Hello all Storm here with a new chapter! Here we'll be seeing the team arriving at Sasori's hideout and getting several surprises when they get there, but also seeing it's more dangerous than they expected. So, without further ado.
I own nothing
Not long after Gaara gave Naruto, Temari, Kankurō and Chiyo the mission to head to and search Sasori's hideout, Yura had excused himself before heading to one of the more secluded training grounds. Looking around to ensure he was alone, Yura began going through handsigns.
"Magic Lantern Body Jutsu." Yura said before the holographic image of a hunchback figure soon appeared, while looking at Yura with narrowed eyes.
With this in truth being Sasori himself, though concealed within his Human Puppet, Hiruko, which he'd used as armor for his real body.
"What is it Yura?" Sasori demanded, wanting to know why his sleeper agent contacted him, while knowing it must involve himself, given how Sasori had made it so if any of his sleeper agents in Suna learned of anything that involved him, they were to contact him at the soonest opportunity.
"Sasori-sama, one of your hideouts has recently been discovered and a team has been sent out to investigate it. Consisting of Granny Chiyo, Temari-sama, Kankurō-sama and the Kyūbi Jinchūriki himself, who has been in Suna for several months now." Revealed Yura while bowing to Sasori, with the Missing-Nins interest being piqued at hearing the Kyūbi Jinchūriki was in Suna, along with one of his old hideouts.
"And which hideout was located?" Said Sasori, given that he had built dozens of hideouts in the Land of Wind alone, not counting all the ones he then built after going rogue.
"It's one that's located just south of the Demon Desert hidden near a large stone arch, Sasori-sama." Yura replied, with Sasori's eyes widening for a moment before they narrowed at this information.
"Interesting. I'll deal with it, return to your duties and contact me again if any new information comes up." Sasori said before ending the Jutsu, knowing if that particular hideout was discovered, he needed to get there before the team sent does in case they discover the secrets he left behind there.
Yura nodded in response, only to blink in confusion once the projection vanished, before looking at his surroundings.
'How did I get here?' Thought Yura, confused as to how he ended up in a training ground, before shaking his head and went to return to the Kazekage Tower.
*With the team*
Meanwhile, the team sent to the hideout were running through the desert, making their way to Sasori's hideout.
"So, who exactly is Sasori besides being some master puppeteer?" Naruto asked while looking at the others, remembering when he first arrived and Sasori was mentioned as the only Missing-Nin who'd potentially be a member of the Akatsuki.
"Sasori wasn't just a master puppeteer, he was considered a prodigy in the art. He made puppets unlike anything that anyone else had ever seen or built before, with his moniker being "Sasori of the Red Sands". He got it during the Third Shinobi World War due to the effectiveness of his puppets in spilling the enemies blood, turning the desert sands red. Not only that but he was capable of thinking of new ways to eliminate a puppet master's weaknesses in battle, like with Salamander acting as a shield for the user to hide in." Said Kankurō knowing that Sasori is one of the most dangerous Ninja that Suna ever produced
"But while Sasori was a skilled puppet master, he was also known to be rather closed off to the rest of Suna, only caring about making newer and stronger puppets. Along with having a disregard for human life, no offense Granny Chiyo." Temari added before looking at the elder, who merely let out a huff
"Don't bother dancing around the issues brat, I know what my grandson is like. Sasori is dangerous, there's no denying that, even I have to admit he'd changed after losing his parents only caring about his puppets." Said Chiyo with a hint of sadness, regretting not doing better in raising Sasori and turning him away from the path he walked
Still remembering the day she found out he turned his own friend Komushi into a human puppet after accidently ingesting poison from the prosthetic puppet limb her grandson made for him. And after that incident, Chiyo couldn't help but wonder if it had truly been an accident or if Sasori intended for it to happen to see if he could turn humans into puppets.
