Onoki froze at the name Mu, it was the name of his mentor, the Second Tsuchikage, the man who had taught him the secrets of the Dust Release and the will of stone. To hear it here, in this backwater village, felt like a beckoning of fate.
"Bring this 'Mu' to me," Onoki commanded Hisen.
"He's right there!" Fuu shouted, pointing toward the oak doors. "Brother! Come see this cool old man. He can fly."
A young boy, perhaps seven or eight years old, stepped into the hall. He moved with a deliberate grace and his eyes were sharp and calculating... the eyes of a shinobi.
"Boy," Onoki said, his interest piqued. "Here your sister you are the strongest. Show me what you can do. Your strongest jutsu. "
Mu didn't hesitate. He didn't ask for permission from Hisen. He simply centered his weight and began a blur of hand signs.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow River!"
The solid stone floor of the hall liquefied into a rushing torrent of mud, surging forward with enough force to knock a grown man off his feet. As the boy's jutsu was about to finish, he immediately transitioned.
"Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole!"
He vanished into the stone, reappearing seconds later behind a pillar, gasping for breath but maintaining his stance. "Apart from two C-rank Earth Style jutsu. I also know a E rank fire style jutsu," the boy broke a sweat. "But I'm low on chakra."
Onoki was stunned. To see such Earth Release mastery and chakra control and tactical fluidity. Even in Iwa, the land of stone, such prodigies were once-in-a-generation. "Why is it", Onoki thought bitterly, "that the we are not blessed with such talent and instead to a village that doesn't know how to use them properly?"
"How old are you, boy?" Onoki asked. "I turned 7 recently." Mu replied respectfully.
"Fine, I will take you both with me." Onoki said. "Lord Onoki," Hisen pleaded. "He is the prodigy of Takigakure. Please leave the kid."
Onoki countered, his decision made. "I will take him in place of the Hero's Water. You should thank me, Hisen. I am giving these children a place worthy of their talents."
Without another word, Onoki used his jutsu to lighten the gravity of the two children. Fuu laughed as she began to float, while Mu remained silent, his eyes fixed on the man who was effectively kidnapping him and then at Hisen who took care of him but he didn't care as long as he could be with his sister.
Onoki rose higher, and tucked the Earth Grudge Fear scroll into his robes and a child under each arm. As he flew out of the hall and back into the misty sky of Takigakure, he didn't look back as he drifted towards Iwagakure.
~~
The sun cast long, distorted shadows across the sand dunes. Inside the hunched, grotesque shell of the puppet Hiruko, Sasori moved with a rhythmic, clicking sound as his construct dragged through the sand behind him.
He had spent the last few years refining his toxins that could paralyze a bull from a smallest of whiff. However, his target was no ordinary man: Saoi, the Third Kazekage, the man heralded as the strongest in the history of the Hidden Sand.
Sasori's heart thrummed with a single ambition to add him into his collection.
As he bypassed the village outskirts, he passed by a stone plaza where he remembered this place. A decade ago... his young self stood here between two loving parents, squinting into a camera lens while Granny Chiyo fussed over not wanting to be in the picture.
He shook the feeling off, the mechanical gears of Hiruko's neck grinding as he turned his gaze toward the Kazekage Tower.
~~
Saoi came out from the Kazekage tower. After his fight with Minato in the last war, he was always paranoid and extra cautious of everything and trusted nothing. He spent his days hardening the village's defenses and his nights training his student, Rasa, in the intricacies of Magnet Release.
The village was under siege from within; the old monk Bunpuku had passed, and the One-Tailed Shukaku was currently a howling storm of rage that required constant suppression which Rasa is taking care of. Meanwhile, the Fourth Kazekage Chiyo was busy concocting new types of poison with help of Byakugan and experimenting them on Konoha Shinobi.
Just a while ago, the Fourth Kazekage Chiyo had asked him to make a trip to the Sandful desert... a desolate, god-forsaken stretch of wasteland but it was very dangerous as the poisonous scorpions rested and the frequent sandstorms made it difficult for normal shinobi to take up the job.
Sasori followed from the shadows of the dunes, his presence masked by the very sands he moved through. He watched as the Third Kazekage reached the wasteland, as his full focus was on Saoi, as he was no an ordinary opponent where he can afford leniency.
