Hidden within Hiruko, Sasori of the Red Sand brimmed with fighting spirit.
Defeating Tsunade would be an honor beyond measure.
Orochimaru often looked down on him. But if Sasori could beat Tsunade—someone on the same level as Orochimaru…
So what if you're one of the Legendary Sannin?
Believe it or not, I can take you out in minutes.
Sasori had been dying to shout that line in Orochimaru's face for a long time.
Sasori might have temporarily partnered with Orochimaru under Pain's orders—
but in truth, the two of them simply didn't get along.
Both were extreme individualists. Forcing them into the same team had been awkward from the start.
Even Pain, Akatsuki's leader, had been considering whether to switch their partners. But Akatsuki's recruitment standards were currently high, and there were no suitable candidates for the moment.
…
Sasori quickly worked through countermeasures in his mind.
Tsunade's monstrous strength was terrifying, and her medical ninjutsu was equally advanced. To beat an opponent like that, he would have to rely on his brain.
But Tsunade, holding the advantage, had no intention of giving him time to think.
Every punch and kick was lethal.
No tricks—just bulldoze straight through!
Her fists came like a storm. Sasori, still inside Hiruko, was beaten into a steady retreat. Fortunately, Tsunade wasn't particularly fast—otherwise, Hiruko would've already been smashed to pieces.
"Hiruko: Scorpion Tail!"
While evading, Sasori found an opening and tried to counterattack.
"Good!"
Tsunade barked—and actually grabbed Sasori's metal tail, coated in deadly poison, with her bare hand.
"Monstrous Strength Impact!"
She surged forward and drove a solid punch straight into Hiruko.
Crack-crack-crack!
With a loud series of snaps, Sasori's prized creation, Hiruko, shattered on the spot—falling apart into fragments.
With the puppet destroyed, Sasori finally revealed his true form.
Tsunade was genuinely surprised.
Her opponent looked like a red-haired boy—only fourteen or fifteen at most.
Sasori was a mad genius obsessed with puppetry to the point that he had modified his own body into a puppet. He looked fourteen or fifteen, but his real age was actually older than Kakashi's.
That secret was something Tsunade couldn't possibly know.
Even so, Tsunade's instincts told her one thing clearly—
This "young man" was not nearly as simple as he appeared.
Sasori smiled faintly, voice almost nostalgic.
"It's been a long time since I fought with my own body."
Tsunade curled her lip in disdain.
"With a weak little body like that, can you even take one punch from me?"
Sasori's smile didn't fade.
"I already said it. Ordinary people can't understand art."
"Art is something that never decays."
"After I kill you, I'll turn you into one of my beloved pieces."
Tsunade sneered.
"Kill me?"
"Do you really think you can?"
Since becoming famous, Tsunade hadn't heard words this arrogant in years.
Even the current Kage of the Five Great Villages were, at most, on the same level as her.
And Tsunade wasn't just any Kage-level fighter—
she was a medical-nin.
Killing a Kage-level medical-nin in battle was far harder than killing an ordinary Kage-level shinobi.
Sasori understood exactly how difficult Tsunade was to deal with.
That was why he revealed his trump card immediately.
A scroll in Sasori's hands slowly unfurled, and a brand-new puppet appeared before everyone.
The moment Tsunade saw its shape, her pupils tightened.
"T-This is…"
Sasori's expression turned smug.
"So you recognize him."
"This is the desert. You should know what the Third Kazekage was capable of."
"Do you still think I have no chance of killing you?"
The smile on Tsunade's face gradually vanished.
"I see."
"So the Third Kazekage—who vanished without a trace—fell into your hands."
The moment those words landed, the entire scene shook.
Genma, Raidō, and the others stared in disbelief.
This red-haired boy… killed Sunagakure's Third Kazekage?
That had to be a joke… right?!
Orochimaru licked his lips with interest.
