Sasori of the Red Sand slowly extended all ten fingers, chakra threads lifting the puppet into the air.
The Third Kazekage puppet pried open a broken plate on its chest—then a surge of blue chakra burst out.
"Prepare to die."
"There's no way you can dodge this."
"Iron Sand World Method!"
Sasori's expression remained cold and flat as he spoke.
The moment his words fell—
Dense iron sand spread outward like branching trees, exploding across the battlefield.
The expansion speed was terrifying, and the range was enormous.
Like the First Hokage's Wood Release "Forest Emergence," it didn't matter how agile you were—once it spread, there was nowhere to hide.
Even Tsunade couldn't completely avoid it.
Black iron-sand spears rained down like a storm. She twisted away from vital points, but still got grazed.
When the dust cleared, Tsunade was on one knee, eyes shut tight—an unmistakable wound carved into the back of her shoulder.
Sasori smiled.
"Konoha's number-one medical ninja… in the end, you still lost to me."
"You've been hit by my poison—so you can't move anymore, can you?"
Tsunade didn't answer.
She remained kneeling, unmoving.
Sasori's lips curled slightly.
Accepted your fate?
So you've finally seen how this ends.
He guided the puppet forward. Behind Tsunade, Genma and the others shouted desperately.
"Lady Tsunade! Are you alright?!"
Sasori glanced at them with contempt.
"Don't waste your breath."
"It's over."
His finger twitched.
The Third Kazekage puppet's blade flashed out—and shot straight toward Tsunade.
Genma's team tried to rush in, but the distance was too far.
And Orochimaru stood nearby, watching like a vulture.
At that instant, the legendary Tsunade looked trapped in a dead-end.
Then Tsunade moved.
No tricks. No feints.
Just a single, direct punch.
CRACK!
With a thunderous impact, the Third Kazekage puppet shattered—just like Hiruko before it.
Sasori's eyes widened.
Damn—!
I was played!
With the puppet destroyed, its Magnet Release chakra vanished, and the iron sand in the sky fell lifelessly to the ground.
Sasori froze for a heartbeat.
She got hit—so why can she still move?
Impossible.
That can't be possible!
His poison was beyond even Chiyo's. He trusted it absolutely.
Yet Tsunade stood there—calmly rewriting what he thought was reality.
Iron Sand World Method had struck her.
So why hadn't she been poisoned?
Before Sasori could process it, Tsunade cut in.
"Confused?"
"Wondering why I didn't get poisoned?"
Sasori nodded slowly.
"I truly don't understand."
"You couldn't have avoided that attack completely."
Tsunade's mouth curved into a confident smile.
"I didn't avoid the hit."
"But I avoided the poison."
Sasori frowned.
"What does that even mean…?"
Tsunade cleared her throat and explained, almost casually:
"The instant I was hit, I temporarily stopped blood circulation in the injured area."
"For normal people, that's nearly impossible."
"But for someone who's mastered medical ninjutsu? It's not hard."
"Poison spreads through the bloodstream."
"I kept it from circulating."
"Only top-tier medical ninja can do chakra control that precise."
"And unfortunately for you…"
"I'm exactly that kind of person."
Sasori's confusion finally dissolved.
He had expected Tsunade's medical ninjutsu to be flawless—he just hadn't imagined it could be used like this.
Losing the Third Kazekage puppet didn't make Sasori panic.
A Kage-level fighter's mind didn't crack that easily.
Tsunade's technique was impressive—but Sasori still had his own finishing move.
He smiled lightly.
"When I said earlier I wanted to fight with my own body… that was just a joke."
"I didn't think it would become reality."
"To push a puppet master this far…"
"You should feel proud."
Tsunade's gaze sharpened.
Puppet users usually weren't strong in close combat.
So why was he talking like he intended to fight her up close?
Was it a trap?
She used medical ninjutsu to close the wound on her shoulder. Because of her hemophobia, she made sure not a single drop of blood spilled.
Keeping poison contained inside her body would cause some damage—but to Tsunade, it wasn't a real problem.
Back in Konoha, a simple procedure would fix it.
What mattered now was capturing this mysterious puppet master.
An Akatsuki member would know plenty.
If she extracted that information, she could humiliate Uchiha Yusuke with results he couldn't ignore.
Just imagining his frustrated face made Tsunade feel amazing.
Senju is stronger than Uchiha.
Don't like it? Swallow it.
Sasori tore off his cloak.
When Tsunade saw what was underneath, she stiffened.
He'd turned his own body into a puppet.
This guy was insane.
Sasori's face glowed with fanatic devotion.
"How can life compare to art?"
"My eternal, incorruptible body is perfect."
Tsunade lifted an eyebrow.
Yep. A lunatic. No point talking.
Then they'd settle it the hard way.
Sasori yanked out a scroll and—shockingly—began spewing flames.
"Flame Prison: Wuzhen Formation!"
Tsunade tried to dodge, but the fire kept pouring out endlessly.
"Heavenly Kick!"
She stomped up a wall of sand as a shield.
Sasori abruptly cut the flames—then transformed the weapon in his hands into a high-pressure water cannon.
