Sasori

Sasori is a character from the Naruto anime and manga.

Sasori, renowned as Sasori of the Red Sand, was an S-rankmissing-nin from Sunagakure's Puppet Brigade and a member of Akatsuki, where he was partnered with Orochimaru and later Deidara.

Appearance
Sasori had wide greyish brown eyes which he inherited from his mother, and short, mousy red hair which he inherited from his father. He was usually seen with a hazy, dreamy look on his face. As a child, Sasori wore dark green robes with a pale poncho around them. As a teenager, while living in Sunagakure, he wore a purplish robe with the Sunagakure forehead protector. After leaving the village he was seen wearing the Suna flak jacket with a sleeveless undershirt, bandages around both arms, brown pants with an attached colster where he held his puppet summoning scroll, and brown shinobi sandals. After joining the Akasuki and converting himself into a puppet in the likeness of his original body, Sasori's hair became slightly more messy, and wore his Akatsuki robe along with a purple Akatsuki ring on his left thumb that bears the kanji for "jewel" or "sphere" (gyoku). He also wore teal nail polish on his fingernails. Even though Sasori still possessed his Sunagakure forehead protector that was slashed out in the middle, he kept it on his person instead of wearing it.

Sasori's puppet body consisted of a pair of spinning claws attached to his lower back, a holder for four scrolls on his back, a stinger in the empty and open stomach cavity, a compartment in his right chest, and a 'core of living flesh' (namami no kaku) in the left which had the kanji for "scorpion" (sasori) painted on it. In his exposed state, Sasori's eyes would also be wide open in a maniacal way, as opposed to his normal calm looking eyes.

After Kabuto reincarnated him, Sasori displayed the black sclerae and darker irides seen in other reincarnated shinobi. In place of his previous clothing, Sasori, like the other reincarnated Akatsuki members, wore a maroon cloak with beige lining. Despite being 35 years old at the time of death, his reincarnated form takes that of his teenage years, how he looked before he converted himself.

Personality
Sasori grew up in a sad and lonely environment due to the absence of parental love. When introduced to the art of puppetry by his grandmother, Chiyo, he grew a little happier. He eventually created puppets in the likeness of his parents, but when he realised that the puppets couldn't give him the actual love that he desired, he became cold, aloof and led to his general disregard for human life. Sasori even went so far as to state that he would feel nothing if Chiyo died, as he claimed that his heart had become like his puppet body: without any emotions. Neither did Sasori had any loyalty for his village, as he defected to pursue personal interests and even kidnapped the Third Kazekage, the latter act causing severe consequences for Sunagakure, and then attacking the village again twenty years after leaving. Despite his cruel and nihilistic nature, Sasori was also known to possess a very down-to-earth outlook on life, rarely getting worked up over obstacles that impeded his way. He rarely gave way to any strong emotions, and such instances that happened were often short-lived.

Sasori was also known for his impatience, as he repeatedly noted that he did not wish to wait or keep others waiting. Despite this, he took his time in battling Kankurō when they first met due to his interest in fighting his old creations, which were handed down to a puppet master of the next generation.

Sasori and his second partner in Akatsuki, Deidara, both had conflicting views on art, and they frequently argued about their differing perspectives. Deidara maintained his belief that art was something transient that departs quickly, where as Sasori believed that fine art was everlasting and remained far into the future. This reflected their individual natures; Deidara made clay sculptureswhich exploded, while Sasori created long-lasting puppets out of humans that never died. Nevertheless, although Deidara outwardly seemed to respect Sasori's beliefs, Sasori never respected Deidara's.

Sasori's ambition was to become an exquisite piece of art himself by turning his body into one of his own puppet works. Sasori adhered so strongly to his belief that true art was ever-lasting that he even went as far as to have his spy retrieve information on the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnationand human experiments. Sasori abandoned this ambition after Kankurō told him that it was his creations that he put his heart and soul into that would last forever. After accepting Kankurō's view on eternal art, he entrusted his Mother and Father puppets to Kankurō and told him to pass them on to the next generation after he dies. In this moment, Sasori is shown to have an emotional side as well.

Sasori was also willing to accept the views of others on certain topics in contrast to Deidara, who stubbornly stood by his beliefs until the end. Sasori spared Kankurō during their first confrontation after the latter made a last attempt to attack him, but he notes that Kankurō's envenomed state would eventually lead to his death.

Possibly stemming from his lonely childhood, Sasori was entirely loyal to Akatsuki, so much that he vowed to kill his former partner, Orochimaru, for betraying the organisation.

