A faint, cold smile curled at Kawaki Aoba's lips, and a sharp glint flashed through his azure eyes. "So what if I'm a nobody? I'm still better than a coward like you, hiding behind a puppet and desecrating the dead."
"A coward?"
Sasori's tone instantly turned frigid. The chakra threads at his fingertips pulled taut, and a cold gleam flashed in the Third Kazekage Puppet's eyes. "It's been a long time since anyone dared speak to me that way. It seems you're looking to die."
"The one looking to die is you."
Kawaki Aoba slowly raised his right hand, gathering a cluster of pale blue chakra in his palm, threaded with faint white lines. "The Third Kazekage was a hero of Sunagakure. Yet you dared to use his body to make a puppet. Today, I'll clean house for Sunagakure and destroy this filthy puppet."
"Clean house? With you?"
Sasori sneered, his voice thick with contempt. "It seems you know nothing of my power. Fine, I'll let you witness the true might of the Third Kazekage Puppet.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand Shield!"
A heavy shield of iron sand instantly formed before the Third Kazekage Puppet. It was covered in sharp iron spikes and gleamed with a cold metallic sheen.
At the same time, the puppet's other hand formed a longsword of iron sand, pointing straight at Kawaki Aoba.
"Captain, who is he?" A sand ninja edged closer to the captain and asked in a lowered voice, his eyes full of confusion and concern. "Can he really defeat Sasori of the Red Sands by himself?"
The captain shook his head, his gaze fixed on Kawaki Aoba's back as he spoke gravely. "I don't know, but his chakra fluctuations are strange. They're no weaker than a Jonin's, and his presence is steady. He