The Person I'm Looking For Is...

Boom!

A powerful repulsive force slammed point-blank into Hiruko...!!

Even its vaunted defenses could not withstand it...!

Crack! Crack-crack!!

Hiruko shattered in an instant. At the moment it exploded, a gray-robed figure swiftly retreated!

Boom!

The aftershock of Shinra Tensei struck the Chameleon, causing it to vanish in Haku smoke. The one who landed from that smoke was Pain Rin, who was supposed to be dead!

"So that's how it is..."

Catching sight of this, Sasori muttered to himself. After landing, he swiftly shifted away and steadied himself in the distance, slowly pulling off the gray robe covering his face to reveal the handsome features of a young man.

Konan was slightly surprised. "So that is..."

Nagato smiled. "Yes, Sasori of the Red Sands' true face."

Whoosh!

The wind and sand continued to rage.

In that exchange, he had lost Hiruko.

Yet his opponents remained completely unharmed.

Sasori's expression grew somewhat grave. "Shared vision, immunity to poison, resurrection after death, powerful Summoning Techniques, and abilities that seemingly control attraction and repulsion..."

His preconceived judgment had been overturned at that moment.

"You... aren't from the Hidden Sand Village, are you?"

The Deva Path said, "Have I ever said that I was a Sand ninja?"

"I see. I thought you were sent by the newly appointed Kazekage to search for this fellow..."

Sasori smiled and displayed a scroll.

The character "Three" on the scroll was particularly conspicuous.

Speaking through the Deva Path, Nagato knowingly asked, "This is...?"

"The strongest Third Kazekage in history, my proudest and greatest collection. You are about to witness the true essence of my puppet art!"

Sasori formed a hand seal with two fingers. The Human Puppet—the Third Kazekage—made a domineering entrance!

Konan was astonished. "Sasori turned the Third Kazekage... into a puppet?"

"So it seems," Nagato said.

Konan said, "The Third Kazekage was known as the strongest Kazekage of all time. Even someone like him died at Sasori's hands?"

Nagato only smiled without answering.

In the original story, Konan had been responsible for Sasori's battle to join the Akatsuki. The victor was obvious.

But... judging by the timeline, that was probably something that would happen several years later.

In other words, Konan's future strength would definitely surpass Sasori's.

"Calling him the strongest of all generations may be somewhat exaggerated. In my opinion, the strongest was the First Kazekage, who fought alongside the First Hokage in the same era."

"Perhaps."

The two of them looked toward the battlefield together.

Within the sandstorm, Sasori leaned forward, chakra threads released from his ten fingers connected to the Third Kazekage puppet in the air.

His gaze swept across the two as he calmly analyzed, "The man's abilities are more troublesome by comparison. Separate them first, then defeat them one by one!"

"Let the show begin!"

Whoosh!

With a flick of his ten fingers, the Third Kazekage Human Puppet dove down and extended its left arm!

Thousand-Armed Manipulation!

Crack-crack!!

A thousand arms burst from the talisman on that left arm, tangling forward like gourd vines!

Both the Deva Path and Pain Rin evaded!

Whoosh!

An overwhelming barrage of kunai fired from those thousand arms toward the Deva Path...

As the Deva Path retreated, his eyes suddenly narrowed.

Shinra Tensei!

Clang...!!

Every kunai flying toward him was blasted away...

"Good! Next, I'll block their vision!" Sasori shifted his fingers, and massive amounts of poisonous mist erupted from the Thousand-Armed Manipulation device.

"The little girl is alone. This time, I'll make absolutely certain to kill her!"

The Third Kazekage formed hand seals, releasing massive amounts of Iron Sand from his mouth!

"Is it coming? That technique..." Pain Rin formed hand seals with her little hands.

Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle!

The Iron Sand drifting through the air abruptly transformed into fine needles, shooting toward the isolated Pain Rin with overwhelming force!

"If you can block it, then try! The power and scale of this technique... are nothing like Needle Jizo!"

Summoning Technique!

Poof!

As Pain Rin formed hand seals, the one who appeared before her was none other than... Pain, the Deva Path!

"Shinra Tensei!"

Clang! The Iron Sand Drizzle immediately scattered!

"She used a Summoning Technique... to summon her companion!?"

Another unexpected ability left Sasori stunned for several seconds!

The Deva Path raised his hand and aimed at the Third Kazekage hovering in the air!

"Not good!!!" Sasori snapped back to his senses and swiftly controlled the Third Kazekage, erecting the defenses of the Sand Iron Wall!!

Boom...!!

After taking the force of Shinra Tensei, the Sand Iron Wall collapsed with a thunderous crash. It could not possibly reorganize its defenses in such a short time!

"This is bad. If he follows up with another blow, the Third Kazekage puppet won't be able to stop it!!"

Sasori's expression changed drastically, but... the finishing blow never came!

"Why... didn't he attack again!? This was the perfect chance to counter me!"

In his daze, Sasori noticed something.

"Could it be... that he cannot use that technique consecutively within a short period!?"

"If that's the case... then my chance has come!"

Whoosh! The scattered Iron Sand rapidly gathered... forming into a triangular pyramid that shot toward the Deva Path.

"As expected of Sasori. Your reaction is truly fast..."

The Deva Path raised his palm.