Abilities
Sasori was a very powerful shinobi, being able to, with effort, defeat and kill the Third Kazekage, the strongest ninja in Suna's history. His use of his puppets was greatly feared throughout the Third Shinobi World War as he turned the sand red with blood, giving him the nickname, "Sasori of the Red Sand". His legacy was such that Kankurō knew of and feared him despite being born after Sasori already left the village. Deidara himself even admitted that Sasori was the stronger of the two of them.

Puppet Mastery
Trained by his powerful grandmother, Chiyo, in the art of puppetry, Sasori was an extremely powerful puppeteer and had great skill in creating and controlling his puppets. He created a number of ingenious ones including the three main puppets that Kankurō uses, which were made in Sunagakure before he fled. At the time of his final battle with Sakura and Chiyo, Sasori had 298 human puppets in his collection. His status as a puppet master offered him a tremendous advantage against other puppeteer shinobi, especially if the puppets they were using happened to be ones that he created, as seen in his battle against Kankurō. As puppets are usually installed with long-range weapons, Sasori was an expert at fighting at long distances. He had tremendous skill with chakra threads, suppressing them to the point that they became invisible and he could control upwards to 100 puppets — a feat thought impossible for ordinary shinobi. Sasori can also control living people as puppets, even against their will, if they are weakened enough. His usage of puppets was at such a high level that he made mere techniques appear as an artistic performance, what he called his "Red Secret Technique".

Hiruko
Hiruko was Sasori's eleventh puppet, and used as both a weapon and an armour, as well as a means to eliminate the puppeteer's weakness of being a separate and exposed target. As Hiruko was one of his favourite puppets, Sasori adorned it in Akatsuki attire for nearly the entirety of his tenure in the organisation. Because of this, only certain members like Orochimaru, Deidara, or relatives like Chiyo knew Sasori's true face while others like Zetsu and Kabuto had no idea that Hiruko was not his actual body. While within Hiruko, Sasori speaks through his puppet in a deeper and hoarser voice.

Hiruko had a long mechanical, scorpion-like tail (an allusion to Sasori's name meaning "scorpion"), extending from the mouth of what appeared to be a demon mask on its back. Chiyo said this mask was a recent addition by Sasori to act as an extra defence to a weak point in the puppet. The tail worked as Hiruko's main offensive weapon and was laced with Sasori's speciality poison. The tail could also be used defensively by spinning around Hiruko's body at a rapid speed. Hiruko's left arm was also rigged with a projectile launcher capable of firing poisoned shrapnel and needles, and its mouth could also be used to serve a similar function of firing poisoned needles. In the anime, Sasori was also capable of performing the Sand Clone technique through Hiruko, Hiruko is said to have been a human puppet in the anime from a once famous Sunagakure shinobi that Sasori converted upon death. In the manga it was just a regular puppet.

Human Puppetry
"Main Articke: Human Puppet"Sasori's puppets were unique in that they were made from the still-living bodies of humans. These human puppets were more versatile than regular puppets, since, in addition to having many dangerous devices installed within them (as is common with regular puppets), they were also able to use chakra and perform any techniques or kekkei genkai abilities that they possessed during their life. Being the developer of this form of puppets, Sasori is also the only one who knows how to create them.

Third Kazekage
Sasori's favourite human puppet was the Third Kazekage, which retained its Magnet Release, which in turn grants Sasori access to the Iron Sand techniques. When mixed with Sasori's poison, the Iron Sand was given a more lethal edge. The Iron Sand could also be used to fill up the joints of other puppets, thus immobilising them. Due to the Iron Sand being derived from the Third's ability to convert chakra to magnetism, this grants Sasori immunity from metallic weapons. The Third's puppet's right arm held several poisoned blades, while the left arm could open up to reveal several summoning seals that summoned thousands of similar arms to attack the target. These arms were capable of crushing an opponent, emitting poisonous gas clouds, and releasing wires that dragged the opponent into the gas cloud. If these arms were cut off, a small buzz-saw took their place.

