sasori held a fair amount of respect for the strength of the other members of the Akatsuki.

It was just a pity that both he and Deidara had such glaring weaknesses.

One relied on the explosions of Explosive Clay, while the other required puppets to be prepared in advance.

"As for me, even if I die, there is no need to use Impure World Reincarnation, because without my puppets, I am simply an ordinary ninja."

Sasori's words were very modest.

But a puppeteer, even without puppets, still possessed a vast array of survival methods.

Their control over chakra and their ability to craft summoned ninja tools were far beyond those of ordinary people.

"Puppets really are wonderful things."

Naruto pointed at the scattered puppet parts that had been smashed to pieces by Wood Style.

"If every puppet could possess a specific level of intelligence, they could replace humans in executing all kinds of tasks and jobs."

"Sasori!"

"You shouldn't bury your own talent."

Naruto had already prepared another coffin.

If Sasori was unwilling, he would kill him immediately and then use Impure World Reincarnation.

"Hey! Does anyone know how I actually died?"

"It's truly inexplicable. What happened after I was hit by that black sphere spat out by the Tailed Beast?"

Deidara still found it hard to believe; he, who had always loved playing with explosions, had been defeated by a Tailed Beast Jinchuriki!

It was completely unreasonable!

"You were too weak; your death was perfectly reasonable."

Naruto patted Deidara on the shoulder.

"Damn it! Being told that by you, I can't even refute it!"

Deidara clenched his fists in anger, then pointed at the solemn-faced Sasori.

"So you're saying this guy is stronger than me?"

The unconvinced Deidara circled around his teammate.

"Being surrounded by a dead man feels very uncomfortable."

Sasori did not forget to mock the fact that Deidara had already been defeated by Naruto.

"What could I do? Who could have withstood that blow just now?"

Deidara pointed toward the sky.

"The sandstorm was dispelled on the spot, leaving a clear sky for miles—what destructive power! If only that had been an explosion I created!"

Having said that, he looked at Naruto with adoring eyes.

"Hey, is there any way to make my Explosive Clay simulate that kind of destructive power?"

Deidara kept talking incessantly.

It was so noisy that Sasori couldn't help but attack.

"Shut up!"

Sasori pierced Deidara with a long blade, but the latter merely glanced at it as if nothing had happened and allowed his body to recover at an extremely slow pace.

"Have you decided?"

"Sasori of the Red Sand, the path of the puppet has not yet reached its end."

Naruto's silver-white physique was shrouded in golden light.

From time to time, bolts of lightning flashed across his body.

It was as if the one standing before Sasori was not a human, but a deity.

"I don't care about anything."

Sasori said coldly.

"What if I have a way to open the Gate of the Pure Land?"

Naruto gestured to the shape of a door.

"As powerful as Impure World Reincarnation is, it only allows the dead to return to the human world like Deidara."

"But what I want to truly achieve is to break open the Gate of Life and Death, gaining the ability to come and go between the worlds of the living and the dead at will."

"If a soul can come to the world of the living through Impure World Reincarnation, I believe the living can also travel to the world of the dead."

"There must be a way to open the door between the two!"

"I call it the Gate of Life and Death, the Path of Eternal Life!"

"Sasori, lend me a hand! I need more puppets, stronger Impure World Reincarnation bodies!"

The Gate of Life and Death!

Sasori had already transformed himself into something non-human, and he had once wondered if he could achieve eternal life through this method.

If that day were to truly arrive.

Wouldn't it mean that Sasori could also travel freely between the worlds of the living and the dead?

"What Gate of Life and Death? I don't understand a single word you're saying."

Deidara blew at his bangs.

He placed a lump of Explosive Clay at Naruto's feet.

BOOM!

The explosion erupted, but it couldn't even blast through the vines, let alone affect Naruto's actual body.

"I told you, Deidara, you are too weak right now."

Naruto punched Deidara on the spot.

"If the Gate of Life and Death exists, and if souls can also fight and grow stronger, that means there is no need for Impure World Reincarnation; one could directly control the souls of various deceased people to fight."

"Likewise, opening the Gate of Life and Death means deciphering the ultimate mystery of the Ninja World, allowing all known paths to extend infinitely!"

Ever since Naruto mastered the Katsuyu Sage Technique, he had become even more certain of this.

As long as he continuously strengthened himself and utilized various forbidden techniques to find a way to cross life and death, transforming between the Ninja World and the Pure Land.

That would absolutely change everything currently known about the Ninja World!

"To cross the Gate of Life and Death—I hope that on that day, my puppets can also slaughter their way into hell!"

Sasori of the Red Sand knelt on one knee.

"Put on your original rings; there is no need to change these clothes, because I will soon take full control of the Akatsuki!"

Naruto turned the stubborn Deidara into an Impure World Reincarnation body and subdued Sasori with the Gate of Life and Death.

The first battle against the Akatsuki was won.

"Goodbye."

Sasori looked at the puppets shaped like his parents.

He turned and followed Naruto as he left.

On the back of a giant bird.

Deidara, Sasori of the Red Sand, and Orochimaru were all eager to get started.

"What, the Feudal Lord of the Sand Village was you in disguise!"

After seeing Orochimaru, Deidara really wanted to feed this snake some Explosive Clay.

"I hate him."

Sasori was, as always, filled with disgust toward Orochimaru.

"It doesn't matter."

Orochimaru looked at the two of them with a smile.

"Say whatever you like; as long as I can follow the path of Lord Naruto, you can hate me all you want."

With his hands hidden in his sleeves, Orochimaru looked very honest and submissive.

"Get ready."

"Our target is the strongest Ninja Village in the true sense of the Ninja World: the Rain Village!"

Naruto looked at the patch of dark clouds ahead.

Thunder rolled, and the drizzle was incessant.

"Let me make the first move; I've long wanted to cross hands with Itachi again! I'm going to blow up the Akatsuki!"

Deidara was eager to try.

"It doesn't matter, I can take them all on."

Naruto had brought the Akatsuki to attack the Akatsuki!