After the puppet clone had flown far into the distance, Ebizo seemed to belatedly realize something disturbing.
"Sasori took a blade straight through the torso from you, but he seemed perfectly fine. Could it be... he's modified even his own torso?"
He had suspected this earlier, especially after observing the arsenal embedded in the puppet clone. To accommodate such weaponry, Sasori would have needed to remove several internal organs—perhaps a kidney, portions of the liver, or sections of his intestines—anything deemed unnecessary.
But what haunted Ebizo more than the grotesque modifications was Sasori's complete indifference to the injury. No flinch. No hesitation. No pain.
He turned to his sister, knowing she was not only a master puppeteer but also a skilled medical ninja, far more knowledgeable about human anatomy.
Chiyo exhaled softly, her expression turning grave. "I'm afraid... it's more than that. Sasori hasn't just altered parts of his body. He's transformed his entire body into a puppet."
Ebizo stiffened. He took a slow breath, trying to calm the storm rising within. "That can't be true. Are you saying... he completed that technique?"
Turning limbs into weapons or prosthetics was difficult, but achievable. As long as critical nerves and chakra pathways remained intact, one could still function.
But to convert the entire body was something else entirely.
It posed impossible questions: Where would the chakra come from? How could human consciousness survive without a brain? How could something man-made contain a soul?
This wasn't the fantasy of some delusional tinkerer. Years ago, the Second Kazekage—the greatest puppeteer in Sunagakure's history—had researched these very questions. He dreamt of creating immortal warriors, unaging and unyielding.
He never succeeded.
But the techniques he left behind laid the foundation: the Human Puppet Secret Technique, and the "False Sleep Soundly" Sealing Technique used to control Shukaku within Jinchuriki.
The former had been sealed away, deemed too cruel for the world. Until Sasori.
"If what you're saying is true," Ebizo murmured, "then Sasori... he has fulfilled the Second Kazekage's dying wish."
Chiyo nodded slowly. "He's a puppeteering genius the world has never seen before. But it's not just that. Think about it, Ebizo. Sasori fought Uchiha Might Guy and survived. The Hokage himself speculated that Sasori must have suffered grievous injuries. How else could he recover so quickly?"
Her voice grew more somber.
"And there's one more thing. He didn't use the Third Kazekage puppet... but he still used Magnet Release. Unless I'm wrong... Sasori has merged with the Third Kazekage in some unspeakable way."
A silence fell between them, heavy as iron.
What Chiyo didn't realize, however, was that the real Sasori was gone.
The entity they had just fought—who looked like Sasori, moved like Sasori, and even spoke with his voice—was in fact a puppet clone entirely crafted from the Third Kazekage's remains.
That puppet was controlled from afar by Akira, the true mastermind behind the scenes.
Ebizo's voice broke through the silence. "If that's true... then this is no small matter. The Third Kazekage's disappearance was the spark that ignited the current Ninja World War. If Sasori is behind it all... if he is the one who killed the Kazekage..."
He paused, struggling to finish the thought.
"Then he's no longer just a missing-nin. He's a world-class criminal. A monster."
He looked toward his sister, concern creeping into his voice. "Sister... can you bear this? Knowing your grandson may become the world's most wanted man?"
Chiyo held her composure with effort. Her eyes were sharp, but her lips trembled faintly. She forced a small, bitter smile.
"Don't worry about me. I've lived through wars, assassinations, betrayals. I'm not so easy to break."
She turned toward the village. "Let's go. We must report this to the Kazekage. Whatever happens next... it will be his decision."
Far beyond their sight, the puppet clone continued flying until the Sunagakure shinobi vanished over the horizon. Akira, through a distant link, guided it to descend gently, pulling back all the Iron Sand into its body.
The puppet was severely overburdened. After installing the Rebirth Core and so many hidden weapons, there was almost no internal space left.
Fortunately, the Iron Sand wasn't stored in the body cavity. It had a separate sealing compartment hidden in the puppet's mouth—a clever design originally implemented in the Third Kazekage's puppet.
Akira examined the damage sustained from Chiyo's surprise attack. Despite the blade piercing cleanly through the torso, only the outer shell had suffered minor structural damage. The technique arrays on the interior had only light distortion.
Had Sasori's original Rebirth Core taken that hit, it would've meant instant death.
His original Core, delicate and organic, was vulnerable. Akira's version, built from his tree clone and reinforced with technique seals, could endure far worse.
Unless the inner wooden core was destroyed or the outer techniques were obliterated, the puppet would function just fine.
Akira manipulated it to extract puppet materials from its storage and patch the outer hole, preventing leakage of nutrient solution. After re-inscribing the technique arrays, the puppet was restored.
He sent it into hiding, nestled deep within the terrain. It would await retrieval.
This defeat did not weigh heavily on Akira. He had simultaneously faced two Kage-level shinobi and a thousand Sunagakure ninja. In a one-on-one battle, the puppet clone was the equal of any veteran Kage.
Unlike his Mujō Tensē clones—which were self-operating but required five years of cultivation to create—these puppet clones could be made with only a corpse and a portion of his tree clone.
In his previous life as a doctor, Akira had no taboos about corpses.
In this world of death, they were simply... resources.
He began thinking.
There were powerful corpses to be claimed. The Third Raikage, who fought ten thousand enemies to a standstill. Hanzō of the Salamander, who would eventually fall to the blackened Nagato. If Akira could obtain these bodies, he could create a terrifying puppet army.
Imagine: a hundred Kage-level puppets, executing the Performance of a Hundred Puppets technique against an army.
Of course, that was only a fantasy for now.
He wasn't even sure there were a hundred Kage-level shinobi in existence.
Plus, the more puppet clones he controlled, the more chakra they would require. The Rebirth Core could produce a small amount, but major combat required Akira's direct infusion.
One puppet was manageable. But a dozen? A hundred? That would drain even him.
"How can I make these puppets independent of my chakra?" he murmured to himself.
"Hm? What's wrong, Akira? You've been quiet for a while."
Orochimaru's curious voice broke through his thoughts.
Akira blinked and quickly masked his distraction. "Ah, nothing, Teacher Orochimaru. I was just refining a new technique. It's something I've been working on for a while, and I think I finally solved it."
He raised his right hand. A swirl of chakra began to form, spinning rapidly until it condensed into a dense, glowing sphere of blue energy.
The Rasengan.
Akira had completed the first two training stages long ago in the village. Only the final control phase had remained. On the road, during their journey, he had quietly practiced.
And just now, during his moment of reflection, he had mastered it.
He needed a plausible reason for his distraction. Displaying a new technique was the perfect cover.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes in intrigue.
That technique... it looked familiar. Where had he seen it before?
He opened his mouth to ask, but noticed Akira staring off into the distance.
Following his gaze, he saw only a common caravan approaching across the road.
Yet Akira watched it like it held the secrets of the world.