The wind from the western part of the Konoha/Suna front carried heat and the scent of blood in equal measure. This was Sunagakure's battlefield, hot, dry, harsh, grinding, and poisonous. The Suna shinobi were doing their reputation proud.
Many Sunagakure ninja used Wind Release techniques, which they may or may not perform with fans; they were poison specialists, as the Kage-level ninja Chiyo was, and they used puppet jutsus.
Shinobi from this village believed that the accomplishment of a mission predominated the lives of the ninja trying to accomplish it. As such, they ruthlessly pursued victory in battle, and even if failure were inevitable, they would still try to achieve any success against their enemy that they could.
The war between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind was a peculiar one. They were the country with the fewest resources and, therefore, the most desperate to win. Right now, they had four shinobi capable of inflicting great damage on Konoha shinobi, and they were ruthless and known across the world.
The first one was the Third Kazekage, hailed as the village's strongest Kazekage of his time, for his use of Iron Sand. After studying the jinchūriki of their tailed beast, Shukaku, he recreated its sand-manipulating powers by combining his own magnetic chakra and iron powder, which produced the Iron Sand technique. The Third Kazekage used his kekkei genkai, which combined his wind and earth natures, to create magnet release.
The second one was the jinchūriki of the One Tail, Shukaku. Unlike other jinchūriki, the seal which Sunagakure used to seal Shukaku was nasty and made it impossible for the man to sleep, lest he lose control, and Shukaku would be free. That made him a very damaged individual and not at all a reliable weapon during wartime, especially now that he was growing older.
The third Kage-level shinobi was Lady Chiyo, the leader of Sunagakure's Puppet Brigade, and a medical-nin. Her skill in the art of puppetry made her a dangerous adversary, mainly since she used her medical and poison knowledge to poison entire divisions and force enemies into retreat.
Finally, there was the fourth and during these times, the most hated or appreciated Suna shinobi, depending on who you asked. Sasori, renowned as Sasori of the Red Sand. In this war, the effectiveness of his puppets in spilling his enemies', Konoha shinobi's, blood on the sand gave rise to this moniker, and he was living up to it.
Tenji arrived on a battlefield without banners or allegiance. He was still doing his research, and for that, he constantly sought inspiration. He knew that, aside from him, humans were never as inventive as during wartime. He stood on a dune and observed one of countless clashes between Konoha shinobi and Sunagakure's response.
The sand exploded as dozens of puppets emerged and shot senbon at the approaching shinobi. They screamed in pain and surprise, trying to dodge the relentless attacks coming from everywhere. A few men shouted orders for retreat and reformation, which the others tried to follow, but weren't quite able to.
"Where's the Ino-Shika-Cho trio? We need help here!"
"Commander Nara has ordered us to retreat on the northern flank and focus on the southern one, trying to push decisively and not waste our men."
"What for? What about Chiyo and the Third Kazekage?" the man asked.
"I don't know anything abou-- AAHHHH!"
The shinobi narrowly managed to dodge a lethal strike from beneath his feet. A pupped emerged, with a long blade, cutting him from bottom to top. A thin line of blood appeared.
"Tendo, are you alright?!" his friend shouted.
"Y-yes... I managed to... urgh..."
"You're poisoned. You need to get back. If Lady Tsunade does not treat you, then we have a problem."
"We can't just yet... look," Tendo said, pointing forward.
"He's here!"
A young man with short red hair emerged from his hiding place. Around him, several puppets flew through the air and killed Konoha shinobi left and right. He had a cold and dead look in his eye as he observed the shinobi in front of him. As if they weren't humans to him. Sasori had arrived, and he was ploughing through Konoha ranks again.
"Formation 4! Get into position!"
"Umi, have them... ugh, have them follow Lord Nara's plan..."
"Tendo? Tendo!! Stay with me!"
The Suna shinobi rushed forward.
