Sasori stared at the new puppet lying quietly on the workbench, his eyes gleaming with sickly fervor.
"Get up."
He gave the command softly, chakra threads extending from his fingertips and precisely connecting to the control nodes at the puppet's joints.
The puppet's limbs twitched slightly, then slowly pushed its body upright. Its movements were smoother than Sasori had expected, lacking even a trace of the stiff mechanical feel of traditional puppets. It stood, raised an arm, clenched its fist, and turned around, every movement as lifelike as a living person's.
"Test its power output."
Sasori pointed at the huge boulders piled in the corner of the cave.
The puppet stepped forward, raised its right fist, and smashed it fiercely into a rock half a man's height tall.
Boom!
The boulder shattered on impact, fragments scattering everywhere.
"Good! Better than good!"
Sasori's voice trembled as he strode quickly to the puppet's side, stroking its smooth body with possessiveness in his eyes.
"Load the weapon."
He took a Bolter from a nearby crate and handed it to the puppet.
The puppet accepted the firearm, moving as naturally as a soldier trained thousands of times. Holding the gun in one hand, it aimed at ten humanoid targets drawn in chalk on the distant cave wall.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The gunshots were deafening within the enclosed space.
Ten rounds struck the bullseye of every target with perfect accuracy.
A satisfied smile appeared on Sasori's puppet-like face.
"This is the future. This is true Eternal Art."
He turned toward Deidara, who was crouched in the corner, and raised his voice.
"Do you see it? This is the pinnacle of art! It will not decay, it will not vanish, it will remain loyal forever, and powerful forever."
Deidara was molding a small bird from clay.