"Hah!"
Deidara shouted fiercely while standing in the air.
A flock of clay bomb birds fluttered briefly around Gaara before exploding instantaneously beside him.
Unfortunately, the explosion of the clay birds wasn't enough to penetrate Gaara's Sand Shield defense, only barely managing to make Gaara pay a little more attention to these small threats.
Deidara, this guy, blew up a bunch of stuff with a laugh and a smile, not only failing to harm Gaara in the slightest but also being chased around by Gaara's Giant Sand Hand.
This guy is really having a lot of fun!
Standing inside The Hidden Sand Village, Uehara Naraku, Nagato, and Sasori of the Red Sand were a bit bored, watching the Hidden Sand Ninja relentlessly attack the Ancient Giant Dragon, only to be easily defeated each time.
Nagato frowned as he looked around at the group of fallen Hidden Sand Ninja, unable to help but ask, "Has The Hidden Sand Village always been so weak?"
"Uhh..."
Sasori of the Red Sand was momentarily speechless.
After a moment of silent contemplation, Sasori finally found a reason: "These little guys haven't experienced real war. If Granny was in charge, she might still be able to organize an effective counterattack!"
What Sasori said really put a flattering touch on his grandmother's reputation.
Given The Hidden Sand Village's current situation, being ambushed by two Akatsuki squads, especially with Uehara Naraku and Nagato among them, even if his grandmother were there, it wouldn't matter if you brought the First Kazekage, Second Kazekage, Third Kazekage, and Fourth Kazekage!
Sometimes a slap in the face comes fast.
Just after Sasori finished speaking, two elderly figures appeared in The Hidden Sand Village, none other than Granny Chiyo and Ebizo.
After the death of the Fourth Kazekage a few years ago, Granny Chiyo and Ebizo emerged in the time of crisis to stabilize The Hidden Sand Village, regarded as saviors by the Hidden Sand Ninja.
Now that The Hidden Sand Village was under the attack of the Akatsuki, once again facing the crisis of annihilation, the Hidden Sand Ninja finally couldn't help but send someone to ask the two retired elders for help.
Granny Chiyo and Ebizo didn't hesitate.
Upon seeing the ninjas asking for aid, the two elders immediately rushed into The Hidden Sand Village. Having personally witnessed the rise and fall of The Hidden Sand, how could they allow their village to fall into crisis!
Granny Chiyo leapt onto a high tower.
This old lady, frail from age, looked gravely at Sasori of the Red Sand on the back of the Ancient Giant Dragon, speaking in a deep voice, "It's been a long time... my dear grandson..."
Sasori of the Red Sand: "..."
They were apparently supposed to feel that the Akatsuki had the upper hand.
But after hearing Granny Chiyo's words, both Uehara Naraku and Sasori of the Red Sand faintly felt their imposing manner weaken quite a bit.
What the heck, a teammate being called grandson by the enemy...
And they couldn't even refute it!
Uehara Naraku looked speechlessly at Sasori of the Red Sand beside him, then turned to Granny Chiyo and the group of Hidden Sand Ninja behind her: "Alright, since Granny Chiyo is here, let's see how they organize their counterattack!"
"Let me handle it!"
Sasori of the Red Sand stopped Uehara Naraku from controlling the Ancient Giant Dragon, speaking in a gloomy voice: "Just this dragon alone is far from enough to deal with Granny."
After speaking, Sasori of the Red Sand took out two scrolls from himself, one with the character for three, and the other with the character for four written on it.
The sound of smoke erupted.
The Human Puppets of the Third Kazekage and Fourth Kazekage appeared beside Sasori of the Red Sand, quickly charging towards Granny Chiyo under the control of his Chakra Lines!
"Third and Fourth!"
"It's Lord Fourth Kazekage!"
Every Hidden Sand Ninja involuntarily looked at those two Human Puppets!
No one expected that one day the two Kazekages, who once protected the village, would become weapons in the enemy's hands and be used to attack The Hidden Sand Village!
"Fuinjutsu·Open!"
Chiyo was not about to show any weakness, flinging two scrolls open.
One scroll had the character for father, the other for mother written on it.
These two puppets, which appeared visibly worn out, emerged beside Chiyo, controlled by her to meet the Human Puppets of the Third Kazekage and Fourth Kazekage!
"Tch!"
Sasori of the Red Sand gave a cold snort, the gold dust beside the Fourth Kazekage and the iron sand beside the Third Kazekage quickly morphed into needles!
Black and gold needles densely obscured the sky, the next moment these needles headed straight towards Chiyo.
"Mechanical Light Shield Block!"
Granny Chiyo instantaneously manipulated the father and mother puppets to appear before herself, transforming into a shield that blocked the densely packed needles.
"Hmph!"
Sasori of the Red Sand eyed the shield coldly, his fingers slightly moving, causing the Third Kazekage and Fourth Kazekage to soar into the air, where gold dust and iron sand once again gathered around them!