"One other thing you should know is that Sasori coated all his puppets weaponry in poison of his own creation, and not all the poisons are the same, some kill you quickly, others slowly, but they always kill anyone injected with them. And there are no antidotes, even Sasori would find it difficult to make antidotes to his poisons. So whatever you do, do not let yourself be cut by anything we find." Chiyo warned, making Naruto gulp at hearing how dangerous Sasori is
"He…definitely sounds like someone the Akatsuki would want to recruit." Stated Naruto knowing if Sasori was still around then the Akatsuki would want to have someone with his abilities joining them, especially if he's only gotten stronger and made more puppets
"Yeah, Gaara and the council have already discussed the possibility and they've begun reinforcing the villages defenses in case Sasori and whoever he's partnered with shows up." Temari said with a frown, knowing it'll be dangerous if Sasori did join the Akatsuki and share all the knowledge he has on Suna
With Chiyo frowning at the idea of her grandson joining a criminal organization like the Akatsuki, one that would be targeting the soon-to-be Godaime Kazekage. Though while she didn't want to think Sasori had fallen that far, she also couldn't deny the chance he did join and would be coming to capture Gaara.
It wasn't long before the team arrived at the stone arch that was supposed to be where Sasori's hideout was located. With them spotting the red scorpion emblem at the base of the arch, still being partially buried by the sand.
"So how do we get in?" Naruto asked, only to yelp when Chiyo smacked him on the head with two fingers.
"Learn some patients, brat! I'm thinking right now!" Said Chiyo before getting a closer look at the emblem and the way it was position, while brushing the remaining sand away to reveal it fully.
Narrowing her eyes, Chiyo looked at the stone arch before walking until she was standing at the very center of the arch.
"What's she doing?" Naruto asked quietly, confused at Chiyo's seemingly random behavior.
"Just wait, Granny Chiyo knows what she's doing." Replied Kankurō while crossing his arms, which only confused the Uzumaki more before looking back at the elder.
Only to be surprised, when Chiyo held out her arms before creating Chakra Threads, which shot out and attached themselves to either side of the arch. With Naruto seeing that five of the threads connected to the scorpion emblem, while guessing the other five must have attached to another emblem.
Watching as Chiyo moved her fingers around, the trio saw the emblem suddenly glow red before seals began appearing along the arch, going up to the top. With the same happening on the other side before they met in the center, revealing another scorpion emblem at the very top. The emblem releasing a red light down to the ground before the sand began shifting and moving as a hatch rose up from beneath the sand.
"What the hell?" Naruto muttered while looking at the hatch with wide eyes.
"Sasori did everything he could to make sure all his hideouts were safe and secure. Those emblems aren't just for show and to mark where they are, they're seals that only a puppet master can activate, needing to manipulate the Chakra Threads in a specific pattern to unlock the base. If even a single mistake is made, they'd be hit with hundreds of poison-laced senbon. If the senbon don't kill you, then the poison eventually will." Chiyo explained, having grown familiar with her grandson's tricks and traps to recognize them and their solutions.
"Now let's go! I'm not getting any younger wasting time standing around!" Said Chiyo before walking down the stairs beneath the hatch.
The team walked down the stairs until reaching a long corridor, with Chiyo taking the lead and having Naruto, Temari, and Kankurō walk several feet behind her while she located and disabled any traps. With it, thankfully, not taking long before they arrived at the hideout itself, only for them to see it covered in layers of dust.
Seeing it didn't look to be anything special, having several worktables scattered around littered with unfinished puppets, research notes, poison formulas, and weapon designs. With detailed diagrams of the human body hanging from the walls, showing internal organs, skeletons, muscle sinew, and covered with notes on the effects of different poisons and plants. And finally, there were dozens of unfinished puppets hanging from the ceiling and remaining suspended in the air.
"This is Sasori's hideout? It's…not really what I expected." Naruto stated, having expected more from everything he's learned about Sasori, but instead everything here looked pretty standard and what you'd expect from a puppet workshop.
"It's likely this is one of Sasori's older hideouts that he stopped using after going rogue. It'd explain why it's so dusty in here." Replied Temari while coughing when some dust got in her face.
