"Not done yet."
Kiyohara flashed through hand seals.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Bind!"
The black iron sand he'd already seized control of suddenly reshaped, turning into dozens of black iron-sand chains that whipped in from every direction toward the Third Kazekage puppet!
Sasori hurriedly tried to maneuver the human puppet out of the way, but there were too many chains—and they were too fast.
In the end, three chains successfully snared the puppet's legs and its left arm!
"Got you."
Kiyohara yanked hard.
The Third Kazekage puppet was ripped straight out of the air and slammed heavily into the ground.
The only thing linking a puppeteer to a puppet was chakra thread—and under Kiyohara's raw force, those chakra-made filaments couldn't withstand it.
Then—
More iron-sand chains piled on, locking the puppet down to the earth.
Sasori's expression finally changed.
He tried to make the puppet break free, but Kiyohara's iron sand and the puppet's Magnet Release were essentially the same "source." Their forces canceled and interfered with each other, and for a moment it couldn't shake free at all.
Sasori snapped a scroll out from behind his back.
Crack!
As he unrolled it, a tube opened in the center of his palm.
Hands were one of the first places most puppeteers modified—and Sasori had modified his as well.
A low roar erupted from the dark tube, and a jet of violently corrosive, highly toxic fluid blasted out like a water cannon straight at Kiyohara!
Scroll: Water Stream Shooters!
"Die!"
Sasori glared at Kiyohara.
As Sunagakure's genius puppeteer—Chiyo's most spoiled pride—he carried an arrogance ordinary people could never touch.
And the moment Kiyohara showed up, he'd been getting pressed the entire time.
It felt like someone was stomping all over his pride as a puppeteer.
Seeing the corrosive poison stream screaming toward him, Kiyohara chose to use the Third Kazekage puppet's body as a shield.
Hiss—!
Thick white smoke billowed as the puppet's back was corroded, exposing internal mechanisms and gears.
Kiyohara dodged the rest at high speed.
Steel Release and Earth Release: Earth Spear were both about hardening and "metalizing" the body—but he had no idea what kind of poison Sasori was using, so playing it safe was smarter.
"Tch!"
Sasori gritted his teeth, fingers flickering.
The Third Kazekage puppet, corroded in a few places, had broken free of one iron-sand chain.
That tiny opening was enough.
The puppet's chest flipped open, revealing a dense forest of poison-needle launch ports.
"Thousand Hands Manipulation Force!"
The puppet's left arm unfolded completely. Mechanisms activated, and a summoning-style array flared—calling forth hundreds of phantom wooden arms!
Each arm gripped a poison-coated kunai, stabbing toward Kiyohara like a thousand-armed bodhisattva.
"Kurenai, fall back! All of you—now!"
Kiyohara shouted, already finishing his seals. He drew in a deep breath, his chest swelling, then—
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A normal C-rank Fire Release, but what erupted from Kiyohara's mouth was on a different level. Not because he'd modified the technique—because of his chakra volume.
A Great Fireball's size depended on output.
And any jutsu's power depended on output.
Even if the user had only "just learned" the technique, enough chakra could still create something terrifying.
When chakra volume got big enough, a "fireball" stopped being a ball—
and became a sea of flame.
A massive fireball over ten meters across roared out like a tidal surge of fire.
The heat warped the air. Trees ignited instantly. Grass on the ground carbonized in a blink.
Sasori's Thousand Hands Manipulation Force crumpled like paper in the flames.
Wooden arms burned. Poison needles melted in the heat.
"That… is called Great Fireball Jutsu?"
Kurenai stared, completely stunned.
She'd seen the technique before. Uchiha like Obito and Tetsuka could use it.
But she'd never seen anyone's "ball" that huge.
When the flames cleared, the ground around the Third Kazekage puppet was scorched into black earth.
The puppet itself—made of iron sand—handled heat well and wasn't badly damaged, but Sasori's expression had gone ugly.
"Well… that's a pleasant surprise," Sasori said coldly.
"The stronger you are, the more I want you."
Then he smiled—an unsettling smile that raised goosebumps.
"But did you really think that was all I had?"
Sasori flicked a finger.
The Third Kazekage puppet was still bound, but its mouth opened and belched out a thick purple fog.
The fog spread rapidly. Wherever it passed, grass withered. Even rock surfaces pitted and sizzled.
"This is my custom poison mist," Sasori said smugly.
Even with the wind against him, everything was still within his control.
He hadn't even shown his real cards yet.