"So you're using the Third Kazekage puppet. How interesting…"
Orochimaru already knew Sasori's background—but the Third Kazekage puppet wasn't something you got to see lightly.
Tsunade versus the Third Kazekage…
This would be a very entertaining fight.
…
With the Third Kazekage puppet revealed, Sasori finally had the confidence to clash with Tsunade head-on.
His ten fingers danced, chakra threads controlling the Third Kazekage as it attacked.
"Die!"
Tsunade was startled.
This puppet was far faster than Hiruko had been!
Tsunade formed a chakra scalpel and met the puppet head-on.
They struck—then separated immediately, neither gaining the upper hand.
Sasori's fingertips flicked, and the Third Kazekage puppet attacked again.
"Secret Technique: Mechanized Arms!"
Thousands of hidden arms burst from within the puppet, packed with countless poison-coated kunai.
Tsunade used her palm like a blade, her moves fast and razor-sharp.
Clink-clink-clink!
The hidden weapons were knocked to the ground one after another.
A curve rose at the corner of Sasori's mouth.
"Perfectly countered every single weapon—worthy of Tsunade-hime."
"But my attack isn't over yet!"
"Thousand Hands Manipulation!"
With Sasori's long howl, the mechanized arms—already extended—moved again.
Tsunade didn't have time to pull away and was caught, bound in place.
"Now!"
Sasori seized the opening and released a cloud of purple poison mist from the arms.
Genma and the others' faces changed instantly.
"Lady Tsunade!"
They started forward to help, but Orochimaru raised a hand and stopped them.
"Stand still. Tsunade isn't as fragile as you imagine."
Genma and the others wanted to fight Orochimaru, but the gap in strength was too obvious—they didn't dare.
Orochimaru was one of the Legendary Sannin. A tokubetsu jōnin like Genma wasn't even close.
Their mission was to protect Tsunade. As long as she wasn't in real danger, the situation was still acceptable.
And from Orochimaru's tone, this fight wasn't over yet.
In that case… better to watch.
For Orochimaru, Konoha's leadership—Hiruzen included—had long been turning a blind eye. Genma's group were the kind who survived by following orders, not by seeking trouble.
Why go out of their way to provoke a monster?
With that, the three gradually calmed down.
Orochimaru had no intention of interfering, and there was no reason to provoke him first.
Tsunade was swallowed by the purple poison mist, and Sasori's smile deepened.
Konoha's strongest medical-nin…
Finally fell into my hands.
It's over!
But before he could celebrate—
The mechanized arms were suddenly lifted from the ground as if they weighed nothing.
"A pile of scrap metal—turn into dust!"
With a furious roar, Tsunade tore thousands of mechanized arms straight off the Third Kazekage puppet by brute force.
Sasori's eyes widened in shock.
He immediately severed the connection between the arms and the puppet, barely preserving his beloved "collection."
Damn it!
This woman is too troublesome!
Sasori cursed inwardly.
Tsunade had nearly destroyed the Third Kazekage puppet in a single burst—just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.
And more than that—
She had clearly been inside his poison mist, yet she wasn't affected at all.
Sasori's mind spun with questions.
But Tsunade had fought countless battles. She had faced poison masters like Hanzō the Salamander and Chiyo many times.
The moment she realized Sasori was a poison specialist, she had already planned her response.
In the instant the mist spread, Tsunade sealed off her breathing.
Then, while ripping apart the mechanism, she used the shockwave from her monstrous strength to blow the mist away.
Sasori's attack had completely failed to take effect.
Sasori was sharp. He quickly understood what Tsunade had done.
So you prepared a countermeasure in advance?
Fine—consider yourself lucky this time.
You can seal your mouth and nose…
But you can't hide your body.
As long as I can make you bleed, the victor will still be me!
With everything clear, Sasori's smile returned.
With the Third Kazekage's ability, injuring someone in the desert was almost effortless.
Sasori's fingers twitched, and the puppet reappeared in front of Tsunade.
