"Join me."
"No."
"Why not? It will be far better than staying here."
"No."
"You should be able to choose for yourself whether you want to die for a village that doesn't care about you."
"No."
"You don't want to choose?"
"No."
"I'll make food."
"..."
"Heh? What do you sa--"
"No."
"Come on! You deserve better. Join my family."
"NO!"
"Why not?"
"I have a family already!"
"A grandmother who doesn't talk to you since your parents died doesn't make a family. And neither does blood relation."
"Urgh!"
Sasori groaned in annoyance. This had been going on for a month now, and he felt as though he was going insane. After their initial fight, Tenji had constantly followed him and pestered him to join his 'family' or group, as he called it. Sasori refused and attacked Tenji outright. But all that did was give Tenji input on how to use the puppet jutsu and on how to improve it. No matter what, in the evening, when Sasori wanted to be alone and create new puppets, Tenji would appear from nowhere and talk to him.
Tenji was literally the worst enemy to have, no matter what your speciality was. If you faced him in battle, he would learn what you did at the first glance, refine it and then create a counter, all within the fight itself. If you faced him in an argument, he learned your thought process and picked your ideas apart one by one. And if you were a lonely, broken child, like Sasori, he continued to pester him, never leaving him alone and cared for him in the slightest ways possible.
Tenji would appear in Sasori's tents and hidden caves, cook him a meal, tell him how he could improve the puppets and the jutsu themselves, and talk to him about things no one had ever done. And no matter what Sasori did, he simply wouldn't leave. He was grinding down Sasori's defences and darkness with kindness. Gradually, Sasori opened up to Tenji without even realising it. He told him about his life in Sunagakure, his training, Granny Chiyo and finally, his parents. Tenji did the same, but not in the same way.
So, after a month, despite still not agreeing to join Tenji, it was more out of habit and a refusal to submit than anything else.
"Here, have some food. I made your favourite," Tenji said.
"..."
The aroma filled the air, making Sasori gulp. He tried to use all his mental strength not to give in right away. But he failed. He dropped the puppet he was working on and sat down next to Tenji, digging in.
"Uhmmm."
An involuntary small moan of delight escaped Sasori. His eyes darted to Tenji, who pretended not to hear anything. Sasori saw the look on Tenji's face and felt that something was wrong. Tenji hadn't lied to Sasori this month, and because Sasori was a skilled ninja, he could read Tenji, unless he was on guard.
"What's wrong?" Sasori asked.
"I'm feeling restless," Tenji answered.
"Restless? Why?"
"I have been looking for my descendants to try and gain some information on my wife. But it yielded no fruit for now."
Tenji had been roaming the ninja world to find his descendants and see if they could lead him to uncover the truth about the seal that imprisoned Kaguya. But it hadn't worked out at all. He felt as though he was aimlessly roaming the lands, and that was annoying him. When he saw Sasori, he knew he wanted to recruit him and many others in the future to create an organisation that would follow him and his wife and build a better world. Sasori was alone and broken. But Tenji saw his immense potential and his need for warmth, so he chose him as the first member of his retainers.
"So what will you do?" Sasori asked.
"I need to go to the Land of Rain. I have a strange feeling that something will happen there, something that I need to see and be a part of. I can't wait any longer."
"..."
Sasori had an idea what this meant.
"When are you leaving?" he asked.
"Tomorrow. So if you want to join me, you are welcome to do that, but if you don't, that's your choice."
.
Sasori couldn't sleep. He thought about what Tenji had told him, and the thought of him leaving and being alone again, hurt him more than he cared to admit. The food, he told himself. It was only the food he would miss. He couldn't fathom how someone could create such delicious foods that quite literally blew his mind.
After hours of sleepless thinking, he stood up. He made a choice and got dressed. A few minutes later, he had everything packed that he would need and walked out of his tent. He had given what he could for the village, and now it was time that he did something he wanted. And he wanted to follow Tenji.
The tents of the Third Kazekage and Lady Chiyo were located at the centre of the Suna forces. It was meant as protection against enemy attacks, with sensors ready to sound the alarm should the need arise. Sasori was allowed entry into the war tent and found the Third Kazekage and his grandmother, Lady Chiyo, with other advisors deep in tactical talks. The Kazekage didn't even raise his head as Sasori entered. Chiyo saw him and had the same pained expression on her face that she always did when she saw him.
"Lord Kazekage, I would like to speak with you," Sasori said.
"Sasori, we are in the middle of a meeting. You are welcome to join, but remain silent. Your role will be explained to you shortly," the Kazekage answered.
"No."
"..."
Everyone looked surprised and shocked at Sasori's dismissal. The Third Kazekage looked up and narrowed his eyes.