"Even so, Sasori was never one to let anything he builds get this filthy, not wanting the puppets to get damages or malfunction with all the dust. And he'd always kept everything properly organized." Chiyo stated with a frown, knowing her grandson wouldn't let any place he worked in fall into such disarray.
As despite everything he's done, Sasori took his work very seriously and knew the dangers of a malfunctioning puppet or one that isn't correctly assembled. Not to mention, his notes on his poisons were always kept safe and secure where only he could get them.
"Either way, some of this stuff could still prove useful, so we should still seal up everything that we can bring back to Suna." Said Kankurō, wanting the chance to look over more of Sasori's works.
Naruto though looked around with a frown, feeling like they were missing something here, as he doubted that Sasori would have gone through the trouble of making such a security system for this place. Not unless there was more to it, and there was something much more important that he wanted to keep hidden away.
Before his attention turned to a large puppet diagram on the far wall, surrounded by numerous weapons and torture devices. Though what had Naruto's attention was the thin, barely noticeable, slit in the diagrams forehead. Walking up to it, Naruto saw that the slit seemed big enough for a blade to fit through it, with the Uzumaki looking to see a few of the puppets hanging from the ceiling that also had bladed weapons attached to them.
'Could one of them fit in here?' Naruto wondered before looking at the slit again, getting a good estimate for the size of it before he went over to the puppets to examine the ones with blades.
Checking all the blades to see which of them could fit into the slit, Naruto frowned when he saw all the blades were either too big or too small to fit. Looking back at the slit, the Uzumaki's frown turned thoughtful as he saw the position it was in before looking directly ahead of it. Finding himself looking at one of the worktables with a puppet arm laying on top of it.
Going over to it, Naruto picked the arm and looked it over, only to stop when he saw a narrow slit on the palm of the hand, one that looked to perfectly match the one on the wall. Turning back to the slit, Naruto went up to it before looking at the puppet arm.
'Let's see if this works.' Thought Naruto before putting the palm up to the slit until both of them were perfectly lined up.
Hearing the sound of a blade popping out of the arms, Naruto twisted the arm before quickly jumping back when the wall began shaking.
"What did you just do, boy?!" Chiyo demanded when she, Kankurō, and Temari noticed the shaking, before tensing at the chance that a trap might have just been set off.
Only for them to be surprised when the wall began lowering itself into the ground, revealing a hidden passageway that went deeper underground.
"I think I just found Sasori's real hideout." Naruto stated in surprise, having expected a hidden room, not an entirely hidden section.
"Holy shit. I wasn't expecting Sasori to actually have a decoy hideout." Kankurō said, surprised that this was really just another layer of protection for the real hideout further below.
"Meaning whatever's down there, he went through a lot of trouble to keep it safe and hidden away. Any idea what it could be Granny Chiyo?" Temari asked while looking at the elder, who could only frown and shake her head.
"Unfortunately, I haven't the faintest idea. I didn't think that Sasori would have gone through the trouble to build something like this. But you're right about one thing girly, whatever's down there, he must have wanted to ensure it couldn't be found by anyone. All of you stay back, I'll be going first as the traps here will likely be even more dangerous." Chiyo said, getting nods from the three before she headed down the passage, with Naruto, Temari and Kankurō once again staying several feet behind her.
It took them longer to get down the passage, as like Chiyo predicted, there were plenty of more traps. Some of which she even nearly missed. Luckily though, they were able to get through the passage without anything going wrong before they arrived at Sasori's real hideout while being shocked and amazed at what they found.
It was a much larger and spacious hideout, being circular in design and divided into different sections, each one looking to be dedicated to a single task. With one being filled with design, ideas and notes on different puppets; another being filled with parts, weapons and tools; a section that looked like a mini-greenhouse with several different plants, recipes and equipment to makes poisons; a fourth section, that looked to be a testing area with a few broken or damaged puppets. And the final area seemed to be just a simple research and work area, filled with different notes and papers along with a few puppets laying around it.
While at the very center was a large circular area with the Kanji for "scorpion" in blood red on it.
