Kōichi immediately recognised the implication; Renga had been only one member of the enemy pair. Sasori was an S-rank-level threat, a shinobi whose reputation was built on decades of ruthless efficiency. The mission's original "do not engage a superior force" order now became the overriding priority. Kōichi ordered an immediate retreat, his voice sharp, his command absolute. "Fall back! Protect Uchiyama!"
Sasori gave them no opportunity to withdraw. His cloak opened, and a massive puppet emerged from within, its form hunched and armoured, its silhouette scorpion-like. Hiruko was an entirely different kind of threat from Renga; large, hunched, and constructed from reinforced materials, its long iron tail sweeping through the air, its concealed weapons ready.
Satoru immediately noticed that Sasori's control threads were considerably thicker and more concentrated than Renga's. His Sharingan identified the threads leading directly back toward Sasori, their density a testament to the puppet master's skill. The network was not scattered and chaotic like Renga's; it was organised, deliberate, and precise.
Hiruko attacked before the team could establish distance. Kōichi attempted to maintain formation while ordering everyone to protect Uchiyama, but the puppet's tail swept through the formation, forcing everyone apart. Sasori's attacks were precise rather than wild; every movement had a purpose, every strike was calculated. Satoru realised that Sasori was already controlling the battlefield despite using only one puppet.
Shōta attempted to protect the group while searching for an opportunity to treat the injuries from the Renga battle. Hiruko's tail clipped his arm, and Shōta immediately recognised that something was wrong. The affected area rapidly began showing the effects of poison; the skin darkened, the veins became visible, and the flesh began to swell. Satoru understood that every successful hit from Hiruko could potentially become fatal. This changed the squad's priorities; avoid direct contact, protect Shōta, keep Uchiyama alive, and escape as quickly as possible.
Ayame used a smoke bomb to obscure the battlefield, the thick cloud billowing outward, shrouding the squad in grey. The squad attempted to use the concealment to reposition, but Sasori's puppet continued tracking them despite the smoke. Satoru realized Hiruko possessed some form of sensory mechanism that made ordinary visual concealment ineffective. Ayame was struck and poisoned while trying to reposition, her condition becoming increasingly serious.
Satoru activated his Sharingan fully, studying Hiruko's chakra network and identifying the connection between Sasori and the puppet. He activated Echo and reconnected the surviving members mentally, his voice a whisper in their minds. He began giving tactical warnings; tail trajectory, hidden weapons, puppet movement, and Sasori's position. Unlike against Renga, however, the information alone was not enough. Sasori's speed and precision consistently outpaced their ability to exploit Satoru's warnings. Satoru realised that Echo could coordinate the team, but it could not compensate for an overwhelming difference in combat ability.
Kōichi took the most dangerous position and directly engaged Hiruko, using Fire Release against the puppet. The flames roared across the clearing, their heat intense, their impact powerful. Sasori manipulated Hiruko's movements with remarkable precision, the puppet weaving through the flames, its mechanisms unharmed. Fire clashed against metal and puppet mechanisms, the impact sparking and sizzling. Kōichi managed to land a significant strike against Hiruko's arm, the damage visible, the mechanism cracked. But the damage was insufficient to stop Sasori. Kōichi began accumulating injuries while deliberately keeping Hiruko's attention away from the others.
Shōta recognised that Ayame's condition was deteriorating. Despite already being injured himself, he moved toward her, his instinct as a medic taking precedence over his own safety. He began emergency treatment on Ayame, his hands glowing with medical chakra, his movements desperate. Kōichi continued fighting despite sustaining numerous injuries, his body bearing the weight of the battle. Satoru realized the team had passed the point where this could be treated as an ordinary retreat. Their formation was breaking down; Tetsuya was already dead, Ayame was incapacitated, Shōta was severely compromised, Kōichi was barely maintaining the fight, Uchiyama remained their responsibility, and Satoru was becoming increasingly impaired.