The sand wall dissolved under the blast.
Tsunade muttered to herself:
"Playing with fire and water… what are you, a child?"
Seeing his puppet-body up close made her certain—his age wasn't what it looked like.
If she could get in close, she could crush him quickly.
But if his attacks never stopped, closing the distance wouldn't be easy.
The water cannon pressure forced Tsunade to roll and evade, pushing her farther and farther back.
For puppet masters, distance was advantage.
They weren't built for fistfights.
Tsunade's brow tightened.
In close combat, she could drop him in minutes.
But if this became a war of attrition, it would drag on forever.
And Sasori—despite his calm voice—was already getting impatient.
He hated waiting. And he hated making others wait.
Wasting time wasn't his style.
He put away the fire-and-water launchers and said flatly:
"This is getting annoying."
"Let's end it quickly."
"I'll show you my true ultimate art."
"A mechanized puppet force capable of destroying an entire nation."
Tsunade's eyes flickered.
Chiyo could conquer a city with puppets—that alone was legendary.
This kid was claiming he could destroy a whole country.
Either he had real confidence… or he was bluffing hard.
But a man who could kill the Third Kazekage might very well have a monstrous trump card.
Tsunade raised her guard.
Sasori pulled out another scroll from behind him.
With a flick—
Red puppets erupted out in a torrent.
"Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka—!"
The noise was overwhelming.
In moments, puppets flooded the sky, blotting out the view above.
Sasori spoke with pride:
"A puppet master's strength is measured by how many puppets they can control."
"This is my greatest art."
"Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets."
"No one can resist this."
"You should surrender now."
Tsunade stared up, her face finally turning serious.
Even Chiyo, the legendary master, could supposedly control only around ten at once.
This number was absurd.
But Tsunade didn't feel fear.
More fodder didn't change anything.
They looked intimidating, sure—but their true combat strength was still unproven.
Thinking this alone would make her surrender?
That was underestimating a Sannin.
She cracked her knuckles, joints snapping.
"Come on, brat."
"Let me see what your puppetry is really worth."
Sasori's expression darkened.
He looked like a child—but within Akatsuki, he always saw himself as the senior.
"Brat" wasn't a label he tolerated.
Trying to provoke me?
Cheap.
Tsunade, meanwhile, was just doing what she always did—trash talk was her specialty.
She could make people explode in three sentences.
Jiraiya learned that the hard way.
Even Naruto would fall for it in the future.
Sasori's anger surged.
"Then taste the dance of death!"
His fingers jumped.
Hundreds of puppets drew blades in unison, tension snapping tight like a bowstring.
Tsunade swept her gaze across them and clicked her tongue.
More poison weapons?
Did he have anything else?
Seeing her contempt, Sasori grew even angrier.
Looking down on his masterpiece?
Fine.
Die.
With a sharp motion, he sent the puppet army crashing down on her.
Tsunade calmly removed her outer jacket.
A fodder battlefield?
It'd been a while since she got a proper workout.
The instant they met—
CRACK—CRACK—CRACK!
She shattered multiple puppets in seconds.
Despite their overwhelming number, Sasori's average puppet combat level—spread across so many—was only around chūnin.
Against Tsunade, that meant only one thing:
A massacre.
Still—controlling hundreds while maintaining even chūnin-level output was insane precision.
Even Chiyo at her peak might not have been able to do that.
Tsunade, too, had to acknowledge it.
With this kind of puppet force, wiping out smaller nations in the shinobi world really wasn't hard.
But destroying one of the Five Great Nations?
Dream on.
Tsunade went all-out, smashing through the puppet army in a relentless storm.
Sasori's losses were severe.
But Tsunade's stamina was being drained fast as well.
The fight tightened into a brutal deadlock.
Orochimaru watched with shining interest.
Two Kage-level monsters fighting seriously—this wasn't something you saw every day.
On Konoha's side, Genma's team stood frozen.
Control over a hundred puppets?
Is this guy even human?!
And Tsunade—
Cutting through that army like it wasn't there.
Gods, demons… whatever you called it, her power was absurd.
Genma's team silently questioned reality:
Did the Hokage assign the wrong mission?
This woman needs guards? Seriously?
Back on the battlefield, Sasori's puppet count kept dropping.
Tsunade was growing increasingly strained.
But as the number shrank, Sasori's control sharpened.
At first, the puppets averaged chūnin-level.
Now they were pushing into special jōnin territory—still rising, approaching true jōnin output.
By Tsunade's estimation:
If the puppet count dropped to twenty or fewer, each could reach elite jōnin level.
Facing twenty elite jōnin at once?
Even a Kage would have to think twice.
At that moment, Tsunade admitted it:
This puppet master really was the real deal.
She couldn't completely overwhelm him.
If she didn't have favorable matchups, this fight would be even uglier.
Sasori, too, felt genuine respect for Tsunade.
More than half of his collection had been destroyed—losses he'd never suffered before.
But the idea of adding a Legendary Sannin to his collection lit a fire in him.
The Third Kazekage… and Tsunade.
Who in the world could challenge his title as the greatest puppet master alive then?
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