"Do you know why the Third was called the strongest Kazekage?"
"Come—witness the power of Magnet Release, a kekkei genkai!"
At the words "kekkei genkai," Tsunade's expression turned heavy.
The Senju clan had once been famous for bloodline abilities too—what the First Hokage used to unify the era and build Konoha was Wood Release.
But Wood Release had long since been lost to the Senju.
Konoha's leadership had repeatedly tried to recreate it, pouring in massive resources, even sacrificing many innocent lives—
And in the end, they only produced a half-finished product like Yamato.
Hashirama's Wood Release could pin down the Nine-Tails with ease.
Yamato's Wood Release… fixing a house was already impressive.
The difference was worlds apart.
And that wasn't entirely Yamato's fault.
After all—
Not everyone was Hashirama Senju: Asura's reincarnation, chakra beyond measure.
Yamato was just an ordinary jōnin.
Naturally, he couldn't be compared to the First Hokage.
Under Sasori's control, the Third Kazekage puppet formed seals.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle!"
Black iron sand surged forward like a tidal wave.
In a flash, it transformed into countless tiny needle-like spikes.
The technique covered a wide area and lasted a long time.
Lethal—and difficult to dodge.
However—
Tsunade was no ordinary opponent.
A medical-nin's first lesson was survival. And Tsunade, as the top medical-nin in the shinobi world, had evasion refined to the level of art.
Under the dense iron-sand barrage, she leapt and weaved without pause, occasionally using her chakra blade to knock aside the needles.
Against the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand Drizzle, Tsunade handled it with ease—purely through movement.
The sight left many people stunned.
Genma let out a long breath.
"Lady Tsunade's footwork…"
"Even Lord Hokage might not be able to match it."
Raidō and Iwashi nodded hard.
Tsunade's movement was dreamlike.
Even in a storm of projectiles, she looked as though she were strolling through a garden.
This was the strength of Konoha's greatest medical-nin.
Even Sasori couldn't help admiring her.
That level of footwork…
No wonder she gave even Chiyo such headaches.
But Tsunade being hard to deal with didn't discourage Sasori at all.
The earlier exchange had only been an appetizer.
The Third Kazekage's true power hadn't even been shown yet.
"Iron Sand Cylinder!"
Black iron sand formed into a huge pillar.
Under Magnet Release control, the massive pillar slammed down toward Tsunade's position at high speed.
The colossal mass bore down—
And Tsunade didn't dodge.
She charged straight into it.
Bang!
One punch.
The iron-sand cylinder, weighing several tons, was blasted away.
Even Orochimaru, watching from the side, couldn't help but gasp.
"Tsunade's monstrous strength… it's just as terrifying as ever."
"If she lands a punch like that, even Kage-level shinobi probably wouldn't be able to take it."
Seeing Tsunade so dominant, Genma and the others finally relaxed.
When Kage-level monsters fight, it's best to just watch.
If they got dragged in, they'd probably die on the spot.
Sasori was shaken too.
He already knew Tsunade wasn't weak, but that kind of power was absurd.
Punching away a multi-ton iron-sand pillar?
What the hell—was she even human?!
Sasori reshaped the iron sand under the puppet's control, the pillar rapidly compressing into a conical mass.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Triangular Prism!"
Facing the incoming heavy weapon, Tsunade turned and kicked it away—again—sending the iron-sand mass flying.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Top!"
Sasori changed techniques once more. The huge triangular prism began spinning at high speed.
After being stalled for so long, Tsunade's temper finally flared.
"Enough already!"
"You want to play forever?!"
"I'll smash it with one punch!"
Boom!
Tsunade's heavy fist crashed into the spinning prism.
Under that monstrous force, the seemingly indestructible iron sand collapsed instantly—shattering into fragments.
Watching that, Sasori's eyes flickered.
If ordinary moves won't work…
Then I'll use the ultimate.
Come and taste the Third Kazekage's strongest secret art!
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