Whoosh…
Hundreds of red-robed puppets rained down from the sky. They floated in mid-air like ghosts, their movements unpredictable but their fighting power extremely strong.
They wielded various weapons. Chakra threads on their bodies were all connected to the "Regeneration Core" on Sasori's left chest, controlled by it. Therefore, even without using his fingers, Sasori could control these hundreds of puppets as if they were his own body.
Screech screech screech…
Before long, dozens of attacks landed on the Susanoo.
Itachi's expression was calm. With a wave of his hand, two ice blades, as red as fire, appeared in his two red palms and swept towards the red-robed puppets in mid-air.
The giant red skeletal warrior, like a god, unleashed its fury. Its immense offensive power erupted, easily wiping out a large number of red-robed puppets.
"Cough cough…"
Just then, Itachi's attack suddenly paused. His face turned ashen, and he coughed repeatedly. Itachi instinctively covered his mouth with his hand. When he opened his eyes, all he saw was crimson.
"Time is running out," Itachi thought to himself, quickening his attack speed, wanting to finish these two off quickly.
If this dragged on any longer, he feared he might not get to see Sasuke again.
However, Sasori witnessed this and frowned, pondering, "Itachi is different from usual, he's become a bit impatient. What's wrong?"
Among their Akatsuki group, Itachi had always been the calmest one. He faced everything without the slightest ripple, always able to handle situations with composure, calmly analyze the situation, and then strike at the moment his opponent's weakness was exposed to defeat them.
This behavior now was completely unlike his usual fighting style.
"Explosion is art, Hmph!"
High in the air, Deidara continuously threw large quantities of clay explosives at Itachi. However, they were blocked in mid-air by Itachi's Amaterasu. At the same time, the black flames burned, and soon the clay bird caught fire.
Deidara knew how powerful Amaterasu was. He immediately dared not delay, jumping from the bird's back. At the same time, his hand formed another small clay bird, carrying him as he floated in the air.
"Phew, that was close, I almost turned to ash, hm." Deidara wiped away imaginary sweat, speaking in fear.
But then, he became excited again, shouting, "Hahaha, Itachi, you missed, hm."
Missed?
How could he miss?
Sasori retreated slightly, a hint of solemnity on his face, thinking to himself, "What is this Itachi up to? How could Amaterasu miss?"
"No, that's not right. Why would he use Amaterasu?" Sasori suddenly realized.
With the Susanoo's defenses, it wouldn't be a problem to take a couple of Deidara's clay explosives, let alone use Amaterasu to defend against them.
Amaterasu puts a great strain on the eyes, so Itachi wouldn't use it lightly. Yet, within a few minutes, he had used it twice.
What was wrong with Itachi?
"The distance is too great, I can't focus anymore," Itachi closed his eyes, feeling a slight pain.
Consequently, the Susanoo stopped its attacks and only defended passively.
"His physical condition doesn't seem to be very good," Sasori murmured. "That's right, Kisame seemed to have noticed this before and even asked me to take a look, but Itachi refused."
Kisame, Itachi's teammate, felt Itachi's physical condition during a mission and immediately found Sasori. Since Sasori could turn himself into a human puppet, he was very familiar with human anatomy.
With this in mind, Kisame hoped Sasori would treat Itachi. However, Itachi at that time only wished to die at Sasuke's hands. He never expected that the Uchiha clan and his crimes would be cleared. If he had known this would happen, he would have sought treatment long ago.
At his peak, he might not have been able to defeat Deidara and Sasori, but escaping from their clutches would have been easy. He wouldn't have found himself in such a predicament.
"Poor physical condition, and his eyes are overused. This is truly a godsend."
Once Sasori figured it out, he immediately used water and fire scrolls. Scorching flames and high-pressure water jets shot out from his two palms.
"Scorching Devouring Current!"
"Flaming Orb Barrage!"
"Here it comes," Itachi slightly opened his left eye, preparing his defense. He was too weak right now. This form of Susanoo was already his limit, and it was currently in a very "fragile" state. He didn't know if he could block it.
As fellow members of the Akatsuki, he had seen Sasori's two moves before, and he was uncertain.
The flames shot directly at him carried extremely high temperatures, capable of melting steel and stone instantly; the water jets were like lasers, extremely sharp and unstoppable.
Itachi narrowed his eyes slightly. The red skeletal hand held a blade and chopped down in an "X" shape.
But at this moment, Deidara suddenly circled behind Itachi and spat out a giant dragon from his palm, which swiftly slammed into the back of the Susanoo.
"Explosion is art," Deidara laughed heartily, then said seriously, "Hmph!"
Boom! Roar!
A massive explosion resounded through the sky, even more violent than the previous blasts. The once dense forest was now a scorched wasteland.
As the smoke and dust cleared, Itachi was kneeling on the ground, gasping for breath. The Susanoo surrounding him gradually shrank and finally disappeared completely.
"Susanoo is indeed powerful. Even after such a heavy blow, it still protected you from significant harm," Sasori said with a cold expression as he walked forward. "I will turn you into my most perfect puppet, achieving an eternal art even more perfect than the Third Kazekage."
"Huh? What are you talking about, Master Sasori? True art should be fleeting. Only the brilliance of a single moment is art," Deidara said displeasantly and was about to approach.
"Don't come any closer," Sasori warned. "Besides Amaterasu, he also has Tsukuyomi. Maintain a safe distance."
It had to be said that Sasori was far more cautious than Deidara.
"Goodbye, Itachi." A steel cable suddenly extended from Sasori's abdomen and rapidly elongated, tightly wrapping around Itachi. This cable was highly poisonous, enough to incapacitate anyone.
However, just as Itachi was about to suffocate, he suddenly transformed into a flock of crows and disappeared before Deidara and Sasori.
"What? A clone?" Sasori paused almost imperceptibly, instinctively searching for Itachi's trace. But as he turned, he met Itachi's eyes directly.
"Tsukuyomi!"
Sasori's expression froze instantly. He had clearly fallen into a genjutsu.
"You injected your soul into the puppets. Because you cannot erase your soul," Itachi said, coughing constantly. "Genjutsu cannot bring you mental shock, but as long as I can control you, that's enough."
Then, he raised his hand and forcefully pierced Sasori's left chest's "Regeneration Core" with a kunai.
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