Chapter 257: Sasori's Dream, the First Sign of the Dragon Vein
Three days later.
Sasori of the Red Sand returned to Sunagakure, appearing as if he had just recovered from serious injuries, as notified by Li Yao's Wind Clone. He also brought with him the news of the death of the Third Kazekage.
From that moment on, there was no longer any obstacle to Li Yao's Wind Clone becoming the Fourth Kazekage.
That very day, Li Yao's Wind Clone assumed the role of acting Kazekage. The next day, once Chiyo and Ebizō departed for the Daimyō's residence to obtain official recognition, Li Yao's Wind Clone would formally become the Fourth Kazekage.
Nighttime.
In the Kazekage's office, Li Yao's Wind Clone sat in the Kazekage's chair. On the desk before him was a small black jar—inside it was the sealed One-Tail, Shukaku.
Li Yao's Wind Clone took out a few scrolls and placed them on the desk.
"These are research scrolls on the Third Kazekage's Human Puppet. There might be things in there that interest you."
"Thank you, Lord Fourth Kazekage!"
Sasori's eyes lit up slightly as he picked up the scrolls. Back when he had infiltrated the Third's private chamber, he hadn't dared stay long and only glanced through the sections about puppet sealing formulas. He hadn't had the chance to examine the rest.
These scrolls were just what he needed—they would help further his development of Human Puppetry and aid his research into full human puppet transformation.
"Sasori, there's something I've always wanted to ask you," Li Yao's Wind Clone suddenly said.
"What is it?" Sasori asked curiously.
Li Yao's Wind Clone smiled. "What's your dream?"
"My dream?" Sasori was taken aback. He glanced at Li Yao's Wind Clone, surprised by the question. After thinking for a moment, he answered, "Eternity. I want to transform myself into a puppet so I can live forever and uncover the ultimate secrets of puppetry."
Creating Human Puppets that retained the power of their original owners had never been Sasori's true focus. What fascinated him was the technique itself—turning people into puppets.
Ever since the death of his parents, Sasori had realized how fleeting life was. Even if they hadn't been killed by Konoha's Sakumo , they would have eventually died from the passage of time.
So, he wanted eternal life.
He sought the pursuit of eternal art—only eternity, and nothing but eternity.
That was his dream and his goal.
Li Yao's Wind Clone smiled, clearly satisfied with Sasori's answer. In his view, the only two ordinary humans in the shinobi world who had truly approached immortality were Orochimaru and Sasori.
Both had made significant progress in their respective paths to eternity.
However, unlike Orochimaru's Reincarnation Jutsu, Sasori's puppet transformation had a fatal flaw—he had never broken free from the limitations of human lifespan to achieve true mechanical immortality.
"Here, take this."
Li Yao's Wind Clone pushed the black jar toward Sasori.
Sasori's expression changed slightly. He shook his head and said, "I don't want to be a jinchūriki."
To Sasori, having a tailed beast sealed inside him—always chattering—would seriously interfere with his research into eternal puppet art.
"I'm not asking you to become Shukaku's jinchūriki."
Li Yao's Wind Clone explained, "You're interested in immortality, right? Tailed Beasts are immortal beings. Even if they're killed, they reincarnate somewhere in the world. They can live for thousands of years and—barring accidents—continue living eternally."
As soon as he finished speaking, Sasori's eyes began to gleam, and he stared at the black jar, itching with curiosity.
Seeing that, Li Yao's Wind Clone continued, "Tailed Beasts are chakra beings that have completely transcended flesh. They can switch between energy and matter."
"If one day you can understand the essence of a Tailed Beast's life and puppetize their power—create a puppet on the level of a Tailed Beast—then you may realize your dream."
Flesh?
Energy?
Conversion?
Sasori turned these words over in his mind, including the differences between his own puppet seals and those of the Third Kazekage. The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. Ideas exploded in his head and quickly linked together.
Suddenly, a wild thought struck him.
"I've got it!!!"
"I understand now!!!"