In the next moment, the dense mass of iron sand and gold dust formed a massive dark gold wave, sweeping towards the Hidden Sand ninja forces and Granny Chiyo on the ground!
It must be said that having acquired the puppets of the Third Kazekage and Fourth Kazekage, Sasori of the Red Sand's strength had increased tremendously.
The two Kazekage puppets, both possessing the Magnet Release Bloodline, can exhibit a power far beyond the simple addition of 1+1=2!
Even Granny Chiyo and the Hidden Sand Ninjas could not survive in this wave of black and gold; they could only retreat swiftly to avoid being engulfed.
"The chakra consumption is immense..."
Sasori of the Red Sand sighed and then turned to look at Uehara Naraku: "Hey, Uehara, go and urge that kid Deidara to hurry up, I really don't want to waste time here!"
"..."
Uehara Naraku gave Sasori of the Red Sand a speechless glance.
Big brother, we can understand you wanting to go easy on your grandmother, but can you at least do it with some skill?
You've only exchanged a couple of moves with Chiyo!
If someone didn't know better, they'd think you attacked two countries!
"Senior Sasori."
Uehara Naraku rolled up his sleeves, walked slowly to his side, and clasped his hands together: "You take a rest first; let me handle this..."
Sasori of the Red Sand stubbornly shook his head and said coldly: "Do you look down on me? I'm just impatient with waiting! You still lack the skill to deal with my grandmother; being a puppet master isn't as simple as you think!"
Even if he wanted to go easy, there was an overseer watching!
Sasori of the Red Sand gritted his teeth, leapt into the air, and manipulated the puppets of the Third and Fourth Kazekage to charge at Granny Chiyo, engaging her in battle.
Granny Chiyo was not to be outdone; although she managed to stabilize the situation slightly with her Father and Mother puppets, it did nothing to aid the Hidden Sand Village's predicament.
After all, she came to save the Hidden Sand Village, not to draw out a terrifying member of the Akatsuki like Sasori of the Red Sand!
"White Secret Technique: The Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets!"
Granny Chiyo waved her hand to summon the Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets, her most powerful ten puppets, each endowed with unique techniques!
"Still the same as ever!"
Sasori of the Red Sand glanced up at the Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets, suddenly revealing his true form by removing the outer covering of Hiruko!
A youthful-looking Sasori.
In terms of age, Sasori of the Red Sand should be over thirty by now, yet he remained unchanged from his teenage years.
Granny Chiyo instantly saw through the truth, her body trembling slightly: "You... turned yourself into a puppet!"
"Only this way can I achieve eternal art."
Sasori of the Red Sand calmly opened a scroll.
Indeed, Sasori of the Red Sand had turned himself into a human puppet.
Because he had become a human puppet, he could avoid ageing and death.
However, this is absolutely prohibited for puppet masters, even turning someone else's body into a human puppet already touches on kinjutsu, let alone Sasori of the Red Sand turning himself into one.
Anyone present could see Granny Chiyo was very angry.
Uehara Naraku sat atop the Ancient Giant Dragon, stroked his chin, and turned to Nagato to ask: "Hey, this means Senior Sasori can't marry and have children, passing on the family line, right? No wonder the old lady is so angry..."
"..."
Nagato glanced wordlessly at Uehara, was this really the time for them to be discussing this? What does it matter to us whether Sasori of the Red Sand can marry and have children!
But thinking about it...
The reason Granny Chiyo was so angry might indeed be as Uehara Naraku said, because her only grandson became a human puppet, and from then on, the family line was severed?
Nagato rubbed his forehead, why was he even contemplating these random thoughts!
No, these aren't random thoughts.
Nagato patted Uehara Naraku's shoulder seriously, speaking in a deep voice: "Don't go learning those forbidden techniques, don't be like Sasori, the future of Akatsuki still needs you to continue the legacy.
Uehara, besides realizing Yahiko's dream, Konan and I actually wish to see you marry and have children. You're already twenty this year, right?"
"Don't talk about this."
Uehara Naraku's face darkened, slowly pushing away his hand: "We're still capturing the One-tailed Jinchuriki at the Hidden Sand Village, be serious, and put away those dangerous thoughts."
Nagato: "..."
It seemed only the two of them were the most leisurely on the battlefield!
The battle between Sasori of the Red Sand and Granny Chiyo had reached its peak, and hundreds of red-robed puppets were released, flying out in all directions: "Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets!"
As if to prove his effort, Sasori of the Red Sand directly utilized his prized kinjutsu, and hundreds of puppets instantly overwhelmed the Sand Shinobi beside Granny Chiyo, clashing with the Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets!
Soon, the hundreds of red puppets suffered heavy losses.
Sasori's Performance of a Hundred Puppets and the Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets ended in mutual destruction.
Just as Sasori of the Red Sand was about to continue manipulating the puppets of the Third and Fourth Kazekage in combat, Deidara in the air finally completed his task.
Deidara, riding the Clay Flying Bird, landed hurriedly on the back of the Ancient Giant Dragon, shouting hastily: "Hey, quickly come help heal me, my arm is broken!"