After a long silence, Sasori spoke with a tone lacking in confidence. "Maybe... I suppose it's possible?"
Diarmuid nodded, then reached out and patted Sasori on the shoulder with a look of deep emotion. "I was wrong."
"What?" Sasori was bewildered, not following Diarmuid's train of thought.
"To be honest, I didn't have much interest in your Human Puppet technique before. I thought puppetry had reached its peak with you, that there was no more room for expansion. Now I see I was being narrow-minded. This is a divine skill! Miraculous! Once we dig up Hashirama's grave, and once you crack the secret of the Sharingan and dig up Madara... with those two together, wouldn't we be invincible?" Diarmuid patted Sasori's shoulder, overcome with feeling.
Reanimation Jutsu could be forcibly dispelled, but the Human Puppet technique had no such weakness! It was perfect!
While Madara wasn't dead yet, Diarmuid knew the old man didn't have many years left. He was already a decrepit old man who could barely walk. By the time he died, Sasori should have enough time to crack the secret of organ-based Human Puppets.
As Diarmuid continued his emotional praise, Sasori couldn't help but say, "I only said it was possible. If the bodies of the First Hokage and Madara were preserved perfectly, it might work. If they've rotted away, then no. Furthermore... they've been dead a long time. Without my special chemicals to keep the flesh fresh, it would be difficult to succeed."
As soon as Sasori finished, Diarmuid's look of admiration vanished, replaced by one of pure disgust.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sasori snapped, annoyed. Are you looking down on my puppetry again?
"That's no good, Sasori. You're falling behind. If you can't produce Hashirama and Madara, then your technique has already hit its limit. In the future, when the top-tier powers start clashing, you won't even be qualified to show your face!" Diarmuid said with a look of disdain.
Sasori was somewhat stunned. He felt he was very strong. While he couldn't beat Diarmuid, he was undoubtedly a top-tier ninja, an elite among elites in any village. How was he "not qualified" to show his face in a top-tier fight?
His confusion was understandable. Legendary figures like Madara and Hashirama had been gone for decades. Madara was a shadow-dweller, and Hashirama was truly dead. People had heard the legends, but those legends had become blurred and distorted over time. Furthermore, few modern shinobi could reach the heights of the founders. Even a man like Hanzo was considered a "Demigod" at the peak of the world. Their understanding of the power levels from that era was flawed.
Sasori was no exception. The first half of ninja history was relatively normal; the middle saw a spike in power, but the Fourth Shinobi World War would eventually turn into a clash of literal gods. The "outstanding" ninja of this era would be nothing more than background noise in that final conflict. Sasori couldn't possibly understand what Diarmuid was talking about.
"Hmph. You're right, you are narrow-minded. The Human Puppet technique is a secret art that grows stronger with every battle. Every time I defeat a powerful foe, their strength becomes my own. You simply don't recognize the true power of this art yet," Sasori argued stubbornly. He was proud of his work; his puppetry was invincible!
Diarmuid fell silent for a moment, looking at Sasori like one would a troubled child. "Speaking of which, have you ever heard of the Reanimation Jutsu?"
"Re-what? How do you animate it? Left or right?" Sasori asked, confused.
"It's the Reanimation Jutsu, a technique that can bring the dead back to life," Diarmuid said.
"Impossible! The taboo between life and death cannot be broken..." Sasori reacted with sudden intensity.
Diarmuid was surprised by his reaction. It seemed that while the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, had been dead for a long time, his Forbidden Jutsu hadn't been publicized. The Reanimation Jutsu remained unknown.
The only person likely studying it now was that research maniac, Orochimaru. Diarmuid recalled that because the jutsu was so abhorrent to nature, Tobirama had only created it to pair with his other Forbidden Jutsu, Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags. He hadn't developed it deeply.
It was Orochimaru, the man obsessed with the boundary of life and death, who secretly took over the development of "Version 2.0." The version that would eventually dominate the world war was the one Orochimaru perfected, and which Kabuto later brought to its zenith, becoming the world's greatest grave robber.
As Diarmuid thought of the Reanimation Jutsu, Sasori calmed down and asked seriously, "Was what you said true?"