"…Damn." Temari muttered upon seeing that this was more along the lines of what they were expecting.
"This…this is more like my grandson." Stated Chiyo, knowing this was where Sasori really worked and built puppets, as opposed to the first workshop.
The team then began searching the hideout, now finding a lot more useful information here, including several abandoned/incomplete puppets, a list of potential recruits for a spy network that Sasori had been working on. Though what shocked them the most were a list of plans for Human Puppets, while seeing that Sasori had been making lists of different targets to turn into Human Puppets.
"Granny Chiyo, was Sasori really planning to turn people into Human Puppets?" Kankurō asked in disbelief and shock that anyone would turn human beings into puppets like that, while Chiyo looked over the lists with a grave expression.
"Yes, yes he was and he did. The first Human Puppet he ever made was from his only friend, a boy named Komushi, who acted as a messenger between me and Sasori. He had lost his arm during border patrol and Sasori gave him a prosthetic puppet limb as a replacement. But when he accidently ingested the poison in the arm, he died and Sasori turned him into his first Human Puppet. Though lately, I've been wondering if that really was an accident or if Sasori had intentionally killed his only friend to further his research on Human Puppets. And it seems he'd been planning to do this even when he was still in Suna." Explained Chiyo with a frown, much to the shock of the other three before they looked over the list.
Seeing Sasori had marked and dated all the people he wanted to turn into Human Puppets, listing their abilities, Kekkei Genkai if they had any, weapons he'd implement into their bodies once they were dead. With Naruto, Temari and Kankurō starting to feel sick at seeing how much thought and detail Sasori had put into his designs, not seeming to even care what he was doing to human beings
"Wait…what's this one?" Temari asked, stiffening when she spotted another design for a Human Puppet, the plan and list seemingly being dedicated to a single puppet and having more thought and planning put into it.
Naruto grabbed it and looked it over, only for him to see there was no name for who the person was, instead it was only the titled, "The Third". Before the Uzumaki's eyes widened at realizing just who this plan was for.
"No one knew what happened to the Sandaime Kazekage, and nobody ever found his corpse." Naruto stated, making Temari, Kankurō and Chiyo stiffen before the elder snatched the plans from the whiskered blonde and looked them over.
"Sasori…did you really fall so far?" Chiyo asked in shock and horror that her grandson was the one who caused the Sandaime Kazekage's disappearance, not only killing him but also turning his body into a Human Puppet.
"Damnit." Muttered Kankurō, not believing that Sasori was the one who killed the Sandaime Kazekage and turned him into a Human Puppet, remembering how when he was young and hearing about Sasori of the Red Sands, it's what inspired him to take up Kugutsu and want to become a master puppeteer.
This being before he learned that Sasori had gone rogue and became a Missing-Nin, but it still hit hard that he's the one who killed the strongest Kazekage.
But more than that, knowing that Sasori had access to the power of the Sandaime Kazekage through his puppet body, it showed them he was an even more dangerous threat than they originally thought.
"Hey, even if Sasori's the one who killed the Sandaime Kazekage and turned him into a Human Puppet, that doesn't mean we can't use this information. Everything that's here can be taken back to Suna to help improve the village, along with learning more about Sasori's tricks and other puppets he could have." Said Naruto while looking at Chiyo and Kankurō, seeing their expressions at this news, making both look at him before nodding.
"Yeah, we can at least use this for the good of the village." Kankurō stated since this stuff would help them better prepare, as well as improving Suna's puppeteers with the knowledge and designs of new and better puppets.
The group nodded at this before they began sealing up everything in the hideout, thankful they brought plenty of Storage Scrolls with them. Before Naruto went over to the research area, frowning as he looked over the notes left behind.
'They weren't kidding, Sasori really is a dangerous Ninja and a master puppeteer.' Thought Naruto upon seeing some of the notes were on a theory that Sasori had about the potential autonomous puppets, being able to act without the need of a puppeteer or Chakra Threads.
