Although there was a gap in the quality of the puppets,
To bring out a puppet's strength, one also had to look at the puppeteer's control ability.
Takumi, relying on being able to control more puppets and using Spiritual Energy to control them directly, made them even more responsive, like an extension of his own arm.
Over a thousand puppets advanced and retreated with the discipline of an army.
They could even set traps to surround and kill Sasori's puppets.
After a short period of encirclement, Sasori had already lost dozens of puppets.
And although Takumi also suffered losses due to his precise control, they amounted to less than ten.
Compared to his thousand puppets, it was negligible.
Sasori's expression immediately darkened.
He knew that if this continued, all his puppets would likely be annihilated by Takumi's puppets.
To break the deadlock, he had to think of other methods.
Sitting idly and waiting for death was not his style.
The first thing he thought of was the Third Kazekage puppet.
By using a large-scale attack with iron sand, even if he lost a few of his own puppets, he could significantly reduce Takumi's puppet numbers.
Given the quality of Takumi's puppets, they definitely couldn't resist the power of the iron sand.
But how could Takumi not know his plan?
'How could I let you succeed.'
A trace of amusement flashed in Takumi's eyes.
Sasori was about to control the Third Kazekage puppet, but he didn't see it manipulating the iron sand.
Looking up, he found that Takumi had used dozens of puppets to completely surround the Third Kazekage puppet.
And these puppets had definitely undergone special treatment.
The Third Kazekage puppet's hands and feet were restrained; unable to form hand seals, it naturally couldn't use Magnet Release.
"Damn it!"
Sasori immediately tried to trigger the mechanisms installed on the Third Kazekage puppet.
But someone was faster than him.
Takumi naturally knew how lethal the Third Kazekage's iron sand was to his own puppets.
Seeing Sasori's gaze shift away from him, he rushed forward immediately.
Just as Sasori revealed the mechanical blade on the Third Kazekage puppet's right arm, Takumi's fist directly blasted the Third Kazekage puppet, along with over a dozen of his own puppets, to pieces.
Although losing the Third Kazekage puppet was a pity, it was necessary now.
"How dare you!"
Sasori was furious.
The Third Kazekage puppet was his proudest artistic creation over the years.
And now Takumi had punched it to pieces!
How could he tolerate that!
He suddenly raised both hands, and two black pipes emerged from his palms.
"Flamethrower!"
The fire scroll behind Sasori activated, and fierce flames gushed out from the black pipes in his palms.
Amplified by Sasori's Chakra, the power of the flames was extremely fierce.
"Be careful!"
Sakura shouted worriedly.
She was completely blinded by concern.
The others watched leisurely, even Chiyo knew that this level of flame couldn't harm Takumi.
After all, someone who could dodge a rain of hidden weapons could easily dodge mere flames, right?
Yet, before everyone's eyes, the flames engulfed Takumi.
"How could this be?"
Naruto's eyes widened, his gaze immediately becoming worried.
"Takumi-kun!"
Sakura, recklessly, wanted to rush forward, but Kakashi firmly grabbed her wrist.
"Let me go! Takumi-kun is…!"
Sakura tried to shake off Kakashi's hand, but with her strength, it was clearly impossible.
Although she had already become Tsunade's student and started learning Medical Ninjutsu,
She obviously hadn't yet learned Tsunade's monstrous strength.
"Calm down. Takumi is fine."
Kakashi, with his Sharingan, could obviously see more details than others.
"What?"
Sakura was stunned, then anxiously grabbed Kakashi's sleeve and asked, "Takumi-kun is okay? Really?"
She turned to look into the flames. The fierce flames still burned continuously; Takumi was nowhere to be seen.
"Did he escape? Then where is he now?"
She looked around for Takumi but couldn't find him.
"Takumi is still inside."
Kakashi said, seeing Sakura's expression suddenly change, then continued, "But don't forget, Takumi-kun is not afraid of high temperatures. And before..."
He didn't finish his sentence.
Because Sasori had already stopped the flames.
In a moment of impulse, he had used his hidden flame attack.
But he also knew that this level of attack inevitably could not harm Takumi.
Judging from the various intel they had gathered, Takumi's resistance to Fire Release was very strong. Basically, even A-Rank or higher Ninjutsu might not necessarily harm Takumi.
Let alone this kind of mechanism using a scroll.
This kind of mechanism was only convenient for dealing with small fry.
Against a strong opponent like Takumi, it was basically useless.
Knowing he couldn't harm Takumi,
Having vented his anger, Sasori quickly calmed down and stopped this futile action.
Now, he had to carefully consider how to defeat Takumi, or escape from here.
Losing the Third Kazekage puppet was a major loss of combat power for him.
But could he really escape?
Trapped underground with no backup, could he escape from Takumi?
He didn't pay much attention to the others besides Takumi.
Whether it was his grandmother or Kakashi, known as the Copy Ninja, he didn't care.
Only Takumi was an opponent he wasn't sure he could defeat.
And now, he had clearly fallen into a disadvantage.
'It seems I'll have to leave it at this for now.'
Sasori was unwilling, but he had no choice.
His losses were already unavoidable; now he needed to cut his losses in time.
"Leaving already?"
From within the dying flames came Takumi's light laugh.
As soon as he spoke, the flames instantly dissipated.
Around Takumi were several puppets charred to cinders.
"As expected."
Kakashi understood and said to Sakura, "Before the flames burned over, Takumi controlled the puppets to protect himself. You don't need to worry about his safety, Sakura."
Kakashi's last words carried a hint of warning, but Sakura only cared about Takumi's safety and didn't catch it at all.
"I'm glad he's okay."
She patted her chest in relief.
"We'll settle this match another time. Next time, I will definitely defeat you."
Sasori said coldly, then controlled his puppets to block in front of him while he forcefully jumped away.
"I haven't let you leave yet."
In a flash, Takumi's figure blocked his path.
Behind Takumi's back, a pair of bat-like wings spread, allowing him to fly.
His skin had also become slightly paler.
He didn't know if it was psychological, but he felt the sunlight in the sky was somewhat uncomfortable.
It must be psychological.
After all, he wasn't really a vampire.
"So handsome..."
Well, Sakura was fangirling again.
Whenever she saw Takumi in this form, she never got tired of it.
Mainly because Takumi didn't usually assume this form, as there was no need.
"It seems we'll have to settle this here."
Sasori landed back in the pit.
He knew that with Takumi, escape was impossible.
His only option was to defeat Takumi and leave with dignity.
But having lost the Third Kazekage puppet, a powerful tool for restricting Takumi, defeating him was obviously very difficult.
And during this time, Takumi was still continuously controlling his puppets to annihilate his.
Watching his puppet count dwindle while Takumi maintained a very large number,
If he didn't think of something soon, he really would die here.
"Give up. Surrender."
Takumi looked down at Sasori from above, unconcerned about the puppet battle behind him.
All the puppets' actions were already proceeding according to his will.
With his Observation Haki, even without looking directly, he could grasp every move Sasori made controlling the puppets.
Simply put, he couldn't see any way for Sasori to defeat him.
The only thing that could threaten him, the Third Kazekage puppet, he had already destroyed.
It could be said that Sasori had no chance of winning.