"Wind Style: Spiralling Wind Ball Jutsu!" "Wind Style: Wind Cutter Jutsu!" "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
The wind jutsu flew towards them, dealing great damage and cutting dozens of Konoha nin apart. They used Earth Release to block some of them, but it wasn't as effective as Fire Release. Sadly, the best users of Fire Release, the Uchiha, were fighting on the Iwa front.
"Uwaaahhhh!"
Suddenly, the dunes trembled as hundreds of chakra signatures converged. From the western ridge, a coordinated formation advanced and surprised the overconfident Suna shinobi. They were disciplined, precise, and known worldwide—the Ino-Shika-Cho.
At the centre of their formation moved Shikaku Nara, the current head of the Nara Clan. His eyes were sharp with a calculating mind that was already thinking ten steps ahead. To his left, Inoichi Yamanaka, the Clan Head of the Yamanaka Clan, closed his eyes briefly. Using his clan's signature jutsu, his chakra spread outward like a net, feeling the thoughts of fellow Konoha shinobi to create a better plan with Shikaku. On their right, Chōza Akimichi, the Akimichi Clan Head, rolled his shoulders. His body was swelling with stored energy.
Behind them followed hundreds of clan shinobi, Yamanaka sensory units and fire specialists, Nara shadow binders, and Akimichi shock troops. They had come prepared with several plans to help their shinobi and inflict heavy damage on Sunagakure.
"Several strong presences detected. Sasori of the Red Sand to the right and Suna nin to the left and front," Inoichi spoke. Shikaku raised two fingers.
"Contact in five seconds. Target Sasori of the Red Sand. He's our main objective on this front. But be prepared for--"
Wooden limbs burst from beneath the sand and stopped him from speaking. Puppets charged forward, dozens at once, needles and blades reflecting the merciless sun and approaching them. Chōza slammed his foot on the sand and used his clan's jutsu.
"Partial Expansion Jutsu!"
He punched the puppets who appeared before him and crushed them. The puppets exploded as he ploughed forward, smashing three of them into splinters. Shadows crawled forward and connected with the puppets' shadows, freezing them mid-motion. The Nara Clan constricted their movement, while several other ninja attacked.
"Inoichi, now!"
Inoichi's chakra surged.
'Mind Transmission Jutsu.'
His mind moved across the plains, approaching the caster of the puppet jutsu. However, when he was about to succeed, he was blocked. Inoichi staggered in surprise and coughed up blood as the jutsu backfired.
"What--?"
The sand shifted again, and new figures appeared. The Puppet Puppet Brigade. In front of them stood their leader. An elderly, but powerful woman appeared before the Konoha ninja.
"Lady Chiyo...!"
"You will not take my grandson," she said coldly.
The Ino-Shika-Cho trio looked at the new problem before them, several plans forming in Shikaku's mind. The tension was explosive, and when Chiyo's fingers twitched...
... the battlefield turned into hell.
Puppets from her and the Puppet Brigade moved through the air like mobile death traps. They intercepted the Nara clan's shadows, deflecting Akimichi's blows and forcing everyone to divide their attention. Poison gas hissed from hidden vents, specially created by Chiyo, which was a nightmare without the most skilled healer.
"What a drag," Shikaku sighed.
.
The black 'stick' flew through the air, severing several chakra threads that controlled puppets. The puppets fell from the air lifelessly. Feeling the connection severed, Sasori turned to the cause of this phenomenon: Tenji.
He ignored the Konoha shinobi and stared at Tenji. As his eyes landed on the blade in his hands and the way he held himself, combined with the swiftness of his movements, his face twisted in boundless rage. Only he and Lady Chiyo would know why that was, however.
His fingers moved, and chakra threads snapped onwards, faster than before. The puppets were assembling mid-air into a killing formation. Almost a hundred puppets floated mid-air, ready to unleash hell on Tenji, the target of his hatred.
"Saku... mo...," Sasori whispered. "Sakumo... Hatake."
Tenji heard the young man and narrowed his eyes. The way he said it sent shivers down the Konoha shinobi's backs. They felt the immense killing intent which Sasori released. Tenji, on the other hand, felt no fear. He felt tremendous pity and sadness.
