Sasori was utterly stunned.
No—more accurately, his ability to think had completely short-circuited.
From the sudden appearance of the Third Kazekage behind that black-haired boy—
to his proudest, most painstakingly crafted masterpiece being cleaved in two with a single stroke.
The span between those events hadn't even been a full minute.
"…No…"
"This… this is fake…"
Sasori muttered, his voice devoid of emotion, as if sleepwalking.
His mind, usually as precise and unshakable as a machine, had shut down entirely.
Just moments ago, he had been deploying his strongest formation, ready to unleash his Performance of a Hundred Puppets and drown the battlefield in blood.
But instead—
his Third Kazekage puppet, the crown jewel of his art,
had been shattered in an instant by a girl—
with a single sword strike!
"This is impossible… how could she cut it down in one strike…"
His throat was dry, his words spilling out faster and faster, yet his eyes grew more and more vacant.
That kind of crushing defeat, without even a chance to react, burned him with a sense of dislocation and humiliation that rose from the depths of his soul.
He had thought he would harvest lives here in the name of art.
Never did he imagine that the one harvested would be himself.
"No… no, something's wrong… none of this makes sense…"
Sasori staggered back a step, chest heaving violently.
But at that very moment—
The golden-haired girl was already upon him, her slender blade, Feather's Echo, thrusting straight for his vital core.
"Damn—!"
His cry barely left his lips before Ais closed the distance.
With life and death on the line, Sasori's pupils shrank sharply, and with every ounce of strength left, he jerked his body sideways in a desperate slip.
But—
Ais was faster.
Her sword shifted course mid-strike, tracking him seamlessly.
Shhhk—!!
The blade pierced straight through Sasori's left chest.
Right where his core of regeneration was located.
The one and only surviving organ of his human body.
"Crack—!"
The sound of metal and flesh shattering together rang out.
Pain stabbed through Sasori's chest.
He had never expected it!
That this seemingly delicate girl could instantly see through and strike at his true weak point!
The most secret of a puppet master's cores, hidden with utmost care.
It allowed him to transfer his essence, to live on through his puppets.
The foundation of his so-called immortality.
And yet—this girl had struck it cleanly without hesitation, without even probing for weaknesses!
"You… how could you…"
Sasori's throat trembled, his voice breaking, and for the first time, raw fear glimmered in his eyes.
But Ais's expression was as cold and impassive as a princess's.
"Your weak point was too obvious."
"You thought you hid it well, but Ryota had already seen through you."
Ryota…
That black-haired boy…
Ais ignored his shock, twisted her wrist gently—
and in the next instant, Feather's Echo flared with blinding golden light.
Fwoooosh!!
With a roar, the blade erupted, channeling magic deep into Sasori's chest, right where his regeneration core lay.
"No!!"
Sasori had no time to react, no strength to resist, not even enough to finish a single sentence.
The core he prided himself on, the foundation of his existence, was devoured by that golden light—
along with his entire puppet body.
In a flash of radiance, he was torn to pieces.
BOOOOM!!!
Flame, golden light, and puppet fragments blasted outward in a storm, raining down across the battlefield!
It was the final requiem of a puppet master, an artistic scream named Sasori.
When the explosion faded, only charred fragments of metal lay scattered across the ground.
The dreaded Sasori of the Red Sand had been reduced to dust by a single strike of Ais Wallenstein's blade.
From a distance, Ryota smiled faintly.
"Well then… that just leaves…"
He trailed off, his gaze slowly shifting to the lone figure still standing.
—Orochimaru.
At that moment, the great inventor of the shinobi world shuddered violently, snapping back to his senses.
He finally realized that those unfathomable black eyes were fixed squarely on him.
There was no killing intent, no rage. Only a calm so unnerving it sent chills crawling across his skin.
The look of a hunter giving his prey one last chance to turn before pulling the trigger.
