"Woman, your technique is interesting, but compared to my art, it still has a long way to go."
Konan naturally heard the arrogance in Sasori's words, but she didn't mind. It was normal for someone strong to be a little arrogant, and Akatsuki needed people who had no regard for rules.
"Sasori of the Red Sands, I'd like to invite you to join Akatsuki."
"Akatsuki? Never heard of it." Sasori shook his head. It sounded like an obscure organization, and he couldn't be bothered with it.
"We'll need your power for our future activities. Come lend us a hand."
Aoki Tsuki's eyes lit up at her words. Lady Angel had gotten better at persuasion. She even knew to dangle promises now, though her approach was still a little crude.
Sasori frowned. She acted as though she had him figured out, and it annoyed him. "Heh heh... the way you talk is pretty condescending."
"You can think of Akatsuki as a refuge for rogue ninja. As long as you complete your missions, no one will care what you do..."
Konan continued describing the benefits of Akatsuki.
"I see. It sounds pretty appealing, but I've never been one to rely on others for protection."
As Sasori spoke, he took out the sealing scroll containing the Third Kazekage.
Poof...
A puff of white smoke drifted past, and the Third Kazekage appeared before them.
"Looks like I'm in luck. Such fine material actually came right to my door. Haha... I'll turn you into a collectible on the same level as the Third."
"Sigh, it seems there's just no reasoning with you." Konan sighed.
Aoki Tsuki spoke up. "This guy's a little crazy. We'll have to use force to convince him, but I'm not very good at fighting puppet masters, so sorry for leaving you to do the work."
"Tsuki, watch from the side and don't let him escape," Konan instructed.
"Consider it done."
Aoki Tsuki left with a Body Flicker Technique. His speed instantly put an end to Sasori's idea of dealing with him too.
Clang!
A poisoned long blade extended from each of the Third Kazekage Puppet's arms. Under Sasori's control through the Chakra Threads, it spun and lunged at Konan.
Splurt...
In a single exchange, it chopped Konan into three pieces.
Rustle...
Her severed body suddenly turned into countless sheets of paper, which quickly gathered nearby and formed Konan's figure, completely unharmed.
"Could this woman's technique make her immune to physical damage?"
A bad feeling welled up in Sasori. When traveling the Shinobi World, the thing he feared most was encountering an opponent who countered him. "What kind of technique is this..."
"You really leave me no choice. In that case, I'll have to take you with me by force."
Konan seemed quite gentle when dealing with children.
"Heh heh... you really are interesting. If you want me to join you, show me what you can really do."
The Third Kazekage slowly spewed black Iron Sand from his mouth, forming it into enormous iron spikes in front of him.
Iron Sand Drizzle!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
A dense rain of Iron Sand Senbon shot toward Konan like a black storm. Sasori was trying to test the Dance of the Shikigami for weaknesses with an area-wide attack.
"He actually turned the Third Kazekage into a Human Puppet, and it can even use the Magnet Release he had when he was alive. That ability..."
As the thought passed through Konan's mind, her body split into countless sheets of paper, letting the Iron Sand Senbon pass through the gaps without harming her.
"That move again... Hm? No, something's wrong..."
Sasori hurriedly recalled the Iron Sand and formed it into an iron wall in front of him for protection.
Puff, puff, puff...
Countless Paper Shuriken struck the iron wall. Their destructive power was no less than that of iron Shuriken, and more importantly, they could change direction at any time.
Sasori had not yet finished converting his entire body into a puppet, so his actual body was still very fragile.
He made several consecutive leaps to dodge the paper Shuriken, then pulled with one hand. Blades covered in seals instantly shot out of the Third Kazekage's arm.
Poof...
Thousand Hands Manipulation!
Countless arms were summoned by the seals and hurled like javelins. Konan turned into paper again to dodge them.
A dense volley of Kunai suddenly shot from the arms. The Kunai were a distraction; the real killing blow followed close behind.
Puff...
A large cloud of purple poison gas was released at the same time.
"Haha... I don't believe you can defend against poison too," Sasori said with a laugh, as though he had found a way to break the technique.
Konan hurriedly held her breath. As the poison gas enveloped the area, she quickly controlled the paper to quietly attach Explosive Tags to the long, slender arms.
Boom, boom, boom...
In an instant, flames swallowed everything, and Sasori hurriedly abandoned the mechanical arms.
A gust of wind blew past, dispersing the poison gas. Konan was still standing there with a calm expression. "If you have any stronger moves, please use them quickly."
I'm in a hurry!
That was how it was in the Shinobi World. Once you ran into an enemy who countered your technique, you were finished.
Sasori was furious and immediately unleashed the ultimate killing move of the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release.
Iron Sand World Method.
An area of over a hundred square meters was caught in the attack. This time, it was a true saturation attack. If the paper was merely a distraction,
then no matter how she had hidden her real body, she wouldn't escape.
Puff, puff, puff...
The Iron Sand formed a jungle of thorns, spreading randomly in every direction.
Countless sheets of paper were pierced, but not a single drop of blood appeared.
"Failed again?!"
