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The deadly silence within the cavern was instantly shattered!
When Sayo's gaze swept past Sasori's shoulder and landed on the figure deliberately placed in the shadows—a figure that looked as if it were merely sleeping—all the blood in his body seemed to freeze. That body wore the familiar black Kazekage robe and a conical hat embroidered with the character "Wind." Its face was tranquil but lifeless. What truly made his scalp crawl were the chakra threads extending from Sasori's ten fingers into the back of that corpse.
The Third Kazekage.
The realization hit Sayo like a physical blow. Because of this man's disappearance, the village had spiraled into chaos. Comrades had died, his father was sent to the front lines, and the village was starving for funds. The root of all that suffering was sitting right here, turned into a toy.
"You... you actually..." Sayo's voice trembled with a rage that eclipsed his tactical mind. "Turned the Third Kazekage-sama... into a Human Puppet?!"
Sasori slowly stood up, his black robe fluttering. "Oh? You recognize him? This is a truly eternal work of art. It is his honor to have his most powerful abilities preserved permanently in this form."
"Art?! You lunatic!" Sayo roared.
Almost in the same instant, both men moved. Sasori's fingers moved imperceptibly, and the grotesque Hiruko puppet—an ugly, scorpion-like shell—enveloped his body. Simultaneously, his threads flared, connecting to the expressionless Third Kazekage behind him.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle!"
The Third Kazekage raised a hand. Countless black grains of iron sand condensed into sharp senbon, shooting toward Sayo like a lethal downpour. The speed was terrifying—far beyond any ninjutsu Sayo had seen.
"Mirage!"
Sayo slammed his hand onto a scroll. The refined "Mirage" platform appeared instantly, its magnetic levitation system shrieking as it carried Sayo in a rapid, lateral shift.
Sssshhh—!
The iron sand senbon embedded themselves feet deep into the rock wall where he had just stood.
"Spider Legion! Deploy!"
From the "Mirage's" storage bays, dozens of spider puppets surged out. The small units scurried up the walls, spraying high-tensile silk to disrupt Sasori's lines. The medium units, laden with exploding tags, launched suicide runs against Hiruko's heavy armor. The large assault units brandished metallic pincers, charging the Third Kazekage head-on.
"Boring tricks," Sasori's voice echoed from within Hiruko.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Defense!"
A massive wall of iron sand rose, absorbing the spider explosions with ease. Simultaneously, Hiruko's segmented mechanical tail stabbed out, a blur of motion that tore through Sayo's medium units. The mechanism on Hiruko's back opened, raining poison needles across the cave.
The cavern turned into a puppet slaughterhouse. Sayo piloted the "Mirage" through high-difficulty aerial maneuvers, dodging iron sand spears and Hiruko's tail. His brain operated at its limit, precisely controlling the "Mirage" and the remaining spider legion simultaneously.
Sasori held the advantage. The Third Kazekage's Magnet Release provided overwhelming scale, while Hiruko offered vicious, close-range defense. Sayo was barely holding on through the "Mirage's" superior mobility and his nature-tempered chakra reserves.
Sayo gritted his teeth. He couldn't win a war of attrition against a man who had replaced his own heart with a machine. He had to break the deadlock, and he had to do it now.
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