Sasori looked at Sora, his cold voice echoing across the desert.
"Let me show you the true form of art."
"Magnet Release, Iron Sand Drizzle."
Sasori's fingers moved slightly, and the Third Kazekage human puppet immediately spread its arms.
Countless black iron sand particles surged from its robe sleeves, instantly coalescing into countless dense senbon, covering Sora and his shadow clones like a black rainstorm.
The area was so vast it almost sealed off all dodging space.
The iron sand contained magnetic force, was extremely fast, and had formidable piercing power, far surpassing ordinary concealed weapons.
If it were an ordinary ninja, facing such an attack, there would be almost no option other than to withstand it directly or use earth release for defense.
But Sora was thoroughly familiar with Sasori's abilities, especially the moves of this Third Kazekage human puppet.
"Scatter."
Sora's main body uttered a low shout and moved simultaneously with his shadow clones.
They did not choose to retreat. Instead, they charged forward rapidly, meeting the black iron sand rainstorm head on.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
Their speed was so fast only afterimages remained. The seemingly densely packed iron sand senbon, except for a few shadow clones, were all avoided by them with hair's breadth margins, extremely dangerously.
"What."
Sasori's eyes flashed with shock once more.
Not only was the opponent's speed far beyond his estimation, but they had also completely seen through the attack pattern and blind spots of this move.
How was this possible.
In the instant his mind was slightly shaken, Sora and the remaining shadow clones had already broken through the coverage of the "Iron Sand Drizzle" and were closing in on the puppet's main body.
"Magnet Release, Iron Sand Wall."
Sasori reacted extremely quickly and immediately changed his move.
Black iron sand instantly condensed into a huge black wall in front of the Third Kazekage.
However, Sora seemed to have already anticipated this.
The main body and all shadow clones abruptly changed direction, instantly bypassing the iron sand wall, and charged straight at Sasori himself, who was manipulating the core from behind, from several different angles.
To capture the rebels, first capture the leader.
When dealing with a puppeteer, attacking the main body is always the most effective tactic.
Sasori's expression turned extremely unpleasant.
The opponent not only understood his puppet techniques intimately, but the combat thinking was also extremely clear and precise.
He hurriedly manipulated the Third Kazekage to return to defense, while the spinning top under the core began rotating rapidly, attempting to create distance.
"Too slow."
Sora snorted coldly. The dragon vein chakra within his body erupted explosively, increasing his speed by another thirty percent.
Over a dozen shadow clones fearlessly pounced towards the returning Third Kazekage puppet and that iron sand wall, using their bodies and attacks to forcibly delay their movements.
And Sora's main body appeared in front of Sasori's core body.
A fist covered in blue scales, containing monstrous strength and dragon vein chakra, punched out without any fancy techniques.
Sasori's pupils constricted sharply. He manipulated the core body to cross its arms to block, while poison coated blades shot out from its robe sleeves, stabbing towards Sora's chest, attempting to trade injury for injury.
Boom.
The arms of Sasori's core body instantly twisted and deformed. The poison coated blades stabbed against Sora's chest, but it was like hitting the hardest alloy. They did not even fully pierce the scales, only sparking a trail of sparks.
"How is this possible." Waves of shock surged in Sasori's heart.
Although this core body was not as strong as the Third Kazekage human puppet, its durability far surpassed ordinary puppets. Yet it could not even block a single punch from the opponent.
This guy's taijutsu and defense were simply monstrous.
The tremendous force sent Sasori's core body flying violently, tumbling and bouncing on the sandy ground.
And in the instant Sasori was sent flying, the chakra threads between him and the Third Kazekage puppet, due to the increased distance, also experienced a brief interruption.
A Sora shadow clone that had been waiting on the side for an opportunity, a gleam of light flashed in its eyes. The already prepared technique was instantly activated.
"Sealing Technique, Spirit Binding Chains."
Several chains composed of chakra, shimmering with a pale blue light, appeared out of thin air, accurately entangling the limbs and torso of the Third Kazekage human puppet.
The movements of the Third Kazekage puppet instantly stiffened. The magnet release chakra fluctuations surrounding it also rapidly diminished.
"Bad."
As soon as Sasori stabilized his core body, he felt the connection with the Third Kazekage become extremely weak. Great alarm arose in his heart.
And Sora's main body had already closed in again like an attached bone carbuncle.
This time, his target was clear. The scroll at Sasori's waist containing puppets, and the out of control Third Kazekage human puppet.
"Don't even think about it."
Sasori was both shocked and furious. He manipulated the core body to shoot out countless senbon and poison needles, while attempting to recall other remaining ordinary puppets.
But Sora completely ignored these harassing attacks. The formidable defense brought by his partial beast transformation allowed him to disregard these attacks.
His movement was like lightning. As if reaching into a bag to take something, he grabbed the Third Kazekage puppet floating in mid air, entangled by the sealing chains, with one hand. He quickly attached a sealing tag to completely suppress it and stuffed it into an empty scroll he had brought.
Immediately after, he closed in on Sasori's core body like a ghost. Under its despairing gaze, he punched and shattered the arm attempting to snatch the scroll, and took the largest scroll containing other puppets and materials as well.
The entire process flowed smoothly, fast as lightning, as if practiced countless times.
"Damn you, you guy."
Facing Sora who acted like a bandit, Sasori instantly flew into a rage. But having lost his strongest Third Kazekage puppet, and most of his assets, Sasori knew he was completely defeated, defeated without any doubt.
The opponent's restraint and understanding of his abilities had reached an unbelievable level.
But as long as the green hills remain, there will be no shortage of firewood.
Sasori made a decisive decision immediately, without any hesitation. The spinning top device under his core body erupted with its final power, carrying him soaring into the sky, fleeing rapidly towards the direction opposite Sora, without even having time to utter a single threat.
Sora watched Sasori become a black dot on the horizon and did not pursue.
He weighed the scroll sealing the Third Kazekage in his hand. His objective had already been achieved.
As for letting Sasori go.
Sora's gaze was profound. Sasori of the Red Sand was not just a powerful missing nin. He was also a scientist who combined puppetry and biotechnology to the extreme.
He could develop a life extending technology like the "core." His research potential should not be underestimated.
'A defeated former opponent, and whose core abilities I have completely seen through.'
'Those defeated by my hand will never have the possibility of surpassing me.'
The corner of Sora's mouth lifted in a confident curve.
He possessed the Azure Dragon Fruit, and now he had obtained the dragon vein. His growth speed would exceed everyone's imagination.
Without the Third Kazekage human puppet, even if Sasori could stage a comeback, he would never be able to catch up to Sora's footsteps again.
On the contrary, leaving Sasori alive, letting him continue to stir up trouble in the ninja world, perhaps someday in the future, this mad scientist could create some unexpected things useful for his "Kekkei Mora Plan."
When the time came, he could come to "collect" them. It would let Sasori experience the feeling of being a laborer.
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