"Does seeing me make you that afraid?"
"It shouldn't."
"You're the genius of our Sunagakure, after all."
"If the Third had lived long enough, there was a very high chance that the position of Fourth Kazekage would have been yours."
Sasori said coldly, "I have no interest in the Kazekage position."
"So you killed the Third because you didn't want to inherit the Kazekage position?"
Sasori was startled again.
"You know I killed the Third? How do you know?"
Rasa shrugged.
"How I know isn't something you need to know."
"Then what do you mean by this? Are you going to kill me and avenge the Third? Are you going to use that old hag to work for you while killing her only grandson?"
Rasa raised a brow.
He had not expected Sasori of the Red Sand to say something like that.
"You're afraid of dying?"
"And why do you think you're not my opponent?"
"You even killed the Third. Are you afraid of me, another Magnet Release ninja?"
Sasori fell silent.
Only after a long time did his voice sound again.
"Rasa, what exactly are you trying to say?"
"Are you going to kill me?"
"Or bring me back to the village to be judged?"
Rasa shook his head.
"No. I'm just buying time."
"What?"
"To create a cage you can't escape from."
The moment Rasa finished speaking—
The sand beneath them surged.
Under the effect of Magnet Release, it connected tightly, growing denser and denser until it became like solid metal.
Front.
Back.
Left.
Right.
Below.
Aside from above, every path around Sasori was sealed off firmly.
Chains of gold dust condensed one after another, stretching toward Sasori.
The instant they touched him—
"Lightning Blade!"
Violent lightning erupted.
Even though Sasori had already modified his own body, there were still parts of him made of flesh and blood.
His surroundings were compressed by gold dust.
His limbs were bound by chains.
Facing the lightning, he had no way to dodge.
The powerful current plunged Sasori directly into paralysis.
Puchi!
Sasori felt his flesh-and-blood core being forcibly split open.
A metal sphere entered his core.
The moment it entered, barbs immediately grew from it.
That meant if he forcibly removed the metal sphere, it would inevitably tear his flesh apart.
Rasa's voice sounded again.
"I placed a deadly poison inside. If you forcibly remove it, it will automatically burst and contaminate all your flesh until you die. With a single thought, I can also make it explode."
Sasori's heart sank.
"Rasa, what exactly do you want?"
"Is this interesting to you?"
Rasa said calmly, "I learned Magnet Release from the Third. You killed him and plunged Sunagakure into such a terrible situation. If I did nothing to you, I would be betraying both the Third and Sunagakure."
"But you are Senior Chiyo's only grandson. Killing you outright would not be good for her."
"You are a puppeteer. You like manipulating puppets."
"Then I will control you and use you as a puppet."
"That way, I can prevent you from harming Sunagakure again in the future, while also making you do something for the village as compensation. Atonement."
"Senior Chiyo should be able to accept that."
"If you can't accept it, then kill yourself. That has nothing to do with me."
"But if you do, the thing you pursued so desperately that you abandoned the village and killed the Third for it… you'll never have the chance to obtain it."
"Can you bear that? Genius puppeteer."
Rasa had not expected that coming to check on the Sun Disc's construction progress would bring him such an unexpected gain.
He had obtained a chance to capture Sasori of the Red Sand.
However, Rasa had no intention of bringing Sasori back to Sunagakure.
Most of what he said to Sasori was only meant to fool him.
First, forcibly bringing Sasori back to Sunagakure now would bring more harm than good.
Sasori held no loyalty to Sunagakure. At most, he still had some familial feeling for Chiyo. As for anyone else, he did not care in the slightest—not even Ebizo.
And no matter the reason, Sasori killing the Third Kazekage was a fact.
Second, what Rasa truly wanted Sasori to do was infiltrate the Akatsuki.
It was not a ninja village.
But in terms of strength, it might become an existence even more powerful than a ninja village.
It gathered many top-tier ninja.
Of course, right now, there were not that many members yet.
But as long as Obito Uchiha existed, as long as the Rinnegan existed, as long as Black Zetsu and White Zetsu existed, the Akatsuki's strength would never be poor.
Those few were the true core.
As for Kakuzu, Hidan, Kisame Hoshigaki, Itachi Uchiha, Deidara…
All of them could be replaced by others.
Rasa needed someone hidden inside the Akatsuki.
Only then could he keep track of the Akatsuki's movements in time.
That way, he could prevent the Akatsuki from posing a threat to Sunagakure.
And perhaps he could even use the Akatsuki in return.
Sasori of the Red Sand was undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.
The Akatsuki would not let such a good chess piece go.
"Oh, right. You appeared here because you're curious about the Sun Disc, aren't you?"
"If one day your performance satisfies me, maybe I'll be willing to let you take a look at the Sun Disc's blueprints. I might even tell you where those blueprints came from."
That immediately stirred Sasori's interest.
So much so that he cared far less about being controlled and having a "mechanism" planted in his flesh-and-blood core.
Because in Sasori's eyes, the Sun Disc was also art.
He had seen very clearly the enormous change when it absorbed solar energy just now.
His heart had moved.
"Really?"
Rasa sensed the change in Sasori's emotions, and his own heart moved slightly.
"I, Rasa, Fourth Kazekage, never tell lies."
"Fine. I can help you do things. But I don't want the old hag to know about me. I won't appear in the sight of anyone in Sunagakure except you."
"As you like."
Rasa shrugged.
"Then I'll give you your first mission now. Guard the area around the Sun Disc. Do not allow anyone from any other force to approach. Ensure the safety of Senior Chiyo and the Sun Disc."
"Also, give me a way to contact you. After all, you don't want me to use violent methods every time I need to drag you out, forcing you to feel pain before you appear, do you?"
Sasori's expression changed.
The next moment—
A small puppet was taken out by Sasori.
"Through this thing, you can find me. After I receive the message, I'll appear as soon as possible."
Rasa nodded.
A swirl of gold dust appeared and wrapped around the small puppet.
"Flowing Sand Shift!"
Rasa's figure vanished instantly, as though he had never appeared at all.
Sasori crawled out from beneath the sand and looked deeply in the direction of the Sun Disc