Chapter 159: Sasori of the Red Sand

Hearing Uchiha Yuan's request, Minato Namikaze hesitated for a moment and then nodded in agreement. Many of Minato's sealing techniques were learned from Kushina, and thus were secret techniques of the Uzumaki clan.

Those sealing techniques could not be handed over to Uchiha Yuan without Kushina's consent. However, other techniques were fair game.

"Yuan, I know quite a few sealing techniques. I'll need some time to organize them. Once I've done that, I'll have someone deliver them to you. In the meantime, I'll also try to ask Kushina if she'll allow me to pass on some of the Uzumaki clan's techniques."

"Then I thank you, Hokage-sama."

Minato nodded and said no more.

Three days later, Uchiha Yuan received a scroll delivered by Kakashi.

Inside the scroll were the sealing techniques Minato knew, along with his notes from practicing fūinjutsu.

It's worth mentioning that the scroll also contained an Uzumaki sealing technique: the Four Symbols Seal. This was likely added after Minato obtained Kushina's consent.

Over the next week, Uchiha Yuan began to immerse himself in studying sealing techniques. However, he had little talent in this field, and after a week, he hadn't even reached the entry level.

That afternoon, Hyuga Asana suddenly came to the Konoha Police Department.

"Yuan, I have a mission that requires me to leave the village. Are you free to come with me?"

"Of course," Uchiha Yuan answered without hesitation.

He handed the Police Department's affairs over to Uchiha Cai, and then departed the village with Hyuga Asana.

After leaving the village, Uchiha Yuan asked her, "Asana, what's the mission?"

"The mission doesn't matter. I just took one randomly as a pretext for leaving the village."

"So you have another goal for leaving the village?"

"Mm. Lord Orochimaru gave me information about a powerful puppeteer. I don't know how to make puppets, but my eyes can control them. I want to 'borrow' a few of his puppets."

Borrow? Uchiha Yuan instantly understood.

"Where is this puppeteer?"

"In the Land of Wind."

Uchiha Yuan nodded, formed a hand seal, and summoned Lightning. Then he and Hyuga Asana jumped onto Lightning's back and flew toward the Land of Wind.

Lightning's speed was now very fast—it brought them into the Land of Wind in under two hours.

Uchiha Yuan and Hyuga Asana jumped down from Lightning's back.

Following Orochimaru's intelligence, they arrived at a small town in the southeast of the Land of Wind.

As soon as they entered the town, Uchiha Yuan sensed someone hiding beneath the sand dunes up ahead.

He immediately activated his Sharingan and warned Hyuga Asana to be cautious.

Hyuga Asana activated her Byakugan and also saw the person under the dunes.

At the same time the two spotted the individual, the hidden person fired a poisoned needle at Hyuga Asana.

Uchiha Yuan quickly drew his blade, shielding her, and immediately used Lightning Release to force the attacker out.

The hidden person showed no intention of dodging the lightning and instead threw several shuriken at Hyuga Asana.

After the evolution of her Byakugan, Hyuga Asana's strength had improved significantly—and with Uchiha Yuan in front of her, there was no way those shuriken could harm her.

Meanwhile, the person hiding in the sand was hit by Uchiha Yuan's Lightning Release.

However, what surprised Yuan was that the Lightning Release seemed to have had no effect.

The figure slowly climbed out of the sand, looking at Hyuga Asana with excitement.

Seeing the face, Uchiha Yuan turned to Hyuga Asana and said, "We've probably found the right guy."

The reason Uchiha Yuan said that was because the puppet looked almost exactly like Hiruko, Sasori's puppet body from the original work.

And inside Hiruko was none other than the S-rank rogue ninja from the Hidden Sand Village—Sasori of the Red Sand!

He is the only genius in the Sand Village who has mastered the Red Secret Technique, a truly devastating form of puppetry. It is said that he has the power to destroy a country by himself.

"You're from the Hyuga clan, aren't you? Why is your Byakugan blue?" Sasori asked excitedly.

Hyuga Asana didn't answer. Instead, she gave Uchiha Yuan a look.

Yuan immediately understood and teleported forward, slashing Hiruko in half with a single strike.

Just like that, Sasori was exposed before them.

"You dare destroy my creation?" Sasori said coldly.

"I just thought your puppet was too ugly. By the way, don't you have the puppet of the Third Kazekage? Bring it out," Uchiha Yuan said with a grin.

Hearing that, Sasori instantly realized these two had come specifically to cause trouble.

"Heh! Since you're here to die, I won't be polite. I don't yet have puppets from the Uchiha or Hyuga clans." With that, Sasori pulled out a scroll. After a burst of smoke, the puppet of the Third Kazekage appeared.

"Yuan, be careful. I can sense that this puppet isn't simple," Hyuga Asana warned.

"Don't worry. Even if he were alive, the Third Kazekage wouldn't be a match for me—let alone a corpse," Yuan said calmly.

"Hah! Arrogant fool. No matter. You should feel honored—you're about to become part of my collection!" Sasori shouted, controlling the puppet to charge at Asana.

The Third Kazekage had the kekkei genkai of Magnet Release, allowing him to manipulate iron sand. Sasori's puppet control was also extremely refined.

The omnipresent iron sand flew toward Hyuga Asana at incredible speed. A single misjudgment would mean death.

Just as Uchiha Yuan prepared to act, a strange field of energy appeared around Hyuga Asana's body, repelling the iron sand completely.

Despite the failed attack, Sasori didn't stop. Instead, he used the Third Kazekage's puppet to condense iron sand into a huge cone and sending it flying toward her again.

Asana's eyes lit up. The Third Kazekage puppet was indeed powerful. This trip hadn't been for nothing.

Standing nearby, Uchiha Yuan stepped in front of her. His horizontal blade crackled with violet lightning, and a single slash dispersed the iron sand.

Then Uchiha Yuan instantly teleported to Sasori's front. With his Sharingan, he could clearly see the fine chakra threads controlling the puppet.

He decisively swung his blade, severing Sasori's puppet chakra threads.

He had seen Uchiha elders do this in the Battle of Kikyo Mountain to counter Chiyo and Ebizo.

Once Chiyo's threads were cut, her puppets lost all functionality. Sasori's should be no different.

And that was indeed the case. The puppet of the Third Kazekage lost all function once the threads were cut, and the magnetic release ceased to operate. The iron sand crumbled and fell to the ground.

(To Be Continued...)