"Sasori Senpai, I think your art still isn't quite there."
"Not quite there? You fool! What nonsense are you spouting?"
Inside the cave, Kimimaro's words once again provoked Sasori of the Red Sand.
Saying his puppets weren't up to par was akin to denying his art, which naturally enraged him.
"Whoa, whoa, you can't just blurt out the truth like that. Although, I kind of agree, but you know Sasori is going to get mad," Deidara chimed in with a merciless jab.
"Deidara!"
Sasori grew even angrier.
"Brother Sasori, I've always said it—true art is a fleeting moment of brilliance. Your so-called eternal art? It's totally devalued."
"You bastard! Do you want me to turn you into one of my puppets?"
Sasori, already fuming, was now itching for someone to vent his frustrations on, and since Deidara had presented himself, Sasori didn't mind playing along.
After all, he couldn't beat Kimimaro, but Deidara? He was still doable.
Though he overlooked one detail: both his Third Kazekage puppet and his Red Secret Technique weren't fully repaired yet, so perhaps he wasn't quite capable of dealing with Deidara, who specialized in mid-to-long-range attacks.
"Come on, Brother Sasori, don't be mad. Art discussions should be friendly," Deidara quickly tried to pacify him.
Sasori's gaze remained icy cold.
Seeing this, Deidara awkwardly smiled.
Kimimaro continued, "Elder Sasori, I didn't mean to outright deny your art. Whether it's Deidara's or yours, I highly respect both.
Ephemeral and eternal art are philosophical topics, but I think both your arts have flaws and haven't yet reached perfection.
Deidara's explosive clay, with my help, is now immune to lightning-style attacks, meaning it's very close to perfection.
As for your art, Elder Sasori, I believe the main issue lies in your lack of imagination. Puppets have limited your creativity."
Sasori was taken aback by this.
"Deidara's clay isn't weak to lightning anymore?"
"That's right! Brother Sasori, I'm not afraid of lightning at all now. Next time, I'll find some lightning user and blow them to bits! Let them become a tribute to my art."
Deidara was beaming with pride.
Sasori, deep in thought, looked toward Kimimaro.
"What do you mean by imagination?"
"Simply put, your idea of peak puppetry is Chiyo's Chikamatsu Collection of Ten, so your perspective is limited to the number of puppets rather than their quality.
The Chikamatsu Collection, while impressive, is still the power of mere mortals. It's far from the pinnacle of strength.
Have you ever heard of Uchiha Madara?"
"Uchiha Madara? Of course, I know of him. A legendary figure who, alongside the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, brought peace to the chaotic world. His Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan was as famous as Hashirama's Wood Release."
For someone like Sasori, Madara's existence wasn't a secret.
After all, Madara had disappeared from the ninja world just over fifty years ago.
"Then, have you heard of Madara's signature technique, Susano'o?"
"Susano'o? There are records of it in Sunagakure. The First Kazekage referred to it as the power of a god. The record is brief, but I could sense the First Kazekage's fear. What kind of technique is it?"
Sasori was intrigued.
"It's hard to explain in just a few words. Allow me to show you in a dreamscape."
As Kimimaro spoke, his right hand formed a sword-like gesture, and a golden card shimmered at his fingertips.
It was the Illusionary Clow Card!
In the next moment, Kimimaro and Sasori were transported into an illusionary space.
The cave now only housed Deidara and Pikachu.
Seeing this, Deidara glanced helplessly at Pikachu.
"Damn it! They didn't invite us! So unfair, right, little guy?"
"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.
Inside the illusionary space, Sasori was greeted by an astonishing sight.
The massive, fully formed Susano'o stood like a mountain beside them.
"This..."
Sasori was utterly shocked.
"This is the legendary Susano'o of Uchiha Madara. I recreated this illusion based on descriptions from books."
Kimimaro explained.
"What an incredible scale... No wonder it's called the power of a god."
Sasori was left speechless with awe.
"Your Hiruko hides your true body inside a puppet, which is somewhat similar to Susano'o. However, your method and scale are nowhere near its level. You need a much more fearsome puppet. Only then can your art reach new heights.
