Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!
The iron sand sliced through the air, emitting piercing shrieks.
Pakura reacted first, her body instinctively making evasive movements.
She leaned back, performing a backflip in the air, intending to jump off the wall and use cover to avoid the iron sand bullet storm.
But the shattered wall was completely knocked down at this moment, a figure charging out from the dust and smoke.
It was Gin.
Holy shit!
The Shinobi World didn't have this curse phrase, and Pakura certainly didn't curse with these words.
But that was exactly her mood right now.
Sasori looked disdainfully at the woman charging toward him, his right index finger hooking. Under the pull of the Chakra Threads, the puppet stirred.
The iron sand bullet storm originally targeting only Pakura above suddenly expanded its area, covering the entire front.
Gin didn't dodge.
She crossed her arms to block her head, charging forward recklessly. The skin exposed outside her clothes actually turned pitch black.
Clang clang clang!!!
Dense iron sand bullets inevitably struck Gin's body, making metallic collision sounds, sparking from the friction.
As for Pakura... It was difficult to change direction mid-air, and the wall she intended to use as cover had been knocked down. She was forced into a desperate situation.
Just as she wondered whether to use a close-range explosion, using the shockwave to blow away the iron sand, she suddenly felt something connect to her body.
Then, her body was uncontrollably pulled out of the iron sand bullets' attack range.
It was Chakra Threads.
A mechanical bird swept across the sky, five Chakra Threads hanging down connected to Pakura's body, pulling her up.
'An Earth Release that hardens the body, Chakra Threads that manipulate others' bodies... a three-person team!'
'No, there might be one more.'
'Generally, teams are four people per team.'
Seeing this, Sasori narrowed his eyes, his fingers twitching faster. The Chakra Threads pulled the puppet, making further movements.
The iron sand bullet storm stopped.
The Third Kazekage puppet flew out, actively meeting the enemy.
His left arm shook, a blade springing out.
But when about five or six meters away from Gin, he suddenly swung his right arm. Numerous arm-pore mechanisms opened, and thin flexible tube bamboo joint tentacles shot out.
Gin stopped abruptly, then performed consecutive backflips, narrowly dodging the tentacle attacks.
"It's not over yet!"
Sasori sneered, his index finger hooking.
Those bamboo joint tentacles released air holes, emitting dense poisonous mist.
Gin's expression remained calm. Even more violent Chakra concentrated in her wrists and erupted. She punched toward the ground.
Boom!
The earth cracked, air currents surged violently, and the just-released poisonous mist was instantly blown away.
Pakura took this opportunity to descend from the sky.
While descending, she formed hand seals. Three dazzling fireballs orbited around her, looking quite imposing.
"It would be troublesome if you got close."
Sasori chuckled lightly, his finger twitching. The iron sand scattered around seemed to receive orders, converging toward the Kazekage puppet, forming a mass.
[Ninja Art: Iron Sand Gathering Murder!]
Pfft pfft pfft!!!
The gentle iron sand mass suddenly shot out in all directions, sharp iron sand needles flying out.
The mechanical bird swooped in again, carrying Pakura upward at the critical moment.
Gin didn't stop. She hardened both fists, swinging at the incoming spikes.
Bang!
The explosive sound of metal collision echoed across the rocky desert. The trajectory of the dozens-of-meters-long spike was deflected, sliding down from the side, piercing a deep trench in the ground.
But as soon as one was deflected, two more came.
Deflect two, four more came.
No matter how Gin swung her fists, she couldn't overcome these dense iron sand spikes. Finally, the dense barrage broke through her defense, pushing against that steel body continuously backward, only stopping after nearly a hundred meters.
"Such immense power!"
Ryuji crouched on the mechanical bird, soaring in the sky to observe the battle. Seeing this scene now, he was also extremely surprised.
Gin's body materials and structure were modified based on Shiki Ryogi's prosthetic limbs. Her strength and endurance were such that even three elephants stamping together couldn't destroy them.
Plus Chakra Enhancement, her strength was definitely not inferior to Tsunade's.
But such strength couldn't break the iron sand spikes, only deflecting their trajectory. This showed the Magnet Release secret technique's power was extraordinary.
And in the end, even with Gin's full strength, she was still pushed back.
This power was truly terrifying.
"This is the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand secret technique. How does Sasori know it?" Pakura crouched nearby, frowning as she asked.
She still didn't know about the Third Kazekage's murder, nor had she heard of human puppets. Naturally, she wouldn't think that puppet resembling the Third Kazekage was made from the Third Kazekage's corpse.
But...
"That puppet is made from the Third Kazekage's corpse." Ryuji revealed this fact.
"What!?"
Pakura's eyes widened, her orange pupils trembling slightly. "That puppet is made from the Third Kazekage's corpse?"
"Correct." Ryuji nodded lightly. "Although most of it has been mechanically modified, part of it still maintains flesh and blood. The one using the Iron Sand secret technique is that puppet."
"Damn it!" Pakura angrily punched the mechanical bird, asking unwillingly and puzzled, "Why would that bastard Sasori do this?"
"I don't know." Ryuji said while watching the battle below. "Although I don't know, this mission has already failed. The urgent matter now is to bring back the news of the Third Kazekage's murder, so the Shinobi participating in the search operation can return to their posts."
This was why Ryuji revealed the truth.
He had known from the start that the Third Kazekage's disappearance was due to assassination, and there was no chance of saving him. What he wanted was to inform others in Sunagakure of this news as soon as possible, to make timely adjustments.
"You're right. But the culprit is right here. We can capture him and then go back."
Ryuji frowned slightly. "Although that should be the case, you also know that to search for Third Kazekage-sama, many personnel from the border defense forces have been pulled out."
"Currently, whether it's the border defense or the village, defensive strength is severely depleted. If enemies attack now, I'm worried something might happen."
"It won't make much difference to delay a bit longer."
"Sasori's strength is not weak. Even if we can win, we can't capture him in an extremely short time."
"How long can a battle between Shinobi last?"
Hearing this, Ryuji hesitated.
Indeed, because of Chakra, Shinobi battles were extremely brief. Even Six Paths-level experts would decide victory within an hour or so.
Battles lasting months or several nights... that only existed in legendary battle backgrounds.
For example, the Six Paths brothers sealing their mother.
Or Madara and Hashirama's final battle.
But the actual situation was... During the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Allied Shinobi Forces fought against reincarnated Madara, Obito, Six Paths Obito, revived Madara, Six Paths Madara, and Kaguya at night.
By the time they finished fighting, it was just dawn.
"Then, let's finish this quickly."