The Tenseigan started from the Hyuga main family.

Following Hinata's example, she hung the Konoha headband around her neck, then sprinted diagonally to the left, ensuring that she could maintain a sufficient distance from Kakuzu when they met, while still allowing him to see her face clearly at a glance.

If Kakuzu doesn't fall for it, then he can only use a few large-scale water jutsu to delay the pursuit, and then retreat when the opportunity arises. That would be doing justice to Zabuza and Haku.

Although the many items on Sasori's body are a huge treasure for Hyuga Sawatatsu, defeating Kakuzu and Sasori without revealing his identity is beyond Hyuga Sawatatsu's current capabilities.

With the training camp around, it's almost guaranteed that Hyuga Zetsu's potential will surpass that of the Sage of Six Paths, or even a pure Otsutsuki clan member. It's not worth taking too much risk for material possessions.

-----------------

Although neither Kakuzu nor Sasori are sensory-type ninjas, they could still see clearly when Hyuga Tsurugi's water clones ran past at high speed from a distance.

"The Byakugan, or the Byakugan of the Hyuga main family?"

Kakuzu, who had been casually glancing at the water clone, suddenly turned his head back and stared intently at the water clone, a glint of light flashing in his green eyes.

If you were to ask what the highest bounty on the black market is, the Byakugan of the Hyuga main clan would definitely be among them. Although the source of the bounty is unknown, everyone knows it must come from one of the four great ninja villages besides Konoha.

A single eye roll can fetch at least 500 million; there's no market for it!

The water clones in the distance noticed Kakuzu and Sasori almost simultaneously. They paused for a second, seemingly observing the two with their Byakugan, before immediately sprinting off in another direction like rabbits shot by arrows.

Their strength is no greater than that of a special Jonin, and they are still some distance away from being a true Jonin.

Based on the speed and the level of his Body Flicker Technique, Kakuzu had already roughly judged the opponent's strength.

"Scorpion, you go and hold off that mysterious guy. Give me five minutes, and I'll be right there to join forces with you!"

Kakuzu made his decision almost without hesitation.

A billion! How many black market missions would I have to complete to get that much? I absolutely cannot let those two glaring eyes get away!

Chapter 23 Puppet Master's Nemesis

"Fine, but all the corpses, including that Byakugan ninja, are mine as spoils of war!"

As an S-rank rogue ninja, Sasori had his own pride and didn't take Kakuzu's decision to pursue the Byakugan ninja to heart.

"You can have the body, but the white eye and the heart are mine!"

After dividing the spoils, Kakuzu hurriedly sped off towards his water clone, his movements so agile that he seemed nothing like a fossil of the ninja world from the same era as the First Hokage.

A minute later, the scorpion, which had been running at top speed, gradually slowed down.

The embers of the fire-style fire had not yet been completely extinguished. On the open ground not far away, Hyuga Zechen, shrouded in a black robe, stood quietly in place, with the completely shattered Earth Grudge Fear: Fire Style Mask beneath his feet.

"You're the ninja who possesses space-time ninjutsu?"

An aged voice came from Hiruko, suppressing the excitement in Scorpion's heart.

"That's right, it's me. What, the infamous Sasori of the Red Sand is also interested in space-time ninjutsu?"

Hinata Zechen nodded slightly, his Tenseigan emitting a dazzling pale blue light, revealing everything, from every poisonous needle and thorn within Hiruko to the puppet body hidden within, and the chakra threads that ordinary people could not perceive.

Under the scrutiny of the Reincarnation Eye, no secret of the puppeteer can be hidden. As long as one is careful not to be touched by poisoned hidden weapons, saying it's a sure thing would be an understatement.

We must strive to acquire all of Sasori's treasures.

“Excellent, it seems that another perfect work of art will soon be added to my collection.”

The aged voice clearly carried a hint of excitement, and with a whoosh, he took off the Akatsuki organization trench coat covering his body, revealing Hiruko's appearance.

Excellent, the Akatsuki's "if they take off their clothes, they'll die" rule applies, and our chances of winning have increased once again.

The Hiruko puppet was on all fours, lying on the ground like a real scorpion. The front of its left arm had been transformed into a huge mechanical arm, with the fingers replaced by copper tubes. The forearm had several semi-protruding closed round holes, clearly representing two different mechanical devices.

The most eye-catching feature is the huge demonic face behind Fei Liu Hu, with a long, slender scorpion tail made of fine steel extending from its open mouth. Both sides and the tip of the tail shimmer with a purple hue in the sunlight, clearly indicating that it has been coated with a deadly poison.

