Everyone looked towards the source of the noise.
A cloud of dust filled the air, obscuring the specifics.
Only a voice, tinged with a sigh, reached everyone's ears.
"We're still a step too late."
'A step too... late?'
Temari, Chiyo, and the others' hearts skipped a beat.
They immediately sensed something was wrong.
Anxious Temari simply grabbed her fan and swung it with force, the gust of wind dispersing the dust.
A large hole appeared, extending a hundred meters deep. In the sunlight, they could see inside.
Aside from a hunched figure, and Gaara lying on the ground, his life or death unknown, there was no one else.
Seeing Gaara, devoid of any signs of life, tears immediately flowed from Temari's eyes.
"How can this be..."
She didn't want to accept it.
They had rushed over as fast as they could, only to find Gaara's corpse?
"Don't be impulsive."
Takumi grabbed her. "You're no match for him. Leave this to us."
Temari stood stunned, unsure if she even heard what Takumi said.
Takumi could only sigh, 'At least she didn't charge at the enemy.'
Seeing the enemy appear,
Everyone jumped into the pit. Takumi looked around, not spotting Deidara.
And Sasori had actually abandoned his Hiruko puppet, directly revealing the human puppet he had made from his own body.
Takumi had punched Hiruko to pieces before.
Even though Hiruko had been upgraded,
Sasori considered Hiruko completely useless against Takumi, and it would even hinder him from controlling more puppets, so he simply abandoned it.
"Where's your partner?"
Takumi looked around. "I thought you guys worked in pairs."
"You really know a lot about us."
Sasori said calmly. "But you should also know that I can't possibly answer all your questions."
He looked at the opposition.
There were six or seven people in total.
And on his side, there was only him.
Especially seeing that familiar, aged figure, he knew this would be a tough fight.
Not to mention the most troublesome one, Takumi.
"It really is him..."
Chiyo stared blankly at Sasori, with his red hair and youthful face, her face full of disbelief. "Why are you still so young after all these years?"
Baki beside her couldn't believe it either.
Baki was from the same era as Sasori, so he naturally knew the famous Sasori of the Red Sand.
But the other party's appearance was exactly the same as in his youth.
While he himself had turned into a middle-aged uncle.
This comparison…
Baki suddenly felt so tired inside.
"Let's reduce their numbers first."
He said blandly, casually throwing out a wooden cylinder.
The cylinder flew into the air, and suddenly countless tiny holes appeared.
A large number of poisoned needles immediately shot out rapidly.
"That is…?!"
The cylinder fired countless needles instantaneously.
This cylindrical mechanism fired wave after wave.
Who knew how many poisoned needles were hidden in the twenty-centimeter-tall cylinder; they flew over almost blotting out the sky.
Looking from the front, it was like a plague of locusts, a vast, dark mass.
"Watch out!"
Chiyo's expression changed.
As a puppeteer, she naturally knew that every puppet's weapon was definitely coated with poison.
And since the opponent was her grandson, Sasori, the poison would definitely be even more potent.
After all these years, Sasori definitely hadn't stagnated.
She had already seen it from the poison Kankuro was afflicted with.
Although she had struggled to barely suppress the spread of Kankuro's poison, Kankuro hadn't completely shaken off its effects.
Originally, she had heard Tsunade was also in Konoha, which was why she specially went to Konoha together.
As a result, she returned without meeting Tsunade.
Mainly, she had encountered too many things and forgotten about Kankuro.
Now, suddenly seeing Sasori use poisoned needles, she suddenly remembered Kankuro.
But this wasn't the time to think about Kankuro.
After all, they were still in battle.
Without needing Chiyo's reminder, everyone else knew the enemy's attack was not to be trifled with.
Takumi shielded Sakura behind him, using his own body to block all the attacks.
Kakashi easily dodged, while Naruto was also flustered.
Chiyo floated and dodged.
Although old, her skills were still extraordinary.
Baki directly used Wind Release to blow away the incoming senbon.
Guy's team, because Takumi had left them far behind, hadn't arrived yet.
Temari, shocked by Gaara's death, stood dazedly above and didn't come down.
And the one standing at the very front, facing the enemy, was Sasori, who had a past grievance with Sasuke.
Swish!
He directly activated his half-body Susano'o, blocking all the senbon.
"Hahaha!
Sasuke laughed wildly, as if to cover up the embarrassment of being fooled by Itachi earlier.
And also to show off his current power.
Then his expression changed, looking gloomily at Sasori. "You bastard, do you remember me?"
"Have we met?"
Sasori naturally didn't remember accidentally hitting a little brat back then.
His entire attention at the time was on Takumi; how could he care about a little guy accidentally injured nearby?
So, although he knew Sasuke was Itachi's brother, he didn't remember meeting him.
"Damn it!"
Sasuke's expression completely darkened. "Back then, you almost made me fail to graduate, even almost ruined my entire life, and you dare say you don't remember me?!"
"Perfect timing, since you and that bastard Itachi are in the same organization, I'll get information about him from you first, and then kill you!"
Sasuke's words were filled with murderous intent, not at all like a young boy.
His words were somewhat unacceptable to the others.
Especially Kakashi, who knew too well the hatred and burden accumulated in Sasuke's heart.
He's afraid Sasuke would be completely crushed by it, "Sasuke..."
Naruto also looked at Sasuke in disbelief. He never expected Sasuke to show such an evil side, like a villain.
Sakura didn't care; she was staring starry-eyed at Takumi's back.
Just now, Takumi had shielded her behind him, blocking the enemy's attacks with his body.
'Wait, body?!'
Sakura suddenly panicked, grabbing Takumi's body and looking him up and down, only relaxing after seeing no injuries.
"Don't worry."
Takumi saw her concern and comforted her with a light laugh. "I won't let you get hurt."
"But if Takumi-kun gets hurt, I'd feel really bad too."
Sakura shook her head. "Next time, you have to protect yourself first."
"I wouldn't do it without being sure."
Takumi gently patted her head, his smile sunny and warm.
With his Steel Body, these senbon couldn't even break his skin.
The poison naturally couldn't spread.
And he wasn't afraid of poison anyway.
"Ignorant brat."
Seeing himself being looked down upon by someone other than Takumi, Sasori's tone turned ice-cold. "Even your brother Itachi wouldn't dare speak to me like that."
"Today, let me teach you, this disobedient little brother, a lesson on Itachi's behalf."
As Sasori spoke, he released another wave of poisoned needles.
"Are you an idiot?!"
Sasuke looked up arrogantly. "This kind of attack is useless against my invincible defense!"
"Today, I'll show everyone that Konoha isn't just Takumi; there's also me, Uchiha Sasuke!"
He strode forward with his Susano'o, charging straight ahead.