The Person I'm Looking For Is...

"Boom!"

A powerful repulsive force struck Hiruko point-blank...!!

Even that proud defensive power was unable to withstand it...!

"Crack!" "Crack, crack!!"

Hiruko was instantly torn to pieces. At the moment of the explosion, a figure draped in a gray robe quickly retreated!

"Boom!"

The aftermath of Shinra Tensei slammed into the chameleon, causing the latter to vanish into white smoke. Landing from the white smoke was none other than Pain Rin, who should have been dead!

So that's how it is...

Catching a glimpse of this scene, Sasori muttered to himself. He quickly shifted his footing after landing, steadying himself in the distance as he slowly pulled off the gray-robed hood, revealing the features of a youthful beauty.

Konan asked in slight surprise, "That is..."

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

Whoosh!

The wind and sand continued to blow.

In this wave of exchanges, he had lost Hiruko.

Yet the opponent remained completely unharmed.

Sasori's expression turned slightly grave. Shared vision, poison immunity, resurrection from the dead, powerful summoning techniques, and a suspected ability to manipulate gravity and repulsive force...

His preconceived judgments were shattered at that moment.

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

Deva Path Pain said, "I never said I was a Sand ninja."

"Is that so? I thought you were sent by the newly appointed Kazekage to search for this fellow..."

Sasori smiled, revealing a scroll.

On the scroll, the character for Three was particularly eye-catching.

Nagato, speaking through Deva Path Pain, asked a question to which he already knew the answer. "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 hand seals with two fingers, and the human puppet of the Third Kazekage made a powerful entrance!

Konan asked in astonishment, "Sasori turned the Third Kazekage... into a puppet?"

Nagato said, "It appears to be so."

Konan said, "The Third Kazekage was known as the strongest Kazekage in history. Did even someone like that die at Sasori's hands?"

Nagato smiled and remained silent.

In the original timeline, Konan was the one responsible for Sasori's entry into the Akatsuki, and the victor went without saying.

However... going by the timeline's calculations, that would likely be years in the future.

Which meant Konan's future strength would inevitably surpass Sasori's.

"Being called the strongest in history might be an exaggeration. The strongest in my opinion is the First Kazekage, who fought alongside the First Hokage during the same era."

"Perhaps."

The two of them watched the battle together.

Amidst the wind and sand, Sasori's body leaned forward, and the chakra threads released from his ten fingers connected to the Third Kazekage puppet in the air.

His gaze swept over the two of them as he calmly analyzed the situation. By comparison, the man's abilities are much more troublesome. I'll separate them first and pick them off one by one!

"Let the show begin!"

Swish!

With a wave of his ten fingers, the Third puppet dove downward, extending its left arm!

--Thousand-Armed Manipulation!

"Crack, crack!!"

Thousands of arms released from the talisman on that left arm twined forward like gourd vines!

Deva Path Pain and Pain Rin both evaded!

"Swish!"

Countless shuriken rained down from those thousands of arms, shooting toward Deva Path Pain...

As Deva Path Pain retreated, his eyes suddenly narrowed.

--Shinra Tensei!

"Clang...!!"

All the shuriken flying toward him were blasted away...

"All right! Next is to block their vision!" Sasori changed the position of his ten fingers, and a massive amount of poisonous mist erupted from the Thousand-Armed Manipulation device.

"The little girl is isolated. This time, I will kill her for sure!"

The Third Kazekage formed hand seals, and a massive amount of iron sand was released from his mouth!

"Is it coming, that technique..." Pain Rin formed hand seals with her small hands.

--Magnet Release: Sand Iron Drizzle!

The iron sand suspended in the air instantly transformed into fine needles, shooting toward the isolated Pain Rin with overwhelming momentum!

"If you can block it, go ahead and try. The power and scale of this move... can't compare to ordinary needle waves!"

--Summoning Technique!

"Poof!"

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

--Shinra Tensei!

"Clang!" The Sand Iron Drizzle instantly scattered!

"She actually used a summoning technique... to summon her companion!?"

Yet another unexpected ability left Sasori stunned for a few seconds!

Deva Path Pain raised his hand, aiming directly at the Third Kazekage suspended in midair!

"Oh no!!!" Regaining his senses, Sasori swiftly manipulated the Third Kazekage to form a defensive Sand Iron Wall!!

"Boom...!!"

The Sand Iron Wall shattered with a loud crash after taking the full force of Shinra Tensei, and in the short term, it was completely impossible to reorganize a defense!

"Not good, if he follows up with another strike, the Third's puppet won't be able to block it!!"

Sasori's expression changed drastically, but... the follow-up blow never came!

Why... didn't he hit me again!? This is the absolute best opportunity to counterattack me!

In a daze, Sasori sensed something.

Could it be... that technique cannot be used continuously in a short period of time!?

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

"Whoosh!" The stray iron sand rapidly condensed... transforming into the shape of a triangular pyramid, and rushed fiercely toward Deva Path Pain.

As expected of Sasori, he reacts really fast...

Deva Path Pain raised his palm.

But he's still a step too slow.

