Sasori had always considered himself the most talented among humans. However, after meeting Qingshui, his perspective began to change. He started to see himself as the second most talented human, and while there was a gap between him and the first, compared to everyone else, he was the only one in this world who could keep up with Qingshui and be considered his rival.
But now, Sasori's perspective had shifted once again.
So, I am still the most talented human.
As for Qingshui?
That guy has transcended humanity. There's no need to compete with him.
No matter how much I chase, I'll never catch up. That guy is already sitting at the same table as legendary figures like the Sage of Six Paths. How am I supposed to catch up?
Thinking this, Sasori felt a sense of relief wash over him.
It's good. I can just do what I want from now on. As long as I can still research the puppets I love.
"What are you thinking about? You seem lost in thought?"
Qingshui patted Sasori's shoulder and opened a large Teleportation Halo leading back to the base they had just left.
Outside the Teleportation Halo, even though Qingshui had briefed Sasori before entering the Mirror Space, this scene still caused quite a stir.
Everyone crowded around to watch.
To the ninjas of the Sand Village, a Portal capable of teleporting something as massive as a mountain was undoubtedly a powerful Space-Time Ninjutsu created by their Fourth Kazekage.
"It's nothing. I was just thinking that I'll have to spend time repairing these puppets again."
Sasori emerged from the cockpit and stood on top of the Sasori of the Red Sand, looking at the damage inflicted by Qingshui's fists. He spoke with a sense of acceptance.
Listening to Sasori's tone, Qingshui felt something was off.
What's up with this kid? He's the one who got beaten, but he sounds strangely relieved, as if he's been liberated?
Is he giving up?
"Don't worry, I held back by 20% when I attacked and made sure not to damage the core area inside the puppet. It'll be fine after a quick check-up back home. This is also a good opportunity to redesign the energy circuit for the Scorching Core. And you collected the combat data from this operation thoroughly, right? You can make any necessary improvements now. Besides, the other two puppets aren't finished yet, so there's still time to incorporate them."
You even held back by 20%?
Sasori's mouth twitched slightly as he replied, "This was the main reason I asked you for this battle. The Sasori of the Red Sand is too large. While its size is an advantage, it's also a weakness. I took precautions during its design, but it's just an external object. It's impossible to control it as freely as a Tailed Beast Cloak or Uchiha's Susanoo. Therefore, I still need to be wary of individuals like you... no, like Konoha's White Fang and the Third Raikage, who possess powerful, fast-moving abilities. With several Kage-level experts sacrificing themselves to cover, it's still possible to directly strike the cockpit and threaten my main body."
The combat power of the Sasori of the Red Sand was roughly comparable to a Complete Body Susanoo, but it was actually slightly weaker.
The latter was a chakra energy construct formed by extremely pure Yin Release. As long as the user's Sharingan power and chakra were not depleted, it could recover from damage without affecting its combat effectiveness.
The Sasori of the Red Sand, however, could not do this.
As a Puppet, unless it was completely nanomized, it was difficult to repair damaged parts at any time.
And to nanmize such a massive Puppet completely, or even just to store some nanoparticles to repair the damage it sustained, was unrealistic.
Even with the full might of the Sand Village, they couldn't produce that many. At most, they could only supply a limited number of regular-sized puppets.
If there were enough Kage-level experts, they could indeed inflict damage on the Sasori of the Red Sand. If someone was willing to sacrifice their life, it might even be possible for the one with the strongest breakthrough ability to reach Sasori's main body.
Even doing so would cost the lives of at least four or five Kage-level experts, but it was still something to guard against.
Konoha, in particular, not only had many Kage-level experts but also possessed the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu.
While other Kage-level experts might fear death, those with Impure World Reincarnation bodies did not. In a sense, it was a direct counter to the Sasori of the Red Sand.
Sasori's main body, after becoming the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, could be considered among the stronger Kage-level experts. However, he would find it extremely difficult to contend with multiple Kage-level experts on his own.
