Ryuji steered the mechanical bird into a dive.
A faint smile curled at Sasori's lips as he hooked both his index and middle fingers together. Pulled by the Chakra Threads, gears inside the puppet clicked into motion.
The iron sand mass floating above stirred, shooting several spikes upward toward the mechanical bird.
The mechanical bird swayed left and right, dodging the spikes.
At the same time, it opened its beak, revealing a dark tube with arcs of electricity coiling around it, converging Lightning Release Chakra toward the center of the pipe.
Sasori thought 'not good' inwardly and quickly manipulated the puppet to change tactics.
All the iron sand that had been shot out flew back, gathering into a thick rectangular iron block above.
Boom!
The air was torn apart, a dazzling laser beam descending from the sky like divine punishment.
Sasori showed no fear, the iron block above actively meeting it.
Boom!
The two made contact in mid-air, immediately causing air currents to roil and lightning to scatter, the entire sky obscured by blinding light.
Gin didn't miss this opportunity, sprinting toward Sasori on her legs.
"Hmph!"
Sasori's face showed mockery, all ten fingers of his hands now connected to puppet strings.
Along Gin's charge, a human puppet pushed aside sand and dust, emerging from underground to ambush. Its right arm mechanism opened, revealing a sharp blade with lightning swirling around it, radiant and dazzling.
This was actually a killing move buried before the battle even began.
Under this sudden ambush, Gin had no time to dodge, only able to twist her body as much as possible to avoid vital spots.
Thud!
The blade cut through muscle, severing one of Gin's arms.
But the severed end didn't bleed. Instead, electronic wires and mechanical parts could be seen between the muscle gaps.
"This is a puppet!?"
Sasori slightly widened his eyes, forgetting his follow-up actions.
Gin's remaining right hand clenched into a fist, massive Chakra gathering and erupting in her wrist, then she struck out fiercely.
Bang!
One punch, the puppet shattered.
Miscellaneous parts and fragments flew everywhere.
Sasori snapped out of his shock, then immediately seemed to remember something, sharply looking toward the sky.
Amidst the flickering lightning, a graceful figure descended, heading straight for him personally.
"Don't even think about it!"
For the first time, Sasori panicked, letting out a hysterical roar as if backed into a corner. The iron block in the sky shot a spike toward the figure.
"Too late!"
Pakura shouted, clenching her fist and smashing it toward Sasori's face.
"Heh!"
A faint smile curled at Sasori's lips, the hysterical expression transforming into a victorious grin. He performed a donkey roll, dodging the fist.
And Pakura was pierced through the chest by the pursuing spike.
"Did you misunderstand something?" Sasori looked at Pakura disdainfully. "A puppeteer's personal combat ability is indeed lacking, but it's not zero. I really don't understand what you were thinking, risking getting hit by me just to land one punch..."
Before he finished speaking, the pierced Pakura turned into flowing sand, gradually dispersing with the wind.
Whoosh!
Gin had already arrived behind him, a fist gathering erupting Chakra striking fiercely.
Sasori's pupils contracted. His right hand sharply pulled, Chakra Threads were lifted from the sand, connected to more puppets breaking through the earth from underground. One blocked in front of Sasori, the others charged at Gin.
Bang!
The puppet blocking in front was shattered by a single punch, but more puppets had already surrounded and attacked.
Sasori retreated some distance, looking disdainfully at Gin besieged by the puppets. "Did you think such tactics could deal with me?"
"What about adding this?"
A calm voice came from high above.
Sasori looked up. Beneath the dazzling lightning, the mechanical bird swooped down swiftly, its speed like lightning.
Before Sasori could react, blood sprayed across the sky as he was sent flying. He felt several ribs shatter from the impact.
"Bastard!"
Sasori endured the pain, hooking his index finger. The iron block in the sky scattered into sand, falling like rain.
With such a wide area, no one could avoid it.
The mechanical bird was penetrated by large amounts of iron sand, its gears and parts jammed, unable to operate, falling from the sky.
Crash!
Thud!
Sasori and the mechanical bird crashed to the ground simultaneously.
The former was smashed, vomiting blood wildly. The latter was smashed into a pile of broken parts.
But Ryuji and Pakura had jumped off beforehand.
They slowly walked toward Sasori, Gin also approaching from a distance.
Sasori looked up toward the footsteps. Seeing the newcomers in that instant, he couldn't help but smile.
However, his current appearance was somewhat miserable, blood staining the corner of his mouth, his clothes even more soaked red.
Making the smile look rather pitiful.
"Ryuji... I guessed it was you when I saw those scarab beetle puppets. I never imagined you could even create puppets that spontaneously refine Chakra. But my human puppets aren't bad either, right? Just one pushed you to this extent."
Hearing this boastful tone, Ryuji stopped, looking down at Sasori calmly. "It's the Kazekage who is strong, not your puppet technique."
"What did you say!?"
Sasori became agitated, trying to get up and argue with Ryuji.
Gin dashed forward, kicking him over, then pressed her single knee against the back of his neck. Her remaining right hand grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back, subduing him.
He struggled hard, trying to break free from the restraint.
Unfortunately, the difference in strength between a puppeteer and a puppet was immense, especially with the former being subdued.
"Transforming people into puppets, preserving certain Ninjutsu from before death... isn't that just cooking high-grade ingredients into low-grade food?" Ryuji mocked without mercy. "Compared to the Third Kazekage, your puppet is far inferior."
"I'm talking about puppets, you're talking about people. Are you jealous?" Sasori was very unconvinced.
"If you say so, since you're in this state, what harm is there in humoring you a little?"
"You..."
"Gin, shut him up."
Thump!
Gin knocked Sasori unconscious with a punch.
Seeing this, Ryuji nodded. "Clean up the battlefield, then back to the village."
…
"That's how it happened!"
Sunagakure, at high-level roundtable meeting room.
Ryuji and Pakura reported the mission situation to the elders and high-ranking Jonin temporarily managing the village affairs.
After listening, the various higher-ups reacted differently.
Some were indignant, some sorrowful, some shocked, some in disbelief, and some heartbroken.
But no one proposed concrete handling measures.
No, there should have been.
Ryuji noticed at the corner of the meeting table, a young man around twenty years old with reddish-brown short hair looked like he wanted to speak but hesitated.
The future Fourth Kazekage… Rasa!
He should know what the urgent matter was, but worried about his voice being too weak, he didn't dare speak up.
This future Kazekage-sama lacked courage at this moment.
'Sigh!'
Ryuji sighed inwardly, raising his hand to speak. "Cough... although I know this incident is very saddening, we have more important matters to attend to now."
Bang!
An old woman slammed the table standing up, throwing a tantrum. "What important matters? My grandson would do such a thing? It's simply impossible. There must be hidden circumstances. I want to interrogate him personally."
"Chiyo-sama, you can observe, but you personally interrogating... heh!"
"What do you mean, you old blockhead?"
"Isn't my meaning clear enough?"
"Say that again, I..."
Watching the meeting room erupt into arguments like a marketplace, Ryuji sighed helplessly.
Chiyo threw tantrums and acted unreasonable, wanting to protect Sasori.
Others wanted to gain benefits from this incident.
With the village leader dead, border defense forces out searching, internal defenses depleted... at this critical juncture of survival, not a single one of these higher-ups was thinking about the village.