"Poison mist…"
Kiyohara's face didn't change. He formed seals and released Wind Release: Gale Palm, blasting both the puppet and the purple cloud off to the side.
Uchiha bloodline or not.
Sasori leaned in, laughing. "Useless! The second you make contact with even a tiny bit, you're poisoned."
"Inhale a little and your whole body goes numb, rots, collapses—dead before long. There's no antidote, because only I know the formula."
Sharingan or not.
Magnet Release or not.
Keep bluffing.
All you can do is watch your own death—unless you can analyze his toxin in advance, and that was impossible.
This was Sasori's poison.
The poison of a genius puppeteer.
"Is that so?"
Kiyohara's expression stayed calm.
He pulled out a tube from his leather pouch and drank it down in one go.
"Your poison really is impressive," he said with a nod.
In the original story, Sasori's poison left Kankurō on the brink of death—Sakura needed three full days to formulate an antidote.
But the current Sasori still had over a decade of "growth time" ahead of him.
His poison wasn't that complex yet.
And with Yakushi Nono… it was enough.
Kiyohara had predicted this.
"What?!" Sasori's eyes widened.
"That's impossible—my poison…"
His poison required a precise formula. How did Kiyohara already have an antidote?
Had the poison on Sasori's subordinates' weapons leaked?
No—impossible.
Even if it leaked, there shouldn't have been time.
Sasori's brows knotted hard.
He'd investigated Kiyohara and his teammates. Only Kiyohara knew a little medical ninjutsu; that wasn't enough to counter Sasori.
And the orphanage "Dean" should've been an ordinary medical worker.
Had the intel he dug up been wrong?
Then Sasori saw it—
Nono pulled out the same medicine and gave it to Kurenai and Kabuto, then drank it herself.
Her.
In his years on the road, Sasori had learned one thing well: shinobi were masters of disguise.
"So you're not a normal medic… your file was scrubbed, wasn't it?" Sasori said, staring at Nono.
Nono nodded calmly. "It's a very delicate formula."
"Twelve-plus neurotoxins, three corrosive components, and two catalytic enzymes. But unfortunately for you—I've studied poisons."
She produced several more small bottles.
"Hemolytic toxin antidote. Muscle-dissolving agent antidote. Neural-blocking antidote… Your poison? I have solutions for all of it."
What she'd given Kiyohara were "general-use" counteragents—good for most situations.
What she held now were specialized antidotes.
Sasori's face darkened completely.
He stared at Nono, as if trying to peel away the "orphanage dean" mask and see what she really was.
"Who are you? Antidotes at that level… you're Konoha Anbu?"
"I'm just a Dean who wants to protect her children," Nono said evenly.
"And your poison would hurt them."
Sasori went silent.
He looked at the two in front of him—Kiyohara and Yakushi Nono.
Both far beyond what he'd assumed.
As for Kurenai, she was the only one whose strength still "matched" the outside impression.
But Sasori was a once-in-a-century puppeteer genius of Sunagakure.
"Fine…"
Slowly, he lifted his hand.
"Then let's see how long you can hold out."
Kiyohara surged forward to interrupt him.
Sasori's pupils tightened—he hadn't expected Kiyohara to break rhythm and refuse to let him monologue.
Sasori retreated rapidly, and only then found room to unleash more techniques.
More chakra strings shot from his fingertips—this time not only linking to the Third Kazekage, but also three scrolls that flew from Sasori's coat.
The scrolls opened midair. White smoke billowed—
Three human puppets emerged:
One built for taijutsu, muscles reinforced through modification.
One was a Mist ninja puppet capable of Water Release.
The last was a Sand ninja puppet specialized in Wind Release.
The fight escalated again.
Kurenai used genjutsu to disrupt the water-style puppet's hand signs, while controlling the battlefield with shuriken and wire.
Nono wasn't a frontline fighter, but her medical ninjutsu supported allies—while she used precise medical needles to strike at the "joints" where chakra strings connected.
And Kiyohara's opponents remained Sasori himself and the Third Kazekage puppet.
He kept closing distance, trying to prevent Sasori from releasing even more human puppets.
"Playtime's over," Sasori said coldly. "I'm not giving you another chance."
The Third Kazekage puppet—still bound—suddenly flared with stronger chakra.
Behind it, black iron-sand wings formed, shaped like a huge bird spreading its wings.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand Wings!
In the next instant, densely compressed iron sand launched from the wings' core—countless iron-sand "feathers" fired like ranged projectiles.
