Heating Up!

Magnet Release: Iron Sand World Method!

The iron sand scattered through the air transformed into countless massive spikes, crisscrossing in every direction, relentless until every enemy caught within the technique was slaughtered. Its offensive power, containment range, and density all reached their strongest forms. It truly was the deadliest technique of iron sand Magnet Release!

At the critical moment, Sasuke absorbed the White Cursed Seal Power, overcame the poison's effects, and used hand seals to unleash all the enhanced Wood Release power within his body...!

Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!

Though the caster stood on the water, the technique found its own footing. Boom! Trees sprouted from the riverbed's silt, intertwining branches and climbing vines advancing together. They broke through the water's resistance and towered above its surface in an instant!

Sasori of the Red Sands's expression twisted. "Wood Release of this caliber... was he hiding his strength before? No, his power surged in an instant. Not only did he overcome the poison, he even unleashed Wood Release powerful enough to rival Iron Sand World Method! That bastard Orochimaru, what exactly did he do to him?!"

He drove Iron Sand World Method forward, declaring war on the forest!

But no matter how the iron sand changed its piercing attacks, it could not penetrate the forest's layered defenses. As the forest expanded, Sasori was even forced away from the heart of the battlefield!

"Don't push your luck!"

Sasori snapped coldly, interweaving the puppet strings on his ten fingers. The Third Kazekage flapped his iron sand wings, weaving freely through the iron sand and forest. Clack! Clack! A large, lethally poisoned blade sprang from the puppet mechanism in his left arm, ready to decapitate Sasuke!

Noticing Sasori's intent, Sasuke immediately directed the surrounding trees to intercept him!

Outside the forest, Sasori's ten fingers danced and crossed as he manipulated his puppet, moving so fast they left afterimages!

Driven by ten leaping Chakra Threads, the Third Kazekage slashed wildly. Severed wood flew everywhere as he advanced with unstoppable force!

But the forest was so dense that for every tree cut down, ten more rose to meet him!

Crack! Crack!

As he forced his way forward, the tip of the poisoned blade snapped off. Sasori paid it no mind. His afterimages became even more ghostly, and the Third Kazekage's attacks grew fiercer still!

With the puppet's robust mechanisms and its operator's unmatched skill, one figure with one blade actually carved a path through the forest's inner reaches!!

By the time every obstructing tree had been cut down, the blade had been worn completely blunt!

Whoosh!

Sasori brought his hands together, and the Third Kazekage Puppet's thousand-arm mechanism deployed again. This time, however, what poured from the arms was not poison mist, but a sky-blotting barrage of kunai!

Bzzzt! Sasuke's eyes lit up!

Susanoo's skeleton rose once more, blocking every kunai!

But this time, it was not for defense—it was for an attack!!

Shhk! Fascia wound around the skeleton, connecting flesh and bone as Susanoo entered its second form!

Watching from the outskirts, Kabuto exclaimed, "That form of Susanoo!"

Orochimaru smiled nostalgically. "Is it coming? It's been so long—the Heavenly Ma-kagu Bow!"

Whoosh!

A longbow formed in Susanoo's right hand, while an arrow grew in its left. It drew the bow and nocked the arrow, aiming straight at the Third Kazekage Puppet over twenty meters away!

"Damn it!!"

Outside the forest, Sasori cursed under his breath at the sight.

Iron sand frantically gathered through the gaps in the forest's now-motionless outer reaches, pouring without reserve into the iron sand defensive wall unfolding before the Third Kazekage!

Divine Weapon: Heavenly Ma-kagu Bow!

Boom!

Susanoo fired its arrow. The iron sand wall that had perfectly blocked the wild barrage of Gale Dance before was shattered by a single shot, leaving the Third Kazekage nowhere to hide!

"The iron sand's defense really is powerful..."

Sasuke's gaze remained cool.

"Then what will you do about a second arrow?"

As he spoke, Susanoo drew its bow and nocked another arrow!

Boom! Before the iron sand could rebuild its defenses, the second arrow followed. Stripped of the iron sand's protection, the Third Kazekage Puppet shattered beneath the arrow. Countless broken parts scattered across the water, beyond repair!

Sasori's most prized masterpiece met a merciless end, just like that!

Splash!

The forest sank beneath the water, and Sasuke advanced with Susanoo.

Across from him, Sasori bowed his head and murmured, "I see. Sasuke Uchiha, I'll admit it. Of all the shinobi I've met in my life, you're the first to reach this level at your age..."

He slowly reached for the collar of his Akatsuki Robe.

"So I'll be fighting with my own body for the first time since the battle when I joined the Akatsuki..."

Whoosh! He tore off his Akatsuki Robe and flung it into the river!

Sasuke stopped abruptly. Anyone who did not already know Sasori's secrets would naturally react that way upon first seeing his body!

Sasuke was no exception!

"You even... turned yourself into a Human Puppet?"

Sasuke examined Sasori's puppet body with his Sharingan, seeing through its most crucial secret at a glance.

That lump of flesh in his chest gives off a living Chakra signature, unlike his puppet body. I see. That must be the puppet body's "core." I've seen similar technology in the cyborgs Amado made for Kara in the future. I never imagined Sasori's thinking was so far ahead of his time. No, perhaps Amado was inspired by Sasori...

At the same time, another question arose in Sasuke's mind.

Kara's cyborgs only have movable Regeneration Cores implanted inside their bodies. They still need organs to maintain their bodily functions. But apart from that lump of flesh, Sasori has truly removed all his organs, including his brain. Can that lump alone really give a puppet a living person's thoughts and ability to act? Perhaps there's another secret to his Puppet Technique...

Naturally, he thought of the only possibility...

His soul... or perhaps some powerful conviction allowed his spirit to inhabit the puppet!

That would be a far greater achievement than a mere flesh core containing Chakra!

Did Sakura really fight someone like this in my previous life...?

In any case, that flesh core must be the weakness of Sasori of the Red Sands's puppet body, right?

Shhk!

The steel cable coiled like intestines inside Sasori's abdomen planted its tip on the water's surface. Each of his feet rested on a bend in the cable, while a spinning blade sprang from either side of the back of his waist.

His stance was the same, but his mindset was entirely different from when he had faced Sakura and Granny Chiyo in the previous life.

He had already acknowledged Sasuke as a formidable enemy on par with himself!

The weakness of my flesh core has nowhere to hide before the Sharingan. With his wide array of ninjutsu and attacks, close combat puts me at an overwhelming disadvantage...

Hmph... it seems I can't fight by the book.

The key to victory is draining as much of his strength as possible, making sure he can no longer use Susanoo or Wood Release!

Whoosh! A thread from his fingertip hooked the third scroll in the rack on his back!

Orochimaru's expression shifted. "Oh, it seems Sasori isn't entirely inflexible. To think he would use that technique here. How will you respond, Sasuke?"

Whoosh...!!

Dark figures shot into the sky from the opened scroll, forming an array of puppets that blotted out the heavens!

Sasuke focused his gaze. "That many...!"

Sasori brushed his bangs aside. "Consider yourself honored, Sasuke Uchiha. These are the puppet mechanisms that once destroyed an entire nation..."

Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets!