Rasa and Han both fell silent. They naturally understood that the Masked Man's mention of range limitations on his genjutsu was only about usage constraints.
More precisely, it meant the enemy couldn't possibly use genjutsu remotely from a distance of over a thousand meters. If the enemy left, there would naturally be no issue of secondary control.
However, if someone had already been controlled, then the idea of distance limitations no longer applied. It was possible that the village had already been infiltrated like a sieve.
Therefore, this Masked Man could be an even greater threat than Sasori!
As if sensing their apprehension, Aizen sighed helplessly, "I know what you're thinking, but don't worry — I have no interest or time to control your people. Besides, my genjutsu isn't that refined. You can easily tell if someone's caught in it just by paying a little attention!"
Rasa and Han were stunned for a moment, then their expressions immediately relaxed significantly.
Indeed, they'd initially been shocked by the opponent's silent and large-scale genjutsu, but upon careful thought, the flaws in the controlled individuals weren't minor.
Anyone with a bit of attentiveness could spot the problems.
"That's right. No technique is perfect. Since his genjutsu has such a wide range and such strong concealment, it's understandable that its precision would be somewhat lacking!"
With this realization, the two softened their gazes toward Aizen.
Aizen shrugged, "So, this is really just my last-resort technique!"
"Then I'll agree—" Rasa began, but paused, suddenly recalling that he seemingly had no real authority to make decisions. Slightly embarrassed, he turned to look beside him, asking, "Seiki, what do you think?"
Seiki's expression was grave, "I can't possibly ignore everyone's lives. I'm sorry about the matter of Sasori!"
"There's no need to worry about it. This was originally my request of you!" Rasa shook his head repeatedly, then looked toward Sasori, saying, "You may leave, but the Third Lord's puppet itself must remain here!"
Though somewhat regrettable, surviving this situation was already fortunate enough. Sasori naturally understood the circumstances clearly and decisively retracted the chakra threads entwined around the Third Kazekage's puppet, tossing them aside. "Here!"
Han reminded him from the side, "What about that Greer Stone Records book!"
Since he'd already handed over the Third Kazekage's puppet, Sasori naturally didn't care about this. He directly pulled out the Greer Stone Records and tossed it toward the opposite side.
Aizen smiled, "Now can you let us leave?"
Seiki caught the Greer Stone Records, "You may go!"
After they left, Rasa whispered, "Who exactly is that guy? Such a formidable figure, yet we've never even heard of him before!"
Han spoke gravely, "Moreover, the fact that he helped out Red-Sand Sasori is pretty suspicious. Judging from the situation, Sasori doesn't seem to know him at all!"
"Let's discuss this after we return," Seiki said. "Right now, we should leave quickly!"
Rasa exclaimed, "Leave now? You're not going to keep searching for the Greer vein?"
"There's no such thing as a Greer vein at all!" Seiki shook his head, then scanned everyone present, raising his voice, "I've already searched thoroughly. There's no such vein within this Ruin at all!"
Upon hearing Seiki's voice, the people present couldn't help but start murmuring among themselves.
"What? No crystal veins?"
"Could it be that the veins have already been mined out, and what we found was just a remnant left behind by ancient people?"
No one doubted that Seiki had any intention of deceiving them and taking the crystals for himself.
On one hand, considering Seiki's strength, he had no reason to care about their feelings at all.
On the other hand, Seiki was acknowledged throughout the shinobi world as a man possessing perfect moral integrity—such a person obviously wouldn't deceive them.
Besides, if Seiki had wanted to keep the crystals for himself, he wouldn't have saved them earlier.
"In any case, I won't stop anyone from continuing to explore here, but we're already nearing the limit. I can't guarantee how much longer I'll be able to hold up!"
Seiki's words left everyone feeling a bit disappointed.
"Aww, we only got two crystals this time!"
"Be content. I only got one!"
"We really should be satisfied. Without Lord Seiki, we'd already be dead!"
Among these voices of disappointment, Heyan let out a long sigh of relief: "So the crystal veins in this ruin have already been exhausted. No wonder the ancestors left no records. Great! Now I can finally return home at ease!"
However, he didn't notice that a pair of eyes was already watching him with intent.
...
Outside the ruins.
After exiting the ruins, Sasori asked calmly, his gaze steady. "Talk. Why did you save me?"
Aizen didn't deny having ulterior motives. He merely smiled faintly. "This isn't really the place for discussion."
Sasori gave him a long look before turning back toward the direction he had come from. "Follow me."
After some time, the two arrived at a large underground base situated beneath the desert.
The base was still buzzing with activity. When they saw Sasori, everyone sprang up eagerly to greet him.
As for the masked man following behind Sasori, they completely ignored him.
"I must say," Aizen surveyed the place with a nod, "it's amazing that you've managed to keep such a large base hidden from Sunagakure for so long!"
"I used my [Subconscious Sand Manipulation] on them. Naturally, they won't betray me!" Sasori said, stopping in his tracks. "Now talk."
"Simply put, I've come to invite you to join an organization called Akatsuki!" Aizen stated.
"No interest. You may leave," Sasori refused coldly.
"So decisive?"
"I don't need companions."
Aizen sighed, "You're making things difficult for me!"
Sasori replied coldly, "Don't think for a second that saving me gives you the right to boss me around!"
"Of course not," Aizen smiled, "after all... it was originally my fault that you became like this!"
"What did you say?" Sasori's voice suddenly turned icy.
"You didn't know?" Aizen leaned lazily against the wall, chuckling softly. "That ruin was actually fake!"
"What? Fake?"
"It didn't take long for Sasori to arrive at the answer with his intelligence. 'You mean that Ruin was something you fabricated intentionally just to draw me out!'"
"'Though it's not the whole truth, you could say it's partly true!'"
"'You bastard!'"
Anger and frustration burned in Sasori, but more than anything, he felt stunned!
This guy had really turned the entire ninja world upside down just to track him down!
"Wait, those people who 'coincidentally' fell into the Ruin?"
"Of course, they were part of my plan too."
A shiver ran through Sasori—this man was truly monstrous!
"Knowing all this, aren't you afraid I'll kill you?" Sasori's voice was extremely cold. "Your Genjutsu might be powerful, but it's completely useless against me!"
"Really? I don't believe it!"
"I've already transformed myself into a Puppet!" Sasori said coolly, tapping his chest. "This heart of mine only beats when it's told to. No matter how strong your Genjutsu is, how can it affect stone?"
"I think we should give it a try!"
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