Puppet Body
Although Sasori was thirty-five years old, he maintained the appearance of a teenage boy. His unnaturally young appearance was a product of the immortalisation of his design. Aside from his core, Sasori's body was actually a puppet. In place of his intestines was a thick cable coiled around a pole, allowing him to use it as a stinger and retract it if necessary. Attached to his back was a scroll holder, containing four scrolls that stored extra armament. The first scroll allowed him to expel powerful streams of fire, and the second scroll was used to store numerous puppets for the Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets. The capabilities of the third and fourth scrolls were not revealed in the manga, though in the anime, the fourth scroll was used to fire jets of water with enough force to cut through rock. Sasori also has a pair of poles attached to the back of his hips, each equipped with five large blades that could spin like a propeller, granting him both an equipage for greater speed and a monstrous close combat weapon. Sasori also had pipes on each of his palms that could spew out intense fire, hot enough to melt rock, or, in the anime, powerful water jets with such pressure that they were capable of cutting through rock. Being a fully-armed puppet himself, Sasori did not suffer the weakness of being vulnerable to close-range combat that other puppeteers suffer.

Despite being loaded with weapons, Sasori kept them (and his true form) hidden within his Akatsuki robes, which were large enough to conceal them without problem. Curiously, when using "himself", Sasori's eyes were always wide open, giving him a somewhat insane look. In contrast, prior to revealing his puppet body, Sasori's eyes were always half-closed, making him appear calmer and more aloof. Sasori has claimed that he has not used "himself" since joining Akatsuki, until his last battle with his grandmother and Sakura Haruno.

Installed in the right part of Sasori's chest was a mechanism that could spin numerous chakra threads, allowing him to exceed his previous capabilities and control well over a hundred puppets. Doing so also allows him to use his Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets. With it, Sasori was given a drastic advantage over other puppeteers, having once taken down a small nation with it. The left part of Sasori's chest held the lone human part of him and thus, the only necessary part of his body capable of controlling chakra: a cylinder-shaped device containing his 'core' (kaku).

Because Sasori's core was the only living part of his body that he still contained, his puppet body was virtually indestructible, allowing him to survive the poison mist Kankurō bombarded him with, as well as the impact from Sakura's punches. He was also able to fight for extended periods of time without hindrances that would normally affect a human's body, such as fatigue, muscle failure, loss of blood, wounds, or pain. His conversion has allowed him to forgo the need for food. When smashed apart, he could simply draw the pieces back together. Additionally, Sasori could transfer his core to other puppets in a split second, allowing him to abandon a body that was damaged beyond repair or incapacitated. It is suggested in the manga that Sasori created more than one puppet body in his image. The core was his only weakness, and its destruction would mean his death. After Sasori's death, Kankurō would later take the body and use it as his puppet.

Intelligence
Repeatedly, Sasori has demonstrated to be a highly analytical and cunning man, able to handle situations with various traps and misdirection. He is also shown to be a highly analytical man, quickly determining his opponent's strengths and combat methods. Like his grandmother, Sasori has a great knowledge of the human body, as shown from his brainwashing technique and his mastery over creating different types of poisons. His unique poisons, that he laced nearly every weapon in his arsenal with, took effect instantly, and one such poison could kill the target after three days of suffering; according to Sakura, this poison is refined with heavy metals, which intrude the muscles and destroy healthy cells. This poison was so complex that Sasori himself acknowledged that no one in Sunagakure could counter it and believed its complexity made it incurable altogether. However, to his surprise, Sakura came up with a successful antidote for the poison; Sasori even noted that creating the antidote requires extreme precision, with no room for failure, something difficult even for himself.

Trivia

 * The name "Sasori" means "scorpion".
 * Sasori had the same birth date as Masashi Kishimoto.
 * Additionally, his birth date, November 8, makes Sasori's Western astrological sign Scorpio, the scorpion. His alias of the Red Sand may carry connotations towards the planet Mars, traditional ruler of the sign.
 * Studio Pierrot's Settei sheets of Sasori show that he was 147.5 cm when his friend Komushi died.
 * According to the databook(s):
 * His hobby was remodelling his puppet collection.
 * Sasori wished to fight Monzaemon Chikamatsu.
 * Sasori doesn't need food.
 * Sasori had completed 72 official missions in total: 5 D-rank, 12 C-rank, 16 B-rank, 29 A-rank, 10 S-rank.
 * Sasori's favourite phrase was "Eternal beauty" (Eikyū no Utsukushī).
 * Sasori had one of the longest battle times in the anime — spanning approximately 8 episodes — giving him roughly about three hours of battle screen-time.
 * In the first poll he was in (the 6th overall poll), he placed 6th on the list. In the second poll, he placed 8th.
 * Sasori made a brief appearance in the Naruto: Shippūden episode 129 omake, walking past Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki in a festival, glancing at the latter.
 * Sasori and his former partners Orochimaru and Deidara all had a role in the deaths of three of the Kazekage. Sasori killed the Third, Orochimaru killed the Fourth, and Deidara was responsible for the Fifth.