Shk-shk-shk-shk-shk!
They swept the area like a machine gun, tearing up the ground in smoke and dust.
The feathers moved too fast for the naked eye to track—and each carried a homing effect.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand World Method!"
Sasori stopped focusing the iron sand on Kiyohara and instead recalled the feathers through the smoke.
Then the iron sand wove together overhead, forming a massive three-dimensional cage.
The cage began to contract, trying to trap Kiyohara inside.
At the same time, iron sand condensed into countless spikes within the cage, stabbing inward from all directions.
Move any way—hit a spike.
Yet Kiyohara's expression remained calm.
His torn clothes exposed skin beneath, gleaming with dark metallic sheen.
"Future me—lend me your power."
Those iron-sand feathers were absurdly fast. The Third Kazekage really was built different.
Even dead, even as a puppet—his instincts still retained a terrifying amount.
"You want my ocular power?"
Uchiha Kiyohara's spirit floated out, his three-tomoe Sharingan turning slowly.
"Yeah," Kiyohara nodded. "One tomoe is still too tight."
During possession, he could temporarily borrow that ocular power.
The price was that Uchiha Kiyohara would fade faster.
"It's Sasori, huh."
Uchiha Kiyohara stared at Sasori.
At this point Sasori hadn't joined Akatsuki yet—he was still just a rogue shinobi.
"Let me handle it," Uchiha Kiyohara said.
He hadn't fought in a long time.
Kiyohara hesitated, then nodded.
He still hadn't fully mastered Uchiha-style taijutsu.
Memorizing moves wasn't the same as knowing when to use them.
Uchiha-style taijutsu wasn't about having a thousand techniques—it was about timing, prediction, and the perfect counter.
In the next instant, Kiyohara released control.
Uchiha Kiyohara possessed him.
Their exchange happened entirely in the mind—in the real world, not even a full second passed.
Uchiha Kiyohara steered Kiyohara's body in rapid, precise bursts.
Whenever an iron-sand spike stabbed in, the body shifted—just enough—dodging cleanly.
Because he was possessing Kiyohara, Uchiha Kiyohara could use Steel Release and Magnet Release…
but he wasn't familiar with them, so he didn't.
Kiyohara watched his own body move and felt something strange—like being shown a perfect demonstration.
He memorized the flow of those evasions, trying to make them his own.
"That guy…"
Sasori stared.
For a split second, he felt like Kiyohara had changed.
The Sharingan flickered in all directions like red lines sliding through darkness.
And the one tomoe… seemed to overlap with a phantom afterimage.
That phantom started as one tomoe too—but rapidly shifted, rotating, forming three tomoe linked together.
Sasori blinked—and Kiyohara's eye was back to normal.
Still one tomoe.
As if Sasori had hallucinated the entire thing.
"Genjutsu…? When?!"
Sasori frowned and instantly heightened his guard.
It didn't help.
With shared vision, Kiyohara felt the world sharpen.
Chakra flow colors were brighter, more precise.
Sasori's micro-movements slowed down like a video on half-speed—more time to read every frame.
So this was the world of three tomoe.
Sharingan was a weapon—but also an organ.
Which meant the user's body mattered.
In the anime, Indra had Mangekyō like Sasuke's.
But it's never clearly stated whether it was Eternal Mangekyō or standard.
In the manga, Indra was even more ridiculous—three tomoe alone could manifest a Perfect Susanoo.
His opponent was Asura, empowered with Hagoromo's chakra and Kurama's chakra.
That imbalance was exactly why Hagoromo later split his power between Naruto and Sasuke and let them choose.
Kiyohara's thought drifted: would his "three-tomoe perception" match a normal three-tomoe user's?
After all, his mental energy was layered and amplified…
"Burn!" Sasori roared.
His modified palms and arms linked to the scrolls at his waist.
A tongue of flame—high heat, strong melting power—erupted from the palm tube.
Scroll: Flamethrower!
At the same time, Sasori redirected his other puppets to abandon Kurenai and Nono and converge on Kiyohara—
Along with the Third Kazekage puppet.
Everything rushed him at once.
"People only know the world through their senses and cognition… but they're also trapped by them. And those senses and cognition are inherently vague. Reality might be nothing but a mirage…"
Kiyohara's voice was the same, but under possession there was a subtle difference in cadence.
"Resent your fate for not having the Sharingan," Uchiha Kiyohara thought coldly—and unleashed Sharingan genjutsu.
