Sasori had imagined countless possible reactions from Akio.

Maybe Akio would be utterly shocked.

Maybe he'd look extremely wary.

Maybe he'd be full of confusion.

Or perhaps he'd even curl his lips into a disdainful smile, revealing his identity as a shinobi.

But what Scorpion hadn't expected at all was Akio's actual response: a faint and casual "Don't fool around," as if coaxing a grandchild.

Of course, Akio definitely wasn't coaxing a grandchild — he wouldn't dare claim Sasori as his grandson, especially considering Chiyo…

He simply found it amusing that someone would actually offer him immortality, and he reflexively replied like that.

An awkward silence fell. Akio didn't speak further, smiling from ear to ear, and Sasori didn't make a move either.

"Ninja?" Sasori asked again.

"No — a Master Craftsman," Akio answered the same way.

Sasori was starting to feel this was going to be troublesome.

Akio looked completely fearless — how could Sasori not notice that?

After leaving the Kazekage Building, Sasori intercepted Akio just outside Sunagakure. His intention was to mug him and get revenge for the headache Akio's nonsense had caused him. Of course, if he could recruit Akio, that would be even better — more money, and Akio's carvings could be quite useful too.

Even though Akio had behaved strangely from the beginning, Scorpion didn't care. He'd only brought two puppets with him. But now…

A kunai flew out at a tricky angle, which Akio simply sidestepped.

"So you are a shinobi?"

The kunai suddenly boomeranged back toward Akio — Sasori's subtle finger movements and the chakra threads attached to the kunai said it all.

Akio chuckled, showed off a cool move, and caught the kunai in his mouth.

"Hehe."

Sasori's perpetually stoic face finally twitched — not because Akio looked cool, but because… how could someone be this dumb.

"I should've known — with that level of intelligence, he ought to be easy to deal with."

"Ptooey!" Akio spat the kunai out, utterly clueless.

"In your next life, remember — any puppet master's weapon is always poisoned," Sasori said blandly.

Akio froze for a second, then his face suddenly drained of color, turning purplish as he collapsed.

"This guy…" Sasori's expression grew serious instead. He quickly leapt back a few meters and pulled out two scrolls.

"What, I didn't die right?" Akio propped his head up and smiled.

Wind and sand swept by. A hot-blooded BGM should've played here.

Too bad it didn't — only Sasori's handseals echoed, and suddenly, two more puppets appeared.

"You carry those around with you?" Akio looked at them nostalgically — it was "Mother" and "Father".

Sasori frowned. Akio was acting suspicious in too many ways — he even recognized "Mother and Father"… and he absolutely should've been poisoned…

Akio figured Sasori was at least supposed to ask "Just who are you?" before deciding whether to fight or not. Unexpectedly, Scorpion directly waved his hands — and Mother and Father attacked.

Akio paused, using no ninjutsu, planning to test Sasori — the genius youth — with taijutsu alone.

However—

"…Why did you put a chainsaw on your dad's right arm?" Akio's eye twitched. How was he supposed to spar in hand-to-hand with that?

"Come forth — my Optimus Prime!"

Akio's carriage exploded behind him — a 2-meter-tall Optimus Prime burst out, steel arms blocking Mother and Father.

"Puppet master? No… not a puppet master." Sasori's fingers twitched and withdrew the puppets into their scroll.

Akio froze. Looking at Sasori's expression, he smiled: "Afraid of damaging them? That's more like it — flesh, heart, and emotion… that's what makes us human."

"You got any more puppets? Show me what else you've got."

"Leave," Sasori said coldly.

Akio blinked, disappointed. "No more puppets on you?"

He still wanted to gauge Sasori's overall strength. Glancing at his Optimus Prime, Akio grinned.

"Explosive Rocket Punch!"

With a flamboyant shout, one of Optimus Prime's arms shot straight toward Sasori's youthful face.

Sasori flicked his fingers — chakra thread connected — rerouting the arm into the sand beside him.

"…Sounds like you really don't want to leave alive." He wore a don't blame me for this expression.

Akio sighed. Geniuses — always so confident.

He was just about to speak when Sasori suddenly pulled something that looked like a firecracker from his cloak and tossed it up — it exploded brilliantly.

"A flare?!" Akio was dumbfounded — never expected that from Sasori.

"Right, right, he's still Sunagakure's prodigy. We're so close to the village… calling backup against an unknown enemy — that's sensible…"

More chakra signatures rushed toward them. Akio twitched, reclaimed Optimus Prime's arm.

The next second, Akio and two Optimus Primes surrounded Sasori in a triangle.

"Optimus Prime — smash him."

"Hmph." Sasori snorted. Two puppets appeared instantly.

Then… those puppets suddenly flew off, completely out of control — and no matter how Sasori manipulated his threads, they wouldn't return.

What followed could only be described as savage — Optimus Prime (large and small forms) kept pummeling Sasori with a barrage of fists… and then even legs…

Akio stood to the side, commenting like a critic:

"Taijutsu-wise, about a standard jōnin. If he summons more puppets, he'd be an elite jōnin. Around future Asuma's level — less than 15 years old… truly a genius."

(He used Asuma as his strength-and-money unit; Kakashi was too inconsistent.)

As more Sunagakure ninja approached, Akio ordered his Optimus Primes to recombine, and they vanished in a flash — leaving behind a badly bruised, but not‐in‐the‐face, Sasori.

Chiyo arrived first — the flare was her special design. She rushed over as soon as she saw it.

"Sasori! Who were you fighting?!"

Sasori brushed dust off himself. "That so-called 'Hamura merchant'… was a shinobi."

Chiyo stiffened. "An enemy village scout-nin? Which way did he flee?"

Despite Sasori's sorry state, Chiyo hadn't expected him to lose.

"That guy is very strong. Immune to my poison. Able to control those toys with methods not of a puppet master… and worst of all, he made my puppets go rogue."

Chiyo was taken aback. This time, her expression truly became grave. More sand shinobi had gathered behind her — she told them to wait.

After hearing Sasori's detailed description, coupled with that ridiculous "Hamura merchant," all his cackling and incomprehensible chatter… something clicked in Chiyo's memory.

"Could it… have been Lord Akio…"

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