Chapter 276: Mechanical Ascension
Li Yao's Wind Release clone observed for half an hour and had basically grasped the structure of the new puppet sealing technique, but his expression had darkened considerably.
"So in other words, to create a true Puppet Core of one's own, the prerequisite is the ability to perceive natural energy!"
Li Yao's Wind Release clone looked at Sasori with an unpleasant expression.
The puppet sealing technique itself was fine—no issue there.
But to create a Puppet Core, it actually required the person providing the chakra catalyst to have the ability to perceive and absorb natural energy.
Was this some kind of joke?
If he already had the ability to perceive and absorb natural energy, why would he need a Puppet Core at all? His original goal was to use the Puppet Core to perceive and control natural energy.
But now it turned out he had to first be able to sense natural energy to even get started.
"Sorry about that, Lord Kazekage."
Sasori gave a sheepish smile. He knew his own Puppet Core design was a bit of a shortcut, but there was no other way. He explained, "The core of the puppet sealing technique is absorbing natural energy and converting it into chakra. The key lies in the absorption of natural energy.
"Tailed Beasts can absorb natural energy, so their chakra can serve as a catalyst.
"For human chakra to be used as the catalyst for the Puppet Core to absorb natural energy, the person has to be able to perceive and absorb natural energy themselves."
"So you can perceive natural energy?" Li Yao's Wind Release clone asked, surprised. "How did you do it?"
There were very few people in the ninja world who could perceive natural energy. Naruto and Jiraiya were only able to do it with the help of the toad oil from Mount Myoboku, and that was within the energy-rich environment of the mountain.
Among other shinobi, those who could sense natural energy on their own were almost nonexistent—Li Yao could only recall that one of Orochimaru's future subordinates had that kind of innate talent.
In the original story, Sasori certainly didn't have the talent to perceive and absorb natural energy.
"I felt it naturally during my research on Tailed Beast souls," Sasori said, a little embarrassed.
Li Yao's Wind Release clone fell silent. So it came down to innate talent.
Li Yao's main body had also tried to simulate the soul signature of a Tailed Beast, even replicating their chakra, but he never managed to perceive natural energy.
Yet Sasori had done it just by studying Shukaku's soul.
It seemed that if his main body wanted to perceive and control natural energy, he'd need to come into contact with senjutsu chakra to see if it could trigger the perception of natural energy.
So thought Li Yao's Wind Release clone.
"Lord Kazekage, I'm preparing for full puppetification," Sasori said. "You can watch from the side—perhaps it will help you perceive natural energy."
This was the great gift Sasori wanted to give to Li Yao's Wind Release clone: allowing him to personally witness the process of abandoning the flesh and achieving mechanical ascension. It would surely deepen his understanding of the puppet sealing technique.
He might even come to perceive natural energy from it.
Hearing this, Li Yao's Wind Release clone's eyes lit up. He was thinking the same thing and urged immediately, "Great, start right away."
"This way, my lord. Follow me," Sasori said, taking the lead.
"Madman!" Ye Yi, who had listened to the entire conversation, now had a new opinion of Sasori. To give up the human body and become a puppet—pure madness.
She followed beside Li Yao's Wind Release clone and tugged quietly at her man's hand, speaking in a worried whisper, "My lord, you're not thinking of turning yourself into a puppet too, are you?"
"Please don't… Xiao Cang and I haven't even served you together yet."
Ye Yi was frightened, even going so far as to tempt him with the promise of sharing him with her sister to stop any thoughts of puppetification.
Just the idea of Li Yao's Wind Release clone turning into a puppet—cold, hard iron and wood, no warmth or give—made her skin crawl.
She didn't want to ride a giant tin puppet for playtime at night.
"What are you thinking?"
Li Yao's Wind Release clone grabbed a handful of his secretary-wife's plump, perky butt and laughed. "With beauties like you and Xiao Cang, why would I abandon my human body?"
Even though Li Yao now mainly existed as a soul and had no strong attachment to the flesh, he still thought like a man.
He'd never switch to a woman's body like Orochimaru did—turning from Uncle Snake to Aunt Snake.