Along with finding scrapped notes on two puppets that he tried testing his theory on, only for them to prove to be failures. The Uzumaki looking around before spotting the two puppets that had been tossed to the side, almost hidden away before he went and picked them up.
Both of them looked to be young girls, with the first one looking like a regular puppet used in a show. She had shoulder length green hair, green eyes, and red bat-like wings coming from her back. While wearing a white bonnet, a black dress, a white shoulder cape, a green tie that matched her hair and eyes, and black slippers.
While the second looked to be life-size with her being a doll with pale skin, long black hair, and purple eyes. For her attire, she wore a light purple kimono with dark purple edging and red trimming, and a white robe underneath.
'Chachazero and Kuroe Ningyouhara.' Naruto thought, having seen their names on the notes, with Chachazero being a failed prototype and Kuroe apparently being a doll Sasori had gotten when he was a child.
"I'm surprised he even kept those." Chiyo stated, getting Naruto's attention to see her looking at the dolls.
"You know these?" Questioned Naruto, with the elder nodding.
"Yes. I had gotten Kuroe for Sasori after his parents died to help him become interested in Kugutsu and to help cheer him up by having a friend. While Chachazero, that was one of the first puppets he made himself. I didn't think he would have bothered keeping them." Replied Chiyo, surprising the Uzumaki as he looked at the two puppets.
"Um…if you don't mind, do you think I could take them?" Naruto asked, while also getting ideas for what to do with his own puppets, with Chiyo looking at him for a moment.
"…I suppose there's no harm if you take them. Better than leaving them to gather dust or be put away and forgotten." Chiyo said, not minding if Naruto took the two for himself.
Nodding in thanks, Naruto sealed both puppets along with the notes on autonomous puppets away, before helping the others seal away everything else.
After several moments, the team had finally sealed away everything in the hideout, before taking a few moments to check for any other hidden passages or rooms.
"I think that's everything here, and it doesn't look like there are anymore hidden rooms." Temari said after they checked the entire room, with the others nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, so let's get out of here and back to the village." Said Kankurō, eager to return so they can share what they've learned.
Unfortunately, just before they could even take a step towards the exit, the team tensed when a large metal door slammed down, trapping them. Before a large seal appeared on the door.
"Another trap?!" Naruto said, not expecting there to be another trap.
"It must've been on a timed seal! I should have known Sasori would have a failsafe like this!" Said Chiyo, cursing herself for thinking her grandson didn't have another trap in place.
The team then immediately turned around when they heard something moving behind them, only to suddenly be forced down on their hands and knees as they felt something pulling at their Chakra. Looking, they saw the central area had opened up, revealing a pedestal with a bloody, black cube sitting on it. With them soon seeing their Chakra was being absorbed into the cube, Naruto grunting as he felt the cube was even absorbing the Kyūbi's Chakra.
Though soon the cube stopped absorbing their Chakra, much to their confusion since they expected it to absorb all their Chakra. And while they felt their reserves drop, they felt they still had a decent amount of Chakra left.
"Did the trap fail?" Kankurō asked as they stood up, still tense and ready in case something happened.
"No, Sasori wouldn't make a trap that fails, that thing wasn't absorbing our Chakra to kill us, it was absorbing it to use it. Get back!" Chiyo said before jumping away from the cube, with the others doing so as well, with Temari grabbing her fan and Kankurō unsealed Crow and Black Ant, while Naruto unsealed Weaknessless Soaring Shortswords.
Not a moment later, the cube began glowing before rising into the air and began transforming, growing and changing into a humanoid form, making them think this was a special puppet Sasori made. Only for them to be surprised when the cube finished transforming, though not into a puppet, instead into a young girl.
The girl appeared to be twelve-years-old with pale skin, long light blue hair that went down to her thighs, and maroon colored eyes. With her attire consisting of brown slip-on shoes, thigh high black socks, a short, pleated maroon skirt with a white lining just above the bottom, a blue uniform jacket with gold button, folded white cuffs and collar with maroon lining, and a maroon tied with a white design.