Do you know how my collection is made?

The scorpion's tail, gleaming with a cold light, swayed from side to side, as if a venomous scorpion was about to launch its hunt.

"First, remove the internal organs, then peel off the skin to clean the blood, perform preservation treatment, and add various mechanisms and devices, and a puppet collectible is completed."

As the sound of the mechanism turning rang out, the head of the Hiryu Amber puppet slightly rose, as if Sasori inside was observing Hinata Sawa's reaction.

“For a typical collectible, the entire process would only take about a day. But for you, I will need at least three times the time to complete a timeless work of art, making you my 284th collection!”

At this point, the long scorpion tail stood straight up, instantly attracting Hyuga Zechen's attention. Then, the black cloth covering Hiruko's mouth fell off, and poisonous needles and stingers spewed out from her open mouth. The speed was incredible, and she arrived in front of Hyuga Zechen in an instant.

Hiruko: Needle Eight Waves!

Amidst a flash of cold light, countless poisonous needles and thorns pierced through the spot where Hyuga Zechen was, yet not a drop of blood was spilled; clearly, they had only pierced through an afterimage left in place.

"Did you dodge them all?"

It was originally just a probing attack, so it was expected that it would miss. Therefore, Sasori immediately re-locked on Hyuga Zechen's position, and the entire left front device spewed out turbulent airflow, attacking Hyuga Zechen again like a cannonball.

Hiruko Prosthetic Hand Senbon

Just as the machine gun fired, Hyuga Zechen seemed to sense something, unleashing chakra from his feet and using the Body Flicker Technique to change his position once more. However, the front device, like a cannonball with trajectory correction, followed closely behind Hyuga Zechen's path, and then, amidst violent shaking, ejected small wooden cylinders.

"Die!"

At Scorpion's stern shout, the small cylinder automatically split open to the left and right, from which poisonous needles shot out, seemingly scattering in all directions in a chaotic manner, leaving Hinata Zechen no room to dodge.

Unlike the eight needle waves that can only be fired forward, the prosthetic senbon uses the internal design of the cylinder to fire the concentrated poison needles like shotguns, which is a wide-range attack covering an area of ​​more than ten meters. As long as any one of the senbon pierces the skin, the toxin can seep into the body, leaving it at the mercy of the scorpion.

No wonder puppeteers are the hallmark of Sunagakure; they truly have something special about them.

Seeing that there was no way to avoid it, Hinata Zetsu's Tenseigan eyes shone brightly, and a spatial passage opened, enveloping and swallowing Hinata Zetsu.

"It really is a space-time ninjutsu..."

Witnessing everything before his eyes made Scorpion, who was hiding in Hiruko, extremely excited. He then keenly sensed that there was another figure behind Hiruko.

Will he directly use space-time ninjutsu to get behind them and prepare to launch a counterattack?

The scorpion instantly realized its current predicament, and its long scorpion tail straightened instantly, stabbing down towards the figure that suddenly appeared behind it.

Hiruko was originally a human puppet that combined offense and defense; even if she were hit head-on by an A-rank ninjutsu, it would be difficult to cause much damage. Therefore, Sasori not only did not try to dodge, but directly used this seemingly mutually destructive fighting style.

Even if Hiruko is destroyed by the opponent, as long as her main body is safe and sound, it is acceptable to Sasori.

The Hidden Amber Puppet was a creation Sasori had completed before his defection from Sunagakure. Although it underwent several improvements, it was no longer considered the strongest among Sasori's many collections. Trading it for a human puppet capable of using space-time ninjutsu would be an absolute steal.

What is he doing?

To Sasori's surprise, Hyuga Zetsu behind him did not use taijutsu or ninjutsu to break through Hiruko's defense. He simply pressed his palm against Hiruko's body, ignoring the scorpion tail that was stabbing down.

Just as the scorpion's tail was about to pierce the black robe and strike Hyuga Sawa, Scorpion instantly sensed something was wrong.

The Hiruko puppet, which had been under Sasori's complete control just moments before, was now motionless, completely out of Sasori's grasp.

Was he also a puppeteer?

He used puppetry to create chakra threads, which wrapped around Hiruko's body, trying to break free from the control of this human puppet.

I've really been underestimated!

Scorpion's ten fingers inside Hiruko moved back and forth at a dazzling speed, gushing out streams of chakra in an attempt to regain control of Hiruko.

However, the puppet remained completely still throughout, unable to even open its mouth in the simplest way.

