"Unbelievable, it was you..."
Chiyo's expression was extremely complex. She never imagined that the catalyst for the Third Shinobi World War, which affected the entire Shinobi World, would actually trace back to her grandson.
"Why did you do it?"
She couldn't help but demand, because she couldn't fathom Sasori's reason for doing such a thing.
"I wanted to conduct an experiment."
Sasori said. "The experiment of turning living people into puppets, to as much as possible retain their strength and abilities from life."
"As you can see, the experiment was very successful."
Under Sasori's control, the Third Kazekage used his Magnet Release. A vast amount of iron sand was controlled, sweeping through the air above them, bringing heavy pressure.
"I preserved the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release and turned him into a puppet."
A hint of satisfaction carried in Sasori's voice. "This is the eternal art I have always hoped for."
"For such a reason..."
Chiyo suddenly realized she had never truly understood her grandson.
Back then, during the war, Sasori's parents died because of it.
She held an important position and couldn't spare the time to care for the young Sasori.
By the time she had the chance, Sasori's personality had already formed.
She wanted to care for him but could never reach his heart.
She never imagined Sasori would have such thoughts.
The mystery of the Third Kazekage's disappearance, which had troubled everyone in Sunagakure back then, was suddenly revealed before them.
They simply couldn't accept it.
It was their own village's Shinobi who had assassinated their own Kage.
This kind of move...
If Danzo knew, he would definitely come and give a thumbs up.
Then personally visit Sasori to discuss the specifics.
After all, Danzo had also organized people to assassinate the Third Kazekage back in the day.
It's just that Sasori succeeded.
Danzo failed.
"It seems this old woman cannot persuade you to turn back."
Chiyo's eyes were full of grief.
She also took out a scroll.
As the summoning technique unfolded,
From the scroll emerged ten puppets of similar appearance.
These were the masterpieces Chiyo inherited from the originator of puppetry, Monzaemon Chikamatsu. They were called the Chikamatsu Collection.
Although they weren't the kind of human puppets Sasori made, which retained some of the deceased's strength,
The Chikamatsu Collection, as masterpieces made by the originator of puppetry, still possessed powerful strength.
Especially under Chiyo's control, they could display astonishing power.
"Ten puppets?!"
Naruto exclaimed in surprise, looking at Chiyo in wonder. "But how do you control them?"
In his view, one person controlling one puppet was already impressive enough.
But now, Chiyo wanted to control ten puppets.
This situation completely exceeded his imagination.
In his impression, a puppeteer was like someone controlling a marionette, with each thread connected to the puppet's hands and feet.
Yet a person only has ten fingers, meaning they can only split off ten chakra threads.
In that case, how could one control ten puppets?
At least Naruto couldn't figure it out.
"Advisor Chiyo is, after all, a strong one known as the strongest puppeteer."
Kakashi patted Naruto's head, speechless. "It's normal for an opponent to be able to do things you can't. Just like you can do things others can't."
'Like summoning hundreds of shadow clones.'
'That's not something just anyone can do.'
'If not for your Uzumaki lineage constitution and your identity as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, such a thing would be very difficult to accomplish.'
For the upcoming battle, Kakashi already didn't want to participate.
He not only had to guard the injured and unconscious Sasuke but also keep an eye on the reckless Naruto to prevent him from acting rashly.
Moreover, the upcoming battle involved too many hidden weapons to watch out for. Even with his Sharingan, it would be hard to cope.
Sasori, for him, was not a particularly easy opponent to deal with.
Baki's expression was grave.
The fact that Chiyo had to bring out these long-sealed puppets was enough to indicate the enemy's strength was very great.
He, an Elite Jonin, actually had no room to intervene.
Having witnessed Takumi dodge that unbelievable barrage, he knew that if he tried to do the same, he absolutely couldn't be as perfect as Takumi.
He would have to rely on Wind Release to dodge all of Sasori's attacks.
And during that time, he wouldn't even be able to attack Sasori.
This meant he would fall into a very passive situation.
Fortunately, the main combat power wasn't him.
"Is this your limit, Grandma?"
Sasori's expression was very calm. He didn't place too much importance on the Chikamatsu Collection, which was almost legendary among puppeteers.
He was confident that the human puppets he made were even more outstanding works than these.
But since they were legendary puppets, as a puppeteer, he still had to show some respect.
Moreover, the enemies he faced weren't just them.
He took down a scroll from his back and directly summoned what was sealed within it.
A large area of white smoke instantly enveloped the surroundings.
Numerous dark figures appeared in the spacious underground cavity.
"This is?!"
Baki's eyes widened instantly. "Puppets... there are this many?!"
He couldn't believe it.
Chiyo controlling ten was already the limit in his eyes.
Unexpectedly, Sasori easily exceeded that number.
With his eyesight, although he couldn't make out the exact number, it definitely exceeded two hundred, possibly even exceeding three hundred.
It was dozens of times the gap compared to Chiyo.
"..."
Chiyo was also shocked, but what shocked her was the way Sasori controlled the puppets.
At the same time, she was also staring in shock at Sasori's body.
The way Sasori controlled several hundred puppets was by using the Chakra core in his chest to split off Chakra Threads.
But to do this, he would have to take off his upper clothing to allow the Chakra Core to control the puppets.
This exposed his biggest secret.
Namely, the fact that he had turned himself into a puppet.
Takumi knew because of his previous life memories.
The others were seeing it for the first time. Even among the Akatsuki, probably few, if any, knew.
This was also Sasori's endurance.
"You actually... turned yourself into a puppet?!"
Chiyo couldn't believe it, and at the same time, her heart was filled with deep grief.
A person's physical body is received from one's parents, one of the most precious things a person has.
As a result, Sasori had turned this protection into a puppet.
In her view, it was undoubtedly a kind of betrayal towards his parents.
But on second thought, she knew she wasn't qualified to blame Sasori.
The moment Sasori defected and left the village represented her complete failure, as his elder, in the aspect of education.
"The human body has too many limitations."
Sasori wasn't surprised by Chiyo's reaction and explained calmly, "In order to pursue the limit, I decided to abandon my physical body and turn myself into a puppet."
"This way, I can maximize my strength without being limited by the physical body's limitations."
"Let me see, whose puppets are stronger, yours or mine?"