For a moment the girl did nothing, before the group tensed when she suddenly started laughing psychotically with a crazed expression on her face.
"I have to do it. Yes, I will do it. I'll hear your screams of terror! How exciting!" The girl said with a mad grin on her face before summoning two black cubes in her hands.
"Mechanism 4: Pendulum!" Said the girl before one of the cubes suddenly released a chain of black cubes, which began transforming into a massive scythe blade attached to a long steel chain, which she then swung at the team.
Jumping back to avoid the blade, Kankurō moved Crow and Ant to attack the girl, shooting several senbon and kunai at her. Only for the girl to swing scythe's chain, deflecting them before aiming her second cube at the puppeteer.
"Mechanism 5: Skewer!" The girl said as the cube transformed into a long, slender, execution stake which launched right towards Kankurō.
"Wind Style: Wind Cutter Jutsu!" Shouted Temari, swinging her fan creating several blades of wind that sliced through the stake.
"Peacock Whirlwind!" Naruto said, swinging one of his swords at the girl, creating a powerful whirling gust of wind that knocked her across the hideout.
"Scream for me! Mechanism 8: Breaking Wheel!" Yelled the girl, transforming both her cubes into larges wheels with numerous short and thick spikes along the edges, which began spinning around the base towards the team.
With Kankurō jumping up and channeling Chakra to his feet to stick to the wall and avoid them, while Naruto and Temari suddenly found their bodies moving on their own. Looking, they saw Chakra Threads attached to their bodies, which lead back to Chiyo.
"Just let me keep you both from being cut to pieces, you brats handle the rest!" Said Chiyo, with both blondes nodding as they let the elder control their movements to dodge the wheels.
"Great Vacuum Cannon!" Said Naruto, aiming his swords at the girl before shooting small, powerful, near-invisible blasts of wind at her, managing to hit her a few times before the girls jumped away.
"Mechanism 12: Tornado of Souls!" The girl said, turning one of the wheels into a pillar with countless blades of varying lengths extended out, before it suddenly began spinning around at high speeds, with the team's eyes widening when it then began moving around as well.
Chiyo having to act fast to move Naruto and Temari to avoid the wheel and the pillar moving around, missing how the girl quickly moved behind her with a deranged grin.
"Granny Chiyo, behind you!" Kankurō said, quickly moving Ant towards the elder, opening the puppet up to grab Chiyo and get her away.
"Good idea! Mechanism 26: Iron Maiden!" Said the girl, transforming the wheel into a giant iron maiden with the walls lifting up to reveal a pole inside and portrays the image of an untainted girl.
With the girl sending the iron maiden after Kankurō, forcing him to jump away, only for the girl to laugh cruelly as she then moved the bladed pillar right where he was going to land. The puppeteer's eyes widening as he couldn't dodge before the blades ripped through his body, slicing him to pieces.
"HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE! One dead, three to kill!" The girl screamed wickedly at managing to kill of the Ninja, before the ground beneath her suddenly erupted as Salamander emerged and captured the girl.
"Black Secret Technique: Salamander!" Kankurō said while jumping down from the ceiling, as his "body" was revealed to be one of the unfinished puppets he grabbed from the decoy hideout.
Kankurō then had Black Ant release Chiyo before having Ant and Crow separate revealing the blades in the joints of their bodies.
"Here's an iron maiden for you!" Said Kankurō before maneuvering the pieces to stab into Salamander and impale the girl, knowing that'll kill or destroy her, since they weren't sure what she was exactly.
Only to tense when they heard the girl let out a deranged laugh, with Kankurō quickly reassembling Crow and Ant, just as Salamander burst into pieces with large and dangerously sharp drill on her arm.
"Mechanism 19: Human Perforator!" The girl shouted as she rushed towards the group to stab them with her drill.
"Wind Style: Great Wind Protective Wall!" Said Temari, swinging her fan to create a wall of wind, pushing the girl back, only for the girl to force her way past the wind before jumping at them.