Sasori twitched a finger, intending to use another scroll. A powerful Fire Release Ninjutsu was sealed inside it. If he spewed fire into the jungle now...
He could certainly burn all the paper to ash, but the Iron Sand would also melt into molten iron, and he would have to gather it all over again.
The guy sitting on the rock and watching the show certainly wouldn't stand by and do nothing. He could use Water Release, after all.
After thinking it over, Sasori decided it wasn't worth it and ultimately abandoned the idea.
"If I had enough poison gas to use with it now, maybe..."
Just as Sasori focused his attention on the iron jungle, Konan used the obstructed view to quietly direct sheets of paper onto the Third Kazekage Puppet.
She cut off the flow of Chakra at its joints.
Rattle...
Without Chakra to sustain it, the jungle formed from Iron Sand fell apart and scattered onto the ground.
"Hm?"
Sasori discovered that the Third Kazekage had slipped out of his control and fallen straight from the air. His strongest trump card was gone.
"Looks like I'll have to speed up my body modifications and prepare a lot more poison..."
The battle had given Sasori plenty of inspiration.
"Can we talk calmly now?" Konan asked.
"Don't get cocky. We're not finished!"
How could Sasori submit to an enemy so easily? He took out a new scroll, ready to fight another three hundred rounds.
"Don't focus only on your puppet. Take a look at what's under your feet when you have the time," Konan warned.
A gust of wind blew past, revealing the ground beneath the yellow sand. At some unknown point, it had been covered with a thick layer of Explosive Tags.
The area matched the range covered by the Iron Sand World Method.
Was it back then?...
If that many Explosive Tags exploded at once, he would surely die unless he could fly too.
Even someone as proud as Sasori didn't dare raise his voice now. He carefully put the scroll away again.
"Since I can't beat you, I don't have much choice. I'll join your organization."
"You're surprisingly reasonable!" Konan said with relief.
"Hmph, I just want to see what kind of people are in Akatsuki. Like your Ninjutsu, maybe I'll get to see more art."
Sasori was still putting up a stubborn front, unwilling to lose face.
Konan didn't care what Sasori's reasons were. "I can't guarantee that, but as long as you agree to join, that's enough."
Clap, clap, clap...
Applause rang out nearby, and Aoki Tsuki leaped down from the rock.
"Lady Konan, you were amazing."
After offering his customary compliment, he said, "Brother Sasori, congratulations on joining us. The first time I saw you, I knew we were kindred spirits. Haha..."
Sasori said seriously to Konan, "This guy is your lackey, right? He's annoying! Can I kill him?"
To his surprise, Konan nodded. "Of course, if you can manage it..."
She had to admit that Aoki Tsuki did talk a little too much.
"Wait, you can't do this."
Aoki Tsuki shouted, "Brother Sasori, don't tell me you're lusting after my body. Hmph, I'd rather die than submit."
Sasori didn't deny it. Instead, he nodded. "In my eyes, dead is better than alive."
"Huh?? Well... the organization has rules. Members can't kill each other. The leader won't allow you to do that."
"The leader?"
"Of course. The leader is strong enough to kill you in an instant. Don't say I didn't warn you. You'd better behave yourself in the organization."
"Are you a member of Akatsuki too?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm an Akatsuki... uh... intern."
"Heh heh... I guessed as much."
Aoki Tsuki gave him the impression that he had some strength... but not much.
"That's enough chatting. Let's go," Konan said. With that, she turned and walked back the way they had come.
When Aoki Tsuki saw Konan leave, he felt unsafe and hurried after her. Being close to a puppet master like Sasori made him uncomfortable all over.
The chance of being ambushed was a full ten out of ten.
Ever since her boyfriend died, Konan had stopped liking to talk, and her disposition had changed completely. Sasori wasn't much of a talker either, so they traveled in silence.
The atmosphere was uncomfortable. After an hour, Aoki Tsuki finally couldn't stand it anymore.
"Ahem... Brother Sasori, let's chat. Even if you want to turn me into a Human Puppet, you should get to know me first. That's the greatest respect you can show art."
Sasori hadn't intended to pay Aoki Tsuki any attention, but then he heard him bring the matter up to the level of art.
Now he had to talk.
"About what?"
"Let's talk about something you're interested in. You can turn people into puppets and use the techniques they had when they were alive. That's incredible. You must know a lot about the human body.
Let me ask you a simple question and see if you can answer it."
"Go on!!"
What a joke. He was actually questioning Sasori's expertise.
"How much does a person's soul weigh?"
The question made Sasori's eyes widen. He had dissected so many people, but he really had never considered it.
He had recently run into a problem while modifying his own body.
He wanted to turn himself completely into a puppet, but he had found that puppet masters relied on Chakra, and Chakra couldn't exist apart from the body.
There was also the question of the soul.
Walking ahead of them, Konan's ears twitched slightly. Aoki Tsuki's question had clearly caught her attention too.
The Rinnegan controlled life and death. Among its abilities, the Human Path could extract a person's soul and read their memories, but as for the weight of a soul, she really didn't seem to have paid attention to it.