Chapter 69

[A/N: Noice.]

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"I know that you are hidden here, come out." I said as I looked towards one of the dunes around me

But instead of making someone reveal themself, a bunch of poison darts flew towards me as I already stored all of my Platinum Dust.

Raising my hand, I used a small scale 'Shinra Tensei' to push back the darts before turning back towards Seno's body while stomping the ground, generating an earth pillar that intercepted a puppet which tried to snatch the dead body beside me.

"Last warning, if you don't leave your hiding spot I will show you what a desert without sand looks like." I declared as I raised one of my fingers towards the puppet I previously sent flying and launched an ice bullet to completely freeze it

It seemed that this warning was enough as I saw someone rise from the sand, revealing his appearance to me as he raised his hand in surrender.

"I give up, please don't kill me!" the young man in front of me exclaimed as his voice didn't match his expression at all

'There are not many redheads outside of the Uzumaki Clan' I thought as in front of me was a young man with mousy red hair and brown eyes that I recognized as Sasori

"First, I can feel your puppets moving below, second, you're not a great actor." I said as I massaged my temples before sending precise wind slashes to sever every chakra threads that linked him to his puppets

As he took another glance towards Seno's body, I sensed that he was going to try something else and restrained him with vines by using Wood Release.

"Now we can have a proper discussion." I said as I moved towards him while he couldn't move a single finger

Not struggling, he looked at me with an expressionless face and didn't mutter anything until I asked "So, why are you here?"

"I was just worried about the Kazekage but unfortunately came too late, so I just wanted to bring his body back to Suna so we could give him a proper burial." he lied through his teeth while keeping a straight face

"Lying to me will bring you nowhere boy, and as much as I am patient, it seems like I have to be a little more serious." I said before casting Kunitokotachi as he looked into my eyes, making both of us engulfed inside the shadowy energy that leave my left eye every time I'm using it

This brought us inside a completely white room with nothing else but us inside, which made him surprised since he realized that none of his puppets could be used or even sensed, nor did he have any weapons on him.

"Now, tell me why were you here." I said as I forced him to say the truth inside of the Genjutsu

"At first, I planned on ambushing the Kazekage to use his body for my next puppet but when I heard that he would fight against you, I changed my plan and decided to wait until the fight was over to assassinate the winner and snatch both bodies." he first explained before being stunned by how easily he complied as he put his hands in front of his mouth

"Continue." I shortly asked which made him add "When I saw how one-sided the battle was, I gave up on assassinating you and decided to stay still so I wouldn't get discovered, but it didn't work at all."

"So you took a gamble and tried to distract me to snatch the Kazekage's body since I noticed where you were." I explained which made him nod before adding "I knew that running away wouldn't work since you are extremely fast, so my only option was to fake my surrender and stealthily blow up my puppets but you prevented me from doing so."

Once again recovering from his state of telling me the truth, he asked "Why do I explain everything so easily?"

"Because we are currently in my Genjutsu and it forces everyone inside to willingly tell the truth." I lied since it didn't affect me at all but I played along

"You are influenced as well?" he asked to which I quickly replied "Yes, the Genjutsu doesn't let you the time to think about what you want to say and force you to rapidly answer."

"Then, how can I leave this place?" he slyly asked so I answered "Only when I want us to leave or run out of chakra would the Genjutsu stop working."

He seemed disappointed but then asked again "What is your weakness?"

"I'm lazy." I confessed which surprised him but I played along by frowning and adding "Alright, you should stop taking advantage of me because I can torture you since you cannot move an inch, unlike me."

As I said so, I made many blades appear around him, threatening to thoroughly slice his body apart if he tried again.