No, he's not a puppeteer!

Realizing this, Scorpion felt the danger was imminent and no longer cared about hiding his true form. A figure shrouded in black robes broke through the Scarlet Amber from within and flashed to a distance of more than ten feet.

Unfortunately, Sasori reacted quickly; otherwise, the spiritual power bestowed by the Tenseigan could have spread through Hiruko to Sasori's puppet body.

Hinata Zechen couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.

They were so close to succeeding.

Chapter 24 Seizing the Wind Shadow Puppet

Having successfully escaped from Hiruko, Sasori of the Red Sand stood slightly to the side in the distance, his five fingers forming claws and constantly hooking, as strands of chakra continuously gushed out and wrapped around Hiruko's body.

Higashira Tsurugi, hidden beneath a black robe, smiled and didn't rush to make a move, letting Sasori try.

The entire body of Hiruko, inside and out, was now imbued with the chakra of the Tenseigan, giving this human puppet a new life. As long as the Tenseigan's chakra continued to flow, the puppet's power would never cease. Even if torn apart by an enemy, it could gradually repair itself with the support of the Tenseigan's chakra.

Otsutsuki Toneri nearly managed to encircle and kill Hyuga Hiashi using only a few simple, ordinary puppets. If it had been Sasori's meticulously crafted human puppets, Hyuga Zetsu could already imagine the terrifying power an army of puppets could unleash.

Sasori was able to destroy a small ninja country using only his Red Secret Technique: Hundred Puppet Manipulation. If he were to control it with the Tenseigan chakra, wouldn't he be able to rival the Five Great Ninja Villages?

Of course, this beautiful vision can only remain a fantasy for now. At the same time, controlling such a large puppet army consumes a huge amount of Tenseigan chakra, which is far beyond what Hyuga Zetsuka can currently afford.

How did you do that?

Upon discovering that Hiruko had remained completely still, Sasori quickly gave up his futile attempt, slowly turned around, and spoke with a tone full of bewilderment.

As the grandson of Granny Chiyo of Sunagakure, Sasori of the Red Sand showed unparalleled talent as a puppeteer from a young age, surpassing Chiyo and becoming the number one puppeteer in Sunagakure at a young age.

However, this was the first time he had encountered a situation where he couldn't control a puppet using chakra threads. Therefore, at this moment, Sasori's interest in Hyuga Sawatatsu's ability had surpassed that in space-time ninjutsu.

"This human puppet is quite good; it will belong to me from now on."

Hinata Zechen naturally had no obligation to answer Sasori's questions. With a thought, a faint green light appeared on the entire surface of Hiruko's body, including the fragments scattered on the ground, and the severed head also slowly rose under the green light. After the mouth opened and closed meaninglessly a few times, it merged back into Hiruko with a cracking sound.

"It seems that the title of the number one puppeteer in the ninja world will change hands from now on."

Hinata Sawatatsu naturally knew how to provoke Sasori, so he spoke in a flippant tone.

“I admit, you did anger me.”

He grabbed the black robe covering his body, ripped it off forcefully, and threw it aside, revealing a handsome red-haired boy dressed in Akatsuki attire.

If it weren't for the Tenseigan's ability to see through appearances, no one would be able to connect the lifelike boy in front of them with a human puppet.

"You will soon find out that angering me will be the most regrettable thing you do for the rest of your life."

A scroll slipped from his sleeve and was caught by Scorpion's clasped fingers. It then slowly unfurled, revealing a large "three".

"This is a treasured item that I painstakingly created after killing him with great difficulty, and it is my favorite collectible."

As the edge of the scroll emitted a dark purple light, a large amount of white smoke billowed out from the scroll, and a tall puppet with a topknot, pale yellow eyes, and wearing a yellow robe appeared in front of Scorpion.

"The Third Kazekage, who was hailed as the strongest, has been turned into a human puppet by you. I really want to hang him at the entrance of the One-Line Gorge in your Sand Village so that all the Sand Village ninja can see him."

Looking at the Third Kazekage puppet, its hands hanging down as it slowly floated up, making a crackling sound with every movement, Hyuga Zechen couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, you'll soon experience the power of this timeless work of art."

As Sasori made a pulling motion, the Third Kazekage puppet, floating in mid-air, slightly spread its arms and its entire body shot towards Hyuga Sawa in a diving posture. Then, it swung its right arm outward, and four short blades glowing with purple light and a giant blade with a design even more exaggerated than the Executioner's Blade emerged from its sleeve, slashing forward with unstoppable momentum.