chapter 156 part 2
Those words implied that Kakashi and Uchiha Ren were already his for the taking, lambs awaiting slaughter on the chopping block.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed. He clearly understood the perilous situation and knew he couldn't give Hiruko any opportunities.
Just as Uchiha Ren was about to complete the Water Dragon Bullet's hand seals and the blue chakra was faintly gathering in his palm, Kakashi didn't hesitate for a moment. He sharply swung his arm, and several kunai, whistling through the air, shot like lightning toward Hiruko's body.
The kunai drew several silver arcs through the rain, accurately striking Hiruko's hard outer shell and producing a series of crisp impact sounds.
However, Hiruko seemed completely unaffected. Its ominous gaze remained unwavering.
If it were any other ninja, they would have been riddled with holes by the kunai, but Hiruko was a puppet, and such conventional attacks couldn't harm it.
"The ninja of Konoha still haven't made any progress." Sasori's voice came coldly through the puppet, laced with disdain and mockery. "It is your honor to become my human puppets, to blossom as art!"
Uchiha Ren ignored Hiruko's taunts. He gritted his teeth, veins throbbing slightly on his forehead, as he concentrated fully to rapidly complete the final hand seals.
At the same time, his Observation Haki and three-tomoe Sharingan were completely focused, closely tracking Hiruko's every move.
Just as the puppet was about to launch another fierce attack, he warned, "Be careful!"
Hearing the warning, Kakashi reacted as fast as lightning. His body instantly darted to the left, narrowly dodging the venomous scorpion tail that suddenly stabbed out from Hiruko's demon-faced armor.
At the same time, Uchiha Ren's hand seals were complete. He shouted, "Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!" In an instant, a colossal water dragon roared and burst forth from the water, carrying immense power as it violently smashed into Hiruko, whose retreat was blocked by Kakashi's Earth-Flow Wall.
The water dragon violently collided with the Hiruko puppet. For a moment, water splashed everywhere, like countless cannonballs exploding in the rain, emitting a deafening roar.
The powerful impact caused the Earth-Flow Wall to tremble slightly, and cracks appeared in several places as rubble scattered.
As the water spray and dust settled, smoke slowly rose, shrouding Hiruko's figure.
Kakashi dared not relax in the slightest. He narrowed his eyes, revealing his single Sharingan. Its red pupil flashed with a tense glow in the mist, fixedly staring into the depths of the smoke.
A moment later, the puppet's figure gradually became clear. It was indeed Hiruko, which was now opening its "mouth" and continuously spewing a thick, venomous smoke.
The smoke, as if alive, rapidly spread outwards. Wherever it went, the air became pungent and difficult to breathe, and the space itself seemed to be compressed and shrunk by this poisonous mist.
Kakashi's heart sank. Now he completely understood what Uchiha Ren meant when he said this puppet was more deadly than Kakuzu.
Although Kakuzu was strong, the Hiruko puppet's attacks were so insidious and bizarre that they were truly hard to guard against.
Thinking of this, Kakashi immediately changed his plan. The chakra that had been gathered in his right hand, ready for a close-quarters assault with his Lightning Blade, instantly dissipated. He leaped violently backward, landing in a relatively safer spot nearby.
Sasori of the Red Sand, from inside the Hiruko puppet, watched the Uchiha brat who had just unleashed the Water Dragon Bullet leading the people in the cave to flee into the distance, and couldn't help but laugh.
"Hatake Kakashi, do you think they can escape just because you're holding me back?"
Kakashi's expression was grave. "Your target is me now!"
Kakashi, who prioritized the lives of his companions above all else, chose to bear this pressure alone.
However... he was overthinking things.
Sasori hadn't felt like laughing this much in a year.
Sasori patiently explained, "Thanks to Konoha, my parents died at the hands of Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo."
Kakashi's expression changed drastically, and he even felt a sense of embarrassment.
Just now, Ren had revealed to him that this Sasori of the Red Sand had transformed himself into a puppet.
Kakashi's pupils constricted. So, his father was the source?
Sasori didn't bother to discuss with Kakashi the feeling of losing one's parents at a young age.
He manipulated Hiruko, and the mechanical cannon device on its left arm boomed as it popped out.
Mounted on the cannon were more than a dozen cylindrical barrels filled with poison needles. With a terrifying mechanical roar, they fired rapidly in all directions.
Almost at the same instant, thousands of hidden senbon within the barrels shot out like a swarm of bees, densely flying towards Kakashi's location. For a moment, the needles crisscrossed, weaving a net of death that completely sealed off his escape routes.
Such a wide-ranging attack made it impossible for Kakashi to dodge in time.
*Whoosh!* Several poison needles mercilessly pierced his right arm and back. Kakashi groaned, his body swaying slightly.
Seeing this, Sasori sneered. He immediately manipulated the Hiruko puppet, its colossal tail hook lashing out like black lightning, fiercely stabbing towards a seemingly empty spot.
Just then, something strange happened.
The "Kakashi" that had just been pierced by thousands of needles instantly transformed into a puddle of water and silently disappeared.
And in the next second, the real Kakashi, clenching a Lightning Blade, burst out of the ground!
The path he was about to take was precisely where Hiruko's tail hook had stabbed!
Kakashi, his three-tomoe Sharingan activated, was greatly alarmed. He forcibly twisted his body. Relying almost purely on instinct, his right hand, flashing with blue-white light from his Lightning Blade, clashed violently with the tail hook.
A dazzling electric light flashed. The powerful current and impact sent Kakashi flying to the side. He knelt on one knee, supporting himself with his right hand on the ground, gasping for breath.
At this moment, Kakashi felt a piercing pain in his hand. He looked down and saw that the back of his right hand, which the tail hook had brushed against, had already turned a purplish-blue color—a clear sign of poison.
At the same time, Hiruko's tail snapped with a "crack" under the force of the collision with the Lightning Blade, unable to withstand the immense power.