Naruto: Sasuke Uchiha Returns from Soul Society

"Your self-righteous eyes and your brother's ridiculous arrogance will ultimately be reduced to ashes before my art, hmm."

He laughed wildly, savoring this hard-won victory.

However, just as he was laughing the most heartily, a calm voice slowly descended from above his head.

"So, when did you develop the illusion that you could defeat me?"

Deidara's laughter stopped abruptly, his expression froze completely, and a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. He looked up in horror.

The black-haired boy, who should have been reduced to ashes long ago, was standing leisurely above him, completely unharmed.

"No, impossible..."

Deidara's pupils contracted sharply, his voice trembling, "You...you were definitely caught by me...that explosion..."

Sasuke didn't explain much, and landed lightly not far from Deidara, casually draping "Takemikazuchi" over his shoulder with his left hand.

"Om-"

The Indra, which was stuck in the ground, gave a soft chime and flew back automatically, which he held in his right hand.

Sasuke hung the two swords back on his waist, slowly turned around, his back to Deidara, and spoke calmly.

"What you call art, whether it's the power of an explosion or your so-called scheme, is worthless to me."

Completely worthless

These four words shattered all of Deidara's pride.

"It's happening again..."

He watched the black figure recede into the distance, a final madness igniting in his eyes.

"It's always like this! You two brothers are always like this!!!"

Deidara let out a roar that was not human, and suddenly tore open the front of his clothes, revealing a strange mouth that was sewn together with black silk thread.

"You Uchiha people only know how to use those eyes to deny everything about others..."

He shoved the last of the clay into his mouth, which was pressed against his chest.

"In that case..."

Countless black lines, like living creatures, appeared on Deidara's body, spreading from the mouth on his chest to his entire body.

"Then let me show you my ultimate art!"

"drink--!!!"

He let out a final roar, the energy in his chest, which contained all his life and chakra, about to explode.

Just as the energy was about to reach its critical point—

Deidara only felt a blur before his eyes.

Immediately afterwards, he saw his own body from a third-person perspective for the first time.

She also saw the black-haired boy who had already turned his back to her and left, but had turned around at some point.

He held a light blue knife in his right hand, while his left hand held a still-beating black heart.

Sasuke casually crushed the heart and kicked the head off the ground, his face full of impatience.

"I don't know what to do."

Chapter 140 The Evil God, and a host of forgotten deities

Uchiha Sasuke stood on a broken stone bridge, casually wiping the clean blade of his Zanpakuto.

Soon, a slightly disheveled figure slowly emerged from the ruins on the other side.

It was Orochimaru.

His once neat robe now bore several jagged rips, and his body bore the marks of cuts from sharp weapons. Even his once smooth, long black hair now appeared somewhat disheveled.

"It seems you've finished on your end, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said weakly.

Sasuke didn't even look up, his voice flat: "And you?"

"Ugh......"

Upon hearing this, Orochimaru let out a long sigh. He walked to Sasuke's side, leaned against the broken bridge railing, and gave a bitter smile of lingering fear.

"Don't even mention it, Scorpions are too troublesome."

He raised his arm, pointed to the wounds on his body, and said with lingering fear, "His puppetry skills were unparalleled; he could command hundreds of puppets at once..."

"If I hadn't used a forbidden technique to save my life at the last minute, I probably would have died there today."

Orochimaru shook his head, his voice filled with apprehension.

Sasuke paused slightly as he wiped the blade, then looked up and calmly gazed at Orochimaru.

"is it?"

He could clearly sense that although Orochimaru's chakra was depleted, his aura was steady and long, and his soul fluctuations were completely undisturbed, making him seem nothing like someone who had just experienced a life-or-death battle.

"It seems that Sasori's strength is indeed above yours." Sasuke's voice was calm, as if stating a fact.

This sentence froze Orochimaru's wry smile.

He knew that his flawed performance just now would probably seem utterly ridiculous in front of Sasuke.

But he didn't care.

Orochimaru quickly regained his composure and looked back at Sasuke.

"It seems Deidara didn't quite satisfy you either."

Without much explanation, Sasuke sheathed Indra and prepared to leave the ruins.

The two walked silently across the ruins, one after the other.

"Where is Kabuto?"

Sasuke seemed to suddenly remember something and casually asked, "Are we just going to ignore him?"

"Him...?"

Orochimaru paused slightly, and the smile on his face became meaningful.

"He has his own things to do."

............

As Orochimaru said, Kabuto Yakushi did indeed have his own things to do.

At this moment, he stood quietly in the deepest part of the ruins of Wochao Village, on an open space that had been ravaged beyond recognition by the aftershocks of the battle.

Before him stood a handsome young man with striking red hair, manipulating something with chakra threads that shimmered with a ghostly blue light.

It is indeed the "Red Sand Scorpion".

But at this moment, he had already shed the bulky Scarlet Amber puppet.

What he was toying with in his hand was a head that still bore the mark of astonishment.

It's Deidara's.

“I’ve told you this many times, Deidara.”

Scorpion's voice was flat and emotionless, as if he were lecturing the head or talking to himself.

"Only what is eternal and unchanging is true art."

Kabuto listened quietly, his eyes behind his glasses twitching slightly the moment those words were spoken.

His gaze involuntarily fell on Scorpion's handsome face.

According to the information he possessed, Sasori's true age was far greater than the boy he appeared to be.

This means that after some experience, his face may not have changed at all for more than a decade.

Eternal...?

A subtle, unnoticed smile curved at the corner of Dou's lips.

Sasori, unaware of Kabuto's gaze, used chakra threads to reassemble Deidara's head and body, then skillfully took out a scroll from his robes and completely sealed Deidara's body away.

After doing all this, he slowly turned around and looked at the pocket in the shadows.

"How's the situation with Orochimaru?"

"It's business as usual."

Kabuto emerged from the shadows and bowed slightly respectfully. "He still has absolute trust in me and has not noticed anything unusual."

"very good."

Sasori nodded and put away the scroll that sealed Deidara. "Next, you will return to his side and monitor his every move."

He paused, his gaze fixed on the churning sea in the distance, his voice growing more somber.

"Especially... that Uchiha brat."

"Yes, Lord Sasori." Kabuto Yakushi bowed respectfully again, his figure quickly blending into the distant darkness and disappearing completely.

As he walked through the dense forest far from the ruins, Kabuto Yakushi's pace was neither hurried nor slow.

Lord Orochimaru... Lord Sasori...

He silently repeated the two names in his heart, a self-deprecating smile playing on his lips.

loyalty?

That kind of thing was too extravagant for him.

To Orochimaru, he was both a loyal assistant and a calm observer.

He admired Orochimaru's wisdom, but he also clearly saw Orochimaru's fatal weakness stemming from his obsession with immortality and Sasuke.

For Scorpion, it was a purer exchange of intelligence and cooperation for mutual benefit.

He used Akatsuki's resources to improve his intelligence network, and at the same time, he used Orochimaru's information to gain Sasori's trust.

He navigated between the two, carefully maintaining this dangerous yet delicate balance.