This will require better materials and, of course, stronger chakra support."
Kimimaro's words were like the whispers of a devil, slowly opening Sasori's eyes to a new world.
"More powerful chakra... Superior puppet materials for constructing a body..."
Sasori muttered, his eyes growing brighter by the second.
It seemed he had found a new goal.
After turning himself into a human puppet, Sasori had lost direction, focusing only on developing stronger poisons to increase his puppets' lethality.
He had started to find it dull.
But now, with Kimimaro's guidance, he had discovered a new path.
He would develop a gigantic puppet modeled after Susano'o!
Human puppets were outdated.
Gigantic puppets were the true power of gods!
Sasori was crazed with excitement.
This was the art he sought!
"How do you feel, Elder Sasori?"
"Amazing! I never imagined such art could exist in this world! I've decided! I will create a puppet comparable to Susano'o!"
Sasori was ecstatic.
Kimimaro smiled faintly. This was exactly the result he wanted.
But it wasn't enough.
"If Elder Sasori has such aspirations, I look forward to seeing it. By the way, I came across a book that contained some notes on gigantic puppets, though they were incomplete. I can recreate those for you. They might be helpful."
"Good!"
Hearing this, Sasori grew even more excited.
Soon, the Susano'o disappeared, and three enormous machines appeared before Sasori and Kimimaro.
The first was a purple machine with green accents, full of mechanical beauty.
The second was primarily red and white.
The last one was smaller, carrying a golden sword on its back.
"From left to right, they're called Eva Unit-01, Super Granzort, and Ryujinmaru. These are said to be ancient, gigantic puppets with incredible power."
As Kimimaro spoke, the three titans began fighting in the illusion, displaying their immense strength.
Of course, this was all part of Kimimaro's illusion to inspire Sasori.
If Sasori could actually create something like this, it would make Kimimaro's efforts worthwhile.
Watching the battle, Sasori's mind was flooded with inspiration.
"This is magnificent! This is exactly what I need!"
He was thrilled.
He, Sasori of the Red Sand, would create such gigantic puppets!
When the illusion ended, Sasori looked at Kimimaro with burning excitement.
"Kimimaro! Thank you! I now know exactly how to develop my art! Whether it's Eva Unit-01, Super Granzort, or Ryujinmaru, I will bring them to life!"
Sasori was full of confidence.
When it came to making puppets, no one in the ninja world could match him.
Now, he was eager to get started.
Upon exiting the illusion, he immediately threw himself into puppet-making. All his previous puppets were dismantled, their parts to be used for the new giant ones.
In Sasori's eyes, a new era of puppetry was about to begin.
Seeing Sasori's sudden change in attitude and even gratitude towards Kimimaro, Deidara was left puzzled.
"What did you show Brother Sasori? He's so excited! Did you two make up?"
"He must've found something interesting, giving him a lot of inspiration."
"What kind of thing? I want to see it too."
"It wouldn't be useful to you. You should focus on perfecting your C4 and C5 first."
When Kimimaro said that, Deidara tilted his head, looking a bit helpless.
Both of their creations had hit a bottleneck, and it would take some time and exploration to find a solution.
"Can't we talk about something happier?"
"Seeing that expression on your face makes me pretty happy."
"Hey! Kimimaro! That's just too much, don't you think?"
Deidara retorted with frustration.
"Hahaha, just kidding."
Seeing Deidara so upset made Kimimaro quite amused.
And so, the days of the three traveling together began.
The Akatsuki hadn't assigned them any tasks recently, so they each focused on their own training.
Kimimaro's relationship with Sasori had also improved over time.
Just like how Deidara saw Kimimaro as a kindred spirit, Sasori was beginning to feel the same way now.
As for the matter of the Star-Cracking Worm, Sasori had completely forgotten about it.
To him, life was insignificant compared to art.
In Sasori's eyes, Kimimaro was like a treasure trove.
With Kimimaro's guidance, Sasori was confident the giant puppet he was developing would be a success.
Sasori eagerly awaited that day.
But good times never last long.
