Only when the unique individual identity of Sasori of the Red Sands was preserved would his eternity have meaning.
And the identity of Sasori of the Red Sands had been granted to him precisely by his birthplace, his bloodline, Elder Chiyo, the inheritor of his earliest skills, and Sunagakure, which he had abandoned yet could never truly sever ties with.
He had been shaped by these things that seemed, at first glance, like weaknesses.
If I stripped them away, I might become a more powerful existence, but would such an existence still be "me"?
The answer was no.
His complicated feelings toward Sunagakure and his promise to his grandmother were not burdens on his path of evolution.
On the contrary, they were the most crucial stabilizing mechanisms ensuring that, after gaining power close to that of a deity, he would not lose himself in the Data Ocean or become a hollow symbol of eternity.
It was precisely these remnants of humanity that defined the uniqueness of Sasori of the Red Sands, making his eternity the eternity of "him," rather than that of a nameless Data Ghost.
After understanding this, the raging storm that had surged deep within Sasori's heart upon seeing the future strangely calmed considerably.
The bonds that had once made him feel conflicted and even weak now appeared, under his logical analysis, to possess a cruel rationality and necessity.
Hmph! How ironic.
I pursued ultimate eternity, yet in the end, I needed to rely on my original humanity to maintain my "self."
When Sasori looked once more at his younger self in the Canopy Screen, the one with a Bionic Body, there was less surprise in his gaze and more profound understanding touched by realization.
Sunagakure. Dry winds carried grains of sand against the mottled windows of the