Chapter 347: Art
"Kaka-kaka-kaka-kaka!"
Masahiko watched dumbfounded as Sasori's right arm folded and transformed with a 'kaka' sound, changing into the shape of a cylinder. The front end of the cylinder spun, and hundreds of poison-coated senbon were fired simultaneously, sealing off the entire space in front of Masahiko.
"I was just saying it, and you actually transformed? Is this a Gatling gun?" Masahiko didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Repulsive force burst out from around his body, and the senbon 'hit a wall' half a meter in front of him. After bouncing off, they fell to the ground, making a series of crisp clinking sounds.
At the same time, the Optimus Prime that had fallen to the ground twisted its body, raised its intact left arm high, and swung it at the back of Masahiko's head.
Masahiko didn't even turn his head. He kicked backward with his right leg, and after a loud collision, Optimus Prime's left arm also scattered into a pile of metal fragments on the ground.
A Hidden Stone Village Jonin named Taiseki, who was watching the battle nearby, wiped cold sweat from his forehead. A month ago, he was also kicked by Masahiko like this. Being alive... is truly wonderful.
After two probing attacks, Sasori leaped back again, putting an even greater distance between himself and Masahiko, while taking out another scroll from his clothes.
Masahiko didn't pursue, but carefully sized up Sasori's completely unchanged face, feeling somewhat emotional.
Behind him, Ohnoki took a few steps forward: "Senior, thank you for the trouble of disciplining my mischievous granddaughter over the past month."
"Old man, I can't pretend I didn't hear that." Kurotsuchi ran over and stood straight next to Ohnoki... well, she was just a tiny bit taller.
Ohnoki: "..."
"Senior, hello. The food you cooked was really too delicious!" After Ohnoki took 10,000 points of damage, Kurotsuchi turned to Masahiko with a grin. She indeed had a guess about Masahiko's identity early on, showing no surprise or restraint.
Deidara on the side was different. His current expression included 'fucked a dog', 'how could this be', 'impossible, right', 'I want to bomb him to death', and so on...
Masahiko glanced at Deidara, smiled, and turned his head: "Young girl Kurotsuchi, you don't need to call me senior, just call me uncle, I'm used to hearing it now. Ohnoki, come over quickly and call her grandma."
Kurotsuchi was slightly stunned and shook her head repeatedly: "No, no, let's forget it."
Ohnoki: "..."
He hadn't intended to call her that anyway, okay?
Masahiko gave Kurotsuchi a 'this old man appreciates you' look. With a brush of his hand by his side, he stored the human puppet Hanzo, which was enveloped in the light blue barrier, into his spatial dimension.
"Sasori, I'm taking Hanzo's corpse. You'd better not summon that guy in your hand. He's useless against me, and once exposed, you'll have a big headache." Masahiko guessed that the scroll in Sasori's hand was the one containing the Third Kazekage human puppet.
Sasori's body had already been modified into a puppet by himself, so his face couldn't show any expressions. But he hadn't completely discarded his emotions from when he was human, so he could only hide his hesitation and surprise in his heart.
This at least made him appear very calm on the surface: "Granny Chiyo's guess was right. That Hamura from back then was indeed you."
"Did Chiyo guess it?" Masahiko chuckled: "I didn't deliberately hide it anyway. How about it, did my 'kaka-kaka-kaka-kaka' give you quite a bit of help in your research on puppets over the years?"
Sasori: Hehe.
"Lord Tsuchikage! The ninjas who were poisoned by the wind earlier are not in good condition, the toxicity is hard to suppress!" An Anbu from the Hidden Stone Village appeared with a Body Flicker.
Ohnoki's old face wrinkled at the words. He turned to Masahiko: "Senior, I'm going to capture this Hidden Sand missing-nin. Is that alright?"
"Tsuchikage, we didn't come here to start a war with the Hidden Stone Village." Kakuzu appeared beside Sasori with a Body Flicker. "We were indeed hired by the leader of the Land of Rain to come and form an alliance."
"Senior Masahiko, long time no see."