Even though Sasori had considered these factors during his design, and his puppets could intercept and resist outside, if six or seven Kage-level experts were willing to sacrifice themselves, there was a real possibility of failure.
Forty years ago, Uchiha Madara, before awakening the Rinnegan but in his physical prime, facing a combined force of six or seven Kage-level experts, would have found it troublesome, but given enough time, there was virtually no chance of defeat.
Compared to him, Sasori was still three points short.
If the two were to fight, Sasori might be able to fight to a standstill for a period, or even hold out longer, but in the end, Sasori would be the one to lose.
Of course, compared to the past, Sasori's strength had undergone a qualitative change with this Puppet.
At the very least, he now possessed the ability to fight and win against four or five ordinary Kage-level experts combined. He was stronger than Senju Hashirama had been a year and a half ago during the Third Great Ninja War, when he had only recovered 40% of his strength.
"With me here, and with so many ninjas from the village, if a day comes when you have to face so many Kage-level experts, you won't have to face them alone. As long as we equip twenty or so Jonin with the enhanced Ark Puppet Armor, they can temporarily hold back the opposing experts, giving you a chance to repel them."
Qingshui patted Sasori's shoulder and said with a smile.
Sasori's current strength was more than enough.
The Sand Village wasn't just home to Sasori, a top-tier Puppet Master.
Both Chiyo and Ebizo also possessed the ability to control super-large Puppets.
Even though they weren't Tailed Beast Jinchuriki like Sasori, which could further amplify the Puppets, they possessed strength that surpassed Kage-level when controlling such a Puppet.
At the very least, the power they could unleash would not be inferior to the current Hashirama, who was resurrected via Impure World Reincarnation and only had 40% of his peak strength, and they would be able to contend with at least three or four Kage-level experts.
Combined with the strength of the Sand Village, they would possess the power to suppress the entire Ninja World after annihilating the other ninja villages.
As for how to destroy those villages, theoretically, with these forces alone, as long as the strategy was sound, it could be achieved. However, there would inevitably be considerable damage, and high-end forces would suffer losses. Even if they unified the Ninja World, they would be constantly plagued by rebellions from remnants of the major ninja villages.
But with a Six Paths Level combatant like Qingshui around, there was no need to worry about those tough nuts that could cause significant damage to the Sand Village.
It's just that the major ninja villages have ruled their respective countries for so many years, with a stable foundation, and there are definitely many people willing to die for them. Even if Sand Village were to eliminate all of them, there would still be people who remained, willing to endure for their former country.
At the very least, if Sand Village were to truly conquer the entire Ninja World one day, then the existing vested interests in other countries would inevitably suffer losses due to their own interests, and they would think of overthrowing the rule of Sand Village and reclaiming their own benefits.
Until they believe they have accumulated enough strength, they will lie dormant and try every means to push forward spokespeople, to stir up trouble and rebellion everywhere, using all overt and covert methods, only when they believe their strength is sufficient to contend will they reveal their hidden fangs.
To destroy a country, physical means are only the most basic. After all the talented people willing to die for that country are gone, what needs to be done is to find those hidden old vested interests with impure thoughts, and then support a new ruling class to ascend, allowing the power of the new ruling class to greatly surpass those forces, and then consolidate this power to basically maintain rule.
And these alone are not enough. If the culture of the destroyed country and nation is incompatible with the culture of the new rulers, and there is a risk of resurgence, then it is also necessary to change the customs of the country, distort history and heroic figures, so that people gradually forget the inheritance that represents the spirit and cultural heritage of the former country and nation, only then can that country be considered truly annihilated.
All of this requires reliable personnel and strength, as well as a lot of time.
This is too troublesome, Qingshui dislikes spending his time and energy on this.
So, it still has to rely on Sand Village, its own precious foundation.
"Actually, there's still room for improvement, but that depends on you."
Sasori said to Qingshui after re-entering the cockpit and piloting the Sasori of the Red Sand back to base, then emerging from it again.