"Rasengan!" Naruto said while forming a Rasengan and jumping towards the girl, slamming the Rasengan into her drill with the attack and weapon colliding together, the Uzumaki grunting as the girl started forcing him back.
"Mechanism 22: Morgenstern!" Said the girl as her other cube transformed into a gigantic iron club with a spiked spherical tip, which she then swung at Naruto, who had no time to dodge as he was sent crashing through a wall.
"Sickle Weasel Jutsu!" Temari shouted swinging her fan, creating currents of wind that collided with each other and forming a vortex around the girl that began cutting through her body, only for the girl to laugh madly.
"Mechanism 14: Cat's Paw!" The girl said, turning her drill into a long handle shaped like an animal's paw at the end with five sharp hooks.
The girl swung the hooks towards Temari, who raised her fan like a shield, only for the blades to tear through her fan, forcing her to jump back. With Kankurō taking the chance to move Black Ant behind the girl and wrap its arms around her, stabbing its serrated blades into her body.
"Let's see how you like being ripped apart and flooded with poison!" Said Kankurō before having Ant's blades viciously tear through the girl's body while moving Crow to fire the large, poisoned needles from its mouth at the girl.
With the girl merely continuing to laugh as her wounds suddenly began steaming as they healed themselves, much to the shock of the others at the sight.
"Mechanism 11: Teeth!" The girl said, transforming both her cubes into a long thick saw with densely packed triangular serrations along its edge, while she swung at Crow smashing the puppet in half.
"Mechanism 3: Guillotine!" Said the girl, transforming her cubes into a large Guillotine, with chains shooting out from it and grabbing hold of Temari, Kankurō and Chiyo.
"Let me hear your screams of agony!" The girl said with a deranged smile before the chains pulled the three towards the guillotine to cut them into pieces.
"Beast Wave Palm!"
Though before they could reach the guillotine, a red wave of Chakra rushed by and sliced through the chains freeing them, making the girls head snap towards where the wave came from. Only for her grin to grow even more crazed at seeing Naruto had recovered from being hit by her club her and is now glaring at her with red slitted eyes.
"Ehehehehehehehehe! Yes, let me hear more of your screams! Mechanism 20: Hatchet of Lingchi!" Said the girl, transforming her cubes into two long and broad executioner axes before charging towards Naruto.
"Beast Wave: Gale Palm!" Naruto shouted, condensing a large amount of Wind Chakra to form a massive red demonic-like claw, which rushed towards the girl as she swung her axes at it, only for them to be smacked away.
With the girl being grabbed by the claw before being pulled right towards Naruto, who slammed his fist into her face, sending her crashing into the door and blocking the exit. Though stunned by the blow for a moment, the girl soon got back up laughing wickedly.
"Mechanism 22: Morgenstern!" The girl said transforming her cube into her club, charging towards the whiskered blonde before jumping into the air
With Naruto using the Beast Wave: Gale Palm to grab her club, only for the girl to transform her other cube into her drill.
"Now scream for me! Mechanism 19: Human Perforator!" Shouted the girl, thrusting the drill towards Naruto to impale him.
"You want screaming so badly?! Then listen to your own, Razor Rasengan!" Naruto yelled while forming a Razor Rasengan, which was spinning at such high speeds and velocity that it was releasing a high pitched shriek, which he then slammed into the drill.
The two colliding against each other, but unlike before, the girl was surprised when the Razor Rasengan began breaking through her drill. Only to be shocked when her drill broke into pieces, before screaming in pain when the Razor Rasengan began tearing into her body. With Naruto giving a shout and final thrust, sending the girl crashing right through the door blocking the exit.
Waiting a few moments to see if the girl would get back up, Naruto relaxed and panted at seeing she was finally taken down. Unfortunately, the team didn't have time to rest and recover as the entire hideout began shaking.
"We need to get out of here!" Naruto shouted as the others nodding in agreement, with Kankurō taking a moment to seal away his damaged puppets before they headed for the exit to get out of the collapsing hideout.
