Sasori's Regeneration Core

Chiyo's surprised expression froze completely, her mouth agape enough to fit an entire egg.

She trembled all over, her lips moving but unable to utter a word: "This face—I can't mistake it, it's— the Third Kazekage!"

The Konoha Ninja were all taken aback—no, they were so shocked they were almost overwhelmed.

Tenten asked, "This is the Third Kazekage? But how did the Third Kazekage end up in Sasori's hands, and moreover, in the form of a puppet?"

Chiyo was still in shock when she heard the question and automatically answered, "The Third Kazekage, praised by the Sunagakure Ninja as the strongest Kazekage of all time, suddenly disappeared more than a decade ago and has never been found."

"At that time, the atmosphere of war was already very intense, and clashes frequently broke out between Sunagakure and Konoha. The villagers believed that Konoha had sent someone to assassinate the Third Kazekage."

"So, without the Kazekage present, they launched an attack on Konoha, thus beginning the Third Shinobi World War."

Chiyo shook her head with a bitter smile and sighed dejectedly, "Who would have thought that it was Sasori, who disappeared with us back then? It was Sasori who killed the Third Kazekage and took his body away to make a Human Puppet."

"The disappearance of the Third Kazekage, which directly triggered the Third Shinobi World War, was actually committed by my grandson, Qian—"

"Why didn't I die in the last war?!"

In truth, Chiyo's inner breakdown was even more intense than she showed. The moment she saw the Third Kazekage's Human Puppet, she knew that Sunagakure no longer had a place for her.

Sasori of the Red Sands took on both Kazekage.

The assassination of the Third Kazekage and the creation of Human Puppet triggered the Third Shinobi World War. All the Sunagakure Ninja died in the war were blamed on Sasori.

A few days ago, he attacked Sunagakure, killing countless Sunagakure Ninja and kidnapping and murdering the Fifth Kazekage.

It can be said that the entire Sunagakure harbors a grudge against Sasori of the Red Sands.

Sasori is a missing-nin, Sunagakure Ninja can't catch him, but Chiyo and Ebizo are in the Sunagakure.

They were all elderly people, some even in their fifties or sixties, old enough to die at any moment. How could Chiyo and her brother leave Sunagakure and become wandering missing-nin?

Moreover, they fought for Sunagakure for 50 years, and their sons, daughters-in-law, and grandsons all died on the battlefield fighting for Sunagakure.

Not only their relatives, but also their teachers, classmates, students, and subordinates all died on the battlefield and were buried in Sunagakure. Her roots were in Sunagakure. Rather than becoming missing-nin, Chiyo would rather commit suicide to atone for her sins.

The problem now is that even if she commits suicide, she cannot cleanse herself of her sins.

Not to mention protecting Chiyo's own reputation after death, she couldn't even guarantee that her body wouldn't be left to rot in the wilderness, and even her younger brother Ebizo wouldn't fare well.

At this moment, Chiyo has only one chance to cleanse herself of her sins and allow her body to rest in peace in Sunagakure.

That is to exchange one's own life for the life of the Fifth Kazekage.

Chiyo gave a wry smile, "I thought this technique was prepared for Sasori, but now I can only use it on Gaara."

"Thank goodness I learned this technique, otherwise it would have been true despair."

Thinking of this, Chiyo finally let go of all her reserve and pride and bowed her head to Jiraiya.

She pleaded with utmost sincerity, "Jiraiya, and everyone in Konoha, please do your utmost to help Sunagakure kill the missing-nin!"

Jiraiya felt a pang of unease as he looked at the elderly woman Jiraiya, her hair white, her body hunched and shrunken, pleading tremblingly.

Involuntarily, he thought of the amazement he felt when he first met Chiyo during the Second Shinobi World War.

That was on the battlefield of the Land of Rain. The 30-year-old Chiyo was mature and beautiful, with a voluptuous figure that far surpassed Tsunade's flat-chested Tsunade at the time.

Her hair was a vibrant, blood-red color, like a scorpion's, and it still danced and leaped in the rain, like a burning flame.

As the commander of the Sunagakure Puppeteer' unit, the dashing Chiyo commands with composure, rigor, and boundless passion, shining like a desert rose.

Then, Jiraiya was struck by a poisoned needle from some unknown Puppeteer, and collapsed to the ground, afflicted by the poison.

Chiyo's image at that time was firmly imprinted in the young Konoha Sannin, and this impression deepened with each confrontation.

But the passage of time is always the cruelest knife. The once the Superstar and spirited Third Hokage fell into decline and old age, and the once fiery beauty grew white hair and eventually became a wrinkled old woman.

Jiraiya took a deep breath. "Okay, I promise you."

