Malphegor
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HSU: Ch. 140
🕑 Added 2025-01-15 16:21:16 +0000 UTCThe joys of people were not the same, except when drinking tea or eating food.
The pains of people were not shared either, unless the tea shop went out of business.
However, the tea houses in Konoha were increasing in number, and when Masashi went for tea these days, the discounts were becoming increasingly ridiculous. So, the joy and pain of Sasori were something he couldn't quite empathize with.
Mainly because he couldn't find the entry point.
Everyone experienced pain, but the difference lay in how they deal with it.
If one refused to coexist with the darkness they perceived, then they resisted it and tried to change it.
Even if it meant doing the noblest things with the most despicable methods, it was better than living a life filled with pain while repeating the same patterns.
After all, that wouldn't be resistance—it would be compromise.
And once you'd compromised, becoming one of them, wasn't holding onto grievances only making yourself miserable?
In Masashi's opinion, Sasori was exactly like that.
Pursuing eternal beauty, at its core, was a form of escapism. Knowing his own limitations, understanding that he couldn't change anything, he chose to numb his inner anger and emotions.
He discovered that eternal beauty was the only harbor that could bring peace to his soul, so he clung to it, madly and desperately.
He truly resembled a member of the Uchiha clan; the only difference between him and the real Uchiha members was his bloodline.
Masashi also looked like an Uchiha nowadays—but only looked like one.
Thus, he and Sasori were completely different kinds of people, especially in how they dealt with pain.
As he began to release his chakra, the "chakra field" here underwent a complete transformation.
If there were another chakra-sensitive ninja present, they would notice that the area had been "dominated" by Masashi's chakra.
The refreshing chill dispelled the desert's scorching heat. The air, now more humid, became noticeably more comfortable.
Three giant ice constructs resembling Prometheus stood firmly on the ground.
Truth be told, puppet techniques—designed for slaughter—could be completely countered by the strength of Ice Release without taking any damage.
Unless Sasori unleashed the Iron Sand of the Third Kazekage puppet.
If he did, Masashi was well-prepared for that.
In the past, his ice giants were just that—ice giants.
But now, he was a man who could wield Susanoo.
He had grown.
So, he first created a cockpit using Susanoo's technique, then built a body around it using Ice Release.
Of course, this was to avoid wasting chakra.
However, if Sasori's Third Kazekage puppet was already complete, the Susanoo cockpit could immediately expand, allowing Masashi to unleash his unique core art.
Don't underestimate him as the founder of the Uchiha Ice and Snow Festival—his artistic aesthetic was above Sasori's.
And it had been validated by the market back on Earth!
---
At this moment, only Sasori remained in the field.
Right now, his mind was replaying the earlier scene.
Two kids had suddenly been enveloped by a mass of manifested chakra, forming something that looked like a box. Then, the overwhelming Ice Release power encased the box, creating the giant now standing before him.
It was incredibly fast.
The White Ghost lived up to his name.
"Incredible," Sasori said, looking up at the ice giant where Masashi was located. "An incredible jutsu. What a pity you don't understand art."
Though his own puppet body had been outclassed, Sasori still believed he had won.
Art wasn't about size equating to beauty.
The White Ghost's Ice Release construct was devoid of any sense of aesthetics, proving that he was a crude person.
People in this world were so shallow. There were too few individuals with pure souls like him and Deidara.
"..."
"Art isn't so fragile," Masashi said, standing in the Susanoo-constructed cockpit and looking down at the now-ant-like Hiruko. "Can you withstand a single step?"
"So crude... Well, I suppose I'm still a ninja."
Sasori's lament was drowned out by the roaring noise as the ice giant moved.
Masashi manipulated Prometheus to stomp its foot down.
But sand wasn't as supportive as solid ground. To prevent the giant from sinking into the sand, he cranked up the air conditioning and froze the sand beneath the giant's foot. However, this affected its agility.
It also made quite the commotion.
If Sasori couldn't dodge even this, it would be an insult to the title of Kage-level—at least in terms of braggadocio.
Before the giant's foot could land, the chill had already frozen the sandy ground. But Hiruko was no longer on the frozen patch.
The massive foot still came crashing down, stomping onto the frozen sand that let out a strained groan, but Masashi ignored it. The ice giant raised both hands into a sword-wielding stance—though what it actually materialized was a massive two-handed hammer.
