Chapter 143: Sasori's Observations in the Akatsuki

Sasori didn't consider himself a genius puppeteer, but life had taught him otherwise. From a young age, he had never lost to anyone in puppet techniques. By the time he was still young, he had already surpassed the Jonin of his village who were skilled in puppetry, and he was hailed as the ninja most likely to surpass Monzaemon Chikamatsu, the founding father of puppetry.

Sasori believed in this deeply. He was convinced that one day, he would surpass Monzaemon and become the greatest puppeteer.

However, just when he was pushing the limits by increasing the number of chakra threads, going from controlling ten puppets to twenty, and even going so far as to modify his own body...

The battle between Nagato and Byakuya revealed to him that puppets didn't necessarily require chakra threads to be controlled. Instead, they could use these strange black rods to transmit chakra and remotely control the puppets.

At this moment, Byakuya noticed the look on Sasori's face and smiled faintly.

He had been aware of Sasori's secretive actions over the past few days but hadn't stopped him. His goal was to shatter Sasori's confidence in puppetry and make him realize the benefits of staying in the Akatsuki, thus willingly choosing to remain in the organization.

That was why Byakuya had specifically organized this sparring session among the Akatsuki's higher-ups.

And now, it seemed that the performance was highly effective. Sasori would most likely abandon any thoughts of leaving and willingly stay in the Akatsuki, working for him.

At that moment, after thinking for a while, Sasori also began to notice the drawbacks of the black rods in controlling puppets.

While Byakuya and Nagato could control puppets from a distance, their precision wasn't as good as his. Moreover, this kind of remote control required not only those mysterious black rods but also an enormous amount of chakra.

Although Sasori had a considerable amount of chakra, it was nowhere near the monstrous level of these two. In actual combat, the traditional chakra threads would still be more practical for him.

However, this didn't stop him from learning this puppet control technique to strengthen his own power.

With this in mind, Sasori walked toward Byakuya and Nagato. The two, who had fought to a draw, stopped their sparring and looked at Sasori as he approached.

After a moment of contemplation, Sasori slowly asked, "Byakuya, what are these black rods called?"

"Black rods…" Byakuya replied bluntly. Noticing Sasori's perplexed expression, he smiled and explained, "To be precise, they are tools for receiving and transmitting chakra. They are creations of Yin-Yang Release, and only Nagato can make them."

"Yin-Yang Release?!"

Sasori gasped. He knew what Yin-Yang Release meant.

Yin-Yang Release wasn't just a combination of Yin Release and Yang Release; it involved incredibly complex chakra transformations. Legend had it that only the Sage of Six Paths had mastered the power of Yin-Yang Release.

At that moment, Sasori suddenly noticed Nagato's eyes.

Those ripple-like eyes reminded him of the legends about the Sage of Six Paths in the ninja world. It was said that the Sage possessed these very eyes, known as the Rinnegan, the most powerful of all Bloodline Limit dojutsu.

With the Akatsuki possessing such eyes, it was no wonder they were so brave eough to form a plan to capture the Tailed Beasts!

Nagato was likely the true mastermind behind the Akatsuki, secretly aiming to control the entire ninja world, while Byakuya was merely one of many subordinates.

But in the next moment, Sasori's fantasy about Nagato was shattered.

Seeing Sasori fall silent, Byakuya turned to Nagato and said, "Nagato, this is a new recruit of mine, a skilled puppeteer. How about you make him a few black rods to play with?"

Nagato glanced at Sasori, then nodded and created a black rod with a wave of his hand.

Byakuya took the black rod, handed it to Sasori, and waved his hand casually. "Sasori, time to wake up. This is a small gift from Nagato. You didn't zone out on me, did you?"

Coming back to his senses, Sasori carefully took the black rod.

Feeling the cold texture of the rod, Sasori sighed inwardly.

He had thought Nagato was the mastermind, but it turned out that Byakuya was the one really in charge. How did he end up being recruited by someone like this?

Still, the black rod was indeed a nice gift, at least giving him something to study in terms of chakra transmission.

If he could fully understand its principles, even without mastering Yin-Yang Release, he could potentially find similar materials to develop his own long-distance puppet control techniques.

With that in mind, Sasori headed toward the laboratory.

After Sasori left, Nagato watched him go and asked, "Byakuya, is this the new ninja you recruited? How strong is he?"

"Very strong."

Konan walked over and added, "Sasori of the Red Sand has quite the reputation in black markets across various nations. He's even known to have killed Jonin from the Five Great Shinobi Villages, though no one knows his true identity. I actually considered recruiting him for our village before, but it seems you beat me to it."

"If I had known you were interested, Konan, I wouldn't have recruited him..." Byakuya said with a slight pause before continuing, "But Sasori of the Red Sand is no ordinary ninja. He's the one who assassinated the Third Kazekage and turned him into a human puppet."

Hearing this, both Konan and Nagato were visibly surprised.

The fact that Sasori had assassinated the Third Kazekage in his teenage years was astounding! He was indeed a rare talent.

However, their surprise lasted only for a moment before they regained their composure. For the average person, such a feat—challenging someone of Kage-level at such a young age—would seem impossible and thrilling just to hear about. But considering their own pasts, they were no strangers to defying authority at a young age.

Byakuya noticed their brief reaction and smiled. "It's thanks to your help that Sasori didn't try to escape. I wouldn't have been able to handle him on my own if there wasn't any help from you two."

Konan and Nagato exchanged smiles, but their gazes betrayed their true thoughts.

Byakuya, we're all familiar with each other—everyone knows that you're the most enigmatic one in the organization. Aside from you, who else could keep up with someone like Nagato, who wields the Rinnegan?

---

Meanwhile, Sasori was deep in thought.

Now holding the black rod sample, he once again considered whether he should take this opportunity to flee. He worried that if he got too deeply involved with the Akatsuki, he would lose the chance to leave and might become trapped.

However, escaping would earn him the Akatsuki's enmity. He would be hunted, unable to move freely in the ninja world.

As Sasori was caught in this dilemma, something within the Akatsuki base caught his attention. An old man, seemingly responsible for training new recruits, piqued Sasori's interest. Despite being hailed as a genius puppeteer, Sasori found this old man hard to read.

After carefully observing and sensing the old man's strength, Sasori was taken aback. The old man's power was undeniable, and any thoughts of leaving the Akatsuki evaporated from Sasori's mind.

What kind of terrifying organization was the Akatsuki, if even an elderly man wandering around the base possessed such strength?