"Tell me about it."
Sasori's gaze shifted to the disappearing Teleportation Halo.
"Using Space-Time Ninjutsu, engrave the Summoning Seal onto spare Puppet parts. When damaged in combat, they can be urgently summoned for repair. This can greatly improve the combat fault tolerance of the Sasori of the Red Sand. However, if you want to precisely summon the corresponding part to the corresponding position for direct installation, it will be very difficult.
For example, if the Puppet's tail is broken, and I am in the cockpit in the Puppet's head, it's hard to summon it directly from eight hundred meters away.
Otherwise, I would have to settle for less. After I summon it, other tails or parts would have to transport it to the corresponding position, and it would be installed using robotic arms.
But the enemy won't be incompetent. They will definitely destroy the robotic arms first to hinder the installation. Although this is an improvement, I think if it were you, you might be able to help me take it a step further."
This idea had just occurred to Sasori.
It was because at this moment, he realized how powerful Qingshui's attainments in the Space-Time domain were.
"Tsk, this idea is quite good."
Qingshui nodded in admiration.
Geniuses are always geniuses, able to come up with wild yet practical ideas in an instant, making full use of all available conditions.
Even without Qingshui, what Sasori had thought of on his own before was enough to greatly enhance the endurance of this large Puppet and raise its overall comprehensive strength by half a notch.
Compared to Pain's Six Paths, this would be equivalent to a Hell Path.
Of course, the overall effect would definitely be weaker than the Hell Path, because the repair limit in this situation depends on the number of reserve modules.
As for whether Qingshui has the ability to achieve Sasori's higher-level idea, the answer is naturally yes.
With Qingshui's current understanding of space and his mastery of Sealing Jutsu, he could completely modify the Summoning Jutsu to achieve what Sasori wanted.
"Let me see, this isn't actually difficult. We just need to make some modifications to the summoning imprint. It's very simple. Look here, this whole piece doesn't need to be moved. This is the core that triggers the space-time conversion. We need to cover a new seal here. The principle is actually similar to the Flying Thunder God. The Flying Thunder God seal on the Kunai can remotely summon people back after they leave the body.
And here, it's about remotely summoning an object to the location of the seal. The overall difficulty will decrease, and compared to the Flying Thunder God, this can be a shortcut, reducing the dependence on spatial perception abilities.
You can use the chakra metal inside the Puppet or the metal wires made of Magic Tool Transformation material to connect to the location of the seal, and use this clumsy method to trigger the reverse summoning seal..."
Qingshui walked over to the Puppet that had not yet begun repairs, reached out, and drew seal runes in the air above the ground, explaining to Sasori.
Sasori watched the seal runes on the ground intently, occasionally asking a few questions for Qingshui to explain.
For Qingshui, this level of Space-Time Ninjutsu was not without difficulty, but it was roughly equivalent to an excellent student solving a complex, extended math problem. With a clear approach, all it took was methodical calculation and a slight adjustment in the middle to quickly arrive at the answer.
Sasori was like a student in lower grades, albeit an extremely capable one. He hadn't mastered these techniques, but after Qingshui broke down the principles and connected them to knowledge from lower grades, even if he couldn't solve other similar problems of the same difficulty, he could at least understand this one. By replacing the data in the problem, he could still follow the pattern.
This was enough.
The next day, Sasori had already figured out the key to this new remote summoning technique and created a model containing a chakra metal wire, proving he had mastered it.
Meanwhile, Qingshui, guided by Chiyo and the Third Kazekage, learned about Sand Village's reinforcement achievements during this period.
Over two thousand five hundred sets of the basic Ark Puppet Armor had been produced. Most Special Jonin and nearly thirty percent of Chunin had already equipped themselves with these, and production and expansion were ongoing. The estimated final equipment scale would be four thousand sets.
As for the more advanced Ark Puppet Armor, although less than four hundred sets had been produced, more than half of them were already completed.
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