In the tournament, Sasori did not use his full strength and concealed a powerful puppet capable of wielding the Kekkei Genkai, Magnet Release.
To be honest, this kind of overturned Kakashi's understanding, as he never thought a puppet could use Kekkei Genkai.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Rain!"
Sasori moved his fingers to manipulate the Third Kazekage, forming hand seals to summon more iron sand, then directed the gathered sand to transform into iron needles and shoot towards Kakashi and the others.
"Earth Release: Multi-Layered Earth Flow Wall!"
Kakashi quickly performed hand seals and used Earth Release to erect two earth walls in front of them.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!
Bang bang bang!!
Countless fine needles made of iron sand hit the Earth Flow Wall, causing mud and stone to splash and raise a cloud of dust.
The iron sand needles seemed endless, firing continuously for several seconds without stopping. The Earth Flow Wall was soon riddled and damaged by the iron sand needles.
"So strong." Kakashi, hiding behind the Earth Flow Wall, was rapidly thinking.
The Third Kazekage's iron sand ninjutsu had strong offensive power. The Earth Flow Wall would not last long, and they needed a strategy to break Sasori's attack rhythm.
Kakashi glanced at Rockruff and conceived a plan.
He swiftly whispered instructions to Rockruff, then gave Obito and Nohara Rin a look.
Boom!
Under continuous bombardment from the iron sand, the Earth Flow Wall could no longer hold and collapsed with a crash.
At that moment, Kakashi, already in Breath of Thunder Chakra Mode, focused chakra into his hands, and dazzling purple lightning burst forth!
"Lighting Release: Double Thunder Shock!"
With the convenience of Breath of Thunder Chakra Mode, Kakashi seamlessly executed a purple lightning network with both hands, forming a dense grid that blocked the incoming iron sand needles.
"Fire Release: Mighty Dragon Fire Jutsu!"
Simultaneously, Obito also entered Breath of Flame Chakra Mode, clapped his hands, and exhaled a high-temperature fire dragon towards the Third Kazekage.
'Aqua Ring!'
'Water Gun!'
Milotic first cast a healing move on itself, then opened its mouth and spat a column of water at the Third Kazekage.
"Water Release: Torrential Flow!"
Nohara Rin formed hand seals and concentrated chakra, releasing a sharp water spear aimed at the Third Kazekage.
Seeing this, Sasori moved his fingers again to control the Third Kazekage and changed tactics, commanding the iron sand to form a curved iron wall to block the incoming attacks.
Whoosh whoosh!
Rockruff, having used Earth Release to approach Sasori from behind, unceremoniously tackled Sasori, then controlled the stones around its neck to smash down towards Sasori's head.
Sasori slightly frowned, having clearly seen Rockruff beside Kakashi when the wall shattered, unexpectedly realizing it was a fake.
However, Sasori remained unflustered. With Hiruko shielding him, this level of attack couldn't defeat him.
Sasori, injured, immediately manipulated the Third Kazekage to his side, swinging an iron sand attack to force Rockruff back, then continued controlling the Third Kazekage to extend its arm towards Kakashi and the others.
"Almost had it." Kakashi thought regretfully.
If Sasori wasn't hidden inside the puppet, Rockruff's attack would have been impossible for him to withstand physically.
Without chakra protection and without any special ninjutsu enhancements, a ninja can't withstand a ninjutsu attack.
But Kakashi had no choice. Only Rockruff could stealthily get close for an attack just now.
He couldn't use Shadow Clone Jutsu to send a clone to attack because entering the Breath of Thunder Chakra Mode and executing Double Thunder Shock required a lot of chakra.
If he created a combat-capable shadow clone, he wouldn't have enough chakra left to use ninjutsu to block the iron sand.
Obito's Fire Release wasn't suited to block iron sand, and Nohara Rin's Water Release didn't have enough strength. What they had just done was the best they could manage.
"Thousand Hands Control!"
The mechanical arm continually extended, and as it did, new arms kept appearing. In a blink, hundreds of arms were aiming at Kakashi and the others.
"Flash!"
Kakashi, seeing through to the poisoned kunai inside the arms with Transparent World, immediately burst out chakra, injecting it into the White Fang Short Blade, extending it with a lightning blade.
Swoosh!
The flash of lightning quickly severed hundreds of incoming arms before Sasori could release the kunai within, leaving charred black cut marks.
"Whew." After executing the slash, Kakashi panted slightly.
Among his many Lightning Release Blade Techniques, Flash wasn't overly consuming, but he genuinely didn't have the stamina or chakra left to execute a stronger slash.
Sasori, expressionless, waved his fingers, causing the mass of severed arms from the left side of the Third Kazekage to fall to the ground, while a massive blade suddenly appeared on the right side.
Under Sasori's control, the Third Kazekage lifted the massive blade and swiftly attacked Kakashi.
At the same time, Hiruko, where Sasori's true body resided, opened its mouth towards the sealing Nohara Rin.
Whoosh whoosh!!
Numerous poison needles shot towards Nohara Rin.
Nohara Rin was the only medical ninja present, and given the chance, Sasori wouldn't hesitate to kill her first.
Seeing the poison needles coming, Nohara Rin urgently maintained her chakra output, operating Breath of Water to its fullest extent to better control chakra form, transforming the exhaled water column into a moving water wall that blocked the incoming poison needles.
Obito had intended to attack Sasori's true body, but upon seeing the Third Kazekage targeting Kakashi, he instead used Fire Release to help Kakashi fend off the Third Kazekage.
Whether the enemy died or not wasn't important; preserving teammates was.
Clang clang!
The Third Kazekage's blade continuously collided with Kakashi's White Fang Short Blade.
Obito seized the opportunity to strike the Third Kazekage's side with a Fire Fist, but it was blocked by the Third Kazekage's iron sand.