Victory

(Things have come up recently. I might take a few days off, or I might not. I'll see how things go...)

"Sasori."

Chiyo took off her outer robe.

Revealing two mechanical arms.

Chiyo had modified her own body as well, but compared to Sasori's, it was merely insignificant.

Seeing that Chiyo was alright, Sakura finally let go of the worry in her heart and immediately used a healing technique on herself to recover from her injuries.

At the same time.

Gamakichi's summoning time ran out. After saying goodbye to Josuke, he returned to Mount Myoboku.

Sakura was temporarily unable to fight.

Chiyo brought out her puppets and engaged Sasori in a head-on clash between puppets. With every strike, parts shattered.

In a single exchange, several puppets were scrapped.

That was how puppet masters were. They only needed to focus on fighting the enemy, while the repairmen in the rear had much more to worry about.

We can't remain deadlocked like this, Josuke thought.

He did not have much chakra left either. It would be best to end this quickly.

After thinking for a moment, Josuke came up with an idea. He went behind Chiyo and muttered something to her.

Then he unleashed the Shadow Clone Technique.

In an instant, kunai and shuriken flew toward Sasori.

You think this is enough to defeat me?

Sasori sneered inwardly. He admitted that Josuke had some skill, but that was all.

He would capture Josuke and turn him into a puppet, achieving his eternal art!

He and Deidara truly deserved to be known as two of the most famous artists of their generation. One pursued fleeting art, while the other pursued eternity... Come to think of it, Sasori would probably get along well with a married woman living in Inazuma who loved sakura blossoms.

Ahem.

Turning Josuke into a puppet—how perfect would that be?!

With a casual Magnetic Release: Sand Iron Wall, he blocked the attack. Was that all? Some of the kunai were even deflected by the iron sand wall, flying over his head and behind him.

But Sasori did not care in the slightest.

He took out several more scrolls, and a large number of puppets appeared once again.

The little kitten had let his guard down. Josuke exchanged a glance with Chiyo, and Chiyo nodded in understanding.

Josuke formed hand seals with both hands. Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame, a B-rank Fire Style ninjutsu. After chakra gathered in his throat, he spat out a vast sea-like expanse of flames.

The intense heat melted the iron sand wall.

Sasori would not make the same mistake twice. He controlled a Water Style puppet to use Water Style and cool the iron sand wall.

Just then, Flying Thunder God! Activate!

Using the Flying Thunder God kunai he had placed behind him, Josuke instantly appeared behind Sasori.

Chidori gathered in his hand as he charged at Sasori.

Just as he was about to pierce Sasori, he was stabbed by a sharp blade instead!

Without relying on his body, Sasori twisted his head one hundred and eighty degrees. Two sharp blades emerged from his elbows and pierced Josuke's chest.

As they struck him, Sasori did not forget to give Josuke several elbow strikes.

"Josuke!!!"

Sakura cried out. As a medical ninja, she naturally knew what this meant. Josuke was most likely done for.

"No, no!!"

Sasori was delighted that he had found material for a puppet. A puppet with the Sharingan—Boom!

The stabbed Josuke vanished, releasing a large amount of lightning.

Lightning Style: Lightning Clone Technique.

It used Lightning Style chakra to create a tangible clone, adding lightning nature transformation to the Shadow Clone Technique. When the Shadow Clone was destroyed by an enemy, it could transform into lightning and attack them, causing paralysis.

And furthermore.

Once marked by the Flying Thunder God, the mark could never be removed.

So, with the second stage of the Flying Thunder God activated, Josuke instantly appeared behind Sasori as the Lightning Clone vanished. The Lightning Clone's electricity paralyzed Sasori, and Josuke's Rasengan followed close behind.

What?

How could this happen?

Sasori immediately summoned the Third Kazekage puppet to defend himself.

The Third Kazekage puppet transformed both hands into blades and met Josuke's Rasengan head-on.

Sasori breathed a sigh of relief, though the Third Kazekage puppet's arms were still shattered.

But Josuke was not the main force in this battle—Chiyo was!!

Chiyo's puppets moved at the same moment, leaping over the iron sand wall and stabbing toward Sasori's main body.

Another sudden attack from behind. Sasori had no choice but to use the Third Kazekage puppet for defense again. The puppets in the form of Sasori's parents stabbed the Third Kazekage puppet and directly dismembered it.

Without the slightest hesitation, after dismantling the Third Kazekage puppet, the two puppets immediately stabbed toward Sasori. At that moment, Sasori did not dodge. Instead, he faced the incoming attack with a smile.

Splat!!!

Two sharp blades pierced Sasori's main body. Sasori did not retaliate at all, enduring the pain as he seized control of the parent-shaped puppets.

Chiyo was shocked. How difficult was this move? Even she, a puppet master herself, sometimes could not accomplish it.

With trembling hands, he controlled the puppets to embrace him, just like when he had been young. The dozen or so unopened scrolls around him explained everything.

Sasori no longer wanted to fight. He was tired...

The warm embrace of his parents... It seemed like dying here would not be so bad...

Sasori slowly closed his eyes. The hands controlling the puppets lost consciousness as well, hanging limply in the air.

Sasori died.

Josuke also collapsed onto the ground from exhaustion. Sasori had absolutely, absolutely held back in this battle. Otherwise, it could not have been this easy. Those dozen or so scrolls might not have changed the outcome, but they definitely could have made Josuke and the others pay a far greater price.

Sasori's elbow blades had given him quite a fright just now. If his real body had charged in, he probably would have been killed for real. Fortunately, one clever move deserved another—he had come out on top.

"Granny."

The recovered Sakura noticed everything here and looked toward Chiyo. Chiyo let out a soft sigh. Sasori was not only an S-rank rogue ninja, but also the child of her son and daughter-in-law.

Her grandson.

Now, she had truly become all alone.

Chiyo shook her head.

"I'm fine. Let's keep going."

After hearing Chiyo speak, Josuke and Sakura did not say anything more and continued hurrying toward Gaara.

Josuke lowered his gaze. Once they got there, it would be time to carry out the next step of his plan...

Meanwhile, in the distance, Orochimaru's group appeared in the area, seemingly searching for something—or perhaps waiting for someone?

At the same time, Gaara had already been extracted from his body. He was useless to the Akatsuki Organization now, so Deidara tossed him aside.

Gaara's condition was critical.

But just like in the original story, Chiyo used the secret technique One's Own Life Reincarnation, sacrificing herself to trade her life for Gaara's and revive him.

Gaara's revival declared the mission complete. After resting and regrouping at the spot, everyone prepared to head home. The mission was over, so the next step was to collect their reward, settle some remaining matters, and rebuild the Sand Village.

And just then!!!!

Josuke! Stopped in his tracks!!!!!