"No?"
"I am leaving the village. Here is my headband."
Sasori removed the Suna forehead protector and placed it on the table in front of him. Everyone present was shocked. One of their strongest combatants had just resigned, or wanted to resign from being a Suna shinobi. During a war, no less. This was a disaster for them; Suna wouldn't be able to hold the line as it did if Sasori left, and they all knew it.
"What is this madness? You can't leave. We are in the middle of a war, unless you didn't notice. So get your forehead protector off this table and prepare for another battle!" the Third Kazekage shouted.
"I can leave whenever I wish. The village doesn't own me, no one does," Sasori said, repeating words Tenji had told him.
"Sasori... are you sure? Why do you want to leave?" Chiyo asked.
"There is nothing in this village that would hold me back anymore. I don't want to fight in a war that you chose to be necessary. My parents died during the Second Shinobi War, and here you are, sending me to battle the same way you did them."
The Third Kazekage was fuming. This little runt, this child, was talking as though he was on the same level as him. He chose to enter the Third Shinobi War because he was the Kazekage, and what he said was the law!
"You will get back to your post and wait to be sent to battle. That's an order."
The Kazekage's words were ice cold and cut through the tension in the tent. Chiyo looked at the Kazekage, who was known to be the strongest Kazekage, with worry. She didn't want them to fight. She couldn't lose someone else, not Sasori - the last of her family. But Sasori was necessary for Suna to improve their position and living conditions, finally. If they lost now, they would be in a terrible spot, and the Daimyō wouldn't forgive them.
"I will not," Sasori answered just as coldly as the Kazekage did.
The two stared at each other with hate.
...
"Please, Lord Kazekage, let us--"
Suddenly, a wave of iron sand rushed forward, enveloping Sasori and smashing him out of the tent.
"Lord Kazekage!" Chiyo shouted in panic.
"Silence, Chiyo. It is time someone taught your grandson how to respect the Kazekage," he said and walked out of the tent.
The iron sand was pulled back, revealing Sasori mostly unscathed, having been protected by a puppet no one had yet seen. But as it came into view, everyone's eyes widened.
"That's..."
"Hiruko! What have you done?!!" the Third Kazekage shouted in anger.
This was Sasori's current strongest puppet. It was a human puppet made from the corpse of a renowned Suna shinobi. Seeing this, shocked Chiyo the most, as she didn't realise just how far Sasori had gone. But there was no time to argue.
The Kazekage moved out of the way of several senbon needles, which came from a hidden location. Black iron sand rose from the ground as he used his magnetic chakra to control it.
"Iron Sand: Black Iron Fist"
A massive arm of compressed iron sand slammed forward, pulverising the ground where Sasori stood. Hiruko was hurled backwards, yet landed safely further back, using his tail to anchor itself into the ground. Hiruko possessed strong armour and had been modified by Sasori, using Tenji's ideas and inputs.
The tail snapped forward, blocking the approaching iron sand. Poisoned needles shot through the air, from the hidden positions, as well as from Hiruko's mouth.
"Iron Sand Wall."
The black sand formed a dense shield. The needles embedded harmlessly against the magnetic barrier.
"Mid-Range Slaughter — The Red Secret Begins"
Sasori's chakra erupted, and hundreds of chakra threads controlled the hidden puppets.
"Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets."
The ground behind Sasori split open as wooden coffins emerged from the sand. One hundred human-like puppets rose in formation, each armed with poisoned and deadly weaponry, ready to follow Sasori's finger movements.
Seeing this, the Third Kazekage reacted immediately to keep the initiative. He knew just how dangerous a puppet master like Sasori was. Fighting him meant he was bound to be surprised, and if he were caught on the wrong foot, he would surely suffer greatly for it.
"Iron Sand Drizzle."
A rain of razor-fine black iron balls shot across the battlefield, shredding puppets mid-air. Limbs fell, heads shattered, it looked like a wooden graveyard. But that was all part of Sasori's calculation. He knew the Kazekage's strengths and adjusted instantly.
Ten puppets stepped forward, linking specially created shields. The shields were saturated with Sasori's chakra, forming a powerful barrier. The iron sand didn't manage to penetrate this shield. But Sasori was already moving to attack again. Twenty puppets launched counterattacks. They used hidden blades and needles to attack the Kazekage from different sides.
"Iron Sand Wall." "Iron Sand Wave."
The Kazekage created a wall to protect himself from any hidden weapons and, at the same time, sent a wave of magnetised sand that swallowed the puppets around him whole, crushing them into scrap. But that attack was merely a distraction from Sasori. The real attack came from above.