"Sunagakure is an ally of Konoha. Our mission is to rescue the Fifth Kazekage Fifth Kazekage, and the bastard who killed him is the enemy of our mission."

Jiraiya pointed at Sasori of the Red Sands: "Konoha Ninja, follow me and kill him!"

Because there was no formal appointment, the young Chunin and the simple-minded Might Guy dared to defy Jiraiya's will.

However, Jiraiya's seniority was too great, making him the de facto commander of the rescue team. When he and Kakashi remained inactive, neither the Ino-Shika-Cho squad nor Aburame Torune would take action.

As Jiraiya gave the order and led the attack, the Konoha Ninja no longer hesitated and skillfully launched their attack.

On the battlefield at this moment, Sasori of the Red Sands revealed the Third Kazekage's trump card, but failed to gain the expected advantage.

The Red Sand Scorpion controlled the puppet of the Third Kazekage to form the "Wei" seal on both hands, and used the magnetic escape chakra to summon the overwhelming iron sand, forming a black wave and then activated the secret technique.

[Magnet Style: Iron Sand Drizzle]

Like ocean waves, the Iron Sand Iron Sand surged rapidly, some of it spinning and grinding to form countless fine needles, which were then sprayed at high speed toward the Chunin of Konoha.

The overwhelming barrage of iron needles was just like a torrential rain, falling densely and indiscriminately.

Before the iron needles even arrived, the air compressed by the Iron Sand projectiles turned into gusts of foul-smelling wind, causing the Konoha Ninja to frown and wish they could cover their nostrils with their hands.

Clearly, these iron needles are coated with an extremely potent poison; even a slight prick to the skin could be life-threatening.

However, the poison needles were nothing to Naruto Uzumaki of Team 7, because he was also skilled in [Magnet Style].

Naruto simply raised his hand, without forming any Hand Seals, and created a sufficiently large and strong electromagnetic field, easily guiding the poison needles to deflect to the side.

However, this dangerous Ninjutsu is different for Team 3. The highly poisonous needles are extremely effective against Might Guy and Rock Lee, and also put immense pressure on Neji Hyuga.

When the first wave of iron needles covered the ground, Might Guy had to open the Sixth Gate, using a violent Chakra storm to scatter the poison needles and protect himself and Rock Lee.

Neji Hyuga could only frown and turn around, using the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist technique, [Rotation].

After being freed from the Caged Bird Seal, the shackles that had been weighing on Neji's Mind Stone were lifted, and his strength improved rapidly as a result. At only 17 years old, he was already close to the level of the Clan Leader, Hyuga Hiashi.

Neji's mastery of Gentle Fist is also unique, possessing his own distinctive style. His [Rotation] can even form a spherical Chakra shield, like an extra-large [Rasengan], possessing indestructible destructive power.

The poisoned needles that landed on [Rotation] were all broken and bounced off; even the Venom dripping from the needles could not penetrate [Rotation].

Defense.

In the Team 3, only Tenten seemed completely at ease, strolling leisurely through the downpour of poison needles, yet not a single one struck her.

Tenten even had the leisure to take out Sealing Scroll and collect a batch of poison needles.

Seeing the difficulties her team was facing, Tenten shouted to Naruto Uzumaki, "Naruto, you guys take care of this Third Hokage puppet!"

"Don't worry, Sister Tenten. I don't know about the Third Kazekage, but this puppet doesn't really have much power. I'll definitely be fine with it."

After saying that, Naruto Uzumaki no longer concealed his strength.

He extracted a massive amount of Magnet Style Chakra, and without using any Ninjutsu, he purely used chakra to compete with the Third Kazekage 'Chakra puppet for control of the Iron Sand.

The originally precise and orderly form of Iron Sand collapsed. Not only could it no longer gather, but discharge lines also appeared due to the struggle between the two powerful magnetic forces.

Naruto Uzumaki wasn't alone. He activated his Magnet Style Chakra, pushing the Iron Sand far away or high into the sky, quickly leaving the area around the Third Kazekage empty.

Without needing a verbal reminder, Uchiha Sasuke, upon witnessing this scene, gathered a large amount of Lightning Release Chakra, forming an arc of electricity in his right hand.

[Lightning Release: Chidori]

Sakura Haruno, just as perfectly in sync, jumped behind Sasuke, grabbed Sasuke legs, lifted him up, and then used her Superhuman Strength to push against the soles of Sasuke's feet, throwing him away at high speed.

A dazzling streak of light flashed, and the Third Kazekage's puppet was pierced through the chest by [Chidori]. Its entire structure was destroyed by Lightning Release Chakra, and its limbs, head, and other parts fell to the ground.