"Come out," Saoi commanded.
He didn't wait for an answer. In an instant, a cloud of glittering black dust erupted from his robes, swirling around him in a dense, protective mass. The Iron Sand Armor.
Sasori didn't hesitate as Hiruko's mouth flew open, unleashing a hailstorm of poison-laced senbon. The needles struck the black armor with the sound of tung, and falling harmlessly into the sand.
Saoi pointed his finger at where Hiruko stood and said, "Look at where you are standing." as if he was warning the opponent.
A massive spear of pressurized Iron Sand tore through the earth directly beneath Hiruko. The puppet was sliced clean in half. As the shell shattered, a thick, purple mist of toxic gas billowed outward, obscuring the battlefield.
Saoi reacted immediately as he didn't breathe; instead, he manipulated the sand beneath his sandals to lift himself high into the air, escaping the creeping poisonous cloud. From his vantage point, he molded the Iron Sand into half a dozen floating orbs... Sajintei, the Magnetic Sand Eyes. He sent them diving into the poisonous cloud.
What he saw through those telepathic links shocked him. Amidst the wreckage of Hiruko stood a boy... or what looked like a boy. His chest was open like a door, revealing a mechanical core.
"Sasori?" Saoi whispered, his eyes widening. "Chiyo's grandson. He became a complete puppet." "I will capture him, he seems quite talented." Saoi thought.
Sasori reached for a scroll at his back and unfurled it into the sky. In a puff of smoke, the sky was suddenly crowded. A hundred puppets, each uniquely horrific, came out. Chakra threads erupted from Sasori's chest, connecting him to his army.
"Sasori, enough!" Saoi shouted, "You cannot win this. Your Senbon needles cannot pierce my armor, and your poisonous smoke cannot reach me in the sky even if it did I can just blow it away. Your puppets can never reach me. I know how hard it is make those puppets and how much time and effort you must have spent. Don't make me destroy them. My iron sand is your weakness, it can obstructed all of your puppets joints and make them not immovable. And In fact I can control all your puppets using my iron sand."
"All the reasoning are sound, I have failed. I have failed the movement he sensed me." Sasori thought, he never wanted a head on fight. He wanted the third Kazekage's to let his guard down, when he took down Hiruko but the third Kazekage was very cautious.
"Join Suna again," Saoi continued, "you can be the puppetry research head and experiment as you see fit, however you can't do that on shinobi of Suna. You are free to do whatever you want to Konoha, Iwa shinobi. I know to improve your techniques you will have to experiment on human. I will allow that."
Sasori's eyes hesitated as he looked for a way to escape... seeing the talkative Kazekage.
Saoi said, dropping his altitude slightly but keeping his guard up. "In the previous war, Konoha used a technique which summons the dead. You know what that means, your mother and father can be bought back alive."
Sasori who has already accepted defeat and found a route to escape but after hearing that his mother and father could be bought back alive.
"I will come with you to Suna," Sasori said immediately, the chakra threads vanishing as the hundred puppets collapsed back into their scrolls. "As of today, I am a shinobi of the Sand."
Saoi didn't relax. He was a man of his word, but he wasn't a fool. He gestured with his hands, and the Iron Sand rose, forming a reinforced coffin around Sasori. He kept the boy suspended in the air, ten meters away from him at all times, as they began the long trek back to Sunagakure.
Saoi was happy as he was able to recruit Sasori back; the vacuum left by Pakura was large. And now, he was bringing back an even more talented shinobi. "I can't wait to see Chiyo's reaction." "Finally Suna will triumph against Konoha."
~~
A/N: And the long second Arc, finally ends. The next chapter will be recap of the second arc. If you have any questions or ideas let me know.
I have connected almost all the dots. The one remaining are: Mist attack by Obito, Pakura's identity reveal, Kakuzu's Rage and Kumo's retaliation, Kumo's peace treaty with Iwa.
And one more thing to add about Mu, he is quietly to be able to perform 2 C-rank Jutsu. In reference Sasuke was 7 years old when he did a C-Rank Jutsu (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu).
Do check out my original novel on QQ: The Fourth Edge: Damnation (Original Novel)
Upto 20 Advance chapters available @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0