Using special puppets, he had them fly into the sky above and unleash deadly weapons on the battlefield. Seeing this, the Kazekage's eyes widened, and he reacted as fast as he could. He knew how dangerous poison was from Suna.
"Iron Sand Dome."
Again, Sasori predicted this response and had the next attack ready. Dozens of puppet hands emerged from the sand beneath the Kazekage and gripped his legs. Looking closer, one would see the sealing arrays on the puppets, which look eerily similar to explosion tags.
"No!"
An explosion rang out, shattering the iron dome and flinging the Kazekage through the air. He was gravely wounded, having been able to protect himself as well as he could using his chakra. Thanks to the nature of his magnetic transformation, he managed to repel just enough of the damage to survive. But now, he was enraged.
"Sasori, stop!" Lady Chiyo shouted.
They were fighting outside the Suna camp. No one was supposed to get injured. But at the start of their fight, neither of them cared about collateral damage. Seeing her grandson about to kill the Kazekage, Lady Chiyo, who had been organising the safety of the Suna shinobi, came rushing forward.
The Third Kazekage raised a single hand, and it looked as though the sky darkened.
"Iron Sand World Method!"
Black iron sand flooded the battlefield from all directions, a three-dimensional killing field. Every grain responded to his will. This technique used Iron Sand to create a gigantic sphere of branching spikes. The Kazekage first created two masses of Iron Sand with opposing magnetic fields, then merged them. This caused the magnetic forces to increase instantly, and the repulsive force from the two opposing magnetic fields scattered the Iron Sand across a vast area.
The iron sand spread in spikes that branched off irregularly, making it almost impossible to get a clear overview of what was happening. This also makes evading the spikes nearly impossible. Even if Sasori managed to evade getting hit, the Iron Sand spikes would have filled the entire surroundings, cutting off any escape routes.
With the opponent trapped, the Kazekage planned to attack in person and end Sasori.
Hundreds of puppets were torn apart in seconds. It was a massacre, but Sasori remained calm. He had already discussed this weakness with Tenji, who had given him several ideas on how to solve it. And this was what he did. Hiruko shielded him while he focused on something else. He spread his chakra threads and, using his immense control, made the thousands of individual wooden pieces move through the air.
The individual pieces evaded the iron sand and arrived before the Kazekage. And that's when the most impressive thing happened. The pieces came together at once, forming a puppet in moments. It didn't look pretty; in fact, it looked like a terrible abomination, but it was a functioning puppet and deadly.
"Puppet Mastery: Thousand Puppet Monstrosity"
The real Kazekage roared in desperation as he witnessed this.
"Magnet Release: Conserving Bee Twin Blades."
Iron weapons spiralled forward, attempting to tear through Sasori's puppet monster, but the puppet deflected them without breaking. It swung hundreds of weapons towards the Kazekage in a final attempt to kill him.
"Iron Sand: Black Iron Wings."
He created iron-sand wings that blocked the blades and should have redirected them straight back. But it was no use. The visible attacks were never all one had to worry about when fighting a puppet master.
Poisoned needles hit his body, piercing his shoulder, legs, arms and the rest of his body. Swords cut into him, kunai and shuriken embedded themselves into his flesh...
The iron sand fell to the ground. Sasori stood before the Kazekage without emotion. He felt nothing for having killed the man. If anything, he was calm and looked forward to his new life. He used Hiruko to retrieve the Kazekage's body, then walked away.
.
"Are you done?"
Sasori looked up at Tenji and nodded his head slowly. He was injured and exhausted after this fight, but he had won. That was all that mattered. Tenji nodded as well.
"Good. Now, let's see your injuries."
He touched Sasori and used his Yang chakra to heal all his injuries and restore him to peak health.
"Thank you. Where are we going?" Sasori asked.
"The Land of Rain. While you were playing with puppets, I was doing reconnaissance and found out what was pulling me back. I recognised the chakra, and it reminded me of my wife. Even if only very slightly. It was unmistakable."
"P-playing with puppets?! I fought the Kazekage, the strongest one yet!"
"Eh? Come now, that wasn't that hard. You used this as an opportunity to train yourself and test the theories we came up with. Wasn't that hard," Tenji waved his hands.
"You!!"
___________
To those of you who are getting restless and think this is pointless and aimless wandering, you are correct. That was the whole point. Tenji has nothing to go on, no meta knowledge, only the half-truths which Gamamaru told him and what he could gather elsewhere. He tries to fill in the blanks in his knowledge by looking for descendants, but it hasn't worked. That's logical and makes sense.
But we are finally finished with that. Next chapter will finally fill some of the gaps and give us all what we want. But I won't rush anything.