The deserts of the Land of Wind were as lethal as they were vast, with only few places in which a traveler could rest, eat and drink. The Third Kazekage of Sunagakure was in one such place, alongside two of his elite bodyguards. The Kage, a tall man with dark blue hair and yellow eyes said to his men:

"Finish eating quickly. I want to catch the terrorists before they could hit another village."

One of the guards, a young man with black hair and blue eyes said:

"Sandaime-sama, have you noticed something strange?"

"What is it, Yuko?"

"First, those guys attacked the Desert Fish Village, which is understandable. It's a major breadbasket for the Land of Wind but then, they attacked the Shrine Gate? There are only buried monks there. Then, they travelled west and attacked the Black Stone village when they could have easily go ten kilometers west from there and take the steelworks. It's weird, almost illogical."

The other bodyguard, an elderly man with green hair said:

"I noticed that too but maybe they stole the corpses of the monks buried at the Shrine Gate to take their jutsu or something."

The Kazekage said:

"No. The Wind Temple said that none of the graves were opened. Whoever attacked the village killed only the villagers."

Yuko sighed and said:

"What kind of monsters could do something like this, Sandaime-sama?"

"The kind we will terminate tonight. Come on."

After the three ate, they left the inn, starting to run through the desert towards the eastern side of the Land of Wind, to where the Kazekage believed the next attack would take place. It was a pattern. The terrorists would lead them somewhere. And that somewhere was the Sandy Shore village, thirty kilometers east from the inn. Sandy Shore was a small village on the western shore of the only river flowing through the deserts of the Land of Wind. A place inhabited by only a thousand people, it was the only place in the world where a unique kind of purple dye could be found, extracted by the villagers from the glands of a special fish. That dye made the village pretty famous on the continent. The Kazekage and his men reached the outskirts of Sandy Shore. The moon was illuminating their way towards the village's gates as the three men approached it. Suddenly, the green haired man screamed. The Kazekage and Yuko turned their heads and noticed he was down with a kunai in his back.

"Damn it, where did that come from?"

"I heard nothing, Sandaime-sama!"

"Moki was our top sensor and he was taken down just like that? What the hell…"

Before Yuko could say something else, he screamed too and fell, a kunai stuck in his back too.

"Yuko! Damn it! Reveal yourself, coward!"

A hunchbacked man approached the Kazekage. He was wearing a black cloak and a mask on his deformed face. The Kage said:

"Hiruko? But… you died long ago. No… it can't be you?"

The man spoke, addressing the Kazekage with a gruff voice:

"It's been a long time, Sandaime-sama. It took you a while to reach me."

"I don't know what kind of trickery is this but if you are behind those attacks, I will not have mercy! I will kill you!"

"Heh… It would be quite the fight, you know? But… such an opponent like yourself deserve more than fighting this shell…"

Saying this, the hunchbacked man fell on his belly, revealing a large carapace on his back. The carapace opened and a young man with red hair, dressed in Sunagakure's shinobi uniform left Hiruko. The Kazekage said:

"Sasori… I should have known. For a moment, I thought that was truly my old friend, Hiruko but… it's you."

"I am very glad to see you, Sandaime-sama. Ten years. It's been ten years since we last saw each other."

"You mad boy! You have the arrogance to come back to your country and kill your own people!"

"They are not my people, Sandaime. I feel nothing for them. Not a single worthy one among them. But at least they helped me in the end."

"They helped you? How?"

"Heh… they gave me you."

"Damn you… you killed them so you can draw me out? Why?"

"It's simple, really. You see, in order to create perfect, everlasting art, you need to pretty much live forever. Art is something that lives throughout the ages. If I create something, I would like that a thousand years after I create a work of art, that perfect expression of my creativity to still be there, you know? But for this, I need to survive long enough to create my masterpiece. I am, after all, an S-rank wanted criminal. Shinobi from nine different countries are after me: Suna's assassination squads, Kirigakure's Undertaker Squad and even Konoha ANBU, just to name the few. In order to survive, I need a powerful weapon, something so strong that no one could ever defeat me. And that weapon is you, Sandaime. At least… your body?"

"My body?"

"Yes…"

"Crazy boy… you intend to turn me into a Human Puppet, aren't you? Well, you will find me a pretty hard weapon to get your hands on."

"I wouldn't expect anything else. Before we start, may I ask you a question? For old times' sake?"

"What?"

"Does Granny Chiyo still lives?"

"Yes, she does. Hmm… I never expected you to be sentimental."

"I am not. I was just hoping that one day, I'll be the one who kills her and I will take her body too. It's a shame she is not here this evening."

"You monster. This evening, you will die, Sasori!"

Sasori smiled and revealed a purple scroll from his vest. The scroll then summoned through a puff of smoke a tall puppet with dark brown eyes and black hair.

"So, let's start!"

Chakra strings connected the back of the puppet to Sasori's fingers and, after being manipulated by him, it flew towards the Kazekage. Sasori then formed the Tiger seal with his hands and said:

"Explosion Style: Beams of Destruction!"

