"This kid? Easy enough!"
Gekko Chizan smiled faintly and slowly walked up to the Water Prison Technique, calmly smiling as he looked at Sasori.
Crystals then appeared, directly piercing into the Water Prison, turning the entire prison into a crystal sphere.
However, under his control, the crystallization only affected Sasori of the Red Sand's puppet body, deliberately leaving the core in his chest untouched.
"Shatter."
Under Gekko Chizan's soft whisper, the newly crystallized sphere began to collapse.
When all the crystals finally shattered, only a single core remained, along with a few fragments of the puppet.
"Here, it's done."
"Only the core is left."
"But sensei, you'd better be a bit careful when dealing with him. After all, you know this guy's personality."
He tossed the core to Orochimaru. When it came to handling Sasori, Orochimaru was undoubtedly the best choice.
Not to mention that this technique of condensing all flesh and blood into a chakra core might allow Orochimaru to research some strange new things.
"Hehehe, then I'll accept it."
"Don't worry. I have plenty of ways to deal with this kind of guy."
"Wasn't that member of the Hōzuki clan you gave me earlier behaving obediently too?"
Speaking of Hōzuki Mangetsu, that guy was truly miserable. He was tossed into a container every day, and whenever Orochimaru remembered him, he'd go do an experiment.
When he didn't remember, he'd just be left there—no human rights whatsoever.
Gekko Chizan shrugged, then started heading toward the Land of Waterfall together with Orochimaru.
After all, Orochimaru's herb-gathering task still wasn't resolved. If it really didn't work out, they'd have no choice but to buy them.
...
On the other side, in the Land of Rivers.
Nagato and Black Zetsu had already accepted reality. Even though they were both quite satisfied with Sasori of the Red Sand, he had already been captured—and by Gekko Chizan and Orochimaru at that. His chances of survival were slim.
"Who's there?!"
"Come out!"
Just as they were about to turn and leave, Nagato suddenly widened his eyes and shouted angrily in a certain direction.
Black Zetsu frowned slightly. He thrust his right hand violently into the ground, and immediately a scream rang out.
"Ah!"
"Who are you people?!"
Countless vines bound a person and lifted him into the air. Wrapped tightly by the vines, the person cried out in alarm.
Only then did Nagato and Black Zetsu see clearly that the intruder was just a small kid.
He looked seven or eight years old, with gray hair and a pair of glasses.
"Where did this brat come from…"
"But this mark…"
Black Zetsu's observation was extremely sharp. Very quickly, he noticed a scorpion emblem on the child's clothing.
Having just fought earlier, he immediately recognized it as the symbol carried on Sasori's puppets, and he quickly asked:
"What's your relationship with Sasori of the Red Sand?"
"That's my teacher… let me go. Where is my teacher?"
This kid was Kabuto.
The earlier battle had been extremely spectacular. Kabuto had seen his teacher Sasori of the Red Sand's iron sand at a glance.
That was why he rushed over. But by the time he arrived, his teacher had already been found—and captured.
Yet he showed no sign of fear. Or perhaps he simply didn't know what fear was.
His expression was flat, and even his speech was remarkably calm.
This made Black Zetsu rather curious. After all, anyone who appeared here couldn't possibly have missed the earlier great battle.
And this child was connected to Sasori—interesting.
"Zetsu, that mark."
"Mm, I saw it. Sasori 's disciple?"
Black Zetsu suddenly felt that this trip hadn't been entirely without gain.
A disciple accepted by a puppet genius like Sasori shouldn't be an ordinary individual.
"Even though we didn't recruit Sasori of the Red Sand, having this kid isn't bad either. With some cultivation, he might even become a puppeteer more outstanding than Sasori."
"Then bring him back. Let's leave quickly—staying here makes me irritated."
Nagato waved his hand impatiently, dispelling all his avatars and casually tidying up his clothes.
"Hehehe, let's go back."
"Kid, you'll come with us."
"Your teacher is already dead."
"Instead of staying here, you might as well come back with us."
Hearing that Sasori owas dead, Kabuto showed no reaction at all. During this period as Sasori's disciple, he had experienced plenty of horror.
As a result, he had already lost much of his emotional capacity. Instead, he had become deeply addicted to puppet techniques.
"If I go with you, will you teach me puppet techniques?"
"That's something you have to learn yourself. Everyone has their own path."
"Your path—you have to walk it yourself."
"What's your name?"
Kabuto sized up Black Zetsu and Nagato. One was a black-and-white plant-like being, the other had ripple-pattern eyes. Neither looked like good people.
"Kabuto."
"...Let's go, Kabuto."
Black Zetsu wrapped Kabuto with vines and was about to leave, but Kabuto stopped him.
"Don't go yet."
"My teacher's laboratory is nearby. I need to bring the puppets with me."
As a puppeteer, how could he not take his own puppets along?
What's more, his teacher was already gone. Shouldn't those things naturally belong to him now? Otherwise, wouldn't they just gather dust?
Sasori: I really thank you, my good disciple!
When Black Zetsu and Nagato followed Kabuto to Sasori's base, the two of them fell into silence as they watched Kabuto frantically packing everything up.
"Zetsu, do you really think bringing this kid along was the right choice?"
"Mm…"
Zetsu glanced at Kabuto, who showed no sadness whatsoever over his teacher's death and instead wore a twisted look of excitement from plundering all of his teacher's possessions. He began to doubt his own decision.
"It should be fine…"
"Probably just an obsession with puppet techniques."
Nagato looked at Black Zetsu for a long time before letting out a helpless sigh.
He really was sick too—Black Zetsu's face was pitch-black. What could he possibly see from it?
Forget it. If they were taking him, then so be it. At least it counted as settling on a candidate.
...
After leaving the Land of Rivers, Kabuto showed no reluctance at all. Instead, he carefully protected his backpack.
That was, until they returned to the base in the Land of Water.
"Hey, aren't you guys way too slow?"
"Huh? Weren't you supposed to bring Orochimaru? Why did you bring back a kid?"
Uchiha Makito had already grown impatient from waiting. After all, his dōjutsu made traveling extremely fast, and finding people was very convenient.
Standing beside him at this moment was a tall figure exuding a sinister aura.
"Kakuzu, let me introduce you. This is Nagato, Zetsu—and, well, some unknown kid."
Yes, the person standing next to Uchiha Makito was Kakuzu.
At this moment, he was already wearing a uniform, but even that couldn't conceal the killing intent radiating from him.