Masahiko looked at Kakuzu, who also hadn't changed at all, and smiled: "It indeed has been a long time. You're doing quite well. I still remember you said you were going to attend my 150th birthday banquet back then."
"I also still remember, Senior," Kakuzu replied. Turning to Sasori: "Give them the antidote."
Sasori was expressionless: "Don't use that commanding tone, I am not your subordinate."
Kakuzu spoke very patiently: "We are here to negotiate peace. If people from the Hidden Stone Village die, the peace talks will fail, and we won't get the remaining bounty."
"Moreover, Senior is here. If you don't hand over the antidote, you might die, which is a big loss."
"Do you still think the peace talks can succeed?" Sasori still refused to admit defeat verbally, but he still took out the antidote from his clothes and threw it to Masahiko.
Masahiko caught it and opened the bottle containing the antidote. A foul stench wafted out, almost making him pass out.
"Why is the antidote like this? This scoundrel is trying to murder me!"
"What is that smell?" Kurotsuchi covered her nose and stepped back two paces. The other children also looked uncomfortable.
Masahiko hurriedly capped the bottle tightly and handed it to Ohnoki: "Just let the poisoned ninjas sniff it."
On the other side, Sasori was just about to explain how to use the antidote. Hearing this, he froze in place: "How did you know?"
Masahiko smiled and shook his head. Would he say that's how it's portrayed in TV dramas? The poison the Hidden Stone ninjas were hit with earlier might have been called 'Sad Crisp Breeze'...
He refused to explain, and Sasori didn't ask further.
Kakuzu was very concerned about the bounty after completing the mission and continued: "Tsuchikage, can we have peace talks now?"
The expression on Ohnoki's old face changed several times. He could see that the two people opposite him were genuinely here to make peace, but he truly looked down on a mere Land of Rain, a country he had used as a transit battlefield when attacking Konoha.
Although Kakuzu and Sasori were both famous S-rank ninjas, this was the Hidden Stone Village. Ohnoki was also very confident in his own strength, and there was hope of keeping them here if he paid a certain price.
But now Masahiko was present, and his relationship with the two people opposite was very unclear, so he didn't know what to decide for a moment.
After a long while, Ohnoki sighed and turned his head: "Senior, what are your intentions?"
Masahiko was startled and waved his hands repeatedly: "It has nothing to do with me, I'm just watching the show. Just pretend I don't exist. If it weren't for the fact that I didn't want Hanzo's corpse to be desecrated after his death, I might not have even shown up today."
Ohnoki was helpless. With Masahiko standing right here like a pestle, how could he ignore him?
He could only look at the two people opposite and ask: "Why would the leader of the Land of Rain choose our Hidden Stone Village of the Land of Earth to form an alliance?"
Kakuzu shook his head and said: "The leader of the Land of Rain, Yahiko, and the deputy leader, Ameyuri Ringo, set off at the same time as us. They should have already arrived in Konoha by now. Not only that, after the peace talks with the Hidden Stone Village are over, we still have to make a trip to the Hidden Sand Village..."
"Forming alliances with the Three Great Nations at the same time?" Ohnoki chuckled and shook his head: "Ninjas from small villages are just full of whimsical ideas."
"It's not just an alliance, there's also deeper cooperation." Sasori said indifferently: "But this battle exposed my identity, so we probably won't have to go to the Hidden Sand Village."
Masahiko couldn't help but interject upon hearing this: "Chiyo will definitely come looking for you. Seeing this puppet body of yours, she will definitely be very sad. I find it very hard to understand why you would discard your human body?"
Sasori stiffened slightly for a moment: "Only eternal beauty is art!"
Masahiko: "..."
Is he saying I'm beautiful, or is he saying I'm very artistic? I really am an artist.
Deidara, who had been immersed in inexplicable emotions ever since learning Masahiko's true identity, finally showed a change in expression upon hearing these words.
"Hey, what you're saying isn't right. Only a momentary explosion can be called art!"
Sasori tilted his head slightly: "Oh?"
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