"Yeah." Diarmuid nodded slightly. "The technique exists. It was developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama. It allows the dead to return to a certain extent... but it's still imperfect. Everything you said about puppetry, growing stronger with every fight, Reanimation can do better."
He wasn't trying to belittle puppetry, but the implication was clear. Normally, Sasori would have argued, but this time he remained silent. After a long while, he let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Those who play with life and death are destined to be played by them."
Though his puppetry was arguably inhumane, Sasori never intended to use it to reverse death itself. It remained within the realm of puppetry; it didn't truly manipulate the soul. At most, he was forcibly extending his own life. In that regard, Sasori had more of a moral compass than Orochimaru.
Diarmuid realized why Sasori had been so agitated: he was likely thinking of his parents. In his heart, Sasori had always wanted them to come back to life. He even had the chance to try; in the original story, he and Orochimaru worked together in the Akatsuki for a time. Yet, he never did it. He likely didn't want to disturb the peace of their souls in the Pure Land.
His puppetry never truly crossed into the realm of "Living Puppets" because he held onto that one shred of morality. Diarmuid didn't judge him; everyone has a different concept of life and death.
Seeing Sasori's mood, Diarmuid dropped the subject. He now understood why Sasori and Orochimaru never got along in the original story—their core philosophies were in irreconcilable conflict.
Sasori shook off his gloom and returned to work on Kagami. Diarmuid rubbed his chin and asked, "By the way, if I borrow the Sharingan for a bit, will it mess up your work?"
"Isn't that obvious? I'm trying to study it!" Sasori snapped. He paused and looked at Diarmuid curiously. "Why? Are you interested in the Sharingan too?"
"Yeah, I am," Diarmuid admitted freely.
He hadn't blindly experimented with Genjutsu yet for fear of accidents. While Kakuzu and Sasori both knew how to use it, Diarmuid didn't trust them enough to be his test subjects. Even though they were allies, trust didn't run that deep. One of them liked to sell corpses for cash, and the other liked to turn people into puppets. His own body would likely fetch a high price, and Sasori had practically been drooling over him when they were dealing with Kagami.
If he let them test Genjutsu on him, he might wake up to find himself turned into a puppet. Because of this, Diarmuid hadn't yet experienced what it was like to be under a Genjutsu.
He was only wary of things like Genjutsu or other fringe, oddball techniques. Standard combat techniques didn't worry him. After comparing his strength in actual combat, especially his fight with Kagami, Diarmuid felt he might have underestimated himself. Or perhaps, in this era, the "cheaters" hadn't appeared in large numbers yet.
Regardless, his plan remained the same: patch up his weaknesses regarding this world's power system before the true monsters appeared. He wanted to be perfect, fully integrating this world's power system into his own. That was his current goal. And the most effective way to patch his weakness to Genjutsu was to get himself a Sharingan.
"I feel like it's overrated. The Sharingan is strong, but didn't you take Kagami out in a few moves? For someone like you, is it really worth that much attention?" Sasori asked as he manipulated Kagami's body.
Diarmuid leaned back, speaking as if in casual conversation. "That's only because you haven't seen the true power of the Sharingan yet. Uchiha Kagami... was just a beginner, in the grand scheme of things."
"You say that as if you've actually seen it," Sasori replied dismissively. He paused, looking up at Diarmuid. "Wait... have you? Before that guy could even open his mouth, you already knew the Sharingan had a Mangekyō level. I didn't think much of it then, but now..."
Diarmuid thought for a moment and nodded. "You could say I've seen it."
"Is that so? Is there someone in the Uchiha clan stronger than Kagami? Fugaku? Or that Shisui brat?" Sasori asked curiously.
"Neither. If I had to say... it would be Madara."
Sasori: "???"
He looked Diarmuid up and down. "You're definitely a living human..."
"Obviously. Not everyone wants to be a puppet like you!"
"But looking at you, you're not even thirty. How could you have seen Madara? He died shortly after the village was founded!" Sasori said skeptically.
Diarmuid rubbed his chin, adopting a profound air. "What you see isn't always the truth. You think I'm under thirty, but my actual age is beyond your imagination. We have a long time ahead of us; you can observe me for yourself... Hehehe."
Sasori didn't reply. He turned back to Kagami's body. "Watch out. I'm starting."