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"Impossible!" Chiyo's eyes widened in shock.
"This is your grandson?" Tenten stared at her in disbelief. "How long ago did you have a child? He looks like he's barely ten years old!"
Sasori: "..."
"What's wrong, Granny Chiyo?" the red-haired boy said mockingly. "Are you so overwhelmed that you've lost your voice?"
Chiyo stared at Sasori in stunned silence.
"No wonder," Sasori said slowly, "after all, it's been over twenty years. Let me show you something special—the treasure I acquired after killing him."
As he spoke, Sasori pulled a sealing scroll from his sleeve. With a loud puff, a puppet appeared before them.
"This... This is..." Chiyo's expression twisted in shock.
"What is it?" Tenten asked, confused.
"The Third Kazekage?!" Chiyo exclaimed in horror.
"The Third Kazekage?" Tenten echoed, eyes wide. "Isn't that the Kazekage who disappeared?!"
"Hmph haha!" Sasori laughed cruelly. "How is it, Granny Chiyo? Feeling nostalgic? It was him who sent my parents to their deaths back then! He sent them to guard the outpost! And dragged me along with them!"
"Sasori..." Chiyo murmured, her voice conflicted. "How could you..."
Sasori calmly extended his arm and connected chakra threads to the puppet of the Third Kazekage. "Before the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki arrives, I need to take care of you. I have no intention of facing that monster again."
"Nine-Tails? Naruto?" Tenten asked curiously. "Why are you so afraid of Naruto?"
Sasori didn't respond. With a flick of his wrist, the Third Kazekage puppet surged forward. Blades emerged from its arms and slashed toward Tenten.
Tenten flipped back and immediately released her technique. "Senbonzakura!"
Countless fine, invisible blades rushed toward the puppet.
"Hmph! This masterpiece isn't as simple as Hiruko!" Sasori shouted. "Magnet Release: Iron Sand Wall!"
A dense mass of black iron sand rose in front of the Third Kazekage puppet, intercepting Senbonzakura's blades. Clang clang clang—each blade deflected harmlessly. The sand wall didn't yield an inch.
"No way!" Tenten gasped. She redirected Senbonzakura to defend herself just as the Third Kazekage puppet extended its right arm, summoning multiple mechanical limbs. They lashed out at her with terrifying speed.
"Damn it!" Tenten evaded with swift precision. One massive strike missed by inches, hitting the ground with a boom, sending a tremor through the cave.
From the puppet's arm, a barrage of kunai launched directly at Tenten.
"Senbonzakura!" she cried again.
The invisible blades whirled around her like a cyclone, forming a protective barrier that deflected every kunai.
Meanwhile, Chiyo's fingers moved like lightning. Her puppets, "Father" and "Mother," clashed their palms together and extended five chakra threads each. The threads wrapped around the Third Kazekage's limbs and sliced through them in a blur.
Sasori waved his hand, and a chainsaw mechanism erupted from the Kazekage puppet's arm. It spun violently, aiming to destroy the attacking puppets.
But Chiyo wasn't done. The Father puppet extended a whip while the Mother puppet unsheathed a long dagger from her forearm and thrust it forward.
What happened next looked downright absurd.
A 90-year-old woman and a teenage boy began twisting and flailing like they were dancing a chaotic version of Yangko. Their bodies swayed left and right, manipulating their puppets with flawless coordination and manic energy.
The three puppets clashed midair, moving so fast they left afterimages. Steel clashed against steel. Sparks flew. The cave echoed with the sounds of fierce battle.
"That's insane!" Tenten shouted from the side, temporarily sidelined.
"This feels like watching two arcade masters playing King of Fighters!" said a voice suddenly beside her.
"Who?!" Tenten turned her head sharply—only to see Naruto standing there, smiling.
"Yo~ Missed me?" Naruto said playfully.
"Nani?!" Sasori froze. He immediately retreated the Third Kazekage puppet, and Chiyo did the same with her puppets. Tenten now saw both sets of puppets—damaged, limbs broken, weapons shattered.
"Tsk tsk~" Naruto clicked his tongue. "Chiyo, you're slipping. Haven't improved a bit in all these years. Want me to help teach your grandson a lesson?"
"Get lost!" Chiyo snapped, glaring at Naruto. "He's my grandson. I'll handle him myself!"
"This is going to be a pain," Sasori muttered, his eyes narrowing at Naruto. "I can't believe you even managed to revive the Jinchūriki after the tailed beast was extracted...!"
Only then did everyone notice Gaara walking slowly out of the cave.
"You go handle things outside," Naruto said to him calmly. "I'll take care of this side. No one here's going to hold you back."
"Thank you," Gaara replied, eyes burning with intent.
Naruto's face grew serious. He placed his hands firmly on Gaara's shoulders and said solemnly, "Don't mention it, brother-in-law. We're doing this for medicine."
"That's right... for the—" Gaara began, then blinked in confusion. "Wait, what?! Get lost!"
He stormed off in a huff.
At the same time—
Rock Lee joined Kakashi on the cliff.
"Guy-sensei! Where is the enemy?!" Lee asked, burning with passion.
"There," Kakashi replied simply, pointing skyward.
High above them, Deidara circled on his massive clay bird, his left arm missing and his right waving mockingly.
"Come up!" Deidara taunted.
"..."
Back in the cave—
Sasori growled, "Stop underestimating me! Iron Sand Drizzle!"
Countless fine iron needles formed above, raining down on Chiyo and Naruto.
"Oi, oi!" Naruto shouted, annoyed. "Didn't your grandma say she wants a one-on-one? Why are you hitting me too?!"
He stomped the ground, raising a thick earth wall. The needles struck it hard, embedding deep with thunk thunk thunk sounds.
Chiyo grunted beside him, raising a chakra shield with one puppet and shielding herself with the other.
As the smoke cleared, Chiyo panted behind her puppets. Naruto turned to her with a smirk.
"Well, Chiyo-baasama, you sure you don't want my help?"
Chiyo's expression was grim. She tried to move her puppets—but the joints had been corroded by the iron sand.
"Tch! Don't look down on me!" Sasori shouted. "Iron Sand Spear!"
Iron sand twisted together into a giant black lance and shot toward Naruto like a missile.
"Watch out!" Sakura, who had been fighting a clone, shouted.
"...Shit, forgot that was still active," Naruto muttered.
His Sharingan snapped open. A massive, spectral ribcage formed around him. A gigantic purple skeletal arm extended outward—Susanoo.
The ribcage shielded Naruto and Tenten, while the giant arm grabbed the approaching clones and crushed them with an explosive blast.
"What... is that?!" everyone gasped. Purple flames flickered from the ghostly skeleton—no one had seen Susanoo outside of the Uchiha clan's darkest legends.
"That's why I said," Naruto growled, turning to Sasori. "You're asking for it!"
The massive Susanoo clenched a fist and drove it forward.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Wall!" Sasori commanded, raising another dense iron barrier.
With a deafening boom, the fist smashed through it like it was paper and sent Sasori flying into the stone wall behind him. Cracks spiderwebbed out from the point of impact.
For a long moment, there was only silence.
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