Grandmother and Grandson in Battle

After dealing with several annoying Shadow Clones, Sasori controlled the Water Pillar with his palm and swept it toward Naruto and the others again.

"Wind Style: Great Sickle Weasel!" Temari swung her fan, generating a fierce gale in an attempt to block the Water Pillar and attack Sasori himself.

But Sasori nimbly dodged it, and the thin Water Pillar broke through the gale without slowing, continuing its barrage.

Fortunately, the group reacted quickly. Even Chiyo's Granny moved with an agility that did not seem possible for an Elder in her seventies or eighties.

The Salamander had it worst. Kankuro and the others instinctively hid behind it, so after being heated by high-temperature flames, the Salamander was immediately subjected to another brutal quenching and cutting.

The entire Puppet was now shattered into pieces and completely beyond repair.

Perhaps the high-pressure water cannon consumed more than the flames. Before long, the Water Pillar stopped, and another Scroll behind Sasori disappeared.

Other than some dust on their bodies, the four were basically unhurt. All in all, Naruto and Sasori had fought, while Kankuro's Puppet had been destroyed, and there was nowhere to seek justice.

Chiyo's Granny, who had been hanging back and providing commentary, finally stepped forward. She took out two Scrolls and released their seals, and two Puppets appeared before her. "Sasori, I can no longer tolerate you continuing like this."

Sasori was slightly moved. It was impossible to tell whether the expression on his face was sorrow, joy, or feigned disdain. "You still kept those toys?"

Chiyo's Granny flexed her fingers a few times, her tone somewhat weathered. "They were my beloved grandson's earliest creations, after all. There could be nothing more fitting than having them stop you."

The two Puppets she had brought out were Father and Mother, Puppets Sasori had made in the likeness of his parents when he first began learning Puppet Technique. He had often let them hold him as he slept.

Having lost his parents at a young age, Sasori could only use this method to remember the warmth of their embrace.

Later, in the Shinobi World, where even children liked pondering the meaning of life, Sasori came to understand that life was fragile, flesh would always decay, and only eternal beauty was art—only that was what he pursued.

Thus, Sasori eventually embarked upon a path of no return. He assassinated the Kazekage, murdered all sorts of people he deemed worthy of collecting, turned them into Human Puppets, and even used Puppet Technique: One Hundred Puppets to destroy an entire nation.

The title Sasori of the Red Sand was not because his hair was red or because Hiruko resembled a scorpion. It was because his Puppets had dyed the desert red with other people's blood, while his actual name was Sasori.

Artists became truly insane when they grew obsessive, just like the bomb-crazed Deidara and Mori Kogoro.

After Sasori defected, Chiyo's Granny modified the Father and Mother Puppets he had left behind into combat Puppets and kept them with her at all times.

This pitiful Elder had lost her son and daughter-in-law in battle, and her grandson had defected. In the end, aside from photographs, these two Puppets were all she had left.

Bringing them out to fight Sasori was like having parents stop their wayward son.

Grandmother and grandson had been apart for twenty years. After meeting again, they had barely exchanged a few proper words before facing each other with weapons drawn. Their feelings were probably complicated.

Sasori did not take out another Scroll from behind him. Instead, he entered the fray himself, fighting the Father and Mother Puppets controlled by Chiyo's Granny with poisonous spiked steel cables and propeller-like blades behind his back.

Chiyo's Granny's hands moved like the wind. The Father and Mother Puppets showed no mercy with their blades, while Sasori controlled his own blades to meet each strike. His steel cables danced like nimble serpents, waiting for a chance to launch a surprise attack.

Clang, clang, clang, clang! The sounds of clashing blades rang out amid bursts of sparks. The high-speed Puppet battle was dazzling to watch. These combat Puppets seemed to hide weapons throughout their bodies, as if every joint could detach and fight independently.

Kankuro, watching from the side, was truly having his eyes opened today. So Puppets could be used like this!

Naruto and Temari were not Puppet masters, so they were unmoved by the high-level techniques displayed by these two king-level Puppet users. Their attention had even drifted elsewhere.

"Those two... seem to be smiling?" Temari asked uncertainly.

"Seems like it." Naruto nodded. He felt that the two did not seem to be engaged in some life-or-death battle, nor was this a clash of ideals.

Instead, it was as though an elderly grandmother were watching her son and daughter-in-law use their family's Puppet Technique to play with her grandson, while that grandson used every trick he had to defeat his parents and earn their approval and his grandmother's praise.

Even as the fight reached its fiercest point, the grandson wore a smile that said, I've learned everything you know, while the satisfaction on the grandmother's face and the affection in her eyes could no longer be concealed.

The strange atmosphere made Naruto and Temari reluctant to interfere. Perhaps they were being sentimental, but as outsiders, it felt wrong to interrupt an Elder reminiscing with the grandson who had left home young and returned only after growing old.

Yet the ones who ruined the mood always arrived at the most inappropriate times.

After the final two collisions, Sasori's body rapidly retreated. Chiyo's Granny also withdrew her Puppets, a faint sheen of sweat appearing on her forehead.

The blades behind Sasori had been hacked full of large and small notches, while the swords in the Father and Mother Puppets' hands had also broken. But that was not why they had stopped.

The reason was that the explosions in the distance, like background music, had ceased.

They both believed that the other battlefield had already decided its victor. Sasori was still concerned about Deidara's mission, while Chiyo's Granny was also worried about the Kazekage's safety.

Under Temari and Kankuro's concerned gazes, Naruto sensed the situation and said, "Neither of them is hurt. They're heading this way. It looks like the one named Deidara is running, while Gaara is chasing him."

The group visibly relaxed. It was good that Gaara was unharmed. Now they had to figure out how to stop the two from escaping.

Nine Tails had already begun mocking Shukaku. "Little Raccoon Dog, are you any good at all? You still let him get away?"

Shukaku shouted furiously, "That guy is like a fly! All he does is dodge around!"

"Weak is weak. What excuses are you making? Before the battle, you confidently sent me away. A guy with only one tail really can't be relied on."

"I'm not Chōmei! He flies so high and so fast, what was I supposed to do? What good are more tails? If you've got the skill, fly up there and kill him yourself!"

"I really can fly. Just wait and see, weakling." Nine Tails' reasoning was simple. Naruto could fly, and he was using Nine Tails' Chakra, so rounding it up meant Nine Tails could fly too.

Shukaku was beside himself with rage. He thought that fox had learned some new trick after all these years, so he vented his anger by shouting at Gaara, "Kid, let me out and I'll give him a few Drilling Air Bullets!"

"Stop messing around. Catch up to him first." Gaara rode on sand as he pursued Deidara, his head aching. Against someone so small and fast in the air, if your Drilling Air Bullets could hit him, he would have been dead long ago.

Before long, Deidara came into everyone's view. After dodging Naruto's courtesy Rasenshuriken, he landed beside Sasori and said as if it were only natural:

"Big Brother Sasori, I'm out of clay, yeah."