The desolate rocky mountain region had been completely reformatted into a raging high-energy battlefield. The atmosphere didn't just vibrate; it shrieked under the friction of billions of iron-sand particles colliding with the Mirage's magnetic shielding. Roaring, tearing, and the high-frequency clanging of metal were incessant, while violent chakra-surges and distorted magnetic fields warped the air, kicking up a dust cloud so thick it blinded standard visual sensors.
Sayo and Sasori, two genius architects from different developmental eras of the Hidden Sand, had pushed their respective techniques to the absolute thermal limit.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Great Needle!"
Sasori's cold, hoarse voice transmitted through the reinforced shell of Hiruko. The Third Kazekage puppet swung its articulated hand downward, and massive amounts of iron sand instantly coalesced into several gigantic, high-density sharp cones. In my old life as Logan, I would have called them kinetic penetrators. They shot toward the high-speed Mirage in the air from multiple intercept vectors, accompanied by the chilling sound of air being shredded.
My pupils contracted, my brain hitting 100% CPU usage as I processed the incoming trajectories. I yanked hard on the chakra threads, overriding the "Standard Stability" scripts.
"Execute: Right-Angle Yaw!"
The vector thrusters at the tail of the Mirage erupted with a powerful burst of compressed Wind Release chakra, allowing the platform to narrowly avoid the primary spikes with a violent, near-impossible twist. Simultaneously, the magnetic levitation array beneath my feet blazed with a soft, milky-white light, generating a massive horizontal repulsive force against the iron-rich cliffs.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Barrier!"
I roared, manipulating the iron sand I could scavenge from the battlefield to form a black, shield-like shroud at my flank.
Boom! Boom!
The gigantic iron sand needles grazed the edge of the Mirage's hull and slammed into the rock face behind me, causing a total structural collapse of the cliffside. The portion of the shield that failed to fully dodge was instantly shattered by the residual kinetic force of one needle, but it bought me the precious milliseconds needed to evade a "Total System Wipe." I felt a sudden sweetness in my throat, the internal pressure of my blood surging against my tempered veins. I forced it down, refusing to let the "Biological System" fail.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Ball!"
Having avoided the fatal blow, I immediately launched a counter-attack script. The runes preset on the side of the Mirage lit up, and a highly compressed air cannon roared down toward Hiruko.
"Hiruko: Needle Eight Waves!"
The mechanism on Hiruko's back opened with a metallic snarl, and thousands of poison-tipped senbon sprayed upward like a torrential rain, colliding with my air cannon. A series of muffled puffs sounded as the poisoned needles were shredded and blown away by the vacuum airflow, successfully neutralizing the attack before it could hit Sasori's firewall.
The battle on the ground was equally brutal. After sacrificing nearly seventy percent of my "Spider Legion", the wooden husks littering the floor like discarded code, a few remaining medium-tier units managed to breach the Iron Sand perimeter.
"Initialize Self-Destruct!"
My eyes sharpened, and I unhesitatingly detonated the exploding tags buried within the spiders' chassis.
Boom!
The fierce explosion engulfed the Third Kazekage puppet in a cloud of fire and shrapnel. However, before the smoke could clear, millions of iron sand grains surged out like a living black tide, instantly extinguishing the residual flames and absorbing the shockwave. The Third Kazekage stood unharmed, surrounded by a flowing "Active Armor" defense of iron sand, with Sasori's high-bandwidth chakra threads still firmly connected.
"Futile," Sasori commented. "Your swarm tactics are outdated. You are trying to overwhelm a master-key with brute-force scripts."
The battle lasted from day to dusk, a grueling endurance test that drained both our energy reserves. We traded blows, exchanging high-level Ninjutsu and kinetic strikes. At several points, we were forced into "Close-Quarter Interfacing", I controlled the Mirage to slash with magnetic blades forged from iron sand, while Sasori retaliated by swinging Hiruko's segmented steel tail and poisoned arm-blades. I maneuvered using the Mirage's frictionless mobility, while Sasori relied on the absolute "Hardware Superiority" of his puppets.
By sunset, the rocky region was devastated beyond recognition, littered with craters, cracks, and the broken "Output" of our struggle. My chakra reserves were severely depleted, my face pale and my breathing ragged. I was only sustaining the fight because of the continuous "Power Supply" from the Natural Energy Core and the resilient architecture forged by the Body Tempering Furnace.
Sasori, hidden inside Hiruko, appeared outwardly composed, but I could sense the "Latency" in his movements. Controlling two S-rank puppets at this intensity was a massive drain on even his refined energy core. What truly astonished him and I could see it in the way his violet eyes narrowed was that a "version 1.0" kid like me could fight him to a stalemate.
Although my Magnet Release was inferior in volume to the Third Kazekage's, the finesse of my control and the speed of my "Mirage" evasive scripts proved incredibly difficult to lock onto.
I can't drag this out any longer... A retreat logic began to run in Sasori's mind. We were still inside the Land of Wind. Given the energy signatures we were throwing off, it was only a matter of time before a Suna reinforcement squad, perhaps led by Rasa or Chiyo detected the "Signal" and closed in. He didn't want to engage in a pointless war of attrition.
With his mind made up, Sasori's attacks suddenly reached "Overclock" levels!
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand World Method!"
The Third Kazekage puppet clapped its hands together. Massive amounts of iron sand instantly formed countless huge spikes and cubes, crushing down on the Mirage from all directions like a gigantic, geometric cage. It was an "Area-of-Effect" script meant to seal off all escape vectors.
My expression changed drastically. I fully activated the Mirage's thrusters, attempting to find a hole in the logic of the sand-cage.
However, at that exact moment, Hiruko opened its large mouth.
"Hiruko: Hidden Senbon Launcher!"
An extremely concealed mechanism activated, launching several special senbon, much faster than the standard ones silently mixed within the massive iron sand attack. They were aimed at my primary biological "Nodes."
This was a true "Zero-Day" killing move.
My focus was 99% dedicated to the Iron Sand World Method, and I was half a beat too slow in noticing the sneak attack. I struggled to twist my body, the Mirage shifting rapidly sideways.
Pffft! Pffft!
I avoided the vital points, but two senbon grazed my shoulder and calf. I felt the poison, a complex, burning neurotoxin entering my system instantly. My control over the Mirage flickered for a second as the "Interface" between my mind and the machine stuttered.
Now!
Sasori didn't even look at the results. The moment he launched his strongest attack and the sneak attack, he had already retracted his primary chakra threads. Hiruko abruptly burrowed into a fissure in the ground, while the Third Kazekage puppet transformed into a black shadow, fleeing toward the deep desert at extreme velocity.
The massive "World Method" cage, losing its chakra support, suddenly collapsed before it could crush me, turning into a sky full of black sand that rained harmlessly to the ground.
I gasped for air, the Mirage descending to a low hover as I fought back the numbness spreading from the wounds. I watched the direction Sasori had fled, choosing not to initialize a pursuit. I knew that if Sasori had stayed to press the advantage after those hits, my "System" would have crashed for good.
The battle was over. The outcome was technically undecided, but the "Data Gap" between us was still vast. I looked down at the tiny wounds; the poison was already being analyzed and neutralized by the Natural Energy-rich blood in my veins, the Body Tempering Furnace working at 200% capacity to flush the "Malware" from my system.
Sasori's resolute retreating figure and the cold, ruthless efficiency of the Third Kazekage puppet were deeply imprinted in my mind.
The conviction to "Update" my strength had never been so intense. I wasn't just building a puppet anymore. I was building a solution for a world that Sasori had abandoned.