Chapter 1019

The companions who stayed behind to hold off Sasori of the Red Sand have all fallen, and even though every one of them paid with their life to give Ma Ji a chance to find Sasori's true body, in Ma Ji's eyes, Sasori still stood in place without having moved at all!

"The real body, where is the real body?" He couldn't be trapped by the puppet in front of him. Sand Village is a shinobi village famous for its puppets, not only skilled in the puppet arts, but also deeply aware of a puppeteer's true weakness. Ma Ji believed that even Sasori, hailed as a "puppet prodigy," was no exception.

The puppeteer — find the puppeteer hidden in the shadows, then close in and defeat him with taijutsu!

Having dealt with far too many puppeteers who tried to flee to other nations carrying their secret arts, Ma Ji had been searching for Sasori's hiding place from the very start, pinning his hopes on his companions' life-risking charges, yet not a single trace could be found.

"Hey, hey, hey, where are you looking, Ma Ji?" At last there was movement. "Uzumaki Young Yuanzi," as if sensing that Ma Ji was glancing around, let out a taunt. She, who hadn't shifted from her spot since appearing, moved, and a bare red foot slipped out from beneath her robe that had been trailing fully on the ground.

"If you want to find me in person, isn't it right in front of you!" Years of accumulated experience and conditioned reflexes saved Ma Ji. He instinctively raised his kunai, and his opponent was somehow already no more than half a step away from him, the blade held high at the same time reflecting a dark sheen in the sunlight.

It snapped. A backward roll pulled him apart from his opponent, and he stared fixedly at the weapon the other had withdrawn once more.

A sidelong glance from the corner of Ma Ji's eye fell on his kunai — just a single clash, and the blue-grade ninja tool purchased from the Artisan Village was already ruined.

This trait could undoubtedly only be achieved by infusing senjutsu chakra. Ma Ji didn't know by what means Sasori had obtained the senjutsu chakra that only Young Yuanzi could use; right now he only knew he had no chance of winning.

"A puppeteer's weakness — anyone from Sand Village knows it, right? Mmm, as long as you defeat the physically weak puppeteer, no matter how powerful the puppet, it's nothing more than a doll and a decoration." Knowing Ma Ji posed no threat to her, Sasori said. Ma Ji was a subordinate his grandmother held in high regard — or rather, after he left Sand Village, Chiyo deliberately trained Ma Ji into a ninja specifically meant to counter puppeteers, wanting to bring him back or something.

Grandma really has gotten old in the end, so-called lifespan really is….

Thinking of this, the anger rose for no reason in her originally carefree and cheerful heart, and along with it Ma Ji became an eyesore.......

"A puppeteer's true strength comes from his puppets, his whole life's mind is on his puppets — what's laughable is that you clearly know this truth yet still put shackles on yourselves."

Sasori stripped the robe straight off her body, revealing the frame hidden beneath the robe.

Clothing designed along the body's curves perfectly displayed the figure of "Uzumaki Young Yuanzi."

Ma Ji's gaze grew sharp — not because he was drawn by feminine charm, but because from the body of this puppet called "Uzumaki Young Yuanzi," he finally understood the meaning in Sasori's words.

At the center of the chest, hollowed out there, its color utterly unlike the snow-white skin around it, was a blood-red object and upon it characters as unsettling as pulsing blood vessels — "Sasori."

What does this mean?

This is probably what Sasori spoke of as the highest realm of puppeteer and puppet, the forbidden among the forbidden.

Ma Ji knew Sasori could no longer be called human!

He had turned himself into a piece of flesh that could fuse with his own puppets — what a desecration of life!

"You bastard, doing this to yourself — you're completely beyond saving!"

"Heh!"

Sasori paid no heed to Ma Ji's words. She watched her own body with great pleasure. This Young Yuanzi body, made by that White Zetsu through his replication ability, had been modified by her many times over and was the most satisfactory intentional work Sasori had produced to date. She longed to merge with the real Young Yuanzi, and when that time came….

"I'll spare your life." A boning knife was held in her hand. "Go back and tell my grandmother — the times have changed. Her and the Elders' old thinking should all be eliminated, and the jinchūriki I'm borrowing — of course, the kind I won't return."