"Nonsense!" Sasori inwardly frowned. Even he himself only dared to challenge that man after reaching his peak.
And what about these fools? They think they're invincible just because they've gained some power from the crystals. What does that make him? What does that make Seiki Shimaseki?
As he was about to end this tedious fight, he heard another round of cursing behind him.
"Hikka, hand over the Greer Stone!"
"Pakura, just because they called you a Sand hero, do you actually think you're Seiki Shimaseki now?"
"I'm certainly not as good as Shimaseki—he is the real hero. However, you don't seem to be the Tsuchikage either!"
"Here come more people again? How many waves is this now?" Though Haido grumbled inwardly, he still felt a spark of hope. The more people there were, the better his chances of escaping.
Looking at the newly arrived groups, the rogue ninja who had been previously beaten all cried out in shock.
"These are ninja from Iwagakure! The squad leader, Hikka, is said to be one of the top five elite Jonin in the village!"
"The ones chasing them are from Sunagakure! It's Scorch Release Pakura!"
Seeing the scene inside the cave, both the Iwagakure and Sunagakure ninja were somewhat surprised.
Is that puppet master controlling enemies with Chakra Threads?
Though somewhat astonished, they didn't overthink it.
Puppet techniques were indeed primarily dominated by Sunagakure, but that didn't mean other ninja villages or solo ninja didn't have people who could use puppet techniques.
What really confused them was how skilled this tall guy was with puppet techniques.
Ordinary puppet masters definitely couldn't control living people.
"Sunagakure and Iwagakure ninja?" Sasori slightly frowned. With his strength, dealing with these people wouldn't be difficult.
The problem was, his current disguise wouldn't let him use his full power. Moreover, delaying for a few minutes might draw in more people from Iwagakure and Sunagakure.
During this three-way standoff, Aizen, who was secretly observing, was also somewhat surprised.
He had used his Five-Sense-Controlling Technique to manipulate the vision of these ninja, making them unconsciously follow the route he planned. He made both groups simultaneously discover several Greer Stones, then guided the Iwagakure ninja who seized the Greer Stone toward Sasori's location.
Unexpectedly, however, the marked Sasori actually met up with the other two groups.
Especially that unremarkable-looking man who seemed like a villager who stumbled in by accident—his thoughts contained exactly the information Aizen wanted.
"Heh, truly an unexpected bonus!" Aizen felt a strange joy. "Two for the price of one. Sasori is truly my lucky charm."
Seeing that the newly arrived ninja groups didn't seem to plan on fighting yet, Haido grew anxious. Waving the book in his hand, he shouted loudly, "This is the Greer Stone Records, it can guide you to the Greer crystal vein..."
Before he could finish, the Greer Stone Records in Haido's hand was directly pulled away by Sasori using his Chakra Threads.
The two groups had originally been skeptical of Haido's words, but seeing the tall puppet master take action, they couldn't hold back any longer.
Regardless of whether it was true or not, seize it first!
[Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction]!
[Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder]!
Rocks from the cave ceiling collapsed instantly, with ghostly fireballs mixed in the falling debris, hurtling toward Sasori.
"Since the fight has begun, let's finish it quickly!" Although Sasori was reluctant to reveal himself, he knew the usual techniques of a regular puppet master wouldn't stand a chance against these two teams of ninja.
As he thought this, Sasori erected a protective shield using Machine Light Shield while quickly retrieving a scroll at top speed.
"This scroll looks somewhat familiar!" Pakura thought to herself, her beautiful eyes suddenly widening.
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Because Sasori had already summoned the Third Kazekage.
"You're Sasori!"
Sasori ignored her, instead directly controlling the Third Kazekage to unleash Iron Sand Drizzle.
In an instant, waves of Iron Sand surged forth from all directions, transforming into needles as fine as cow hair. Even more horrifying, these needles seemed to glow with a faint green fluorescence.
Then, like a raging tide, the deadly needles came crashing down.
Startled by the commotion, Hikka shouted, "Quickly use Earth Release!"
At this critical moment, both sides of the ninja group no longer had time to compete against each other. Those who could use Earth Release hurriedly erected defenses, while others used alternative elemental techniques to block the attack.
After barely blocking the initial wave of assault, Hikka heaved a sigh of relief, only to immediately become furious. "That guy is clearly the Third Kazekage! How did he turn into a puppet? What the hell is going on with your Sunagakure?"
Initially, he had merely thought the enemy's puppet looked vaguely familiar. It wasn't until the unmistakable Magnet Release appeared that he shockingly recognized the puppet's identity.
The Third Kazekage, who had mysteriously disappeared before the Third Great Ninja War and even become a catalyst for the conflict at one point, had actually appeared before them in puppet form!
"Don't ask so many questions; deal with the current crisis first!" Pakura warned with a serious expression. "Hikka, our two sides must cooperate, focus on defensive tactics, and try to hold out until Kazekage-sama or your reinforcements arrive!"
"Do we really have to do that?" Hikka thought Pakura was exaggerating the Third Kazekage's strength. "Even if The Third Kazekage as a puppet is powerful, there's no way he could handle so many of us!"
He had now mostly calmed down, reasoning that even though the Third Kazekage was strong, as a puppet, wouldn't he have lost most of his battle experience? That guy is manipulating him like a puppet master, so it should be hard for him to fully unleash his strength.
Moreover, the two groups combined numbered around forty or fifty people, clearly holding an overwhelming advantage in numbers!
"Do you really think we outnumber him?" Pakura's expression turned grave. "Rather than having an advantage, we are actually surrounded by him!"
While Hikka was still puzzled, he then saw Sasori pull out another scroll.
In the next instant, it finally clicked what Pakura meant.
All of them were puppets—nothing but puppets!
Seeing the massive swarm of the Puppet Army, Hikka couldn't help but curse, "What the hell? I thought a puppet master could only control up to ten puppets at most!"
Pakura shook her head. "He's no ordinary puppet master—he is the strongest puppet master genius in Sunagakure's history: Red-Sand Sasori!"
"Red-Sand Sasori?"
"Hikka recalled the intelligence. 'He shouldn't look like this... Wait, could it be that the one fighting us right now is also a puppet he's controlling?'"
"Exactly!" Pakura took a deep breath. "Moreover, he's converted himself into a puppet. Even if we find his real body, he doesn't share the usual weaknesses of a puppet master!"
"Converted himself into a puppet?" Hikka sucked in a breath sharply, then cursed, "Why should we from Iwagakure suffer for the crimes committed by the people of Sunagakure?"
"Then you can beg for mercy," Pakura mocked, "if he'll even let you."
Hikka peeked out from behind multiple layers of Earth Release Walls, only to face the second wave of attacks from Sasori's Puppet Army.
[Fire Release], [Lightning Release], [Wind Release]... various jutsu techniques bombarded the cave [Elemental Techniques], shaking it violently and nearly shattering the multiple Earth Release Walls.
Covered in dust and dirt, Hikka retreated. "That was brutal!"
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