The greatest advantages of Human Puppet are twofold. First, the puppet possesses its own Chakra, and second, the Ninjutsu solidified within its body allows the Human Puppet to use its most proficient Ninjutsu without consuming the Puppeteer's Chakra.

In combat, Human Puppet have a significant advantage.

But nothing in this world is absolutely perfect.

Because it requires puppet strings to mobilize the puppet's Chakra and then control the puppet's Chakra to activate Ninjutsu, there are two extra steps involved in commanding and manipulating it.

Human Puppet inevitably react slower, even slower than ordinary puppets.

This gave Naruto Uzumaki the opportunity to play dumb and launch a surprise attack.

Actually, Naruto didn't initially intend to use this move because he had already demonstrated Kage Level strength when facing Uchiha Itachi.

Logically speaking, the trick of pretending to be weak to deceive others shouldn't work.

However, when Naruto joined the battle, he noticed that Sasori of the Red Sands's attention was focused on Chiyo, and he even paid more attention to Might Guy than to him.

Therefore, Naruto Uzumaki deliberately suppressed his strength, only displaying the strength of Jonin, causing Sasori of the Red Sands to gradually overlook him.

Until Tenten shouted out her request, Naruto suddenly erupted, and before Sasori of the Red Sands could react, he used his speed to destroy the Human Puppet with lightning speed.

It wasn't until the Third Kazekage's Human Puppet broke that Sasori finally realized he had underestimated the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. He had forgotten Uchiha Itachi's warning about it before.

This was certainly not without reason; it was the Miracle resulting from the combination of Tenten's "Luck Probability" and Naruto's careful concealment.

[Luck Probability] amplifies the probability of Sasori ignoring Naruto, turning what is almost impossible into a habitual and taken-for-granted occurrence.

Seeing Naruto achieve a decisive victory, Tenten smiled with satisfaction.

She turned to a delighted Might Guy and exclaimed, "Teacher Kaido, Team 7 has already defeated the Third Kazekage Puppet! Team 3 can't fall behind!"

Might Guy was moved to tears by the perfect teamwork of Team 7.

Hearing his student's words again, he was instantly filled with fervor and shouted, "Youth should not be wasted! Let's go together and defeat Sasori of the Red Sands!"

Rock Lee's eyes also blazed with youthful energy as he shouted, "Oh my! Youth!!"

Two streams of green Chakra transformed into two whirlwinds, instantly rushing towards Sasori of the Red Sands, swirling around the handsome puppet and punching and kicking it.

The Eight Gates Formation provides a comprehensive boost to Taijutsu. Once the Five Gates is opened, the speed can exceed the limits of human vision, making it visible only to the Sharingan and Byakugan.

Meanwhile, the two Taijutsu masters who had opened the Sixth Gate were frantically spinning and attacking the scorpion, exceeding the physical limits that the puppet could cope with.

Before Sasori got close, he had countless ways to deal with Might Guy and Rock Lee. He could also use a large number of puppets in conjunction with his Transformation Technique to set up various traps, making the two straightforward Taijutsu Ninja dizzy and disoriented.

However, once the two got close, Scorpion lost the ability to switch between puppets and could only rely on the puppets on his own body to cope.

Might Guy and Rock Lee the Sixth Gate, unleashing tremendous power in their punches and kicks. They could take down ordinary puppets in one hit, and also inflict significant damage on Sasori's Human Puppet.

In just a few seconds, Scorpion's body was covered in cracks, and even his tail was kicked off by Might Guy, with the break right at his mouth on his back, rendering him useless even at the last moment.

Even worse, the cracks in the Human Puppet's chest armor unfortunately intersected, causing the armor plates to fall off and exposing the core Regeneration Core.

Because of the tragic loss of his parents in childhood, Scorpion began to think about the fragility of life from the time he was old enough to understand.

Like Uchiha Itachi, children who think about overly heavy issues too early and lack life experience may develop distorted thinking.

As a result Uchiha Itachi and Sasori both went astray and became mentally ill at a young age.

Uchiha Itachi attempted to destroy his own clan, bearing the "sin" he had imagined himself, and placing the same imagined "hope" onto Uchiha Sasuke.

He ignored the pain Sasuke was enduring, and, in his self-righteous indignation, continued to harm his younger brother, driving Sasuke to become a psychopath as well.

If it weren't for Naruto's irrational Talk no Jutsu, which made Sasuke inexplicably ignore all his pain, Sasuke would never have been able to return to being a normal person.

Sasori, like Orochimaru, has a fanatical desire for Eternity.

He relinquished his human body and spirit, transforming himself into Human Puppet, retaining only the Regeneration Core that provides Chakra, thus truly achieving a kind of Eternity.