Since the opponent was a puppet, he didn't bother with the Yasaka Magatama. Ice was sufficient.
The whack-a-mole game could begin.
"Here we go!"
The giant hammer hurtled down toward the airborne Hiruko, who was gliding along the wind.
Mid-air, it suddenly extended a hand. Chakra threads unique to puppet masters shot out and adhered to the hammer's surface.
In that split second, Hiruko swung to the side, narrowly brushing past the massive hammer.
But this was just the beginning.
Its tail acted like a chisel, stabbing into the hammer's surface and propelling him onto the giant's arm.
At this point, the hammer finally struck the ground.
It was like a heavy artillery blast. The deafening sound echoed as the entire sandy area collapsed into the ground, sending massive amounts of sand spraying into the air.
The two kids in the well-protected Susanoo cockpit reacted differently.
Kimimaro, initially stunned, glanced at the giant he was inside of, then at his own small arms and legs, furrowing his brow in frustration.
Deidara, on the other hand, was envious of the hammer's power.
It wasn't the hammer itself he wanted—it was its destructive capability.
He felt that Masashi was the guide to his art. The effects Masashi produced always gave him new inspiration.
That pure burst of power and destruction in a single moment—it was too beautiful.
Meanwhile, Hiruko had securely landed on the giant's arm, which couldn't be retracted in time. Gliding on the air currents, it launched a rapid assault toward Masashi's location.
"Interesting," Masashi muttered with a smile, watching the scene unfold.
To manipulate a puppet to this degree, Sasori truly lived up to his reputation.
Still, the beauty of mechs lay in their sheer power and overwhelming visual impact.
Size was justice!
He would make Sasori truly understand why mechs were every man's dream!
---
Hiruko was surprisingly fast on its feet.
It was likely a Wind Release ninja.
Masashi had been carefully observing this human puppet, noting that all of its ninjutsu were wind based, and even then, strictly supportive in nature.
To be honest, perhaps due to the lack of maturity in the early stages of Sasori's craft, Hiruko wasn't particularly impressive when it came to ninjutsu. Its attacks and defenses heavily relied on its puppet mechanisms rather than pure ninjutsu prowess.
One thing was for certain though—it was indeed a human puppet, and Sasori had always specialized in crafting human puppets.
In the original timeline, after his Third Kazekage puppet was destroyed, Sasori refrained from using other human puppets, assuming that Chiyo's presence on the battlefield would limit their effectiveness. This left his actual stock of human puppets something of a mystery.
But that was a concern for years later.
At this point in time, Sasori's supply of human puppets was undoubtedly limited. If one was destroyed, it was one less he could use.
As for his Performance of a Hundred Puppets composed of regular puppets, whether Sasori already had this move, it posed no threat to Masashi.
Puppet mechanisms, no matter how advanced, were completely ineffective against someone who had mastered Susanoo.
Thus, unlike Chiyo and Sakura in the original timeline, his only viable option against Masashi would be human puppets—specifically, those crafted from ninjas with powerful abilities and destructive ninjutsu.
Given this, the only puppet Masashi could think of that fit the bill was the Third Kazekage, who had been reduced to a mere husk when he first appeared.
As Hiruko charged along the giant's arm, Masashi didn't stop it.
Although he was confident in his assumptions, he was still curious to see how Sasori's puppet mechanisms fared against the structures formed by his Ice Release.
Besides, inside the ice giant, he'd even created a cockpit using Susanoo—a double-layered defense allowing him to deal with any threat effortlessly.
While carefully observing Sasori's chakra activity, he confirmed something else: Sasori's chakra was at a tailed beast level.
For a ninja's chakra to reach this magnitude, two conditions needed to be met: sheer volume and high efficiency.
It required a careful balance—allocating chakra for molding, output, control, and physical recovery with precision—creating the illusion of an inexhaustible supply. Achieving this balance depended equally on quantity and technique.
Some ninjas relied more on raw chakra reserves, while others leaned heavily on technique.
In Masashi's view, sheer volume mattered slightly more than technique.