"Damn it…"
Orochimaru could never have imagined that the arrogant fool Sasori would be erased without a trace in under a minute.
Which meant the Akatsuki was as good as dead.
"…How… could this be…"
He muttered, his usual sinister smile nowhere to be seen.
He had come here to scavenge the battlefield, to reap the dead.
But now, he had become the last corpse left standing.
Alone, frozen in place, watching the black-haired boy and his strange, overwhelming allies draw closer.
"…Why didn't I retreat? Why did I stay to watch?!"
"Damn that Sasori! Why did he have to open his mouth?!"
"This is a trap… it has to be a trap!!"
The truth hit him like ice water down his spine.
From the very start, the ones in control weren't Akatsuki, weren't Konoha—
It was that black-haired boy.
His body shivered instinctively, his whole spine seized by creeping cold.
Orochimaru Style: Substitution Jutsu.
His go-to method of survival. No seals required. Just a thought, and his body could shed like a snake's skin.
But—
Just as that instinct to escape triggered—
A voice, casual yet edged with amusement, whispered suddenly in his ear:
"Orochimaru… I wouldn't entertain such ideas, if I were you."
?!!
His heart lurched violently. He hadn't even turned his head when every hair on his body stood on end.
"Wh-what?!"
Reacting purely on instinct, he hurled himself backward in a wide arc.
But mid-air—
A black-haired figure silently stepped out of space itself, Ryota's calm eyes meeting his in mid-leap.
"You… when?!"
Orochimaru's voice cracked hoarsely.
"When did you get behind me?!"
"Just now."
Ryota's reply was almost indifferent.
"But you were too focused on running to notice."
"…"
Cold sweat streamed down Orochimaru's temple.
He suddenly realized this wasn't simply speed.
This boy's grasp of space itself had far surpassed anything he knew.
No chakra fluctuation. No ripple of warped space.
He had simply… appeared in the result.
This wasn't speed. It was something far more terrifying.
"…What are you… really…"
Orochimaru's voice rasped, nearly broken.
Ryota didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he raised one hand slowly toward the air.
Crack.
Space itself shattered in his palm like brittle paper.
And within that fracture, a violet eye opened.
Its six concentric rings etched with divine weight—
The Rinnegan.
"Join my Familia, Orochimaru."
Ryota's smile was calm, certain.
"Of Akatsuki, you are the only one worth recruiting."
The words made Orochimaru freeze.
Familia?
A term he had never heard in his life.
But realization dawned quickly, and his lips curled into a jagged grin.
"Heh… hehahahahaha…"
His face twisted, contorting into something both mocking and desperate.
"Familia? Whatever new name you've dressed it up with, it's the same in the end—"
"You just want me to go back to Konoha, don't you?"
"I am a rogue ninja. A traitor of Konoha."
"And now you want me to return?!"
"Tell me—what did he promise you?!"
At that, Ryota only raised a brow faintly.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen?"
As if hearing some laughable misunderstanding, he shook his head.
"You're still shackled by the obsessions of the past."
"Who told you… I was ever with Konoha?"
Those words made Orochimaru falter.
And Ryota continued:
"To you, Konoha is a prison. A relic of Sarutobi's reign."
"But what I'm building is an order that transcends the shinobi world."
"Villages, Hokage, organizations, clans—those things are already obsolete."
He paused, his gaze drifting toward the trees behind Orochimaru.
"I recruit you not to drag you back, but to grant you true freedom."
"You crave immortality. You seek truth. You despise the ignorant masses and the system that binds them."
"And I am the one with the power to grant you every dream you've ever had."
The words cracked like thunder in Orochimaru's ears.
His pupils shrank again.
"You said… immortality… freedom?"
Ryota nodded.
"More precisely—freedom beyond the constraints of order."
"Join my Familia, Orochimaru."
"You will obtain everything you desire."
"Even… eternal life without ever changing bodies again."
For the first time—
Orochimaru's expression wavered.