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Inside the rock cave, the air seemed to solidify. Two figures, one standing and one sitting, gazed at each other, time having etched vastly different marks upon them.
Sayo stood tall in the sparse natural light filtering in from the cave entrance. Nearly a year of continuous use of the Elementary Natural Energy Body Tempering Furnace had thoroughly washed away the traces of his early frailty and illness. His current height far surpassed his peers, his physique was well-proportioned and slender, with smooth, powerful muscle lines that were neither bulky nor weak. His skin had a healthy glow, with black hair and black eyes, and his gaze was calm yet sharp, containing immense confidence and restrained brilliance.
His transformation was a burst of life towards perfection and strength, a rebirth as if shedding his mortal coil. Anyone seeing him now would be unable to connect him with the scrawny, pale premature infant who was the last to extract chakra at the Ninja Academy years ago.
Meanwhile, Sasori, sitting opposite him, had moved to another extreme.
His fiery red hair was still striking, but it appeared somewhat disheveled, as if it hadn't been properly cared for in a long time, adding to his gloomy aura. His face eerily maintained the handsome features of his youth, even more refined, with smooth skin that lacked blood color, presenting an inhuman, porcelain-like texture. Most unsettling were his purple eyes, devoid of any ripples, like two perfectly set gems—cold, hollow, reflecting everything external but refracting no inner emotion.
He wore a long black robe embroidered with red clouds, its wide sleeves obscuring part of his body, but the right hand, exposed and slowly lowering a carving tool, was distinctly a precisely structured, articulated puppet prosthesis, gleaming with the cold light of inorganic metal.
But this was far from the most astonishing change.
Sayo's perception was far more acute than before; his perception of life force and energy forms had become exceptionally clear. He focused his senses on the 'Sasori' before him, and his heart sank abruptly. He could barely perceive the vibrant life force that should have been present!
Within that body, there was no surging vitality of blood, no warm life force field, and even his breathing was so faint it was almost stagnant. Instead, there was an extremely condensed, cold, yet overwhelmingly vast chakra core, located in the center of his chest, like a cold energy furnace slowly pulsating, driving this perfect shell.
Sayo understood instantly. Elder Chiyo's subtle worries, the terrifying speculation about the disappearance of the Third Kazekage, and this eerie state before him... Sasori had completed his "Regeneration Core"!
He had abandoned his fragile human body, transferring and sealing his core—including his brain, heart, and all chakra circulatory systems—into that self-made, eternal energy core. The one sitting before him now was not a ninja in a black robe at all, but a meticulously crafted Human Puppet, identical to Sasori's original appearance, driven by the core.
"It seems..." Sasori's cold, hoarse voice broke the suffocating silence once more. He slowly raised his puppet right hand, his five fingers flexing agilely, emitting a faint mechanical whir. "The Village's food is quite good. It's made you, this little mouse, look quite presentable."
His tone carried an inhuman indifference and a condescending scrutiny, as if evaluating an insignificant object.
Sayo suppressed the shock in his heart, trying to keep his voice steady: "Sasori-senpai, your changes... are even greater."
Sasori's lips seemed to curve ever so slightly, perhaps a mocking arc, but on that lifeless face, it appeared particularly eerie: "To pursue eternal art, one naturally needs to discard boring and perishable flesh. It seems you are still obsessed with this low-level, self-deceiving growth of life."
His gaze swept over Sayo's well-proportioned figure, as if looking at an imperfect semi-finished product.
Sayo ignored his mockery and took a step forward, looking directly into those cold purple eyes: "I didn't come here to discuss the merits of art. Sasori-senpai, the Village is in great difficulty now, the Kazekage-sama..."
"Shut up." Sasori's voice suddenly became sharp and cold. Mentioning the Kazekage seemed to touch a sensitive nerve, and the temperature of the surrounding air seemed to drop a few degrees. "That Village, that position... has nothing to do with me anymore. If you came to talk about these boring old matters, then you can leave now, before I decide to turn you into a new collection."
The atmosphere in the rock cave instantly became tense. Sayo looked at the familiar yet strange puppet body before him. After more than half a year apart, both had become unrecognizable. One embraced life and evolution, the other pursued coldness and eternity.
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