The Tailed Beast Ball struck the Hidden Sand Village like a falling meteor.
It triggered a massive, blinding explosion that instantly vaporized numerous buildings, left a giant, molten crater in the earth, and caused catastrophic casualties.
Wounded villagers wailed amidst the burning ruins. Faced with an attack that felt like a natural disaster, they were lost and bewildered, having absolutely no idea where was safe to run.
"No!"
Seeing the tragic, burning state of their home, many Hidden Sand shinobi's eyes turned bloodshot with sheer rage. They unleashed various Ninjutsu upon the Ichibi in a desperate frenzy.
Flames, violent winds, jagged rocks, and lightning—numerous attacks bombarded Shukaku, shattering the sand and stone armor on its bloated body. Yet, the Tailed Beast didn't care at all.
"Hahaha! Is this really all you have?!" The Ichibi laughed arrogantly. "You can't hurt this great one with those pathetic sparks! It's just a tickle! Hahaha!"
Amidst the beast's maddened laughter, fresh desert sand swirled up to instantly replenish its damaged body. The shinobi's attacks had absolutely no lasting effect, leaving them in utter despair.
"Damn it, what should we do?! Lord Kazekage, please come back and save us!"
Meanwhile, miles away in the desert, the Kazekage and his elites had already completely cornered Sasori.
"Die!"
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Giant Needle!"
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand World Order!"
This time, the Kazekage struck with his absolute full force. Various powerful, crushing Ninjutsu composed of high-density Iron Sand easily tore through Sasori's remaining defensive puppets. Moments later, Sasori reached the end of his rope, completely surrounded and out of tricks.
Sasori was severely wounded in several places. Most fatally, some Iron Sand had penetrated deep into his body. Not only did it slow his movements, but it had thoroughly shredded his internal organs, causing dark blood to flow continuously from the corner of his mouth.
Facing a completely desperate situation, Sasori showed absolutely no signs of nervousness. With a cold, apathetic expression, he took out his final scroll, summoned ten more puppets, and said faintly, "It's about time. You all should leave."
"Still spouting nonsense at death's door!"
The Kazekage began to rapidly form hand seals, preparing to end the traitor's life once and for all. But suddenly, a squad of bloodied Hidden Sand shinobi appeared over the dunes to deliver disastrous news.
"Lord Kazekage! This is bad! The Ichibi has broken free and is destroying the village!"
"What?!"
The Kazekage, Chiyo, Pakura, and the others were completely shell-shocked. The Kazekage snapped his head to look at Sasori, unadulterated fury burning in his eyes.
"You did this!"
"Hehehe." Sasori chuckled, immediately coughing up a large mouthful of blood that contained bits of ruptured flesh.
"Kazekage, the absolute elite of the Hidden Sand are all standing right here," Sasori mocked weakly. "No one left in the village can stop the Ichibi. If you don't hurry back right now, the Hidden Sand Village might just disappear from the map."
"Curse you!"
The Kazekage was extremely vexed. He knew Sasori was absolutely right. Aside from himself, Chiyo, Pakura, Ebizo, and Rasa—everyone capable of even slightly restraining the Ichibi was standing in this canyon. Although there were many Jonin left in the village, they simply didn't have the heavy-hitting Jutsu required to stop a Tailed Beast.
The Kazekage knew the apocalyptic destructive power of a Bijuu. Every second he delayed his return meant the village would suffer thousands more casualties.
Compared to executing Sasori, saving the village was clearly more important.
"Damn it! Chiyo, your faction stays behind; you must kill Sasori! The rest of us are going back!"
Time was of the essence. The Kazekage didn't hesitate for another second and immediately led his people in a frantic retreat. Pakura, Chisuke, and the others followed him closely, leaving only Chiyo, Ebizo, Rasa, and a few others.
Chiyo knew that the Kazekage was giving her one final chance to prove her loyalty—to use Sasori's severed head to earn the Kazekage's forgiveness.
"Sasori... surrender."
Even at this point, Chiyo still held onto a foolish fantasy, hoping that if her grandson simply surrendered, she could use her political capital to somehow save his life.
Facing Chiyo's earnest, pleading expectation, Sasori responded with nothing but cold indifference.
The day his parents died, Sasori's heart had already ceased to beat. He had absolutely no attachment to this world or the people in it. Even death would not cause him a shred of pain; it would merely be a form of quiet liberation.
"If you have the ability, then kill me."
Seeing Chiyo hesitate, Rasa stepped forward and reminded her coldly, "Elder Chiyo, if Sasori doesn't surrender, we must kill him. We absolutely cannot let him leave, otherwise the Kazekage will surely execute us all for treason."
Chiyo sighed deeply and closed her eyes, forcing back the bitter tears that hadn't yet fallen. When she opened them again, her gaze was finally filled with the coldness of a shinobi.