A few days later, while the three were training separately, Konan arrived.
The fluttering white paper in the sky was Konan's signature entrance.
"Konan-senpai? What brings you here? Is there a new mission?"
Kimimaro was a bit surprised to see Konan.
Wasn't she supposed to be busy acting as God's messenger?
Why wasn't she by Nagato's side? Why did she keep coming to find them?
"Pain has new orders. The Akatsuki has always operated in pairs. Now that Sasori has completed his training, you can leave this team."
Konan said with no expression.
"Huh? So who am I supposed to team up with?"
Kimimaro had already guessed that Pain wouldn't let the three of them stay in a team for long, but hearing the order still caught him off guard.
After all, there didn't seem to be anyone left in the Akatsuki who could be assigned as his partner.
"With me."
Kimimaro's eyes widened in surprise at Konan's words.
"Me? Team up with you, Konan-senpai?"
"What? Is there a problem?"
"No, of course not. It's just a bit strange. Didn't you always team up with the leader? Why this sudden change?"
"Just follow Pain's orders. Don't ask too many questions."
Konan still had no expression.
Such a beautiful woman, but sadly, so cold and emotionless.
Seeing her like this, Kimimaro began to wonder if she and Nagato had argued.
But... could those two even argue? No, that wasn't likely.
Maybe she was sent to keep an eye on him? The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed to Kimimaro.
In the Akatsuki, Kisame was the most loyal to Tobi, and he was sent to watch Itachi.
As for Nagato, his most loyal follower was undoubtedly Konan.
Could it be that his recent actions had made Nagato suspicious? Was Konan sent to spy on him? No, if Nagato really had suspicions, he wouldn't have sent Konan to risk herself.
She was the most important person to him.
Or perhaps Nagato had that much faith in Konan?
Kimimaro's mind swirled with different ideas.
After all, people were complex, and it was impossible to fully understand someone's thoughts.
Kimimaro's knowledge of them came mostly from vague memories of the anime in his past life.
"Alright, I understand, Konan-senpai. I'll let Deidara-senpai and Sasori-senpai know."
"Alright. You have one hour. After that, meet me in Shin Town."
After saying this, Konan dissolved into white paper and vanished.
"Such a convenient jutsu," Kimimaro remarked, then went to find Deidara and Sasori.
The three had just started to get along, but now they were being split up so soon.
Fortunately, Kimimaro had already completed what he needed to do, so leaving now wouldn't affect much.
In the cave, Sasori, who was working on something, paused when he heard that Kimimaro was leaving.
"You're leaving so soon?"
"Konan-senpai personally delivered the order, so there's no delaying it."
"Why is the leader so eager to move you? There's nothing urgent going on in the organization."
Kimimaro shrugged, wearing a look that said he didn't know either.
"I just started making progress on the giant puppet you mentioned. I was hoping to discuss it with you a bit more..."
"Sasori-senpai, you're the expert in this area, so it's really up to you. I've told you everything I know. The only thing I can help you with now is the energy source for the giant puppet.
Such a large puppet would require a tremendous amount of chakra that an ordinary person couldn't sustain. But fortunately, the ninja world has plenty of creatures and objects with massive chakra reserves.
I'll try to gather some intel for you. I should be able to find some leads."
Sasori's eyes lit up at Kimimaro's words.
"That would be great. I've been thinking about the energy source for the puppet as well. If we can solve that problem, we're halfway to completing it."
In truth, both of them knew of a potential energy source.
But neither of them brought it up.
In the ninja world, the most famous chakra entities were the Nine-Tailed Beasts.
But since the Akatsuki's goal was to capture these beasts, Sasori didn't dare to make any plans for them.
Not to mention, he couldn't even beat Konan, who was immune to physical attacks.
Sasori had joined the Akatsuki after being defeated by Konan.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing your new art, Sasori-senpai. I'm sure it will be an earth-shattering creation."
Hearing Kimimaro's praise, Sasori showed a satisfied smile.
He normally didn't care about compliments from others, but praise from Kimimaro, someone who had once defeated him, was something he valued.
(End of chapter)