Satoru reached Uchiyama and grabbed him, ordering him toward the treeline. "Run! Do not stop!" Uchiyama was too terrified to move properly, his attention fixed on Sasori and Hiruko. Satoru realised that the informant was effectively frozen by fear. Before he could force him to move, Hiruko attacked.
Hiruko's tail caught Satoru and sent him crashing aside, his body slamming into the ground, his vision disoriented. When he recovered, the battlefield had changed again. Uchiyama had been captured by one of Sasori's chakra threads, his body suspended, his struggles futile. Kōichi was struggling to remain standing, his body covered in wounds. Shōta was no longer able to continue fighting, his movements sluggish, his attention fading. Ayame was unconscious. Satoru discovered that his left arm was no longer responding properly, and his Sharingan was beginning to flicker. The poison was interfering with his chakra circulation.
His analytical mind reached the obvious conclusion; retreat was still the only viable tactical option. They could not defeat Sasori. The mission had failed. Uchiyama had been captured. Multiple squad members were incapacitated. Then Satoru noticed another attack moving toward Ayame. His reasoning gave way to instinct. He used Body Flicker to intercept the attack, his body moving before his mind had fully processed the decision. A poisoned projectile struck him, and he deliberately took the hit to prevent Ayame from being attacked again. This gave Kōichi the opening he needed to pull Ayame and Shōta away from Hiruko.
The poison continued impairing Satoru's body. His movements became increasingly difficult, his Sharingan failing intermittently, his chakra pathways feeling increasingly unstable. He understood that he may not survive much longer. The battlefield became strangely quiet in his perception as his physical condition deteriorated, the sounds of battle fading into a dull hum.
He made a desperate decision. He looked directly toward Sasori, his Sharingan blazing, his will absolute. Rather than attempting to read Sasori's memories, he used Mind Mirror: Projection. His objective was fundamentally different from his previous use against Isamu; he would not search for information, and he would not attempt conventional genjutsu. He would force his own consciousness toward Sasori, overwhelming him with emotional projection. He expected to encounter an intensely damaged or monstrous psyche.
He entered the edge of Sasori's consciousness. Instead of overwhelming emotion, he encountered an absence. There was no ordinary emotional resistance for him to exploit; Sasori's mind felt hollow, detached, and fundamentally alien. Satoru realised that the concept of Sasori having "lost his heart" was much more literal and profound than he had expected. His own projected consciousness began losing its footing inside that emptiness, the technique effectively turning against him. His own mind was reflected back at him in a distorted manner, the emptiness consuming his projection.
Sasori noticed exactly what Satoru had attempted. His expression remained almost completely unchanged as he addressed Satoru with clinical curiosity rather than anger. "That was… unusual." He made it clear that Satoru's attempt to enter his mind was a curiosity rather than a threat. He forcibly expelled Satoru's consciousness, the backlash severely overwhelming Satoru's already damaged sensory system. His Sharingan shut down, and he collapsed.
Sasori retrieved Uchiyama and took the Kagerō Scroll from the informant. The mission's primary intelligence objective was now completely lost. He did not waste time finishing the incapacitated shinobi; from his perspective, the surviving members were no longer meaningful threats. He recalled Hiruko and began withdrawing, the Akatsuki pair disappearing into the forest.
Kōichi remained the only Sarutobi shinobi still capable of moving. He looked over the clearing; Tetsuya was dead, Shōta was down, Ayame remained unconscious, Uchiyama had been taken, and Satoru lay motionless. He realised the mission had become a catastrophic failure. More importantly, he had survived only because Satoru repeatedly bought the squad additional seconds.
He moved toward Satoru, checking him for any sign of life. He found no immediate response; Satoru's eyes remained open but unseeing. The forest was quiet again, the distant sounds of Sasori and Hiruko disappearing completely. Kōichi stared down at Satoru, unable to immediately determine whether he was alive.
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