"In that case... White Secret Technique: The Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu!"
Ten exquisitely crafted, legendary puppets appeared before Chiyo and charged toward Sasori. Simultaneously, Ebizo and Rasa also launched their own lethal attacks.
Fearless and completely undaunted, Sasori controlled his remaining puppets and charged forward to meet them.
Hours later, the wind and sand smoothed over the battlefield, leaving only heavily wounded people scattered across the ground. Rasa violently pulled a poisoned senbon from his arm, walked up behind Chiyo, and questioned her loudly.
"Why did you let Sasori escape?! This will put us in an extremely disadvantageous position with the Kazekage!"
Chiyo, who was usually so strong and tough, now stood with her body hunched over, looking like a frail, broken old woman. She silently treated the wounds of the injured shinobi, murmuring to herself.
"I didn't expect that Sasori had already reached such a level... he has already surpassed me."
Chiyo's voice wasn't loud. It was unclear if she was explaining herself to Rasa or simply talking to herself. But her tone held a hint of profound helplessness, as well as a twisted, sickening touch of pride.
Rasa was about to yell more, but he saw Ebizo nearby shaking his head, signaling him to stop. He could only swallow his boiling anger, praying the Kazekage's punishment wouldn't mean their heads.
The Kazekage traveled at his absolute top speed, riding a wave of Iron Sand, and arrived at the Hidden Sand Village before long.
The village was in a wretched state. Nearly half the infrastructure had been wiped away. Countless people were wailing under the crushed ruins, and the mangled corpses of shinobi could be seen everywhere.
The destruction caused by the Ichibi was even greater than the Kazekage had imagined. He, Pakura, and the others were incensed and charged directly at the rampaging beast.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Gyro!"
Countless grains of Iron Sand rapidly converged, forming a massive, incredibly dense triangular pyramid.
The pyramid spun at a terrifyingly high speed, carrying immense destructive power as it slammed heavily into the Ichibi, violently shattering a large portion of its sandy body and finally drawing the beast's full attention.
The Ichibi turned its bloated body. Its crazed golden eyes spotted the Third Kazekage standing on a nearby cliff.
"Ahahaha! You damned insect! You've successfully angered this great one! Wind Release: Air Bullets!"
The Ichibi opened its huge mouth and spat out dozens of massive, highly compressed wind bullets, which bombarded toward the Kazekage like artillery shells.
"Chisuke, this isn't a battle you can participate in! Get back!"
Seeing the incoming attack, Pakura immediately formed hand seals, rapidly condensing dozens of burning, pale-orange Scorch Style fireballs.
The fireballs violently intercepted the wind bullets, causing massive mid-air explosions and generating shockwaves that nearly blew everyone away. Chisuke held his arms in front of his face, obediently listened to Pakura, and immediately ran to a safe distance to hide.
He didn't have the ability to fight a Tailed Beast head-on. He could only watch and pray silently that his cheap, metaphorical meal ticket—the Kazekage—could survive this ordeal.
Being hailed as the strongest Kazekage was naturally not an empty title. Although he had just fought a brutal battle with Sasori and rushed all the way back without regard for his stamina, his combat power hadn't diminished in the slightest. Instead, fueled by rage, he fought even more fiercely.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust!"
The Kazekage pressed his hands to the ground, and a vast amount of Chakra seeped deep into the earth. Soon, countless heavy grains of gold dust emerged from the desert, mixing into the environment.
This made it incredibly difficult for Shukaku to use regular sand to replenish its body. Simultaneously, the heavy gold dust began to penetrate the Ichibi's form, weighing it down and greatly restricting its mobility.
The Ichibi, currently entangled by Pakura and the surviving Jonin, suddenly felt its body become sluggish and heavy. It let out a violent roar.
"This Ninjutsu again?! Damn it! Don't think you can control this great one!"
The Ichibi began aggressively gathering Chakra, intending to use another Tailed Beast Ball to wipe them all out. To avoid further mass casualties, the Kazekage took the initiative and formed a complex string of hand seals.
"Magnet Release: Great Gold Dust Seal!"
Countless grains of gold dust continued to spread rapidly, climbing up the Ichibi's massive legs, intending to cover it completely.
Feeling the approaching crisis, the Ichibi roared continuously and frantically tore at the gold dust on its body. However, the gold dust was like heavy, flowing water—it couldn't be torn or smashed. It steadily spread all the way to the top of the Ichibi's head, finally forming a massive golden sphere that completely encased the beast.
On the surface of the sphere, strings of mysterious black sealing symbols flickered with light, forming dense chains that tightly locked the construct in place.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Loud, terrifying thuds echoed continuously from within the gold dust sphere. Unwilling to be sealed away again, the Ichibi struggled with all its might, causing the surface of the sphere to violently heave and swell, looking as if it might be torn open at any moment.