Fierce Battle

At Sasori's command, the locks on Sand Skeleton's arms snapped open. A pair of curved longswords sprang from their sheaths, their internal gears spinning rapidly with a constant grinding whir.

Sand Skeleton stamped hard on the ground and lunged several meters forward. Its right arm swept down, bringing one blade straight toward Kakashi's head, while the blade on its left arm slashed across his waist. One high, one low—both aimed at vital points.

Kakashi's pupils contracted. He pushed off with his left foot and retreated half a step. The blade above him missed by a hair, its wake tossing the loose strands over his forehead.

The horizontal slash arrived in an instant. At the last possible moment, he twisted his waist and turned his body aside by half an inch. The back of his short blade met the Puppet's longsword, and he jerked his wrist upward, guiding the force of the slash away along its own path.

The tremendous impact traveled up Kakashi's blade and into his forearm. His muscles tightened at once, and veins rose faintly beneath his skin.

Using the recoil from deflecting the blow, Kakashi slid sideways. Sand Skeleton's slash bit into the earth, scattering dead leaves.

The moment he had shed most of the force, Kakashi stepped in. Seizing the opening in Sand Skeleton's attack, he thrust his short blade straight at the gap in the Puppet's shoulder joint.

Clang!

Metal rang out harshly. The tip struck Sand Skeleton's outer Iron Sand armor and went no farther. A violent shock ran back through Kakashi's hand, sending pain through his knuckles and leaving his arm numb.

The threads on Sasori's fingertips snapped back. Sand Skeleton drew in its right arm, and a short triangular spike shot from the crook of its elbow, straight at Kakashi's face.

Kakashi's