"But you were still one step too slow."

Shinra Tensei!

Clang...!!

Seeing the Iron Sand pyramid collapse... Sasori's face darkened.

"During the Haku period, kill him! Now's the time!"

Sasori danced his ten fingers, and the Third Kazekage Human Puppet unfolded the great blade from its right arm before charging down.

Nagato watched the approaching blade through the Deva Path's eyes, his thoughts turning.

"When Nagato used Pain in battle, he never used even basic ninjutsu. I once thought he was incapable of it, but that was not the case. He was too arrogant about the Rinnegan's abilities and the Six Paths of Pain, considering himself invincible, and thus forgot that ordinary power was also indispensable!"

"And I will not make his mistake!"

Pain, the Deva Path, formed hand seals!

Water Release: Water Turbulence!

Whoosh! The violently erupting torrent from his mouth crashed over the Third Kazekage's body, halting its advance...

Konan's eyes flickered. "That was Yahiko's best ninjutsu!"

"This is simply outrageous." Sasori had completely run out of patience.

The Iron Sand around the Third Kazekage suddenly underwent an unprecedented upheaval!

The Deva Path narrowed his eyes. "Iron Sand World Method, the ultimate secret of Magnetic Release: Sand Iron. With the scale of this technique, even an ordinary Shinra Tensei would probably be unable to clear it all at once, so..."

Smack! Pain Rin formed hand seals, stepped forward, and struck the Deva Path's back. Sizzle! A summoning formula mark spread outward!

This technique was inspired by what the Loli Path brought me through Ibiki!

Pain feels no pain, so I developed it into a technique for surprise attacks!

Summoning Jutsu: Hellhound Devourment!

Awooo! The Hellhound's head roared forth from the Deva Path's chest, opened its bloody maw, and swallowed the Third Kazekage puppet whole without the slightest regard for reason!

It was too fast, too sudden... there had been no room to evade!

Slash!! The long spikes erupting from within Iron Sand World Method instantly turned the Hellhound into a hedgehog!

Boom! The Deva Path rushed forward, thrusting his arm into the Hellhound's flesh. "Be destroyed!"

Shinra Tensei!

Boom...!!!

The Hellhound exploded and died. The Iron Sand storm formed from the shattered Iron Sand World Method swept up fragments of the Third Kazekage puppet and ravaged the desert!

"These people are definitely not human. No human could possibly fight in such an absurd way!"

A flash of insight struck Sasori's mind!

"If these two are Human Puppets like my Hiruko and the Third Kazekage, then there must be original bodies hidden somewhere, controlling them from the shadows!"

Whoosh!!! His gaze abruptly turned behind him, and he spotted Nagato and Konan on a distant hill!

"Ha, hahahahahaha, I found you!!!" Sasori revealed a savage grin and charged toward the hill!

"Nagato, he found us!"

Nagato sighed. "Truly a peerless puppet master. Only he could notice Pain's secret so quickly..."

"So that's how it is... Everything makes sense now!!"

As he ran, Sasori threw open his robe, revealing his modified puppet body! "Sasori died at thirty-five. He was nineteen or twenty at this point, while his puppet body was fixed at the age of fifteen. So by this time, he had already turned himself into a Human Puppet."

"No matter what, you cannot surpass me! I turned myself into an eternal, indestructible puppet as well!"

Boom!!

Sasori leaped into the air. The Spiral Blades at his lower back opened as he lunged at Nagato. "It's over!!"

"The Deva Path's abilities have temporarily been rendered unavailable by Pain Rin, but..." Nagato slowly raised his head, the Rinnegan flashing with light. "You aren't the only one who can fight with your original body!"

Asura Path!

Two mechanical arms were suddenly summoned from Nagato's right shoulder. One seized Sasori by the throat, its wrist splitting apart as octopus-like mechanical cables burst out and tightly wrapped around Sasori's entire body, preventing him from using his puppet mechanisms!

"What!?" Under Sasori's horrified gaze, the other mechanical arm began to split apart. Its intricate machinery transformed in a dazzling blur, becoming a mechanical cannon that spun toward Sasori's face. With a bzzz, it began gathering energy...

Asura Attack!

From the dark purple light pulsing before him... Sasori sensed the aura of destruction.

"What... exactly are you?" Sasori's pupils shook. As a fellow puppeteer, this was the first time he had felt such an overwhelming dimensional gap within the same field!

He had no doubt that if the energy cannon before him fired, the regeneration core in his chest, along with this puppet body, would be blasted away without leaving even a trace!

"Are you satisfied now, Sasori?"

"I lost. Kill me, then!"

Having lost all defiance, Sasori accepted his defeat wholeheartedly.

Nagato looked at the dejected Sasori before him and said, "You misunderstand, Sasori. I did not come to take your life. I merely want to ask you about someone."

"Huh?" At first, Sasori had assumed that they were from the Hidden Sand Village and had come to investigate the missing Third Kazekage.

Later, once he realized they were not from the Hidden Sand Village, he had assumed that asking about someone was merely a pretext.

"Go ahead. As long as it is information I know, I will definitely tell you."

Good.

Nagato withdrew the Asura Path mechanical armor. After setting Sasori down, he asked in a resonant voice, "The person I'm looking for is Orochimaru!"