Though Naruto paused for a moment to look at the girl, surprised to see she's actually still alive, before sighing and picking her up. Knowing he couldn't just leave her to be trapped and/or crushed.
With the team running as fast as they could, thankfully making it out of the hideout just as the entrance collapsed behind them.
"Well…no going back there." Kankurō said before sitting down, panting in exhaustion since they'd used most of their remaining Chakra in that fight.
"Naruto-kun, why did you grab her?" Temari asked while narrowing her eyes at the girl that Naruto was carrying, not liking that he saved her after trying to kill them.
"I couldn't just leave her in there. Besides, I doubt she's human, she's probably some kind of special puppet Sasori made. And if she's sentient, then maybe she can be questioned to find out more about herself and anything else that Sasori may have." Replied Naruto, though knowing that was just to get them to relax, since he really didn't want to just leave the girl there to die.
The fan user narrowed her eyes for a moment before letting out a "Tsk." and nodding in reluctance. Still not liking it, but admitting he had some good points.
Taking a few moments to rest and recover, the team soon began heading back to Suna, but not before Naruto tied up the girl and sealed away her Chakra, in case she woke up on the way back.
*Timeskip-One Day*
"Well isn't this disappointing Sasori my man, we travelled all the way here and it looks like we missed the party. And it looks like someone was showing off some great art, too!" Said Deidara in amusement and exasperation as he and Sasori stood outside the ruins of the latter's hideout.
"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Sasori muttered, pacing back and forth, angered at the destruction of his hideout along with having sensed the activation of his Timed Trap Seal for the torture cube.
Meaning they had managed to discover the real hideout hidden beneath the cover-up one, meaning that those vultures from Suna and that Jinchūriki brat stole his creations!
Sasori cursed Suna and the Kyūbi Jinchūriki for taking his creations, along with leaving the cube behind. Having intended to come back for it once he was able to create more like it. Not wanting to risk it being destroyed or damaged since it was a one of a kind. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, he'd never been able to recreate it, much to his annoyance.
That's not even counting all the research and information he'd left behind with the weapon. All of which was now gone!
"Should we try going after them?" Deidara asked while looking at the hunchback, who growled in annoyance, as while he'd like to go after the team, he knew it was too late.
"No, by now they have already reached Suna or are approaching it, and we are not ready to deal the entire village yet. So, we're leaving to report to Pein." Said Sasori, knowing with what they've taken from this base, capturing the Ichibi Jinchūriki will be all the more difficult.
With that, the Akatsuki members made their way out of the Land of Wind and to the nearest Akatsuki base in the Land of Rivers to report what's happened.
So, what did you think, good. Yep first we see Yura contacting Sasori and telling him about the hideout that was discovered and the team sent to investigate it, with Sasori immediately setting out to reach before them. Then we see the team heading towards the hideout with Naruto also learning more about Sasori and his abilities before they arrive with Chiyo opening the hideout and disabling all the traps. Though when they enter the hideout, it looks less than impressive but still having information that could prove useful, only for Naruto to discover a hidden passage leading into Sasori's true hideout where they find much more useful information, including how Sasori was responsible for the Sandaime Kazekage's disappearance and death. While Naruto finds notes on a theory Sasori made for autonomous puppets including two failed prototypes, Chachazero (from Negima) and Kuroe Ningyouhara (from CubexCursedxCurious or C3) which Chiyo lets him take with him. Though before they can leave a times trap is triggered, trapping them inside while a black cube is revealed and starts draining their Chakra before transforming into a young girl (Fear Kubrick from C3) who then proceeded to attack them, leading to a long battle that they're luckily able to survive and win with Naruto defeating the girl after using the Kyūbi's Chakra, before they have to escape the collapsing hideout, taking the girl with them as they do so before they head back to Suna. Finally we see Deidara and Sasori arrive at the destroyed hideout, with the puppet master being angered at the loss of his research notes and weapon, before they leave to report to Pein, knowing it's too late to go after the team. So, review if you liked go away if you didn't.
Storm out