He'd only ever switch to male bodies. And only human ones.
As for puppet bodies… maybe his clone could give it a try, thought Li Yao's Wind Release clone.
But his main body? No way. He feared losing the joy of being human.
"That's a relief!"
Ye Yi let out a breath and swayed her full hips, making her touch feel even softer to him. Still, she wasn't completely reassured. Her eyes flickered, and suddenly she smiled sweetly. "My lord… I have an aunt… she's really beautiful, even prettier than me. How about… introducing you two?"
Such a blessing!
Li Yao's Wind Release clone's eyes lit up, turning to his secretary-wife. A wife like this—what more could a man want?
"If it'll ease your mind, then sure, call your aunt over," he said with a slight smile. Of course he would accept her generous offer.
"Don't worry, my lord—my aunt is one of your admirers. She'll definitely be willing," Ye Yi said happily.
Not just happy that her aunt would become her man's woman too, but also thrilled that Li Yao's Wind Release clone had given up the idea of turning his body into a puppet.
After all, someone who puppetified their body wouldn't crave the pleasures of women. But Li Yao's Wind Release clone clearly did—which meant he wouldn't abandon his human flesh.
"My lord, flesh is weak, life is short. Only mechanical ascension is eternal," Sasori said from the front, overhearing Ye Yi's seductive talk and unable to hold back.
To him, things like women and beauty were just dust after a hundred years. Only eternal art was truly captivating and intoxicating.
A man as great as the Fourth Kazekage should abandon weak flesh and pursue mechanical ascension with him—become an eternal puppet lifeform and chase the ultimate form of art together.
"Shut up."
Sasori's words were like stepping on a Persian cat's tail—Ye Yi glared at him with wide, furious eyes, on the verge of exploding. Her gaze alone could cut someone to ribbons.
Sasori instinctively shrank back a little.
Women were terrifying. Even with his puppet body, he could feel a chill down his spine.
Li Yao's Wind Release clone chuckled. The three of them soon arrived in front of a secret chamber. Sasori pushed open the door and entered. This was where he would abandon his flesh and become an eternal puppet being.
The space wasn't large, and it was arranged like the hall outside.
Mechanical arms hung from the ceiling, only much more delicate.
The most eye-catching thing was the humanoid puppet in the center. At first glance, Li Yao's Wind Release clone thought Iron Man had crossed over into this world.
Aside from the color scheme, it looked exactly like the Mark III Iron Man suit.
The only difference was the circular hole in the center of the chest—Iron Man had an energy core there, but Sasori was probably going to install his heart.
Still, if all he did was install his heart into a puppet body, that wouldn't count as mechanical ascension—just cyberpunk-level prosthetics.
The three of them stood before the humanoid puppet as Sasori introduced, "This is the body I've prepared for myself."
As he spoke, Sasori willed his chakra threads to retract, and the massive Puppet Core in the hall sent out countless chakra threads that connected to the mechanical arms on the ceiling, including those in the secret chamber.
Under Sasori's control, the mechanical arms disassembled the humanoid puppet, revealing a body inside that looked nothing like a puppet on the outside.
It was a life-sized replica of Sasori's own body.
To Li Yao's Wind Release clone's chakra senses, a faint chakra flow was circulating through tiny vein-like channels inside the body.
Acupuncture points.
The dantian.
Those invisible yet real energy-storage zones of the human body were all fully represented on this body—like a network of visible veins and organs.
If it weren't for the clearly mechanical components lining the circular hole in the chest, no one would believe this was a hyper-detailed humanoid puppet.
This was Sasori's bionic puppet body.
"Lord Kazekage,"
Sasori turned and explained, "There are two main difficulties in abandoning flesh and becoming an eternal puppet lifeform."
"One: chakra replenishment."
"Two: a vessel to preserve the soul."
Sasori said, "Chakra replenishment has been solved through the Puppet Core. For soul preservation, I based it on the technique used by the Third Kazekage's puppet clone and improved it to create my own soul-replication method."
"Next, please watch carefully, my lord."
(END CHAPTER)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Kira1997