Chapter 111 – True Kage-Level Ninja, Nan
The absorption process was painless, and there was no risk of Sasori awakening again. Without incident, the devouring ended quickly.
Sasori was gone—completely erased. Only the bloodstained remnants of his modified equipment scattered on the ground bore witness to what had just transpired.
Nan carefully collected everything Sasori left behind: the dismantled weapons from his body and the battered puppet of the Third Kazekage, damaged from its crash. These were treasures in their own right. With Sasori's puppet techniques now his, Nan could restore them to full use.
He could already sense several chakra signatures rushing toward the battlefield—Konoha's ANBU, no doubt, alerted by the commotion.
Unwilling to clash with them, Nan activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and instantly returned home. His clone, disguised as Kabuto, also used the Flying Thunder God to reappear in the orphanage. Unlike bloodline-specific techniques, the Flying Thunder God was universally usable by Nan's clones. Even Kabuto's frail chakra reserves, after days of practice, were barely sufficient to execute it once.
Moments later, several masked ANBU operatives dropped into the clearing. They stood in silence, faces grim, surveying the wreckage left behind by Nan and Sasori's battle.
The evidence was overwhelming: deep imprints left by Susanoo's steps, a massive ravine carved by Nan's blade, and swathes of shattered trees. The ground was littered with poisoned weapons and the broken remains of Sasori's puppets—remnants too numerous for Nan to carry off in haste.
The only traces of Nan himself were two kunai. One had landed near the Kazekage puppet, the other embedded in Sasori's hand—both had already been retrieved. Nothing connected directly back to him.
One ANBU knelt by the wreckage, studying the shattered puppets.
"Captain, judging from these remnants, a fierce battle took place here. One side must have been a puppeteer from Sunagakure. The other… likely a shinobi who commanded some kind of massive summoned beast. The scale of the destruction is extraordinary."
The ANBU captain nodded coldly.
"Agreed. With this many puppets, there's no doubt one combatant was a Sand puppeteer. For such a battle to break out just outside Konoha's borders—right when we're negotiating peace with Sunagakure—this is no trivial matter. It must be reported to the Hokage at once. You—return to the village and inform Lord Third immediately."
"Yes, Captain!" One ANBU vanished into the trees, while the rest continued combing the battlefield for clues.
Meanwhile, Nan was already back home, examining his spoils.
From Sasori, he had seized four scrolls:
The first contained the sealing formula for the Third Kazekage puppet, which Nan had already resealed.
The second was Sasori's summoning scroll, storing over three hundred puppets. Among them were one hundred human puppets—crafted from shinobi with unique bloodline abilities Sasori had captured over the years—and two hundred ordinary puppets. Even after the losses in their battle, the sheer number was staggering.
The remaining two were specialized ninjutsu scrolls: one recorded the Hell Inferno Barrage, which Sasori had used against him, and the other contained Corrosive Sulfur Flood. Both were designed to function in tandem with Sasori's bodily modifications, and thus had little immediate use to Nan.
But the greatest prize was the absorption of Sasori himself.
As expected, Sasori had refined his Wind Release chakra nature to a remarkable level. By devouring him, Nan not only unlocked wind-nature transformation but also inherited Sasori's vast experience with it.
This meant Nan now truly commanded all seven chakra natures. The numerous Wind Release techniques he had copied during his time on the Wind Country battlefield were now his to wield.
In addition, Sasori's spiritual and physical energies were now his.
Physically, the change was subtle. As with Uchiha Han before, the energy was stored within Nan's body, to be gradually absorbed as he matured. The process would take years; even Han's reserves had yet to be fully assimilated.
Spiritually, however, the effect was immediate. Nan's mental strength had already been formidable—bolstered by himself, Uchiha Nan, and Uchiha Han. But none of them had truly reached the level of a Kage. Sasori, on the other hand, had. His vast reserves of spiritual energy now flowed into Nan, pushing his mental capabilities to a new height.
For the first time, Nan could confidently say it:
He had crossed the threshold.
Nan was now a true Kage-level shinobi.
With Sasori's spiritual energy added to his own, Nan's mental reserves surged by nearly fifty percent.
For someone who relied on genjutsu and intended to pursue more advanced spiritual techniques in the future, this boost was invaluable.
Previously, Nan's Sharingan had weakened slightly—its ocular power reduced after he diverted a portion of his strength to support his Kabuto clone. But now, with the infusion of Sasori's energy, something remarkable occurred.
The missing power was not only replenished but restored to the peak of the standard Sharingan's limit. In fact, Nan suspected it might have even overflowed slightly, though such subtleties were beyond his ability to sense.
The most dramatic change, however, lay in his chakra.
Before this battle, Nan's reserves had steadily grown—roughly twice that of adult Kakashi's, around two chakra units (two "cards").
Sasori, though a puppeteer who did not rely on massive chakra output, still carried a respectable 2.5 cards. Absorbing him boosted Nan's total to an impressive 4.5 cards.
This amount surpassed every elite jōnin alive and even exceeded the chakra Naruto once wielded after suppressing most of Kurama's power. By Kage standards, his reserves were no longer meager—they were competitive.
And this was just the beginning. As Nan's body matured, his chakra would only continue to grow.
Yet, the greatest harvest wasn't raw power—it was Sasori's mind.
Within the puppeteer's memories lay countless battles against high-level shinobi. His tactical instincts, strategies, and adaptability gave Nan a sharper insight into how true Kage-class combatants fought.
Nan could now confidently say he was no longer a fraudulent Kage-level shinobi propped up by bloodline powers alone. He had the knowledge, the experience, and the tools to stand among them.
Most precious of all were Sasori's scientific and ninjutsu-related insights.
The poisons were useless to Nan, but Sasori's vast expertise in puppet crafting, chemistry, physics, sealing arts, and human modification was invaluable.
Nan remembered how he had struggled with the sealing scrolls Hiruzen had once given him. Unlike ninjutsu, fuinjutsu was an entirely different discipline. His past methods of training—brute-forcing chakra control, layering experience upon experience—had done little to help.
But Sasori had mastered sealing for a singular purpose: to create human puppets. His integrated knowledge now flowed into Nan, and suddenly, the cryptic sealing formulas no longer seemed impenetrable. With this foundation, his progress would leap forward.
Delving deeper into Sasori's memories, Nan uncovered something even more intriguing—Sasori's long-term plan.
For years, he had toyed with the idea of abandoning his human body and becoming a puppet himself. At the time of his death, he had nearly perfected a new invention: a chakra core that could store his will and power, preserving him even if his body was destroyed.
Nan realized at once what this was.
The infamous Regeneration Core—the device that would later allow Sasori to survive as a puppet and cheat death.
Though Sasori had not yet completed the final step of abandoning his humanity, the research was at its brink. The design was nearly perfected.
Nan closed Sasori's final memory with a cold smile.
So, the genius puppeteer had come this close to reshaping himself… yet still lacked the resolve.