The puppet formed the Tiger seal too and opened its mouth, sending several orange fiery blasts towards the Kazekage. The leader of Sunagakure dodged them and after expelling his Iron Sand from his mouth, he said:

"Iron Sand Drizzle!"

Small pellets of Iron Sand moved at an astonishing speed towards Sasori and his puppet. The missing-nin summoned another puppet that was completely penetrated and ruined by the Kazekage's attack. The Explosion Style puppet then formed the Snake seal, just like Sasori and the puppet master said:

"Explosion Style: Roar of the Mountain!"

The puppet then slapped its hands on the sand and the Kazekage's face was livid. The Kage jumped before a huge explosion would obliterate a large part of the shore they were on. The water from the river would then flood the village. The Kazekage said, while throwing several kunai at Sasori:

"Sasori, stop it! You will destroy the village! People would die!"

"They're already dead. I killed them before I set my little trap."

"Damn you!"

The Kazekage returned to the scorched ground and after weaving a few signs, he said:

"Iron Sand Tornado!"

A huge black tornado made of Iron Sand caught and destroyed the Explosion Style puppet and would have killed Sasori immediately if not for the young puppeteer summoning his next creation, a short and chubby puppet wearing Kirigakure's headband. Sasori said while looking at the river and, after clapping his own hands, the puppet did the same:

"Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!"

Another tornado, this time made of water, left the river and struck the Iron Sand one, completely drenching it in water, thus decreasing the sand tornado's speed. Through the great mass of Iron Sand, Sasori sent another puppet towards the Kazekage, one shooting poisonous senbon and kunai at the leader of Sunagakure. The Kazekage dodged and said:

"It seems I might have to switch my tactics to complete offense. Iron Sand..."

Sasori froze. Something bad would come:

"World Order!"

A large mass of Iron Sand was gathering above the puppeteer.

So, he's serious. He's using his most powerful Magnet Style jutsu. Well then…

The Iron Sand cloud was growing in size and Sasori summoned a large, clam-shaped puppet and entered it. The branching spikes of Iron Sand then hit the ground with tremendous speed, completely obliterating it even more so than the previous Explosion Style jutsu did. However, the clam puppet was pretty much unharmed, with only scratches and small holes in its shell. The Third said:

"So… this new puppet of yours is able to withstand my strongest jutsu. You have prepared well for this battle, Sasori. But that doesn't matter, for I will tear your puppet shell from around you piece by piece!"

The Third Kazekage then weaved several signs before saying:

"Magnet Style: Great Attraction Jutsu!"

The puppet around Sasori started to tremble. Inside, the puppeteer was almost desperate: The Third never uses this jutsu, because is too dangerous for the villagers of Suna. By transforming himself into a human magnet, the Kazekage is able to manipulate every object containing metal in a hundred meters radius. The puppet covering Sasori was completely blown off him and his other puppets were soon orbiting the Kazekage, like a satellite orbiting its planet. The Third said:

"If I increase the magnetic power, I will be able to extract even the iron from your blood. You will die screaming, Sasori."

"No! You will die!"

Sasori then summoned a large puppet which was attracted immediately by the Kazekage. The puppet master then weaved the Tiger sign and said:

"Explosion Style: Dreadful Impact!"

The Kazekage was shocked as the puppet exploded only several meters near him. The impact projected the leader of Suna into a boulder, tearing his cloak and severely injuring him. Sasori then said:

"You did not think that I killed and turned into a puppet just one Explosion Style user, did you? But I will not use them anymore… I want your body to be intact."

The Kazekage then started to cough blood, tugging at his throat with his hand. Sasori said:

"Inside that puppet, I stored some of my poisonous gas. You inhaled some of the fumes when it exploded. Such a shame…"

The Kazekage's bleeding mouth formed then a smile and his whole body exploded into a mass of Iron Sand that hit Sasori, wounding him.

"Damn it… It was an Iron Sand clone."

Suddenly, the original Kazekage appeared in front of Sasori after he hid below, in the sand. He stabbed the puppet master in the belly with a kunai.

"Gaaah!"

"It's… over for you, Sasori!"

Sasori then said:

"No… it's over for you."

Sasori's left hand formed a metal protrusion in the middle of the palm and from that protrusion a pressurized water jet hit the Kazekage straight in the chest, penetrating his heart. The Kage then fell on his knees, blood dripping from his wound on the sand. The puppet master said:

"Suna will spend years trying to find you, Sandaime-sama. Or until they will choose a new Kazekage. In the meantime, the village will be thrown into chaos. I wonder who would they choose to lead them? Granny Chiyo is too old, just like granduncle Ebizo… Maybe Rasa? Anyway, this is the end of your rule, Sandaime-sama… rest in peace knowing that you gave me quite the fight, even more than I was expecting of you!"

The Kazekage looked at Sasori with his yellow eyes that were almost closed. The water jet hit a vital spot and the Kage knew it would be over soon. His last thoughts were of Suna and its people, dying with the image of the village in his mind. After the Kage drew his last breath, Sasori said:

"You were a great man, Sandaime. Now you are my greatest weapon."