Chiyo was now reliving Sakumo Hatake repeatedly severing the heads of her son and daughter, and Sasori repeatedly piercing the Third Kazekage's chest.
Even if Chiyo destroyed all these Sand Iron clones, they would immediately re-form and continue the cycle.
At the same time, because Chiyo was unable to concentrate, her hands trembled, making her unable to control her puppets well; of the ten Kinomoto Ten Puppets, only five were usable now.
Moreover, Chiyo hadn't even noticed that Kannazuki was no longer in the air.
At this moment, Kannazuki had blended in with these Sand Iron clones, and had even used the Transformation Jutsu to become one of them.
Just as Chiyo, with reddened eyes, destroyed a 'Sakumo Hatake,' 'her son,' tightly gripping a Sand Iron spear, thrust it fiercely towards Chiyo's chest.
Despite her grief, Chiyo's combat instincts were still sharp; possessing powerful taijutsu, she slapped away the Sand Iron spear in 'her son's' hand and then clenched her fist, smashing it towards 'her son's' body.
"Mother ~"
Chiyo's movements abruptly paused.
"Heh, you old hag, I caught you off guard, didn't I? Take this!"
Kannazuki, who had been waiting for an opportunity from the side, saw his chance, took a running start, raised his right hand high, and slapped Chiyo across the face.
With Kannazuki's unrestrained slap, Chiyo's face instantly became incredibly distorted, directly drawing blood from her gums; after spitting out a mouthful of blood, she was sent flying backward.
While Chiyo was sent flying, Kannazuki once again used Magnet Release: Iron Sand Wings to quickly fly into the air, creating distance from Chiyo and giving her no opportunity.
At the same time, Kannazuki's Chakra threads adhered to something in the mouthful of gum blood Chiyo had spat out.
Kannazuki, having reascended into the sky, spread his arms, took a deep breath, and looked utterly delighted: "This feels amazing!"
This operation was a complete success; not only did he perfectly break Chiyo's mental defense, but he also landed that long-desired slap.
Although he took a bit of a risk, it was so satisfying that the risk was completely acceptable.
Kannazuki's gaze fell upon the object his Chakra threads were attached to—it was a tooth Chiyo had just spat out.
"Heh heh, old hag, your teeth are pretty loose, huh? One slap and a tooth fell out. I'll keep this tooth. When I meet Sasori later, I'll give it to him as a trophy and brag about it properly. I'm leaving now, are you going to stop me? I'm giving you a chance, you know."
Chiyo clutched her swollen right cheek, glaring at Kannazuki with hatred.
Kannazuki chuckled, "Don't look at me like that. I know I can't kill you. I didn't come here to kill you at all; I just came to disgust you. I know you're senile now and your memory must be bad, so I specifically helped you recall the past. How about it, do you like this grand gift?
Alright, I won't bother you anymore. You really look like a stray dog. No, you are a stray dog now, after all, even your grandson hated you for leaving Hidden Sand Village, leaving you all alone.
I am a good young man who respects the elderly and loves the young, so next time you're about to forget, I'll come again and help you remember properly. You don't have to thank me~
It looks like you're not planning to stop me, so I'll be off now, bye-bye~"
Kannazuki manipulated Kannazuki, flying in his direction, preparing to retrieve him.
"Puppet Technique: Manipulated Attacking Blades!"
Chiyo's right hand attached Chakra threads to Kannazuki, and she also flew into the sky along with Kannazuki, then fiercely waved her left hand, manipulating the five puppets to attack Kannazuki.
"Trying to stop me like this won't quite work, you know."
Kannazuki raised his altitude again, then dispersed Kannazuki completely into Sand Iron, which began to fall.
Chiyo's expression was both furious and helpless.
She couldn't hit Kannazuki, and Kannazuki's Magnet Release was a natural counter to her puppets.
This Kannazuki's mastery of Magnet Release was extremely proficient; in terms of Magnet Release control proficiency alone, he might already be on par with the Third Kazekage.
If Kannazuki continued to grow, he would sooner or later possess the same strength as the Third Kazekage.
Coupled with this puppet that perfectly suited Kannazuki, a Magnet Release Ninja... he was a major threat.
To prevent the remaining five Near-Matsushita Puppets from being paralyzed by the Sand Iron, Chiyo unrolled a scroll and sealed them within it.
And Chiyo was forced to return to the ground.
Kannazuki, which had dispersed into Sand Iron, reassembled, and Kannazuki also unrolled a scroll, sealing Kannazuki within it.
"Well then, goodbye~"
Kannazuki flapped his Sand Iron Wings, making a flashy 360-degree turn in the air, and then flew away.
Kakashi, Obito, and Rin Nohara, who had been peeking, saw Kannazuki leave, and the three of them quietly departed as well.
Chiyo stood frozen in place for a very long time; even though she tried to control herself, her mind kept replaying Sakumo Hatake repeatedly severing the heads of her son and daughter, and Sasori repeatedly piercing the Third Kazekage's chest.
Chiyo, who was already slightly hunched, seemed to be completely crushed at this moment, becoming even more deeply hunched.
At this moment, Chiyo felt no anger, but rather deep loss and self-reproach.
She had failed to protect Sasori's parents, failed to protect Sasori, and failed to raise Sasori properly.
If she had noticed Sasori's abnormality earlier and guided him sooner, perhaps none of this would have happened.
Chiyo looked at the fragments of 'Father' and 'Mother' mixed with Sand Iron on the ground.
Chiyo picked up these fragments one by one and placed them into an empty sealing scroll.
Afterward, Chiyo inspected the paralyzed five Near-Matsushita Puppets.
Although they were paralyzed, there wasn't much damage; they could be restored by simply cleaning out the invading Sand Iron and repairing or replacing damaged parts.
After sealing these five puppets into a scroll, Chiyo sighed deeply, suddenly feeling very tired, rubbed her swollen right cheek, and walked towards the Land of Wind with a somewhat desolate figure.
...
Kannazuki was lying on the ground, panting continuously.
Using Magnet Release at such a high frequency, and with so many Sand Iron clones, Kannazuki was not a Jinchuriki and didn't have an abundance of Chakra; even though Sand Iron clones consumed much less Chakra than Shadow Clones, he couldn't keep it up.
Kannazuki's Chakra was already at rock bottom, probably unable to use even a single Ninjutsu.
But just thinking about Chiyo's face, as if she had eaten shit, and that slap, Kannazuki couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha..."
However, Kannazuki had only laughed a few times before the heads of three dogs... no, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin Nohara appeared in Kannazuki's field of vision.
Kakashi was very displeased now, glaring at Kannazuki with intimidating eyes.
"You still have the nerve to laugh? Aren't you going to explain what just happened?"
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