By the time they arrived in the Land of Rain, it was already midday the following day.
Looking at the distant land shrouded in dark clouds and sensing the moisture permeating the air, Sasori furrowed his brow.
As a puppeteer, he hated the gloomy sky and the damp, dark environment. The excessive humidity would rust metal and cause dried corpses to grow mold. It was predictable that during his time with the Akatsuki, maintaining his puppets would become more difficult than before.
After silently complaining to himself, Sasori followed Byakuya's footsteps.
Walking on the roads of the Land of Rain, Sasori noticed something different compared to other small countries—the roads here were built with concrete rather than just simple dirt.
Moreover, the construction of these roads wasn't done by ordinary people. Along with proper architects and engineers, shinobis were also involved.
In his understanding, ninjas shouldn't be involved in such construction work. It was an unspoken agreement between ninja villages and the daimyos to not interfere in each other's domains. However, in the Land of Rain, Amegakure had quietly broken this tacit rule.
This made Sasori realize that Akatsuki behind Byakuya might indeed be different from other ninja groups.
But what did that matter to him? He never had any idealistic visions of achieving peace. To him, only eternal art was worth pursuing at all costs.
Not long after, the group arrived at the gates of the Akatsuki base.
Gazing at the eerie-looking base, Sasori's expression changed slightly. He then asked in confusion, "Byakuya, is this really our base? Why does it feel so creepy?"
Byakuya glanced at Sasori and gave him a peculiar look, saying:
"When we carry out the plan for the Tailed Beast weapons, we will be standing in opposition to the entire ninja world. As the villains in their eyes, shouldn't our hideout feel as eerie as this?"
Hearing this, Sasori didn't know what to say, his face filled with helplessness.
So, you know that capturing the Tailed Beasts will provoke the five great ninja villages, but who in the world boasts about being villains? Shouldn't you proclaim yourselves as the righteous ones?
Sensing Sasori's thoughts, Byakuya chuckled, "Relax Mr. Puppet Master, I was just joking earlier. The Akatsuki's plans regarding the Tailed Beast weapons are still confidential for now, so we chose this inconspicuous place."
Hearing this, Sasori didn't dwell on it further.
In fact, he was more concerned about the future working environment, benefits, and whether the research funding would be sufficient. Everything else was just trivial details.
Of course, there was also the matter of the Third Kazekage puppet.
"Byakuya, now that I've joined the Akatsuki, according to our agreement, shouldn't you return the Third Kazekage puppet to me?"
After saying this, Sasori looked at Byakuya, unsure if Byakuya would actually return the Kazekage puppet.
The Kazekage puppet was not an ordinary puppet. Although its power wasn't quite as strong as the Third Kazekage was when alive, it had inherited the Magnet Release Bloodline Limit, making it one of Sasori's most prized creations and contributing to about 30% of his overall strength.
Byakuya nodded and immediately returned the scroll containing the Third Kazekage puppet to Sasori.
Byakuya's willingness to so easily return the puppet was something Sasori hadn't anticipated. He thought Byakuya might keep the puppet as leverage to control him.
Thinking this, Sasori asked, puzzled.
"Byakuya, aren't you worried that I'll escape once I have the puppet? With the Kazekage puppet in hand, my combat power would double."
Byakuya glanced at Sasori and said expressionlessly:
"I promised to return the puppet, and I won't break my word. Besides, we are in Amegakure. Even with the puppet, you wouldn't be able to cause much trouble. However, if you try to escape, someone will show you just how deep the waters of the ninja world really are."
Hearing this, Sasori remained expressionless, though deep down, he was unimpressed.
He wasn't sure how "deep" the waters of the ninja world truly were, but he knew he was incredibly strong. In the entire ninja world, aside from Byakuya, only the leaders of the five great ninja villages could overpower him.
If Amegakue really had so many powerful ninjas, it would have already become one of the five great ninja villages.
In the following days, Byakuya first arranged Sasori's accommodations and then allocated a significant amount of research funding for Sasori to continue his puppet art studies.
In return, Sasori was required to submit regular research findings on his puppet techniques.
Sasori readily agreed to Byakuya's terms. Who would turn down free research funding?
However, upon unsealing the scroll and seeing his own Kazekage puppet, the thought of taking Byakuya's place crossed Sasori's mind.
If he could defeat Byakuya and seize control of the Akatsuki, not only would he gain access to all of the organization's resources, but he could also have his own ninja village. From there, whether it was in pursuit of eternal art or launching a war against Konoha, it would all become much easier.
Soon, a week passed.
With each passing day, the desire to defeat Byakuya grew stronger in Sasori's mind. He even considered confronting Byakuya directly and launching a full-scale attack.
However, just as he was thinking this, Sasori received an invitation from Byakuya to attend a sparring session between the Akatsuki's higher-ups.
When Sasori saw Byakuya and Konan sparring, unleashing thousands of explosive tags, he began to doubt his own strength.
Could he really survive amidst that overwhelming sea of explosions?
Even though he had transformed his body into a puppet through his own puppet technique, it was uncertain if he could stand up to those two.
(AN: Author really is high. Seriously though, even I am confused whether Sasori has puppet body or not.)
After all, no matter how sturdy a puppet was, it couldn't withstand such relentless bombardment.
The sparring session between Byakuya and Nagato, however, completely shattered Sasori's worldview and made him question his own mastery of puppetry.
During their match, both Byakuya and Nagato used puppets to fight.
Seeing this, Sasori became intrigued, eager to witness Byakuya's skill in puppetry.
As the match progressed, Sasori was astonished to find that Byakuya was an outstanding puppeteer, able to control three puppets simultaneously.
Although three puppets weren't as many as he and his grandmother could control, it was undoubtedly at a Jonin level of skill.
Nagato, on the other hand, controlled a puppet with two extraordinary abilities—repulsion and attraction. In the face of such powers, even the Kazekage puppet's Magnet Release seemed insignificant.
Soon, Sasori noticed something strange and widened his eyes.
Neither Byakuya nor Nagato used chakra threads to control their puppets.
Instead, they used pitch-black rods to achieve long-distance control of the puppets.
For Sasori, this was a groundbreaking innovation, a realization that puppeteers didn't necessarily need chakra threads to control their puppets and could manipulate them remotely instead.
Sasori could accept that his strength wasn't equal to others, but he couldn't tolerate being crushed when it came to puppet techniques.