This was Demonic Illusion: Flower Mist Technique.
Using mist or flowing water as a medium, it used Sharingan ocular power to deceive and pull the target into illusion.
In that instant, Sasori glanced down and saw water on the ground.
Had Kiyohara used Water Release?
Just as Sasori prepared to move away—
the water seemed to swirl, like it was reflecting something.
At the center of the reflection were countless spirals.
Inside those spirals, Sasori saw crimson eyes.
And then the world changed.
Sasori found himself standing in a vast white space.
A huge mirror stood before him—and the reflection wasn't his current self.
It was his childhood self.
The version before he'd turned himself into a half-puppet. Back when he was still pure flesh.
The child in the mirror smiled, reaching out.
"Come back. Come back to your complete self…"
"Genjutsu?!" Sasori snapped awake—but it was too late.
"I've already seen your failed reality," Kiyohara's voice echoed through the white space.
Then Sasori was stabbed through the heart—again and again—by countless shuriken, each impact bringing real pain.
The illusion world began to collapse.
Sasori's mind fought violently. Sharingan genjutsu was terrifying, but Sasori's will was equally stubborn.
He was a lunatic who had already modified half his body; his mental structure wasn't normal anymore.
In the real world, less than two seconds passed.
But two seconds were enough.
Kiyohara's Sharingan spotted the cage's structural weak point and tore open a gap at minimal cost.
He appeared right in front of Sasori, kunai flashing cold.
Sasori had just broken free of the genjutsu when he saw the blade already kissing his throat.
He jerked backward and shoved the Third Kazekage puppet into the way—
But Kiyohara's target had never been Sasori's throat.
The kunai shifted mid-strike and stabbed toward Sasori's chest—
toward the last truly human part of him, the still-not-fully-puppet heart.
Sasori's pupils shrank.
He tried to block with the Third Kazekage puppet's arm—
but Kiyohara had already predicted it.
The kunai slipped through the gap between the puppet's arm segments.
Thk!
Blood sprayed.
At the edge of death, Sasori exploded with unprecedented potential.
He managed to miss the heart by a hair—
but the blade pierced his lung.
"Hk… hk…"
His breathing became a wheezing bellows.
The still-human lung flooded with blood, pain burning like fire.
Pain.
How long had it been since he'd truly felt it?
Warm blood stained his brown armor.
"Close…" he rasped.
Kiyohara didn't stop.
He swung his ninja blade again—this time aiming for Sasori's neck, to take the head clean off.
Sasori finally snapped.
"Damn… you almost killed me."
Half his body wasn't "flesh" anymore. He could overload his systems.
He instantly ordered every puppet except the Third Kazekage puppet to self-destruct.
Hidden tags inside them triggered.
BOOM!
Explosions threw up thick smoke.
Sasori didn't need to kill Kiyohara—he only needed to block Kiyohara's vision for a moment.
But Kiyohara still slashed.
Chop—
Sasori's arm came off.
The hand was still posed mid-motion, as if reaching into his pouch.
Even the pouch dropped.
Sasori didn't dare hesitate. He bolted into the fog.
"I'll remember you, Kiyohara. Next time… I'll get you. I will."
When the smoke cleared, Sasori was gone.
Only an arm and a ninja pouch remained.
Uchiha Kiyohara released possession.
Kiyohara watched the direction Sasori fled—but didn't chase.
Sasori definitely had a base nearby. Pursuing blindly meant walking into a trap.
For a puppeteer, setting traps was as natural as breathing.
But there was another reason Kiyohara didn't chase.
He looked down at the pouch.
He hardened his hand with Steel Release to avoid poison exposure, checked carefully for hidden toxins and mechanisms, then picked it up.
Inside, he found a small scroll about half the size of a wrist.
By its look, he recognized it—Sasori had used this in the fight.
After using Scroll: Water Stream Shooters, he'd sprayed corrosive poison.
There were also several smaller sealing scrolls.
Kiyohara checked them and found notes on how to convert living humans into human puppets, preserve bloodlines, implant mechanisms…
This was part of Sasori's research notebook.
It also contained his ideas on poisoning and antidotes—how to keep toxins on weapons longer without a smell, maintenance and repair procedures for puppets, and more.
It looked like Sasori had abandoned everything just to escape.
"Lots of puppets, huh…"
Kiyohara unrolled one of the scrolls and saw dozens of circular summoning-pattern seals.
In the center was a line of text: "Ten."
Poof.