"Kakashi, are you still in one piece?"
"What do you think of that kick? Pretty youthful, huh?"
Might Guy launched another powerful kick, sending Sasori flying forward.
Then, with a bright grin, he turned to Kakashi and asked eagerly.
"You hit any harder and you'll kill me for real!"
Kakashi stood up from the ground, rubbing his sore lower back and muttering in annoyance.
At the same time, he took off the mask covering his face.
After all, Sarutobi and Guy both kept shouting his name, ignoring Anbu's confidentiality rules entirely.
There was no point in keeping this mask on anymore...
He had better just take it off.
"Kakashi, that thing definitely isn't human! It shot poison needles straight from its mouth!"
"It's a puppet! The one pulling the strings must be hiding around here somewhere..."
Kakashi quickly deduced.
Of course, he had considered something else too.
Could the ninja controlling the puppet actually be inside it?
But judging from its size and the feeling when he'd stuck his hand in earlier,
The puppeteer wasn't hiding inside at all.
So that left only one possibility—
The operator was hiding nearby, secretly controlling the puppet.
"Hmm? So why couldn't it be the person next to him?"
Might Guy landed next to Kakashi and pointed at Biwa Juzo, curious.
"Not him. That man is wielding a large sword—he must be a close-range fighter."
"As for that blade, if I'm not mistaken..."
"It should be the 'Cleaver Sword' from Mist's Seven Ninja Blades!"
Kakashi glared at Biwa Juzo, guessing grimly.
As an Anbu operative from Konoha, he naturally knew about Mist's legendary Seven Ninja Blades.
That's why he immediately knew it was the Cleaver Sword.
"Hey! Didn't expect Leaf ninjas still remembered this blade!"
"That eye of yours—isn't that a Sharingan?"
"I've heard rumors before about an elite Sharingan user in Leaf's Anbu. Could that be you?" (At this point, Kakashi's reputation as the Copy Ninja hadn't yet spread across the Ninja World.)
Biwa Juzo swung his massive sword a couple times, clearly excited.
Meanwhile, Sasori—having just been kicked aside—returned to his side.
...
At that moment,
[Boom! Boom!]
A series of loud explosions came from behind Kakashi and the others.
They all turned around in shock and saw five incredibly oppressive [Susanoo Demigods] rising into the air, tearing through everything.
"That's... Susanoo?"
"How?! Five Susanoos?!"
"Has the Uchiha Clan joined the attack too?"
"Where did they get so many elites?"
Kakashi cried out in shock, his face rapidly paling, his expression turning serious.
"That's the direction of the Hokage!"
"Kakashi, what do we do? Should we go help?"
Might Guy asked urgently, unsure of what to choose.
"No! Have faith in the Hokage and the others."
"We must deal with these two enemies first before they destroy the barrier at the building!"
"Otherwise, if they break the barrier, they'll join forces with the enemy's main army."
"There's no way we can win!"
After only a moment's hesitation, Kakashi made the most rational decision.
In this kind of dilemma,
he could only choose to trust the Hokage.
Might Guy nodded without hesitation:
"Alright, I'll follow your lead!"
Kakashi: "You take on the swordsman. The puppet master will be my job!"
"We must kill them quickly and then rush to aid the Hokage!"
"Leave it to me!"
"My youth is already burning!"
With fire in his eyes, Might Guy burst into action, charging straight at Biwa Juzo without another word.
Meanwhile, Kakashi, along with several Anbu ninja, headed straight for Sasori.
Preparing to swiftly crush this puppet and capture its master!
...
"Perfect timing! My blade's been itching for a fight!"
"Today, I shall wash away the humiliation from when your Leaf shinobi defeated me back then!"
With a loud shout, Biwa Juzo swung his massive blade and immediately rushed at Might Guy.
Soon, the two clashed violently in combat.
Back on Kakashi's side,
a total of seven Konoha ninja quickly surrounded Sasori.
Then, various techniques — Fire Release, Water Release, and Lightning Release — were unleashed all at once.
Instantly overwhelming Sasori's Hiruko Puppet.
Trying to defeat Sasori as quickly as possible by sheer numbers.
Before long, the smoke from the intense bombardment cleared away,
revealing the heavily damaged Hiruko Puppet at the center.
However, Kakashi and the others now realized
that puppet was built tough—almost entirely reinforced with steel inside. It absorbed massive damage and still held together like a tank.
"Hiruko - Hidden Arm Senbon!"
In the next instant, the Hiruko Puppet launched another attack.
Its left arm device fired off a barrage mechanism, loaded with multiple cylinders containing over ten poison needles each.
In an instant, countless poisoned needles shot out in all directions, covering every angle around them.
"Dodge it quickly!"
The Konoha shinobi hurried to evade, but due to the massive coverage area of the needle assault,
three of them still got hit.
The toxin on the needles quickly corroded their bodies, taking these three completely out of the fight.
Seeing this, Kakashi flew into a rage.
Ignoring chakra consumption, he activated his Lightning Cutter technique again.
"Try this one!"
[Lightning Release: Lightning Beast Tracking Fang!]
A large amount of chakra transformed into electricity through nature transformation, then took the form of a wolf through shape transformation, charging forward with tremendous speed.
Moving extremely fast while automatically locking onto its target—nearly impossible to avoid!
In the blink of an eye,
this lightning-covered beast wolf crossed more than dozens of meters and bit down hard on Sasori's Hiruko Puppet.
Taking a huge chunk out, completely tearing off the right arm and half of the right shoulder.
"A powerful Lightning Release technique!"
Observing the shattered shoulder of his own puppet, Sasori couldn't help but praise.
This technique fused two advanced forms of chakra control—nature transformation and shape transformation.
This lightning technique certainly ranked among the best in the ninja world!
"Kakashi? You mean your surname is Hatake?"
"What do you mean?"
"Is Sakumo Hatake your father?"
"How did you know that? Who exactly are you?" Kakashi panted, his expression serious as he pressed for answers.
But before he could finish,
A figure shot up from underground right where he stood—at blinding speed.
It nearly grazed his face!
If not for Kakashi's Sharingan giving him an edge, allowing him to dodge in time,
That attack would have sliced him in half.
Still, this fierce ambush left a shallow cut across Kakashi's chest and face.
"What is this?! Another puppet?!!"
"So close! I almost didn't make it!"
Kakashi felt alarmed inside.
At the same time, he sensed something even more clearly—
The killing intent aimed at him had spiked out of nowhere?
Just because he bore the Hatake name?
"Kakashi Hatake—you disgrace your name! You deserve to die!" Hiruko roared furiously. With a yank of his left hand,
The Third Kazekage Puppet burst forth from beneath the ground and hovered beside the Hiruko Puppet.
Clearly, he was enraged.
He intended to kill this son of his enemy at any cost!
All to avenge his parents!
Not even the affairs with Pain mattered anymore…
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