"..."
Chiyo frowned and said in a deep voice: "Back then, many people thought the Third Kazekage had disappeared..."
"I killed him."
Red Sand Sasori calmly admitted his crime, his emotions hidden under Hiruko: "I was the Kazekage Guard, no one had more opportunity to assassinate him than me..."
"Why?"
"For a perfect work of art."
Red Sand Sasori waved his hand, controlling the Third Kazekage, and continued: "Originally, I just wanted to retain his Magnet Release, but after mastering greater puppetry knowledge, I realized that the power of Magnet Release was a revolution for the path of a Puppet Master!"
"A revolution?"
Chiyo's face wrinkled tightly.
The old woman couldn't understand…
Could the power of Magnet Release be used elsewhere?
Just when Chiyo was surprised, the puppet body of the Third Kazekage suddenly raised its arm, which was no longer the sharp blade of the past, but a jet-black cannon!
Bang!
Black bullets shot toward Chiyo!
Chiyo hadn't noticed the strange technique, still manipulating the ten puppets of the Chikamatsu Collection to fend off the black bullets, but curiously, as each black bullet entered the puppet's body, they rapidly lost control and collapsed!
"What is this really..."
A trace of shock flashed across Chiyo's face.
As the strongest Puppet Master of the Hidden Sand Village and the one who introduced Sasori to puppetry, Chiyo had never seen such peculiar hidden weapons!
"This is the nemesis I developed especially for Puppet Masters."
Red Sand Sasori's Hiruko still floated in the air as he coldly said: "Just a single bullet carrying magnetism can render the Chakra transmitting components of a puppet useless..."
"..."
Sweat finally began to appear on Chiyo's forehead.
The old woman had always thought of defeating her renegade grandson with her own hands, but she didn't expect her strongest puppet techniques to be of no use in front of Red Sand Sasori; her abilities were perfectly countered by Sasori's...
"Well, goodbye for now."
Red Sand Sasori's Hiruko puppet and the puppet of the Third Kazekage simultaneously raised their cannons, and the cannonballs were about to fly straight towards Haruno Sakura and Chiyo!
Boom!
Two cannonballs shot straight at the targets!
Neither Chiyo nor Haruno Sakura had any means left to counter Red Sand Sasori, they could only await their fateful doom!
Three figures suddenly appeared in the Flying Thunder God Mark on the ground—Kakashi Hatake and Naruto Uzumaki, who was holding Gaara's corpse!
With Kakashi Hatake's arrival, a figure wearing a Root mask also appeared instantly in the cave!
Clang, clang, clang...
The metallic clash was somewhat piercing!
The Root Ninja with the mask appeared instantly beside Haruno Sakura, slicing the cannonball in half with a single slash, causing half of the cannonball to scatter to both sides!
Kakashi Hatake moved swiftly, once again utilizing the ability of his Mangekyo Sharingan, absorbing the cannonball shot at Chiyo into the Kamui Space!
According to Kakashi Hatake's speculation, this Kamui Space is likely connected to Uchiha Obito; he could only hope neither the self-exploding Deidara nor this cannonball, upon exploding, would affect Uchiha Obito inside the Kamui Space...
Of course.
At this critical moment, there was no time to worry about such details.
"Troublesome..."
Red Sand Sasori glanced across the crowd, spotting the cat-faced masked Root Ninja. He snorted coldly: "This time I'll let you off; the next time we meet, you won't be so lucky..."
As soon as he finished speaking.
Red Sand Sasori quickly retracted the puppet of the Third Kazekage.
When Red Sand Sasori attempted to leave, he saw Chiyo beginning to use the 'Father' and 'Mother' puppets, and two Chakra Threads directly entangled the puppets, allowing Sasori to seize them together!
After Sasori had done all this, pipes appeared on Hiruko, abruptly spraying out a mass of blue Chakra, propelling Hiruko swiftly out of the cave!
"Don't think you can escape!"
Naruto Uzumaki shouted sharply, about to unleash a surge of red Chakra, leaping towards Sasori's direction!
However…
Hiruko scattered countless fine, glittering bombs; the explosions forced everyone present to involuntarily close their eyes!
"Naruto, don't chase!"
Kakashi Hatake hurriedly stopped Naruto Uzumaki, saying in a deep voice: "At least we've already completed our mission..."
After speaking, Kakashi Hatake awkwardly glanced at Chiyo, saying softly: "I'm sorry, by the time we arrived, Kazekage-sama was already..."
"..."
Chiyo remained silent without responding.
The old woman seemed to be bewildered by Sasori, recalling how she was thoroughly overwhelmed in the battle, her grandson Red Sand Sasori had forged a new path, shattering the conventional route of a Puppet Master.
"This era..."
"No longer belongs to us..."
Chiyo shook her head and sighed, her gaze landing on the corpse of the Fifth Kazekage Gaara: "The elderly, whose candle is near its wick's end, must inevitably leave the stage..."