Chapter 8 – Dance, Gedo Statue!
After his brief moment of surprise, Moze simply shrugged.
"Fine. If I'm a traitor, then I'm a traitor."
Accuse Sasori of being the real traitor, the one who assassinated the Third Kazekage?
Would anyone believe him?
Forget the fact that a mere shopkeeper like him shouldn't even know secrets that involve the village's highest echelons—just his sudden surge in power and these unheard-of "puppets" would be enough to make him look guilty beyond question. They'd drag him off as a spy and torture him before he could even get a word in.
Explain himself? Useless.
And who exactly was Sasori?
The legitimate, straight-as-an-arrow grandson of Elder Chiyo, a man whose grandmother could shake the entire Sand Village with a single stomp.
Even if the ANBU found the damage on Sasori and his salamander puppet suspicious—even if they wondered why he was here—under these circumstances, they'd follow orders first and take down the "suspicious outsider" without hesitation.
A mere shopkeeper versus a member of the ninja trinity? Not much of a contest.
Moze's mind raced.
Truth be told, he had never planned to stay in this barren, unwelcoming Sand Village for long.
The unexpected boon of the "Power of the Rat" had altered his immediate plans, but the ultimate goal—leaving this place—remained unchanged.
So why waste breath?
Still, there's a difference between leaving with swagger and slinking away branded as a "rogue ninja" and "spy."
He glanced down at the half-unsealed scroll in his hands—the one holding his painstakingly crafted masterpiece, intended as a grand "surprise" for Sasori.
His fingers paused. In one smooth motion, he rolled the scroll back up and tucked it away with care.
Then, as if casting off some burden, he pulled out a different sealing scroll from his robe. This time, there was a faint, wicked smile on his face.
If he was going to leave, he might as well leave a "parting gift." Stir the pot. Make the Sand Village choke on it.
"If you're going to be a rogue ninja, you should at least act the part. Let's make some headlines… Yes. You'll do nicely."
Moze murmured to himself, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.
The ominous feeling in Sasori's chest flared into full-blown alarm. His words came out sharper, faster than intended:
"Stop him! Don't let him open that scroll!"
He didn't know what was sealed inside, but every battle-honed instinct screamed at him that it must not be released.
The masked ANBU didn't need telling twice. Trained to be the village's shadow, they moved instantly.
Two blurred forward in unison, kunai flashing toward Moze's vital points. The other two's hands blurred through seals before they called out,
"Wind Release – Vacuum Bullets!"
Invisible air projectiles shrieked toward him, cutting off every possible escape route.
"That's it?" Moze scoffed, slipping between the attacks with the ease of a ghost.
To him, they moved in slow motion.
When one ANBU closed in with a thrust toward his face, Moze didn't even bother to look. His right leg snapped out like a steel whip, striking with a dull thud.
The ANBU crumpled instantly, chest caved in, his body sent tumbling across the sand like a broken kite before hitting the ground with a sickening thud. It was unclear if he would ever get up again.
It had happened so fast that the others hadn't even registered it.
And by then, Moze had already torn open the scroll in his hand.
Riiip!
In the next instant, an overwhelming wave of unnatural, cold, suffocating chakra burst forth like a dam collapsing.
From the torn scroll, pitch-black smoke erupted skyward, swallowing the light around them. Even the sand beneath their feet groaned and trembled as if buckling under its weight.
The air itself thickened with the stench of rot and decay.
The smoke rolled and churned, and within it loomed a towering, distorted silhouette—its very presence weighed heavy on the air. Slowly, it began to take form.
When the haze thinned, the full horror revealed itself.
It stood nearly ten meters tall, a grotesque statue of lifeless gray-brown stone. Its withered, jagged torso was covered in deep cracks, mottled with patches that looked like ancient moss.
Its head was a warped skull, eye sockets sunken into shadow, and a gaping mouth split to the ears, lined with razor-like fangs.
An exposed spine, protruding ribs, and clawed, elongated fingers marked it as something far from human. From its back sprouted twisted, tree-like growths, and its entire frame was bound in corroded iron chains. Tattered sealing tags clung to the links, their ink faded, their power long gone.
From it radiated an indescribable stench of decay—something alien, malignant, and crushing, as if the weight of a mountain bore down on all who beheld it.
It could be nothing else—
The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. (Miniature edition.)
Moze's voice rang out, loud and commanding:
"Dance for me… Gedo Statue!"
Freed from Moze's restraint, the statue's withered surface shuddered. Cracks deepened along its body, sending showers of grit and dust raining to the ground.
A ring of strange, concentric eyes snapped open—Rinnegan—each one hollow and cold as they swept across the world.
The statue's jaw unhinged, and it gave its first cry upon entering this plane.
"ROOOAAR!"
The sound struck like a physical force, mingling with its aura of rot and corruption, rattling buildings and sending clouds of sand spiraling into the air.
"Goodbye, Sunagakure," Moze called, grinning with wicked satisfaction. "Sasori—like my gift? Be sure to say hello to Lord Kazekage for me!"
His form flickered, blurring like a wraith melting into shadow. In truth, stealth had never been his specialty—
But right now, he didn't need to be. This monstrous colossus was the perfect distraction.
It was easy to imagine how long it would take the village to rebuild after this. Add in the chaos from the Third Kazekage's disappearance, and they'd have no time to send hunting parties after one "missing-nin."
If not now, when?
"Stop him!" barked one of the ANBU, though the order sounded desperate in the rising chaos.
The Gedo Statue loomed before them, its gray-brown surface glimmering faintly with a malign light. Every movement made the ground quake.
Its chakra radiated outward, saturating the air with raw, oppressive force, sealing off any path of pursuit.
To reach Moze, they'd first have to get through this monstrosity—and that was well beyond the ability of a few ANBU.
Moze vaulted from shadow to shadow, rooftops flashing beneath his feet. In seconds, his figure vanished around the corner, leaving behind only the towering statue… and the havoc it was about to unleash.