"You said that you wanted to use Seno's body to make a puppet? Why?" I interrogated him even though I knew the answer since it was the fifteen years old Sasori in front of me

"Because I could make it a long-lasting puppet that would never die, unlike humans who can easily perish in a battle, because of sickness, or from old age." he declared while exhibiting a genuine enthusiasm about his art

"And you wish to do the same with your own body, don't you?" I asked as I implied an interested tone

"I need to experiment a little more before trying, but yes, I intend to make myself immortal." he replied with zeal when he talked about his true ambition

"That's a wonderful objective you have in mind boy, but not many people would support you." I exclaimed with a smile as I moved a bit further from him to demonstrate something that will surely get his attention

From my shoulders sprouted two pairs of mechanical arms equipped with different kinds of weapons, two mechanical wings appeared on my back with a jetpack-like thruster device, my hair adapted into sturdy wires that could be extended for various purposes, my face was now an expressionless white mask only revealing my eyes along with a closed third eye on my forehead, my torso and my legs were now akin to a mechanical armor that looked no different from my skin, and an enormous mechanical tail that could currently spread into six smaller tails also sprouted on my lower back.

[A/N: Alright, I don't think I will be able to make this on paint, it's too far-fetched, but who knows]

This transformation was possible thanks to the Asura Path which allowed the user to weaponize their own body with different kinds of technology.

What amazed me was that, apart from allowing the user to change his body with a given set of technology, you could also use known technology to upgrade yourself, but unfortunately not the futuristic weapons that could be seen in movies or fiction from my previous life, though the base set gave access to a laser cannon.

Still, my old world developed terrific weapons such as the nuclear bomb which I could literally use as missiles.

Something I refused to use on a large scale or against humans... But I still prepared small radioactive missiles to be used only against the Ōtsutsuki Clan just in case one of them escape my grasp.

I could also bomb their planet if I ever go there, they are essentially eating life on many planets so killing them would only be helpful.

If I can't kill them in a fight, a slow and painful death would do the trick as they wouldn't find a way to cure radioactive poisoning... Unless they switch bodies.

Nevertheless, the shocked expression on Sasori when he saw how my human body changed into something mechanical was truly priceless, even more coming from an expressionless boy.

"How?!" Sasori blurted out as he looked at me in amazement, somewhat befitting for a kid his age

"That's one of my abilities, something that you wouldn't be able to duplicate so easily... But with the proper backing, you could truly become ever-lasting yourself." I replied as my voice resonated since the mouth on my mask-like face stayed closed

He quickly regained his usual attitude and asked "And you are telling me that this 'backing' could be you?"

Smiling inwardly, I simply replied "Exactly."

"Why?" he asked again and was right to do so since there was no apparent reason for me to help him, even more after he attacked me

"It's purely because of both selfishness and curiosity." I first answered before adding "I truly respect your desire for immortality, a friend of mine is also seeking it but does not exactly follow the same path as yours, and I too strived for eternal life."

"I also know how humans see people like us who would do whatever it takes to reach such a goal... My friend would have been banished from Konoha if I didn't provide him with a place to freely experiment, with some rules of mine to respect, and since then he's been helping me with almost everything deemed 'inhuman'." I explained as I mixed some lies and truth in my words

"I want to see with my own eyes how will you reach immortality and even more how will you make your body reach perfection." I said as I started to transform back into my normal self

Sasori, still believing that nothing but the truth could be told in this place, asked "Even then, you surely want something else in return, don't you?"

"Of course." I said before manifesting a scroll that had nothing written inside of it until I announced "If you swear to serve me and never go against any of my orders, I will provide you with a place to safely experiment, everything you need for doing so as long as it doesn't go against my moral, as well as trustworthy allies you could depend on." which filled the scroll with words written in kanji leaving only a blank space at the bottom

"That sounds like a devil's deal more than anything else, after all, you will simply kill me if I refuse, right?" Sasori muttered as he carefully read the scroll that was hanging from my hand since more information was now written

"Indeed." I replied with a subtle yet threatening smile although I wouldn't do so and instead mind break him until absolute loyalty, something I would like to avoid for now

"So I've got no other choice... Fine, I agree with your terms." Sasori said as he looked at me and tried to move his hands but couldn't since he was paralyzed

"My apologies, I will allow you to move so you can sign at the bottom of this scroll." I said as I freed him from the paralysis

When I did so, he bit his finger and used the blood to sign his name on the scroll without wavering a single instant, sealing the deal between us as the scroll burned away.

Now he couldn't do anything harmful against me or else his mind would be completely wiped before getting rewritten.

