Because Kirigakure had very little interaction with Sunagakure, Rei searched through Kirigakure's entire inventory and still failed to find a puppet that could temporarily host Sasori of the Red Sand's regeneration core.
He had no choice but to send people to the underground black markets around the Land of Water to purchase several poorly made ordinary puppets as emergency supplies.
And when he roughly shoved the regeneration core into a humanoid puppet that had already had all its mechanisms removed, an astonishing change occurred.
The flesh tissue extending from around the regeneration core quickly rooted itself into the puppet's body, merging with it at an astonishing speed.
As the regeneration core obtained a vessel, a large amount of chakra surged out from the core that was equivalent to a heart, causing the puppet's originally crude head to rapidly transform into Sasori of the Red Sand's appearance.
Red short hair grew out.
The cold-eyed puppeteer opened his eyes once again.
"Tch, tch. Truly remarkable technology…"
Even with Rei Kaguya's wide experience, the scene of Sasori of the Red Sand completing his resurrection still made him unable to stop himself from clapping softly.
"Flesh can continue surviving and producing chakra after leaving the body. Even with a puppet not made by yourself, you can still complete the rebirth of your consciousness and appearance…"
"Even if the body itself is a little weak, and the weakness of the regeneration core is a little too obvious, this technology is enough to save your life, Sasori of the Red Sand."
"You look like someone who understands its value better than A Fei and Zetsu, Fourth Mizukage."
Sasori of the Red Sand did not show any dissatisfaction toward the garbage puppet he was currently using as a temporary host.
After all, he was now a prisoner in someone else's hands. He was not qualified to act too arrogant in front of the victor.
He merely looked around simply, moving his extremely stiff head, and spoke somewhat haltingly.
"No wonder A Fei and Zetsu… despite possessing that kind of power… still only dared to act in secret… personally recruiting those who were dissatisfied with you or hated you… The power they accumulated for so long… would probably be unable to withstand even one person like you."
"So it really is the remnants of 'Root' stirring things up in the dark…"
Rei nodded without much surprise.
While wondering curiously why Obito Uchiha was not acting under the name of Uchiha Madara this time, he continued asking, "But from what you said, it sounds like your relationship with the people from Root was not very good?"
"A radical brat… who does not understand art. A mysterious tool… with little self of its own. What need was there to grow close to them?"
Sasori of the Red Sand did not conceal his contempt for Obito and Zetsu, who were acting under the name of Root's successors.
"If not for the fact that they occasionally shared interesting information with me… perhaps we would not have met like this until you began unifying the shinobi world."
Rei could not help laughing.
"Can you sense the outside world from inside that regeneration core?"
"The person who spoke with you earlier was Orochimaru of Konoha?"
Sasori finally gave up trying to calibrate this puppet, which was inferior in every aspect. He turned his head and looked directly at Rei.
"If so… your ambition is truly frighteningly large."
"The ambition to conquer the shinobi world is not something only I possess. Kumogakure's Raikage and the dead Danzo Shimura were both ambitious men who wanted to conquer the world, were they not?"
Rei neither confirmed nor denied Sasori's words.
"At most, I thought one step further than them. While conquering, I intend to lay the foundation for governance as well."
"So you took interest in Orochimaru's technology and had him help you research living organisms and bloodlines?"
Sasori of the Red Sand sighed expressionlessly.
"Then what did you take interest in from me? Is that why you said those words at the end of our fight?"
"Your human puppet technique. More accurately, the regeneration core technology that allows you to stuff all your chakra into a lump of flesh, then have that lump continue producing chakra without nutritional supply."
Rei folded his arms and sat opposite Sasori, whose eyes showed a faint trace of surprise. He asked with great curiosity,
"I have no interest in that technique of turning living people into puppets while preserving their original abilities. But I truly am curious about how you made a lump of flesh tissue that should not have vitality continuously produce chakra belonging to you, and then use it to control puppets… Even among all the bizarre ninjutsu I have seen, your regeneration core technology ranks near the top in both difficulty and strangeness."
"…What do you intend to use this technology for?"
Sasori could not quite understand Rei's train of thought.
Why would the Kage of a village be uninterested in his human puppet technique, which preserved the abilities of Kekkei Genkai shinobi, and instead be so fascinated by regeneration core technology?
Even if regeneration core technology was the core of the human puppet technique, Sasori completely did not believe Rei would use this technology in puppet-making.
"Before answering that question, I would like to ask you one."
Rei took out a scroll depicting a map around the Land of Wind and unfurled it before Sasori.
Then he pointed to the name of a country that had now vanished and asked in a deep voice, "Did your Sunagakure, or rather, you yourself, ever investigate the Land of Roran before its destruction?"
"Roran?"
Sasori of the Red Sand frowned slightly.
"Why suddenly ask about such a small country that has already disappeared, and has nothing to do with Kirigakure?"
"Because I heard that they once built the most magnificent city in the shinobi world. Towers reaching the sky, flowing light and brilliant colors—a miraculous nation unmatched in this world. And the magnificence and prosperity of that country seems to have had some special connection with puppet techniques."
"I do not know whether it was connected to puppet techniques, but…"
Sasori hesitated for a moment, then answered somewhat uncertainly.
"According to the information brought back by the village's intelligence personnel, before the Land of Roran became ruins, it truly did possess an incomparably gorgeous city."
"Not only did it become ruins. It became ruins overnight. And the time Roran took to build that miracle city that stood above the entire shinobi world was less than a short ten years. Outside that period, Roran was merely a small country that could be found anywhere, with no special products and no reputation."
Rei paused, looking at Sasori of the Red Sand, who had fallen into thought.
"Are you not curious how the Land of Roran raised those high towers in such a short time? Or how those towers collapsed and the guests scattered overnight, leaving it without any chance to rise again?"
"…What does that have to do with me?"
Sasori of the Red Sand recovered from Rei's rhythm and frowned at him, who was clearly full of interest.
"Roran has long been a vanished country. Even if survivors remain, with their strength, they could not possibly restore the collapsed and scattered city of Roran."
"But the foundation that allowed them to build that magnificent city still exists."
Rei looked into Sasori's eyes and said, word by word,
"It is a special power known as the Dragon Vein. Inexhaustible, endless, and almost comparable to a Tailed Beast… If Roran's prosperity truly was built on a foundation of puppet techniques, then as Sunagakure's most talented puppeteer, you should be able to do even better, should you not?"
"Even if I rebuild Roran, so what?"
Sasori of the Red Sand still did not quite understand Rei's thoughts.
"That is nothing more than an enclave far away in the Land of Wind. It is so distant from Kirigakure. How would you maintain rule over that place?"
"That can wait until after we confirm the truth of Roran and the Dragon Vein."
"Before that, tell me something else first."
"What?"
"The investigation team Konoha sent out. Where did they go?"
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