--Shinra Tensei!

"Clang...!!"

Seeing the shattered triangular iron sand pyramid... Sasori's expression darkened.

The blank period! Take him down, right now!

Sasori waved his ten fingers, and the Third human puppet deployed the large blade on its right arm, charging down explosively.

Using Deva Path's eyes, Nagato watched the approaching blade, his thoughts spinning.

When Nagato fought using the Pains, he never once used basic ninjutsu. I used to think it was because he lacked them, but the truth wasn't so. He was far too arrogant regarding the power of the Rinnegan and the technique of the Six Paths of Pain. Self-proclaimed as invincible, he forgot that ordinary abilities are also indispensable strengths!

And I will not make his mistake!

Deva Path Pain raised his hands and formed seals!

--Water Release: Water Turbulence!

Whoosh! A torrent of explosive water erupted from his mouth, washing over the body of the Third Kazekage and halting his advance...

Konan's eyes flickered. That's Yahiko's signature ninjutsu!

"This is completely preposterous." Sasori had completely lost his patience.

The iron sand surrounding the Third Kazekage erupted at that moment in an unprecedented frenzy!

Deva Path narrowed his eyes. Iron Sand World Method—the ultimate magnetic release technique of the iron sand. The scale of this move is probably too much for an ordinary Shinra Tensei to wipe out all at once, so...

"Clap!" Pain Rin formed hand seals with her small hands, stepped forward, and slapped Deva Path's back. "Zzz!" A summoning seal etched itself onto him... and spread outward!

This move, this move was inspired by the trick Ibiki used on the Loli Path!

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

--Summoning Technique: Hellhound Devourment!

"Aroo!" Emerging in front of Deva Path's chest, the head of the hellhound roared to life, opening its bloody maw and unreasonably swallowing the Third Kazekage puppet into its belly!

It was too fast and too sudden... leaving no room for evasion whatsoever!

"Slash!!" The long spikes erupting from within the body in the Iron Sand World Method instantly turned the hellhound into a sea urchin!

Boom! Deva Path stepped forward, thrusting an arm deep into the flesh of the hellhound. "Vanish!"

--Shinra Tensei!

Boom...!!!

The hellhound burst apart and perished, and the iron sandstorm shattered from the Iron Sand World Method, sweeping up the fragments of the Third Kazekage puppet and raging across this desert!

"These guys are definitely not humans. Humans could never fight using such reckless methods!"

A flash of insight sparked through Sasori's mind!

"If these two guys are both human puppets, just like my Hiruko and the Third Kazekage, then there must be a main body manipulating them from the shadows!"

"Swish!!!" His gaze snapped toward behind him, and on a distant hill, he discovered Nagato and Konan!

"Ha, hahahahaha, found you!!!" Sasori wore a ferocious smile, violently charging toward the hill!

"Nagato, he spotted us!"

Nagato sighed, "Truly a peerless puppeteer. Only he could manage to figure out Pain's secret so quickly..."

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

Mid-run, Sasori flipped up his robe, revealing his modified puppet body. Sasori died at 35; right now he is 19-20, and the age at which his puppet body is frozen is 15, so at this time, he has already converted himself into a human puppet.

"No matter what, you can't surpass me! Not when I've turned even myself into an eternally indestructible puppet!"

"Boom!!"

Sasori leaped into the air, the spiral blades on his lower back opening up as he assailed Nagato. "It's over!!"

"Deva Path's ability is temporarily stalled by Pain, but..." Nagato faintly raised his head, the Rinnegan flashing with light, "You're not the only one who can fight with your main body!"

--Asura Path!

Two mechanical arms abruptly summoned from Nagato's right shoulder, one gripping Sasori by the throat. Its wrist cut open, sprouting mechanical cables like octopus tentacles that tightly coiled all over Sasori's body, preventing him from using puppet mechanisms!

"What!?" Amidst Sasori's horrified gaze, the other mechanical arm began to fracture. Its intricate mechanical structure converted in a dazzling blur, transforming into a mechanical hand cannon that rotated close to Sasori's face, beginning to charge with a buzzing hum...

--Asura Attack!

From the fluctuating deep purple light before him... Sasori sensed the aura of destruction.

"Just... what are you?" Sasori's pupils quaked. As fellow puppeteers, for the first time, he felt the gap in dimensions within the exact same domain!

He had no doubt that if the energy cannon before him fired, the core of reincarnation in his chest, along with this puppet body, would be blasted to nothingness!

"Are you satisfied now, Sasori?"

"I lost. Kill me!"

Without a shred of temper, Sasori conceded with utter conviction.

Nagato gazed at the dejected Sasori before him and said, "You misunderstood, Sasori. I'm not here to take your life, just to ask you about someone."

"Huh?" Initially, Sasori had preconceived notions that the other party was from Hidden Sand Village, coming to investigate the whereabouts of the missing Third Kazekage.

Later, realizing the other party's identity wasn't Hidden Sand Village, he assumed asking about someone was just a pretext.

"Go ahead. As long as it's information I know, I'll definitely tell you."

Good.

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