Shota threw some kunai at Sasori. The puppet master picked them with chakra strings in midair and threw them back at Shota. Shota had to use his binding cloth to block them, but the kunai continued to attack him because chakra strings were still attached.
'Since my Erasure is not even working then I do not think there is any need to see things,' Shota thought.
Shota ran backwards while dodging the kunai as he made hand signs. "Wind Style: Breakthrough Jutsu!"
The powerful wind blast was not aimed at Sasori or the kunai. Instead, it struck the sand directly in front of them. A massive cloud of sand exploded upward, creating a thick wall of swirling dust and particles that completely blocked both of their lines of sight.
The desert seemed to turn into a sandstorm in that small area. Visibility dropped to almost zero as the fine sand filled the air and stung the eyes.
And then Shota did what he thought was the best course for this situation. He ran. He turned around and sprinted away as fast as his legs could carry him, using body flicker whenever possible to put more distance between himself and Sasori.
The great Eraserhead of Suna, feared assassin and genius of the village, was now dashing through the desert like a scared rabbit trying to escape a fox. Sand flew behind him as he pumped his arms and muttered to himself about living to fight another day.
He glanced back once and mumbled over his shoulder, "Sorry Sasori nii-san! Important mission! Let us reschedule this death match for next time!" before disappearing behind another dune.
-----
'What's the boy planning now? What is he trying to accomplish with this sandstorm? I do not think that he himself is a sensor to make use of this sandstorm and take me off guard. He is underestimating me too much if he thinks that I cannot sense him with this sandstorm, Meanwhile' Sasori thought with a sneer.
Sasori created hundreds of chakra strings and then spread them all over the place. He used them to sense things around him. The strings were pretty long so they could cover large amounts of distance.
They moved through the sandstorm like invisible feelers, touching the ground and air to detect any movement or presence. Sasori tried to sense Shota through them and became shocked to see what his strings were saying.
"Cheeky little brat. You are not running away from me," Sasori mumbled after seeing Shota bailing out.
He took out three more puppets and sent them in Shota's direction. With his mastery of chakra strings, he could make the puppets move faster than shinobi since they did not have the limitation of a human body. The puppets dashed through the sandstorm at high speed, their weapons ready to strike.
As the puppets came towards Shota, who himself was using the spider web jutsu taught by Spider to sense things, he immediately went alert.
He dodged a few hidden weapons, but the puppets seemed to have a large supply of them and kept throwing weapons at him. Kunai, senbon, and small blades flew through the dusty air. Shota moved quickly, twisting his body to avoid the attacks. One puppet got too close and managed to graze him.
Sasori smirked for a moment, thinking he had landed a good hit. But to his surprise, his strings found Shota's body disappear. 'A clone? Ah yes, the new intel did say he managed to learn the shadow clone jutsu. And he used it early in the fight. So where is he...' Sasori's thoughts were interrupted as he saw a huge fireball heading his way from his back.
He immediately used another of his scrolls to release high pressure water at the fireball. The powerful stream of water clashed with the flames, creating a loud hissing sound and a cloud of steam that mixed with the sandstorm.
As Sasori became busy dousing the flames, Shota came next to him, taking advantage of the distraction as well as the sandstorm. His hand glowed with a Rasengan.
"Rasengan!" Shota shouted as he slammed it into Sasori. The powerful spinning chakra ball hit the puppet body directly. Sasori flew through the air and then landed hard on the sand.
Shota panted as he mumbled, "That should have done it."
"Are you sure about it?" Sasori said while getting up without any damage to his puppet. The sandstorm had also now quietened down, so Shota could see iron sand covering Sasori's body like a protective armor.
And then the puppet of the Third Kazekage came from behind. It seemed that Sasori had also used the sandstorm to send out the Third Kazekage puppet to hunt down Shota.
"Surprised?" Sasori asked with a smug tone.
"Not really," Shota replied nonchalantly. "I mean, you left the village because people found out about the human puppets that you made and the Third Kazekage went after you. It would have led to either his death or yours and since he did not come back, I kinda guessed what happened to him."
Shota continued speaking in an excited voice. "You should come back to the village, you know. If they knew what you could do with the puppets, I am pretty sure they would overlook your crimes since we could turn our enemy bodies into our power."
Sasori mumbled, "Come back to the village? Overlooking my cdimes....He is as weird as ever."
Sasori said, "What about human experimentation? And what do you think they would say when they see their strongest Kazekage turned into this?"
"Please, as long as you experiment on dead shinobi I do not think anyone is going to have a problem if they know you could make them use jutsu and even their kekkei genkai. It is not like we do not experiment on enemy shinobi to get the secrets of their kekkei genkai," Shota explained eagerly.
"And do you think the Kazekage would not want to serve and protect the village even after his death? Well the Third might have liked an invitation first to your puppet club but we can run the story that you both were attacked by some nefarious people and the Kazekage then asked you to make use of his body, giving you some forbidden technique to complete your technique," Shota suggested.
"People would even believe you since they believe that the Third Kazekage is the strongest and you cannot defeat him," Shota said eagerly.
Sasori looked at the boy with a mix of disbelief and annoyance. "You really want me to come back to the village. Do not you?"
"Of course. You are the second most favourite person of mine in the village," Shota replied with a bright smile.
"And who is the first one?" Sasori asked, curious despite himself.
"Ah, she is the goddess of Suna. Hotness defined. Greatness personified. My sun. Pakura-sama!!" Shota said with sparkling eyes and a dreamy expression.
He continued passionately, his voice full of admiration. "Pakura-sama is perfection in every way. Her fire release is so beautiful and strong. The way she moves in battle, the confidence in her eyes, and that amazing smile.No one can compare. I joined her fan club the moment I was old enough to understand true beauty. Sasori nii-san, you are amazing with puppets, but Pakura-sama is on a completely different level. She is the reason I wake up motivated every day."
Sasori stared at him silently. If he had veins in his puppet body, they would currently be bulging from being annoyed. The puppet master felt genuine irritation at being ranked below a kunoichi in Shota's list of favorites. His greatest art of puppetry was being ignored in favor of admiration for a woman's fighting style and appearance.
"So are you coming back to the village?" Shota asked eagerly.
"You have placed me lower than some human beauty instead of choosing my greatest arts of puppets. Dieeee!" Sasori said with clear anger in his voice. A massive wave of iron sand converged on Shota from all directions, ready to crush and pierce him in an overwhelming attack.
--------Author Notes---------
I have decided to increase the number of extra chapters on patreon from 15 to 20. Thankyou.
Y'all can now read the next 20 chapters of the fanfic on my pat*reon.
https://pat*reon.com/Charizard6
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