Chapter 349: Uzumaki Narrator
The alliance had not yet succeeded; comrades still needed to work hard. Kakuzu and Sasori temporarily settled down in the Hidden Stone Village.
Masahiko's leisurely life of training the children also underwent a slight change.
Since being 'miserably humiliated' that day, Deidara became even more obsessed with his art. After training hard, he was finally able to create C2 level bombs.
He didn't become 'timid' just because he knew Masahiko's true identity. The first one to test the C2 was still Masahiko, but afterward, Deidara suffered a terrible blow.
The C2 Dragon bomb simply couldn't explode in front of Masahiko. It was weighed in Masahiko's palm a couple of times, kneaded into a 'high-explosive grenade', and thrown back.
Not only that, Masahiko also figured out the advanced principles of Explosion Release—mixing higher-level and more refined chakra into the clay.
With his chakra control ability, he easily created a C3 'Super-Explosive Grenade', instantly leveling the mountain peak opposite them. The C4 'Biochemical Grenade' turned into tiny dust particles after exploding, hiding inside the human body and able to be detonated internally at any time.
Not only that, Masahiko also tried a C5 'Cloud-Fuel Bomb' once in his own spatial dimension. After a close-range explosion, Masahiko suffered quite a bit of injury even with his full defense. He estimated that the power of Deidara's self-destruction was just about at that level.
Unfortunately, clay bombs ultimately had their limits and couldn't accommodate higher levels of chakra. Unable to upgrade it limitlessly, Masahiko felt deeply regretful. In fact, it only needed to be upgraded one more level, and it could replace Masahiko's Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack to become Masahiko's strongest offensive ninjutsu.
But no matter what, Deidara's strength had indeed made leaps and bounds. The balance of strength among the six children was also broken, making it impossible to have pleasant three-on-three matches, so they could only train individually.
Without the need to supervise their battles, Masahiko was happy to enjoy the leisure. He now had other things to do—teasing Sasori.
"Sasori, I'm here again. Kaka-kaka-kaka-kaka, transform for me to see, won't you?"
"Kaka-kaka-kaka-kaka, chua-chua-chua-chua-chua."
Masahiko waved his large sleeve, catching a large swarm of poison-coated senbon flying towards him, and smilingly stuffed them into his pocket. "Returning fully loaded again today."
Sasori: "..."
He had been trying hard to control himself, to not show human emotions of anger. But every time he saw Masahiko's smiling face, he couldn't help but waver. And upon hearing Masahiko's 'kaka-kaka-kaka-kaka'... In short, he didn't have many senbon left.
Masahiko walked on the streets of the Hidden Stone Village, muttering, "Sasori is quite wealthy. He has shot at me seven or eight times already, right?"
Weighing the hundreds of newly added senbon in his pants pocket, Masahiko revealed a smile. "Human emotions aren't that easy to discard. Turning oneself into a puppet with no desires or demands is something one can only think about in their head."
"The Naruto world doesn't have any Supreme Forgetfulness Technique for you to practice..."
Masahiko's footsteps were brisk. When he reached the gates of the Hidden Stone Village, his smiling face suddenly stiffened. Looking at the travel-worn old woman in front of him, his expression became somewhat complex. "Chiyo, long time no see."
Chiyo also stared fixedly at Masahiko for two seconds before speaking. "Senior, if I couldn't perceive that I am indeed getting older, I would probably think the last time I saw you was just yesterday..."
Masahiko was stunned for a long while before he understood what Chiyo was trying to express in a roundabout way. "If you want to say I look young, just say it directly. No need to be so subtle."
Chiyo pulled out an ugly smile, anticipation showing on her aged face. "Senior, is Sasori... doing well?"
Masahiko sighed and nodded. "Not considered good, but not considered too bad either."
Behind him, several Hidden Stone Village ninjas hurried over. Masahiko frowned and waved his hand. "Go back and tell Ohnoki to wait. He has his well-behaved and cute granddaughter by his side, doesn't he know to consider how long it's been since Chiyo last saw her own grandson?"
Ohnoki indicated that he didn't find Kurotsuchi well-behaved or cute at all...
Ignoring the reactions of these Hidden Stone Village ninjas, Masahiko turned to Chiyo. "Follow me. I'll take you to see Sasori."
"Sorry for the trouble, Senior."
In front of Sasori's temporary residence, Masahiko wore a smile and shouted loudly, "Sasori, come out and receive guests!"
Sasori walked out hurriedly. "You guy are going too far, actually coming twi... "
"Tch, so it's Granny Chiyo who has come..."
Chiyo stared blankly at Sasori's youthful face. "To actually... truly turn yourself into a puppet."
Seeing the slightly awkward atmosphere, Masahiko couldn't help but speak up. "Right, he turned himself into a puppet, and he can even transform with a 'kaka-kaka-kaka-kaka'."
Sasori and Chiyo both glanced sideways at Masahiko simultaneously. Masahiko frowned and scratched his head. "Hmm... don't just stand here like pillars. If you have something to say, say it inside, say it inside."
"Boring," Sasori said indifferently, turning around and entering the house.
Chiyo's face stiffened, and then she heard Masahiko speak from the side. "There should be a paragraph of psychological description added here: Facing Granny Chiyo, who had aged countless times over, Sasori recalled how she taught him puppet jutsu hand-in-hand back then, and felt somewhat emotional in his heart. But a puppet shouldn't have familial affection, so he could only indifferently say 'boring' and turn to enter the house, all to cover up his agitated mood."
Chiyo's expression eased a bit. She followed Sasori into the house and asked, "Sasori, why did you leave the village back then? And why did you turn yourself into a puppet?"
Sasori was just about to answer, but he heard Masahiko speak again. "At this time, Sasori should say a line like 'Only eternal beauty is true art', but he doesn't actually think so in his heart. What he thinks in his heart is: 'The death of my parents let me know the fragility of humans. Granny's concealment only made me grieve even more. Only by making myself into an un-rotting, emotionless puppet can I walk out of this incident'."
Sasori glared and raised his hand, then stiffly put it down. He really didn't have many senbon left.
Chiyo looked moved, her face sorrowful. "Is it really like that? Sasori. I shouldn't have hidden it back then. I should have seen earlier that you were different from other children."
"Boring," Sasori said indifferently again.
Masahiko chuckled lightly and explained, "This 'boring' is different from the previous one. On the surface, it means that this true expression of feelings from you, Chiyo, is boring. But in reality, it means 'What's past is past and we can't go back, what's the point of saying you regret it now?'."
Chiyo's spirits lifted. "There's still time! Sasori, come back to the Hidden Sand Village with me. I will find a way to restore your flesh and blood body!"
Masahiko was stunned. The method Chiyo spoke of was probably the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu. Could it even do such a thing? Whether it could or not, Chiyo was truly amazing. For this grandson, she was willing to sacrifice her life without hesitation...
Masahiko sighed with emotion for a long time. When he raised his head, he found Chiyo looking at him 'expectantly', and Sasori was also glancing at him indifferently...
"Don't look at me. Sasori, whether you return to the Hidden Sand Village or not is up to you to decide."
"I'm just a narrator..."
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