Chapter 402: After All That, I Still Have to Assemble It Myself
At the same time, inside the Raikage's office in the Hidden Cloud Village.
Uzumaki Naruto was squatting on the ground, with a pile of tattered, multi-colored Puppet parts and fragments of human tissue laid out before him.
This pile of "trash" was precisely the remains of Sasori of the Red Sand, which had been blown away by the aftershocks of the Susanoo and later carefully collected by Konoha Ninjas while cleaning up the battlefield.
However, at this moment, Sasori's Puppet body was severely damaged and covered in cracks.
Naruto looked at the pile of "junk" before him and couldn't help but sigh, rubbing his brow with a slight headache.
"After all that, I still have to assemble it myself..."
His previous sweep with the Susanoo had indeed been a bit too powerful; he hadn't held back enough.
His original intention was just to intimidate and disperse the members of the Akatsuki Organization, but he hadn't expected to blow them all away, and so far and wide at that...
Deidara had been blown to some unknown corner, and even now, Naruto's Shadow Clones hadn't found him yet.
Kisame was buried under heavy injuries; although he had been dug out, he was on the verge of death and was currently undergoing emergency treatment.
He had been hospitalized for a week and still hadn't regained consciousness.
Kakuzu was left with only one heart; currently, feeling insecure, he had gone to the nearby Land of Hot Springs to collect hearts under the supervision of Naruto's Wood Clone.
Once Kakuzu finished collecting hearts, a Clone would step in to capture him, and in the process, take over Yugakure and the Land of Hot Springs as well.
As for Sasori...
He had turned into this pile of "action figure" remains before him that needed to be manually assembled.
"These guys are all talents..."
Naruto muttered to himself as he began to work.
He reached out his hands and began to repair Sasori's body.
Under the guidance of Naruto's Chakra, the scattered Puppet parts and fragments on the ground began to float slowly as if pulled by invisible threads, moving and connecting toward their original positions.
The faint sound of clicking and snapping continued to ring out.
At the same time, Naruto also utilized the power of Wood Release.
In places that were severely damaged and could not be directly joined, fine green threads like wood fibers began to spread from Naruto's palms, wrapping around the damaged areas. They then rapidly "grew" and filled in, forming new wooden structures that were extremely similar to the original material yet full of vitality, reconnecting and reinforcing the broken parts.
This was not just a simple repair; it was more like a "regeneration" and "remodeling."
As Naruto assembled the pieces, he calculated the future uses of these "talents" in his mind:
"When the Ninja World starts infrastructure construction... that guy Deidara is so obsessed with the art of explosions; he'll definitely be a natural at blasting tunnels and clearing mountains for roads. His efficiency will be through the roof..."
"As for Sasori, a Puppet master with profound research into mechanics and human anatomy, he should be quite suitable for developing construction machinery, automation tools, or medical Puppets..."
"And Kakuzu... that old money-grubber who's lived for nearly a hundred years must have an incredibly high sensitivity to money and the economy. Once the Ninja World is unified and the economic system is rebuilt, having him manage the money and handle financial regulation means he'll likely account for every single cent clearly; no one will even think about embezzling..."
"As for Kisame..." Naruto's movements paused, and his brow furrowed slightly. "Kisame... Kisame..."
He carefully recalled Kisame's abilities: massive Chakra, expertise in Water Release, the ability to fuse with Samehada, and absorbing enemy Chakra...
These abilities are indeed great for combat, but when it comes to infrastructure and development in a time of peace... it seems he couldn't think of a particularly suitable role for a moment.
Should I have him work on water conservancy projects? Using Water Release to dig trenches or clear riverbeds?
Or perhaps... given his personality, put him in charge of some important security work?
Naruto thought about it and finally decided to set it aside for now.
"Forget it, there will be a use for him eventually," he said to himself. "Talents—the more, the better. I'll just collect them first."
After completely assembling Sasori of the Red Sand's body, which was composed of countless precision parts and modified human tissue, and finally carefully placing the heart core embedded with the "regeneration core" back into the reserved position in his chest cavity, Naruto took two steps back and waited quietly.
This was a room next to the Raikage's office in the Hidden Cloud Village that was being temporarily used as a laboratory and detention room.
The light wasn't very bright, but it was enough to clearly see Sasori's Puppet body, which he had repaired with his own hands and which now stood quietly in the center of the room.
Sasori's appearance had returned to the way Naruto remembered it—short red hair, a handsome yet cold youthful face, and the clothes of the Akatsuki Organization.
However, those eyes that should have been agile and sharp were now completely hollow, without a trace of life.
Time passed second by second.
In the room, there was only the ticking of the clock on the wall and the faint sounds of commotion coming from afar.
Naruto waited patiently.
He knew that Sasori's "regeneration core" needed time to restabilize and activate after experiencing that devastating impact.
Furthermore, given Sasori's cautious and suspicious nature, as well as his absolute obsession with his own "Eternal Art," even if his consciousness had recovered, he would likely choose to temporarily pretend to be in an unawakened state to observe his surroundings and look for an opportunity to escape.
Sure enough.
After waiting for a while, Sasori of the Red Sand remained like a true statue, without any movement.
Naruto seemed to have lost his patience.
He shrugged slightly, a look of "it seems it's not ready yet" appearing on his face. Then he turned around, strode out of the room, and closed the door behind him.
The sound of footsteps gradually faded until it disappeared.
Silence returned to the room.
Another three minutes or so passed.
After confirming that there was indeed no sign of Naruto returning and that there were no other Chakra fluctuations nearby...
Sasori of the Red Sand's hollow eyes suddenly twitched.
An extremely faint yet vigilant and scrutinizing light flashed through the depths of his eyes.
Then, he began to move his body extremely slowly, making almost no sound.
First his fingers curled slightly, then his wrists, elbows, and shoulders...
Finally, like a rusted machine, his whole being took a somewhat stiff step forward.
"Click..."
A very faint sound of friction came from his joints.
As expected...
His body was a bit stiff, and the lubrication and coordination of his joints were not as flexible as before.
This was an aftereffect of the previous battle and a "flaw" left behind by Uzumaki Naruto's forced repair and assembly using Wood Release.
Although the exterior appeared intact, many of the precision transmission structures and Chakra circuits inside had not yet been adjusted to their optimal state.
However... it didn't matter.
For Sasori of the Red Sand, an artist who had transformed his entire body into a Puppet in pursuit of "eternity," physical damage and imperfection were merely opportunities for a new modification and upgrade.
As long as he could escape and return to his Secret Workshop, he could completely remodel his body back to its original, perfect state.
The primary task now was to escape from here.
Sasori did not hesitate for a moment and immediately began to act.
He first moved like a silent shadow to the room's only window.
This window was a traditional wooden lattice window, and outside was a street in the Hidden Cloud Village currently under reconstruction.
Sasori pressed his face close to the window and observed the outside extremely cautiously through the gaps in the lattice.
There were scattered pedestrians and working Ninjas on the street, but no one was paying particular attention to this direction.
He carefully sensed his surroundings again, confirming that there seemed to be no Ninjas lying in ambush near the office.
An opportunity!
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