"Now that you accepted, I should at least introduce myself properly." I said before coughing a little and added "I'm Yuichi Senju, the Fourth Hokage, glad to make your acquaintance."

"I'm Sasori, likewise." he shortly replied as he slightly bowed

Delighted that this was over, I turned off my Genjutsu and brought both of us back to where we previously stood in the desert.

"Great, now I can give you this." I said as I stored Seno's body in a scroll and gave it to him

"...Thanks." he said as he took the scroll and started to gather his puppets laying around us

When he finished, he suddenly thought about something as he asked "How are you going to justify my presence in Konoha?"

"Well, are you famous in your village?" I asked to which he replied "I'm only known as Chiyo's grandson and a genius of puppetry, but my name isn't widely recognized in Suna, only those close to her."

'He didn't get his title of 'Sasori of the Red Sand' here uh' I thought and was glad about it since his disappearance wouldn't be as impactful and annoying to cover

"Your hair color will do the trick." I said which made him tilt his head since he didn't understand why

"Since Uzushiogakure was destroyed, Konoha sheltered the survivors, and one of my subordinates was tasked to find those who left the country and ask them if they wished to live in our village." I explained as I took out some clothes for him to change into since Suna's shinobi clothing was too big of a flag to be kept

"So I will have to pretend to be an Uzumaki?" he asked again as he took the clothes I have him but didn't change yet

"When you are in public or outside for a mission, you will need to use a fake name, but when you are with me or one of my subordinates who will be aware of your actual name then don't worry about your identity." I explained before making a small wood hut so he could change himself in private

"Your subordinates? Aren't you the Hokage which means that the whole village is working under you?" he asked as he was standing in front of the hut and was ready to go inside

"I may be known as the Hokage but I also lead a hidden organization whose headquarters are below Konoha... That's only known by each Hokage and the members, but what we conduct stays a secret, which is how you will be able to 'work'." I finished explaining before he disappeared inside the hut and came back some time later with casual clothing and a pair of legendary glasses that would even make him unrecognized by Chiyo if they talked to each other

And as soon as he finished changing, I sensed Shiromari and my clone coming back our way while carrying the unconscious One-Tail's Jinchūriki.

"See Shiromari? I knew you could do it." I said as I raised the arm where he always slept on so he could jump on it

"I hate to say it but you were right Yuichi-sama." the chibi chameleon replied before transforming into the usual bracer to start sleeping again, not caring about who was standing on my side

My clone then laid the unconscious Junchūriki in front of me before sitting on his left while I crouched and put my hand on his stomach to extract the One-Tail without forgetting to take some of his chakra for myself.

When I had the One-Tail between my hands, I didn't wait long before temporarily sealing him inside of my clone as a punishment until he was calm enough to be freed or sealed inside someone else.

I knew that Kurama would love to bully Shukaku the moment they see each other as well.

'This one will be quick to nurture' I thought as I didn't need that much chakra compared to the other Tailed Beasts to generate the same quantity as the One-Tail

Now I only needed the Five-Tails and the Seven-Tails, both would be gathered soon as I intended to infiltrate Takigakure once I'm done with Suna, while Chizu would bring me the Five-Tails chakra.

'Since the Kazekage died and Suna lost the One-Tail, they are going to surrender soon enough and unknowingly bring me the next member of Origins' I thought as I knew their plan but still had some doubt as to whether they will ask for the One-Tail or not

When I was done, I got up and looked at Sasori before saying "There is a missing-nin from Konoha lurking near the borders between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, that will be our next objective."

"Will he make a great puppet?" Sasori asked as he didn't care about anything else

"It would make a powerful one for sure, but I will need his body so you cannot have him for now." I explained since Hiruko can use four Kekkei Genkai which are the Storm, Swift, Steel, and Dark Release and I only had two of them for now

I also needed to comprehend the 'Chimera Technique' to help me create a perfect body for Kaguya.

Sasori was disappointed but not for long since I told him "Don't worry, you will be able to make a puppet out of him later, but you should use guinea pigs before trying anything on such a high-quality body." as I put my hand on his shoulder and gave a thumbs up with the other while smiling

Surprisingly, this made him express a subtle smile but he didn't even realize it himself.

One step closer, I guess.