"You're right, but this is his limit. Of course, he wants to defeat Konoha too, so the village doesn't have to suffer in the desert winds anymore."
"Then who's to blame for all the people who died in the village?"
Though not explicitly stated, Qingshui knew Sasori was implying he was asking who was to blame for his parents' deaths.
Logically, this wasn't something a mere Genin like him should know.
Elder Chiyo had also been hiding the truth about Sasori's parents' deaths from him, only telling young Sasori that they had gone somewhere far away and would return after a long time.
However, as he grew older, these things couldn't be hidden from the naturally precocious Sasori.
Qingshui was silent for a moment, carefully choosing his words to avoid saying anything he shouldn't, finally managing a correct but ultimately unhelpful statement.
"Blame whoever did the killing. If Konoha killed them, then blame Konoha."
"But the one who started the war was the Third Kazekage. If he hadn't started the war, people wouldn't have died."
Why is this kid so stubborn?!
"No, they still would have, and even more people would have died."
Sasori tilted his head.
"Because we're poor. The village isn't wealthy. We're surrounded by vast deserts. In the entire Land of Wind, deserts and Gobi make up over seventy percent of the area, and over eighty-five percent of the land is uncultivable. Yet, most of the resources and wealth are taken by the Daimyo and nobles to maintain their extravagant lifestyles, even cutting the village's budget for it."
"Our Sand Village's annual budget is the lowest among the Five Great Nations. Without funds, the village can't develop; it's even regressing. While other villages are developing, ours is falling behind. Eventually, the village will become a small ninja village that everyone bullies, leading to its destruction. And the Land of Wind, having lost its village, will also perish."
"At that point, many people in the Land of Wind will die—more than ten times the number of people you've ever seen in your life. So, to prevent that, the Third Kazekage had no choice but to lead us out to fight, to seize more resources and better land to support more people."
It was difficult to explain the relationship between war and productivity to a young boy, especially one who had received a semi-illiterate ninja education. Qingshui could only try to explain these concepts from a perspective a ninja could understand.
"Then why don't we take back the resources from the Daimyo and nobles?"
Sasori asked again.
"Because the Daimyo and nobles of the entire Ninja World stand together. If we openly turn against the Daimyo and kill him, all other Daimyo will demand that their country's ninja villages attack the Sand Village, because what the Sand Village did would be undermining their ruling class. At that point, we'd have to face the entire Ninja World. But if we go after the Land of Fire, we only need to deal with Konoha."
Sasori fell silent. He felt he needed to sort out his thoughts.
For a ninja who hadn't read a book for more than two years, and whose schooling was essentially about how to kill, this knowledge was completely different from what they usually thought about.
As ninjas, they only needed to learn two things: killing and completing missions.
After thinking for a few seconds, Sasori decided to put those thoughts aside for now and return to the main topic.
"We can talk about those things later. Today, I want to spar with you first. That Puppet you made, the one that puts people inside, is a bit special. It's different from the mainstream Puppets in the village. I want to test its power."
Qingshui looked deeply into Sasori's eyes and said earnestly, "Alright. After our fight, I hope you'll go back and think about what I said. If there's anything you don't understand, you can come to me."
To avoid being turned into a Puppet in the future, Qingshui felt it was necessary to guide Sasori's thinking.
At the very least, he needed to teach him to think in a more normal way, so these untaught, self-proclaimed geniuses wouldn't come up with chaotic ways to solve problems.
The two walked out of the room and onto the Puppet Force's training ground, releasing their respective Puppets.
Qingshui extended Chakra Threads from both hands to connect to the Fatty Puppet, covering himself with it. He manipulated it with his right hand, while Chakra Threads from his left hand threaded through the gaps in the Fatty Puppet's glove and connected to the Little Boy.
Using Chakra Threads to control a Puppet didn't completely affect one's own body posture.
A thirty-five-year-old Sasori could control hundreds of Puppets simultaneously with just a single piece of flesh releasing Chakra Threads.
The most crucial aspect of Puppet control was the manipulation of Chakra Threads.
Of course, finger and arm postures could also improve the Chakra Thread's control over the Puppet, maximizing the combat power of a single Puppet.
Qingshui naturally couldn't achieve what Sasori could at the peak of his Puppetry. Normal Puppet Masters would only launch Chakra Threads from their fingers to control Puppets.
He didn't need anything that complex. He just needed to use the Two-Minded Technique, a Forbidden Jutsu, while controlling the Fatty Puppet in battle, and manipulate the Little Boy with the fingers hidden under the Puppet's glove.
That is, five Chakra Threads from one hand would control the Little Boy, and five Chakra Threads from the other hand would control the Fatty, with the various parts of his body coordinating.
Sasori also connected Chakra Threads to the Black Ant and Salamander. One hand controlled the Salamander to protect his body, while the other hand controlled the Black Ant, which proactively launched an attack.
"Black Secret Technique: Puppet Dance."
It was the same move he had used during the previous mission. The Black Ant's six arms extended instantly. Not only were they much longer than a Termite's, but the tips and the two adjacent segments were made of metal, looking like six foldable spear shafts.
"Black Secret Technique: Rapid Performance Method."
The Little Boy also revealed its mechanical claws and spinning saw blades, beginning to battle the Black Ant.
The former's speed was clearly superior to the Black Ant's, but the latter had more claws and more other mechanisms.
The two fought to a stalemate, evenly matched, and quickly changed their rhythm—cutting off the opponent's Chakra Threads to affect their control over their Puppet.
Qingshui raised an eyebrow, looking at Sasori in surprise.
Black Ant, Salamander... and there should be a Crow in the future. And with Sasori's ability, he'll modify and upgrade the Puppets.
In the future, Kankuro used the Black Ant and Crow during the Chunin Exams, and after becoming a Jonin in Shippuden, he added the Salamander.
Being used consistently until Jonin rank indicated that the Black Ant and Salamander were upgraded to Jonin level in the future, and also that both Puppets had excellent foundations.
At least in Qingshui's judgment, the Black Ant Puppet should also be ranked among B-class Puppets.
Both used Forbidden Jutsu. Although Qingshui's Puppetry had improved significantly compared to before, it still lagged behind Sasori's.
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