"There's another trick!?" Chuura and the others couldn't help but swallow hard. Since when had their Sunagakure genius become this powerful?
Without Seiki, they might not have even survived the first wave of attack.
"Come to think of it," Sasori said coldly as he unfurled his scroll, "killing him two years ago took quite some effort." In an instant, a towering figure appeared before everyone's eyes.
"Go forth—my most treasured creation, the Third Kazekage!"
At this sight, several chunin were so frightened that they dropped their kunai onto the ground.
"T-Third Kazekage!?"
"He actually killed the Third Kazekage—he wasn't bluffing!?"
"It's unforgivable—completely unforgivable!"
"Daring to assassinate Lord Kazekage himself? This isn't just simple treason anymore!"
Seeing their furious reactions, Seiki inwardly smiled with satisfaction; this was exactly the response he wanted!
With them as witnesses, whatever he said afterward would carry much greater credibility.
Surely Sunagakure would have no choice but to acknowledge such a scandal!
While Seiki plotted silently in his mind, the gathered Suna ninjas soon exhausted their anger, giving way to pure astonishment instead.
The Third Kazekage was renowned as the strongest among all past kazekages. And two years ago, Sasori had only been fifteen years old—a stark contrast that nearly overloaded their brains.
Fifteen years old and already capable of killing the strongest wind shadow? What prodigious talent!
Thinking about it, they all felt deep regret in their hearts.
If Sasori hadn't defected—if he hadn't killed the kazekage—perhaps with his talents, he really could've led Sunagakure to prosperity.
Chuura asked through red-rimmed eyes, "Why did you kill Lord Kazekage?"
Sasori replied coldly, "Because he was incompetent!"
Saseki angrily retorted, "Lord Third Kazekage was the strongest ever! How could he possibly be incompetent!?"
In Sasori's opinion, a village leader who failed to protect his people—and thus allowed Sasori's parents to be killed—was the greatest kind of incompetence.
Still, he didn't feel like elaborating further for their sake.
"Heh, you can think of it as me testing my own limits."
Though they wanted to ask more, Sasori clearly had nothing else to say to them.
"You're filled with rage—what better way for you to die than by the very power of the Third Kazekage?"
As massive quantities of iron sand began condensing from the sky, the group broke out in cold sweat.
"How is this possible!? Can he really wield Lord Third's techniques too!?"
"Why can a puppet use a kekkei genkai!?"
Of course, there was nothing for them to fear—those trash weren't worth getting worked up over.
[Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle!]
A tide of iron sand poured down from the heavens like crashing waves.
So dense and widespread was the attack that evading seemed nearly impossible.
[Sage Art: Katsuyu Body!]
Needle-fine grains of iron sand pierced into Seiki's body like rain—but in the next moment, those metal shards behaved as if they had struck a water-formed body, simply passing straight through to emerge from Seiki's back.
Even the poison coating the iron sand was completely absorbed.
Then, *hetui!*
Seeing Seiki spit out blood-stained saliva, Sasori decisively manipulated the Third Kazekage puppet to form an iron sand wall directly in front.
However, the wall made of iron sand was instantly corroded through, leaving a large hole.
"What intense corrosive power!" Sasori inwardly sighed before raising his hands and unleashing two violent streams of flame from his palms.
[Inferno Array!]
With flames spewing from the scroll on his back, Sasori created a temperature hot enough to melt rock, instantly vaporizing the incoming acid liquid.
The acid mist spread out like a corrosive shield around Sasori.
Wherever it reached, even rocks and sand were corroded.
Saseki and the others, barely managing their desperate fight against those puppets, were terrified and scrambled to retreat.
But Seiki marched forward through the acidic fog without hesitation, striding straight toward Sasori's position.
[Magnet Release: Iron Sand Barrier!]
Dense clouds of iron sand filled the sky, launching indiscriminate piercing attacks at enemies within the barrier.
Large area, high speed, rapid succession.
This was the strongest attack technique ever used by the Third Kazekage, who once slaughtered over a hundred enemies in an instant with this very move!
Yet Seiki didn't even show the slightest emotional reaction. He allowed the metal spikes to pierce his body effortlessly before slamming the Third Kazekage with brutal force.
Seeing this, Sasori felt mentally drained.
"Physical attacks ineffective? Poison ineffective?"
The strongest physical attack and most potent toxic techniques of the Third Kazekage appeared utterly powerless against his opponent.
This was the first time he had encountered such a troublesome enemy—one whose abilities directly countered his own.
Even facing other Kages from different villages hadn't been this exhausting.
"But I heard Sage Mode has a time limit. As long as I endure this period, victory will still be mine!"
Chuura and the others could only stare dumbfounded. They knew Seiki was brutal, but beating up even the Kazekage like this was going way too far.
They simply couldn't reconcile the gentle, humble boy they once knew with the merciless monster currently thrashing the leader of a village within an inch of his life.
Witnessing all this, they silently thought among themselves, "No wonder Mist calls him Konoha's Absolute Tiger of Menace!"
Just as Sasori felt that Seiki was his natural counter, Seiki himself quietly marveled at how Sasori's condition seemed perfectly suited to neutralize his Genjutsu.
Sasori, whose body had mostly been transformed into a puppet, barely retained any emotion—nearly resembling a cold, lifeless object.
Under such circumstances, even Seiki's Genjutsu struggled to take effect.
Of course, it wasn't entirely impossible.
As long as someone isn't truly a puppet, there must always be gaps deep inside their heart.
But since Seiki didn't actually intend to kill Sasori, he chose to pretend he couldn't detect his weakness.
"You can't even fall for my Genjutsu—has your heart turned to stone?" Seiki shouted mockingly while relentlessly pounding the Third Kazekage.
"I was about to say the same thing—did your body turn to stone?" Seeing the near dismantling of the Third Kazekage, which was his most perfect collection, Sasori felt annoyed; after all, it was extremely valuable to him.
[Acid Liquid: Finger Gun!]
Taking advantage of Sasori's momentary distraction, Seiki suddenly fired bullet-like acidic projectiles from the tip of his index finger.
Since Seiki had been keeping the Third Kazekage suppressed in battle and attacked from a blind spot in Sasori's vision, by the time Sasori realized what was happening, it was already too late to dodge—he could only barely avoid a fatal strike.
[Whoosh!]
The perfect body Sasori painstakingly crafted was instantly pierced, leaving a horrifying hole in his left shoulder blade.
"To ambush me while keeping the Third Kazekage suppressed… What kind of monster is he?" Even Sasori, known for his cold logic, felt a chill run down his spine.
Luckily, after launching that attack, the patterns around Seiki's eyes visibly began to fade away.
Witnessing this scene, Sasori smirked slightly. "Now then, seems like it's my turn to counterattack..."
Before his words even faded, Seiki clapped his hands together and said, "Sorry, but you might have to wait just a bit longer!"
The smile on Sasori's face immediately froze.
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