"Sasori of the Red Sand!?"
Staring at the red-haired man before them, Mitsui Chuichi and Hyuga Kagami cried out at the same time.
Neither of them was unfamiliar with this man. They had just come out of the war, after all.
Sasori of the Red Sand—a genius puppeteer, one of the strongest ninja from Sunagakure. He had vanished together with the Third Kazekage and was later classified as an S-rank rogue ninja.
He had appeared on multiple battlefields collecting ninja corpses and was known to have killed several elite jōnin. His reputation was so fearsome that even Sunagakure had eventually abandoned all attempts to hunt him down. He was a danger that none of the Five Great Nations wanted to provoke.
Sasori rested one hand at his waist and chuckled softly.
"So, you recognized me? That works out nicely. Ninja of Konohagakure, since we've met, why don't you help me test my newest work of art?"
As he spoke, Sasori pulled out a scroll marked with the kanji "Three."
Puff—
A cloud of white smoke erupted, and a human puppet appeared before Mitsui Chuichi and Hyuga Kagami.
As he stared at the black iron sand floating around the puppet, Mitsui Chuichi's body began to tremble.
"Magnet Release…? Th-that's the… Third Kazekage!?"
Hyuga Kagami was also shaken—but not because of the puppet itself. What truly shocked him was running into someone on Sasori's level in a place like this.
He couldn't accurately judge Sasori's current strength, but one thing was certain: Sasori was far beyond elite jōnin level, an enemy Hyuga Kagami had no chance of dealing with under any circumstances.
The moment he recognized Sasori, only one thought remained in his mind—
How do I survive this?
Manipulating the Third Kazekage puppet, Sasori slowly rose into the air and smiled faintly.
"This is my most satisfying masterpiece so far. Ninja of Konoha… enjoy my art."
The moment his words fell, the iron sand surrounding the puppet transformed into countless fine needles, raining down toward Mitsui Chuichi and Hyuga Kagami like a deadly storm.
While retreating, Mitsui Chuichi pulled out three kunai in each hand, all wrapped with explosive tags, and hurled them straight into the incoming iron needles.
Hyuga Kagami, who was a step behind him, used the opportunity to duck behind Mitsui Chuichi and retreat as well.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosions kicked up thick clouds of dust across the desert.
Seeing that the blasts barely managed to block the iron needles, Mitsui Chuichi shot Hyuga Kagami a cold glance—and then fled toward the outpost without saying a single word.
He abandoned him without hesitation.
At that point, Mitsui Chuichi no longer bothered hiding his hostility.
Hyuga Kagami naturally had no reason to hesitate either and immediately fled in the opposite direction.
Watching the two scatter after only minimal resistance, Sasori let out a quiet laugh and stepped onto the back of the Third Kazekage puppet. The puppet's Magnet Release reshaped the iron sand into two massive wings, lifting it into the air as it chased after Mitsui Chuichi.
The captain was clearly Sasori's first target.
"He can fly…!?"
Catching sight of Sasori soaring through the sky, Hyuga Kagami's heart sank.
In the shinobi world, the ability to fly was an overwhelming advantage. Facing an airborne enemy almost always meant being forced into a hopelessly passive position.
There was no way Hyuga Kagami, running on foot, could outrun Sasori in the air.
Suppressing the chaos in his thoughts, Hyuga Kagami carefully observed Sasori's movements while quickly assessing his situation.
I've seen the Third Kazekage puppet… Sasori definitely won't let me live.
The fact that the Third Kazekage had been turned into a human puppet was still a secret. To prevent that secret from leaking, Sasori would never allow any witnesses to escape.
The moment Sasori revealed the puppet, both Mitsui Chuichi and Hyuga Kagami were already marked for death.
The nearest outpost is more than two hours away. Even if I make it there, the stationed ninja wouldn't stand a chance against someone like Sasori.
I can't just run. I need a way to drive him back.
As Hyuga Kagami was desperately searching for a solution, he suddenly noticed Mitsui Chuichi collapse mid-run.
"What—!?"
He immediately understood.
The iron needles were poisoned!
Although the explosive tags had intercepted most of the needles, a few had still slipped through, grazing Mitsui Chuichi's arm. Because it wasn't a vital wound, neither of them had paid much attention to it at the time.
But Sasori of the Red Sand was infamous as a master poison user.
Without Mitsui Chuichi to draw Sasori's attention, continuing to flee would only waste stamina and make things worse.
Hyuga Kagami stopped.
After casually finishing off the poisoned, incapacitated Mitsui Chuichi, Sasori strolled over to Hyuga Kagami and laughed lightly.
"What's this? Given up on running already?"
Hyuga Kagami stared straight at him.
"I've always wondered—why did you defect? With your strength and status, even becoming Kazekage wouldn't have been impossible, right?"
Sasori looked him over in mild surprise, then smiled.
"No need to stall for time. No one is coming to save you."
As Hyuga Kagami slowly walked toward him, he spoke as if thinking aloud.
"That makes sense. If you dared to scheme against the Third Kazekage—the one hailed as the 'strongest Kazekage'—why would you care about Sunagakure at all?"
Sasori didn't reply. He merely narrowed his eyes, his expression full of amusement. He was genuinely curious about what this calm, steadily approaching Hyuga Kagami intended to do.
Nineteen meters…
Seventeen meters…
Fourteen meters…
On the surface, Hyuga Kagami looked composed. Inside, his nerves were screaming as he silently measured the distance.
His only chance was to suddenly use the Rinnegan to pull Sasori's real body toward him, then use the Gentle Fist to seal Sasori's chakra points and restrain him.
But the Rinnegan's effective range was only around fifteen meters.
He had to get closer.
When the distance shrank to roughly eleven meters, Sasori slowly raised his hands.
Chakra threads glowing pale blue shot out, lifting the Third Kazekage puppet into the air as the iron sand reshaped itself into long iron spears.
Knowing he had reached the limit, Hyuga Kagami acted without hesitation.
He thrust both hands forward, activating the Rinnegan with everything he had.
The instant Hyuga Kagami made his move, the battle-hardened Sasori curled his lips into a mocking smile and retreated, simultaneously commanding the Third Kazekage puppet to shield him.
In Sasori's eyes, this was just another desperate, suicidal ninjutsu attempt. He had seen countless ninja try to take him down with them—and all of them had failed.
As the creator, Sasori knew better than anyone how formidable the puppet's Magnet Release defense was. Even A-rank ninjutsu could barely scratch it.
"This—!?"
In the next instant, the smile on Sasori's face froze solid.
A violent, roaring suction force erupted.
The Third Kazekage puppet shielding Sasori was torn away, yanked forward so violently that the chakra threads snapped instantly.
And when Hyuga Kagami realized that what his Rinnegan had pulled toward him wasn't Sasori's real body—but the Third Kazekage puppet instead—
He froze in shock as well.