"I feel your pain, child."
Hearing his words, Sasori's eyes widened further.
"DIE!!"
All of the puppets shot forward, through the air, their weapons hidden and visible, ready to kill Tenji. The first few blades and senbons never reached their target. Tenji took a single forward.
He used no jutsu, and neither did he shout in any way. He held his blade in his hand and cut the first two puppets apart easily. He blocked dozens of senbon with wind chakra, creating a protective wind barrier.
"AAARHH!" Sasori shouted.
The puppets didn't stop; instead, Sasori moved his fingers feverishly. Tenji's eyes darted to Sasori, and he understood something. He stopped using wind chakra through his blade and instead returned it to its base state. He slashed through the chakra threads, making sure not to damage the puppets.
After roughly 40 puppets were lying on the ground around him, Tenji stopped and looked at Sasori again.
"Enough," he said.
Sasori's puppets froze. Not because of a jutsu, but because Tenji's presence and his words affected Sasori. Tenji's presence rolled over Sasori like a storm and stopped him momentarily.
"Child," Tenji said quietly, turning to look at him, "this is not your battle. I can feel the pain inside your heart, but this won't fill it. You can't fill this hole with emptiness."
"Don't tell me what to do!" Sasori screamed, forcing chakra through the threads. "They're here to take you! You killed them!"
"I don't know who you are talking about, son. But I'm certain I am not the one you mean."
Sasori moved his puppets like a man possessed, attacking Tenji again. Realising that this wouldn't yield any result, Tenji chose a different strategy. He had been playing around with a new release he came up with a few days ago. Since this was about speed, he thought it would be a good time to test it.
He dodged and weaved through the endless attacks coming from the over 50 puppets. Tenji brought his hand to his blade. He had been testing various nature transformations and exploring ways to combine them. And since he had made ridiculous advancements in Yin-release, he thought of combining Yin and Yang with the basic nature transformations.
As he dodged the relentless barrage of attacks, Tenji separated Yin and Yang from one another and combined Yang with Lightning to create something new. Slowly, he swiped his hand along his blade and revealed a new, never-before-seen release.
"Ama no Murakumo."
The black O-katana turned to pure light, shining brightly and blinding those who gazed upon it for a moment. Sasori shielded his eyes for a second. He saw the bright, almost whitish-yellow sword in Tenji's hands and had a bad feeling.
Tenji smiled contentedly and then turned back to Sasori. Light Release was what he had created by combining Yang and Lightning. It was meant to be a pure speed-based release. And he had succeeded. He slashed his arm through the air at speeds faster than the shinobi could see.
A moment later, dozens of puppets fell from the sky, their chakra threads having been severed. Finally coming out of his stupor, Sasori attacked again, trying to create distance and lifted them into the air. Sadly for him, this no longer mattered to Tenji. He swung his blade through the air and released several light-speed sword slashes.
The puppets fell to the ground one after the other, and not even a full minute later, Sasori stood alone on the battlefield. He stared at the light blade next to his neck and at Tenji, who had arrived in front of him before he could form a coherent thought.
His lips trembled lightly as his thoughts remembered his parents and how they had been killed. Tenji broke the heavy silence as he lowered his sword and returned it to its base state.
"Huh?"
"Young people like you shouldn't have to burden themselves with such thoughts."
"Wha--"
"You are alone in this world, are you not?" Tenji asked.
"..."
"Do you have a family?"
"..."
"Father? Mother? ... Pet?"
Sasori didn't answer, and Tenji understood.
"Grandfather, Grandmother?"
...
"Ah, so a grandmother. Is she not good to you?"
...
"So you're all alone. Like me."
Neither of them said anything for a moment. Sasori had already made peace with the fact that he would die, and this talk was pointless. He hated that he couldn't reach perfection and become immortal. But he tried not to show any of this outwardly.
"What's your name?" Tenji asked.
"...Sasori."
Tenji smiled gently and held out his hands to Sasori.
"Sasori. Come, join me."
"Huh?!"