Forcibly Recruiting Sasori of the Red Sands into the Stone Village Scientific Research Department

At the center of the sinkhole, only dead silence remained.

Standing on the dragon's back, Deidara's cheeks were flushed with excitement.

He stared at the lone cylindrical core below, his eyes gleaming with a victor's light.

"Old man, your eternity is nothing before my absolute instant art! Yeah!"

Deidara reached into his ninja tool pouch again, ready to toss down another bomb and send that eyesore of a wooden lump straight to hell.

But just as he was about to make his move—

"That's enough. Stop once you've had your fun."

A calm voice suddenly sounded beside his ear.

Uchiha Yoru had appeared at his side at some unknown moment.

Yoru casually raised his right hand, and a massive blue Susanoo ribcage rose from the ground.

Bang!

With a dull thud, Susanoo effortlessly blocked the lethal bomb Deidara had thrown, without even so much as a ripple.

"Boss? Why'd you stop me?!"

Deidara looked confused and annoyed.

"That old guy's artistic philosophy clashes with mine. He needs to be completely purified! Yeah!"

"What use is killing him? A dead puppeteer isn't even worth using as fertilizer."

Yoru curled his lip and looked at Deidara as though he were an extravagant wastrel.

"This guy is far more useful alive than dead."

Yoru ignored Deidara's complaints.

With a flash, he landed directly at the bottom of the sinkhole.

He walked up to the cylindrical core, crouched down, and knocked on it with interest.

Knock, knock.

A dull metallic sound rang out.

"Sasori of the Red Sands, right?"

Yoru looked at the core engraved with the character for "Sasori" and spoke evenly.

"Sunagakure's once-in-a-century genius. In pursuit of eternity, you turned yourself into this neither-human-nor-ghost thing."

"How does it feel? How far are you from your goal?"

From within the cylindrical core came