Techniques could be mastered through training, but chakra reserves were mostly determined by innate talent. Larger reserves made using a lot of techniques easier, while the reverse wasn't true. In battles where both opponents had equal mastery of technique, even a small difference in chakra reserves could lead to overwhelming dominance.
Take Hashirama and Madara, for example. Every time Hashirama defeated Madara, he was left nearly drained of chakra. Hashirama's reserves were only slightly larger than Madara's, but that slight edge was enough for him to utterly suppress Madara.
With the Sharingan's clarity, Masashi could see Sasori's chakra activity in detail. Sasori's reserves leaned entirely on technique. His precision was absurd—managing his chakra with virtually zero wastage.
Masashi couldn't help but grin.
Sasori had used chakra threads numerous times to maintain balance, and as Masashi observed, he found himself learning the technique as well.
No more carrying steel wires—how convenient!
In mere moments, Hiruko had reached the cockpit's location, its tail stabbing forward to pierce the ice wall.
Masashi understood Sasori's thought process.
It was like spotting a helmet lying conspicuously on a battlefield. People couldn't resist kicking it, even if they suspected a trap underneath.
After all, how could you know for sure unless you gave it a try?
This was probably the same logic Danzō had when he stabbed Susanoo with a kunai in the original timeline.
Sasori now had a similar mentality.
Wanting him to drop his pretenses and bring out his prized Third Kazekage puppet, Masashi decided to indulge him.
When Rasa had faced Masashi earlier, he'd been extremely cautious, as if afraid Masashi might "copy" his Gold Dust techniques.
As if! Why would he bother copying Gold Dust?
If he were going to copy anything, it'd be Iron Sand.
Hiruko's stinger, made of a special alloy, struck the ice and left a deep scratch.
That was it.
Masashi's confidence in his ice constructs came not from the armor's external appearance, but from the inherent strength of the techniques themselves.
This level of damage? Barely a scratch. It was as good as polishing the surface.
Ice spikes erupted beneath Hiruko, but Sasori expertly maneuvered the puppet out of harm's way.
Under his control, the puppet performed moves that wouldn't look out of place in professional parkour.
His skills were no joke.
When Hiruko finally leaped back to the ground, Masashi withdrew the ice spikes he had created.
"That's enough playing around," he called out to Sasori. "Do you have any better tricks? Reveal your true form and switch puppets already. This one's useless."
"Hmph." Sasori didn't look pleased.
The Ice Release techniques of the White Ghost were indeed formidable. Hiruko was incapable of dealing with them.
He hadn't expected to be forced to reveal his true form here.
And he was reluctant to do so.
"You seem to know me well," Sasori said. "I'm curious. When I left this village, hadn't you never stepped out of Konoha?"
"True, but it just means your 'Akatsuki' has a mole." Masashi chuckled mischievously.
Suspicion was good. A little paranoia never hurt. After all, in the ninja world, when in doubt, blame a mole.
"Ridiculous." Sasori found the Masashi's humor distasteful.
Not that he had much faith in Pain, but the core members of Akatsuki were few in number. If there was a mole, wasn't it obvious who it would be?
Orochimaru.
No one trusted him anyway.
Hiruko dissolved into a puff of smoke.
As the smoke dissipated, a slender figure emerged.
A young man dressed in the red cloud robe of Akatsuki, with short red hair.
Sasori's facial features were refined, and his eyes really stood out—they drooped a bit at the corners, making him look like an emotionless puppet.
But a closer look revealed something unnerving about his gaze—cold and sinister, as if he wasn't looking at a person, but at a lifeless object.
"Huh?" Deidara exclaimed in surprise. "So that's what you really look like? You don't look much older than me."
Hearing Deidara's comment, a faint smile appeared in Sasori's eyes.
"I'm much older than you," he retorted before turning his attention back to the ice giant where Masashi was. The smile faded.
"White Ghost, hand over the kid to me, and I'll leave now."
Masashi didn't even bother to reply.
The ice giant he controlled shifted with a deafening roar, assuming a textbook whack-a-mole stance.
The ice giants with Deidara and Kimimaro inside also began to move, forming a triangular formation.
"Such nonsense…" Sasori muttered under his breath, his words unclear as to whom they were directed at.
A scroll slid out from his right sleeve into his hand. He held it horizontally and slowly unrolled it.
Smoke expanded out once again.
