Chapter 104: Sasori of the Red Sand
As Nan deepened his mastery over fire's heat and lightning's voltage, he not only sharpened his control over both chakra natures but also learned to isolate these traits from their original elements.
With his newly forged kekkei genkai growing more stable, he attempted other combinations—such as fusing fire's heat with lightning's destructive force.
But the result was disappointing. The fusion was clumsy, difficult to control, and lacked power. It was, by all measures, a failure.
Nan had anticipated this possibility. Not every pairing would yield something useful. Some properties naturally harmonized; others simply canceled each other out, producing nothing but "dead attributes." That too was part of experimentation.
Fortunately, as he refined and discarded unwanted traits, something unexpected happened—his mental strain lessened.
The more he used his new nature, the more his brain adapted. Over time, it required less and less processing power. His mind was "learning" the transformation, and his reliance on the auxiliary brain of his Yakushi Kabuto vessel grew smaller.
Soon, Nan could activate Shaku Release entirely on his own, without the clone's support. This discovery relieved one of his greatest concerns—that if both bodies had to fight simultaneously, he'd be unable to use his kekkei genkai.
Now he was free to refine its potential further, tailoring it into battle-ready jutsu.
Of course, creating a jutsu from scratch was no small feat. Even a genius like Pakura had only ever perfected a single move—Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder.
But Nan had an edge: Shadow Clones. With dozens of minds running experiments in parallel, he could accelerate development beyond what a lone shinobi could dream of.
In the past, he capped himself at ten clones. More than that, and the backlash of returning memories risked frying his brain. But with Kabuto's second brain reinforcing his mental resilience, that limit had doubled. He could now safely handle twenty clones at once.
A new idea took root.
If Naruto had managed to incorporate every nature he acquired into his single trademark jutsu, the Rasengan, why couldn't Nan do the same?
Rasengan, with its extreme refinement of form, was the perfect vessel for elemental infusion. That was why Naruto could evolve it into Wind Release: Rasenshuriken—and later, countless elemental variations.
Nan could follow this path, solving a looming problem: as he developed more and more kekkei genkai, he wouldn't have the time to craft a unique jutsu for each. Instead, he could fuse them into Rasengan, one by one.
He recalled Naruto's original training steps—spinning water balloons, bursting rubber balls, balancing chakra inside balloons of air. For him, these would be trivial.
As for the source of the technique, there was no issue. By this time, Minato had already conceived Rasengan, inspired by the Tailed Beast Bomb, though he had yet to perfect it. Nan himself had seen the Beast Bomb up close—and with the Sharingan, he'd observed its structure even more clearly than Minato. It was only natural that he could perfect the technique ahead of its time.
Without hesitation, Nan stocked up on water balloons, rubber balls, and air balloons, and set to work.
Meanwhile, far from the village, another presence drew near.
A hunched figure crept low to the ground, its limbs scuttling across the dirt like an insect. Though tall in frame, its contorted posture made it appear smaller, almost grotesque.
This was no ordinary shinobi.
It was Sasori of the Red Sand, hidden within his puppet body, Hiruko.
Sasori had been operating in the Land of Water, where the unusual shinobi corpses he favored were plentiful. His obsession was always the same—harvesting shinobi with special powers to craft them into human puppets.
The Land of Water was a paradise for Sasori. No other nation boasted such a wide variety of kekkei genkai. For a collector of shinobi corpses, it was a treasure trove.
There, Sasori had already captured many bloodline users, adding several prized human puppets to his collection.
It was during his raid on one such clan that he first heard whispers of Uchiha Han.
The Uchiha had always intrigued him—especially their Sharingan—but they were not like minor clans that could be quietly exterminated. Creating a Uchiha puppet was not so simple.
Yes, Sasori could scavenge the corpses of Uchiha who fell on the battlefield. But a true human puppet required preparation while the target was still alive. Their chakra had to be preserved intact. A corpse, once dead for too long, was useless.
For that reason, Sasori had never attempted to capture a live Uchiha.
But now? With rumors spreading that Uchiha Han had defected from Konoha, he sensed an opening.
He had heard of the fabled Mangekyō Sharingan, too, and curiosity burned within him.
As for the legendary tales of its overwhelming power? Sasori wasn't particularly worried. His understanding of battle was still rooted in planning and tactics, not in the idea that one shinobi might wield overwhelming, godlike strength. That was a common blind spot among ninja of his era.
After all, he had captured countless bloodline shinobi before. Most of them had proven no stronger than ordinary ninja. With the right preparation, any opponent could be caught.
And Uchiha Han? To Sasori, he was little more than an obscure Konoha shinobi who'd stumbled into a feared kekkei genkai. His sudden fame must have been pure chance.
I've felled even the Kazekage, Sasori thought coldly. What can a boy barely into his prime possibly do against me?
Unaware of the true depths of the Mangekyō's power, Sasori set his sights on Han and began to plan his hunt.
First, intelligence.
Sasori's network of spies was his greatest weapon. Years ago, he had captured and brainwashed countless children, planting them as sleeper agents across the shinobi world. Using Memory-Concealing Manipulative Sand Technique, he sealed their memories, ensuring that even under interrogation they could not betray him.
If any of those children rose through the ranks of their villages, they would become invaluable informants.
It was thanks to these spies that he had once managed to capture the Third Kazekage alive—an achievement that shook the shinobi world.
Normally, infiltrating Konoha would have been nearly impossible. But fortune had smiled on him: one of the children he had trained in Sunagakure had been captured by Konoha.
That boy was none other than Yakushi Kabuto.
When Sasori learned of this through his agents, he was delighted.
Konoha, the greatest of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, had always been beyond his reach. But now, by sheer accident, one of his sleeper pawns had been adopted into its very heart.
An unplanned gift from fate.
Kabuto would be his eyes and ears inside the walls of Konoha.