Glancing at Konan, who followed behind Nagato and showed no opposition despite her expressionless face, Kakuzu felt that what this red-haired man said was likely true. However, as a veteran rogue Ninja, he wouldn't confirm something based on feeling alone.
"You want to be our leader? Whether what you say is true or false, let me test your strength first!"
As soon as he finished speaking, one of Kakuzu's hands flew out like a meteor hammer. Black tentacles connected his fist and arm, allowing the entire limb to extend over ten meters in an instant.
With a cold sneer, Nagato knew he had to show his hand to suppress these two fellows in the Akatsuki Organization. He gave Kakuzu a faint look, and an intense repulsive force instantly pressed down on Kakuzu, blasting him away with a boom.
With a crack, Kakuzu slammed directly into the stone wall, creating a large hole. His fist flew back and hit him in the face, making him look quite pathetic.
"How can a mere mortal like you presume to offend the dignity of a god?"
Nagato spoke coldly, sounding quite Chuunibyou. However, there were plenty of crazy people in the Naruto World, so the expressions of those present remained very calm.
Well, Konan was used to it, and Kakuzu's facial expressions hadn't changed since he practiced his secret technique. As for Sasori of the Red Sand... you couldn't expect a puppet to have any expression changes.
"That move... you really are the leader..." Kakuzu climbed up and said nothing more, standing obediently. Nagato also knew he was just testing him and didn't do anything else.
His gaze turned to Sasori of the Red Sand: "Do you also wish to challenge the dignity of a god?"
Although Sasori of the Red Sand's puppet face had no expression, it remained silently facing him, clearly showing some curiosity.
Hearing Nagato's question, Sasori of the Red Sand shook his head: "I have no interest in who the leader is, as long as it doesn't interfere with my artistic works."
"However, you just said the previous Pain was your puppet... Can you tell me how you did it? Or, can you let me see that puppet?"
What Sasori of the Red Sand took most pride in was his Human Puppet technique. Yet, he truly hadn't realized that the Akatsuki leader, Deva Path Pain, whom he spent time with every day, was also a puppet!
For the strongest Puppet Master in the Ninja World, this was not only a disgrace but also piqued his immense curiosity.
Nagato looked at Sasori of the Red Sand, thought for a moment, and replied, "Deva Path Pain's body belongs to a friend of mine, so I can't give it to you. However, I have several other similar puppets that I can give you instead."
"This ability comes from the bloodline power of the Rinnegan. Perhaps you can research something from them? But what do you intend to offer in exchange?"
Sasori of the Red Sand was silent for a moment: "If the organization has missions recently, I can exchange my services for them!"
Nagato nodded: "Very well. We will have a major mission soon... Have your puppets been refitted yet?"
Hearing this, Sasori of the Red Sand's puppet face remained expressionless, but his voice betrayed some frustration: "Not yet... I have too many puppets. Completely refitting them requires a large amount of funding and materials... Those mass-produced puppets from the Hidden Sand Village have no soul at all. Only the puppets I craft by hand can truly be called works of art!"
Although Sasori of the Red Sand had left the Hidden Sand Village, he still had many spies within it.
As a top-tier Puppet Master, even after becoming a rogue Ninja, the Puppet Masters of the Hidden Sand Village still worshipped him, priding themselves on owning puppets made by Sasori of the Red Sand. Under these circumstances, infiltrating and developing influence in the Hidden Sand Village was naturally easy.
Because of this, Sasori of the Red Sand naturally benefited from Vegapunk's reforms in the Sand. He learned many methods for creating new types of steel puppets. Even the recently developed combined-type steel puppets were secretly handed over to the Hidden Sand Ninjas by Sasori!
As for his goal, it was actually similar to Vegapunk's: to find the flaws in his own puppet techniques through the practical exercises of the Three Great Ninja Villages, while simultaneously perfecting the details of his puppet techniques using a large number of ordinary Puppet Masters.
However, Sasori of the Red Sand had too many puppets. He didn't want to use the mass-produced puppets from Vegapunk's assembly-line factories, insisting on processing them himself.
Although, thanks to the extraordinary power of Chakra and his own talent, the puppets he created were indeed somewhat stronger than the mass-produced ones, the energy required was far greater. He still hadn't completely finished the refitting!
Nagato remained noncommittal regarding Sasori of the Red Sand's words. He was currently under Vegapunk's control, so he knew very well that the deluxe puppets made by Sasori were indeed stronger than the mass-produced ones.
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