Still, for Hardy, this was just a way to make up for his shortcomings—he didn't intend to rely on swordsmanship as his main path. For his purposes, this style was more than enough.
"I didn't know you were learning swordsmanship now. Add that to the medical ninjutsu you've been working on—if you spread yourself too thin, I'll surpass you in puppetry sooner or later."
In the training ground, Sasori leaned against his salamander puppet, watching Hardy practice swings against a wooden dummy as he spoke.
"Whether it's medical ninjutsu or swordsmanship, it's all just to improve my chances of survival," Hardy replied, setting down his wooden sword.
"That does make some sense," Sasori said, wiping off a stone at the edge of the training ground before sitting down.
"But can you really avoid death just by relying on those things? Isn't there some way for a person to never die, to exist forever?"
Hardy paused, his hand halfway through wiping sweat with a cloth.
Could it be that this was the reason Sasori turned himself into a puppet in the original timeline?
And once you become a puppet, your way of thinking is certainly different from a normal human's. At the very least, you don't have a brain or hormones regulating your body—human emotions would only grow more and more distant.
"Maybe there is, but there's a prerequisite," Hardy said, trying to sound casual as he leaned his wooden sword against the dummy.
"What is it?" Sasori tilted his head.
"You have to become strong—so strong that no one can kill you. Otherwise, even if you have eternal life, someone stronger will still be able to end you."
At this, Hardy suddenly thought of Orochimaru.
That guy was strong, but not the strongest of all. However, his survivability was definitely the best in the Naruto world.
Sasori was silent for a while, lost in thought, before finally speaking again.
"I heard you and Grandma are heading to the front lines in two days?"
"Yeah, but Chiyo-sensei assigned us to the reserve unit, and we'll be led by the village's top jonin. Unless the whole army is wiped out, we probably won't die. Of course, I'm still doing everything I can to improve my survival skills, just in case."
Sasori's eyes flickered, and his usually calm and indifferent expression was, for once, a little complicated.
"Alright. Then do your best to come back alive. Don't make me wait for you in vain."
That didn't sound like a good omen…
"Alright, I'll do my best."
Hardy knew that for Sasori, saying something like this was already a big deal.
Sasori hated waiting for people—he'd never had his "departed" parents return home.
It showed that Sasori truly considered Hardy a friend now.
At the very least, he saw Hardy as someone different from the rest—someone worth waiting for.
"I shouldn't say too much, or I'll jinx it. Anyway, the main reason I came today was to say goodbye. Also…"
Hardy turned and walked to the ninja tool pouch hanging on the railing, pulling out a photograph.
---
"I want you to help me investigate this woman."
Hardy handed a photo to Sasori. The person in the picture was none other than Rena from the medical team.
"This woman looks pretty good, seems gentle too. What, are you planning to pursue her? But the age gap is a bit much, isn't it?"
Sasori looked at the blonde woman in the photo, wearing glasses and showing a gentle, feminine smile, and asked Hardy curiously.
Perhaps because he lost his parents at a young age, his first impression of this woman—whose smile radiated maternal warmth—was actually quite positive.
"No, I just feel there's something off about her."
Hardy shook his head.
"You suspect she's a spy sent by another village? Then why not just tell Grandma and have her look into it? Or... I get it, she's already won Grandma's trust and holds a certain status in the village, so it's not convenient to investigate her openly?"
A look of realization appeared on Sasori's face.
"Aren't you going to ask me why I'm suspicious of her?"
"I trust you, because you're the only peer who doesn't seem totally stupid to me."
Sasori replied seriously.
"Well, thanks for the compliment," Hardy said, speechless.
"You're welcome."
Hardy: ...
"I'll tell you anyway. Although it's not convenient to investigate her openly, I did some simple digging in private during this time. Both of this woman's parents moved to Sunagakure from the border regions of the Land of Wind during the Second Kazekage's era. Neither was a ninja—her father was a doctor. Both passed away a year ago."
"And until a year ago, she was just an average genin. It was only after accumulating enough merit in battle that she learned advanced ninjutsu and became a chunin. During this round of medical team training, she's shown a learning ability far beyond that of other medical ninjas. Maybe she really is just average at other types of ninjutsu, but has a special talent for medical ninjutsu."
"But I suspect she learned her medical ninjutsu in another ninja village."
Sasori spoke up:
"You mean Konoha?"
Hardy nodded and continued:
"Exactly. Looks like you've guessed it too. Only Konoha and Sunagakure have the medical ninjutsu foundation to produce such a medical ninja. But our village only started training medical ninjas after Lady Tsunade turned the tide on the Rain Country battlefield last year. The medical team training program wasn't even finalized until this year."
"Konoha's medical system was established earlier than ours, and building a complete system requires enough professionals. Even before Konoha had a full system, with Lady Tsunade's status and influence, it wouldn't have been hard to train an initial batch of talent. She'd be more than capable of producing an outstanding medical ninja."
Sasori lowered his head slightly and asked:
"You think... Konoha would be crazy enough to send a rare and talented medical ninja as a spy?"
You'd have to ask those two idiots, Danzo and the Third Hokage.
"It's precisely because no one would believe it that she'd have the opportunity, right? And you know as well as I do how much could be gained from it. If a Konoha ninja really managed to become a senior member of our medical team, she could silently assassinate our ninjas under the guise of 'treatment failure' and pass on all sorts of intelligence. Isn't that something we should be wary of?"
Sasori pursed his lips.
"I get it. You're about to head to the front lines and can't stay in the village to investigate, so you need someone capable to continue looking into her and uncover her true identity, right?"
"That's right. I'm counting on you, Sasori."
Hardy patted Sasori on the shoulder, reminding him.
Even if Sasori's secret investigation was discovered, it wouldn't really affect him.
After all, he was Elder Chiyo's grandson.