Sasori shouted in excitement, startling Li Yao's Wind Clone. He had no idea what Sasori had figured out—had his offhand comments really led him to develop a technology for full mechanical ascension?
If so, that would be perfect.
Li Yao would welcome it.
As long as it remained within the bounds of chakra usage, no matter how godlike the technique Sasori developed, Li Yao could replicate it.
The whole reason he had made his Wind Clone Kazekage was to better nurture talents like Sasori and have them develop new jutsu for him.
So he could reap the benefits.
The same applied to Orochimaru in Konoha.
Once his Fire Clone, Fugaku, became Hokage, Orochimaru would become the next top-priority jutsu developer under his care.
"Lord Kazekage, I'll be going now."
Sasori took the black jar containing Shukaku and hurried off—eager to begin studying the Tailed Beast's body.
"Yi Yi, come in."
After Sasori left, Li Yao's Wind Clone called for Ye Yi. She was now serving as the Kazekage's secretary, which meant she handled business—or personal matters—whenever needed.
After all, Li Yao's Wind Clone had worked hard to get to this position. It was time to enjoy it.
"Lord Kazekage."
The beautiful Ye Yi entered and immediately circled behind Li Yao's Wind Clone, using her generous curves to ease his tension and relax his body.
Li Yao's Wind Clone closed his eyes to enjoy.
Elsewhere.
Three days earlier, Li Yao had left Sunagakure with Yuzu . While flying over a desert, he had suddenly stopped—and hadn't moved since.
"Uncle, is there something here?"
Yuzu finally couldn't hold back her curiosity. Three days ago, they had left Sunagakure for the Land of Earth, headed toward Iwagakure.
But while passing over this desert, Uncle had sensed something and gone into a deep state of focus.
She hadn't wanted to disturb him—but after three days, curiosity and concern got the better of her. She worried something here might be affecting his mental state.
Li Yao, eyes still closed, focused entirely on sensing the area below, trying to block out all other distractions.
Still, he heard her question.
Without opening his eyes, he asked, "Haven't you noticed anything appear down below over the past few days?"
"Where?" Yuzu widened her eyes.
Beneath them lay a barren desert. Nothing had appeared, aside from a few sand dunes shifting in the wind. For three days, she'd seen absolutely nothing.
"Did you sense any energy fluctuations?" Li Yao asked again.
"Nope!" Yuzu shook her head, completely puzzled.
Li Yao shook his head. "Seems like only I can sense it."
Little Yuzu's sensing ability was still lacking. She couldn't feel the subtle energy waves and therefore couldn't see the illusion of a ruined city buried beneath the sand.
Li Yao, however, could. His soul had mutated upon arriving in this world, merging with chakra and granting him an unusual sensing ability. Coupled with his spiritual perception and high-level Yin chakra—at Rinnegan tier—he could detect even the faintest energy fluctuations.
It was only natural Yuzu couldn't feel anything.
She wasn't satisfied, though. She pouted slightly and glanced at him. Then, smiling nervously, she said, "Uncle… are you sure you didn't misread it?"
Li Yao smiled. "No. I'm certain."
Hearing that, Yuzu shrugged and didn't press further.
But then something struck her, and her expression changed. Worried, she asked, "Uncle, are you sensing natural energy? If it is, please don't absorb it! That could be very dangerous!"
The Uzumaki clan had long been known for sealing monstrous forces across the shinobi world and for researching foundational sealing formulas. They were no strangers to natural energy.
Yuzu understood the risk: if a human recklessly absorbed natural energy, it was like a small leak bursting in a pipe—the surrounding natural energy would rush in, overwhelming and assimilating the person into nature itself.
"Relax. It's not natural energy—I'm sure of that."
Li Yao smiled reassuringly. He knew the dangers of natural energy well. He also had a good idea what he was sensing.
"Do you know about the Dragon Vein?" he asked.
"Dragon Vein…" Yuzu thought for a moment and then shook her head. "No… wait, is that the energy you've been sensing, Uncle?"
"Mm." Li Yao nodded slightly.
(END CHAPTER)
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