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"Thank you."
Rasa was about to express his gratitude to Uchiha Itachi for saving his life, but Itachi raised his hand, cutting him off.
"Stand down. From here on, it's my job."
Interrupted mid-sentence, Rasa's face flushed red with frustration. As a former Kage of a village, he had never been spoken to in such a manner.
But the situation had already reached this point, and Rasa knew he was no match for Sasori. He could only withdraw silently, his pride wounded.
"Uchiha Itachi, the genius that Orochimaru has always been obsessed with… Seems like you've got some real skill."
Neither side made a move immediately. Itachi observed Sasori to gather intelligence, while Sasori also sized up Itachi.
Without warning, the two launched into a fierce exchange of blows.
Though powerful, the Susanoo was not invincible.
With incomplete intelligence, even a prodigy like Itachi found himself struggling against Sasori, narrowly avoiding disaster several times.
However, Rasa, who had withdrawn from the battle, wasn't idle either. He intercepted one of the reinforcements that had arrived.
"Chiyo-baa-sama, you should know better than anyone—this isn't a situation where you should intervene. If the enemy escapes because of your actions, it will be bad for both you and us.
The only thing we should do now is stop him if he tries to flee.
Even if he is your grandson.
You understand what I'm saying, Chiyo-baa-sama. Don't make this difficult for me—it's not just your problem."
Chiyo, though not as frail as she would be during Naruto's genin days, was already visibly aged, her hair white and her muscles noticeably loose.
Chiyo opened her mouth, her eyes filled with conflicting emotions, before falling silent once more.
"I understand.
Let's prepare to support each other, Rasa-kun."
As the wife of Sunagakure's First Kazekage, Chiyo was essentially an elder of the Sand Village. Though her grandson was important to her, when weighed against the village she had devoted her entire life to protecting, Chiyo ultimately chose the village.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Itachi was growing increasingly comfortable in the fight. This version of Itachi wasn't the sickly figure he would become later; he was at the peak of his strength.
"The primary target—the One-Tail—is nowhere to be found. Looks like I'll need to leave someone alive.
Transforming yourself into a puppet, huh? What a madman. But then again, there's only a fine line between genius and insanity.
This chakra flow… To expose your core so blatantly—it's almost arrogant."
Though the Sharingan wasn't as capable of seeing through objects or great distances as the Byakugan, it excelled at observing chakra flow and possessed exceptional dynamic vision capabilities, which was the origin of the Uchiha clan's "Copy Wheel Eye."
After only a brief exchange, Itachi had already thoroughly analyzed Sasori's abilities.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!!!"
Itachi unleashed a powerful, wide-range fire technique that threatened to engulf all of Sasori's puppets.
But Sasori wasn't renowned for nothing. He was well aware of how fire techniques countered his puppets and quickly used the Third Kazekage's iron sand to block the raging flames.
Unbeknownst to him, however, Itachi had already employed the Shadow Clone Technique. The clone, being a physical manifestation, was fully capable of using ninjutsu.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!!!"
The same technique, yet this time it unnerved Sasori greatly.
From this angle, the iron sand couldn't block it in time.
Among the five basic elements of ninjutsu, fire techniques were particularly troublesome for puppets. While these human puppets weren't made of flammable materials, damage to their muscle tissues by flames could still result in significant losses.
But as the saying goes, "A cunning rabbit has three burrows," and Sasori was no stranger to this concept.
In addition to enhancing his body with cold weapons, Sasori had specially designed a mechanism to store four crucial scrolls.
One of them contained his masterpiece—the Hundred Puppet Manipulation.
Among the other three scrolls, one held a powerful water release technique.
Without forming hand seals, Sasori simply raised his right arm, and a tube extended, spraying a massive amount of water that collided with Itachi's second Great Fire Annihilation, creating a dense cloud of scalding steam.
But Sasori quickly sensed something was amiss. Itachi's two fire techniques had already covered a vast area, blocking most of his vision, and now this thick steam further obscured everything—
"When did he…?!" Sasori's face twisted in disbelief.
With his superior agility and ninjutsu, Itachi had already appeared behind him.
No matter how intricate Sasori's puppets were, the fundamental weakness of any puppeteer remained the same—their own body!
In an instant, Itachi drew his ninjato and swiftly swung it, dismembering Sasori.
But Itachi knew that for someone who had transformed his body into a puppet, such injuries were far from fatal.
Taking advantage of Sasori's brief moment of immobility, Itachi activated his exclusive sealing technique.
"Susanoo: Totsuka!"
The moment the Totsuka pierced him, Sasori was filled with disbelief. He had keenly sensed that Itachi intended to capture him alive and was just beginning to think of ways to turn the tide when—
Itachi broke the rules of engagement and directly unleashed a divine weapon!
Sasori was well aware of the Totsuka's reputation. After all, puppeteers always sought to arm their puppets with the finest weapons.
The Totsuka, one of the legendary Kusanagi swords, trapped its victims in a dreamlike genjutsu world. Its blade could extend and retract rapidly, and it carried a sealing technique that permanently sealed its targets within its hilt.
As memories of the Totsuka's description flashed through Sasori's mind, he succumbed to eternal slumber. Unless Itachi released him or he possessed a trick like Orochimaru's, he was as good as dead.
"Target one, S-rank missing-nin: Sasori of the Red Sand—captured."
Though this was a monumental achievement, the 13-year-old Uchiha Itachi displayed remarkable composure, showing neither arrogance nor any overwhelming emotion.
He then turned his gaze toward Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who were still locked in heated combat.
With the dispersal of one of his shadow clones, Itachi instantly gained a wealth of intelligence on Orochimaru. Without hesitation, he decided to join the fray.
Even though Orochimaru was once one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha, Itachi felt no fear.
For some inexplicable reason, Orochimaru, who was already naturally cold, felt an even deeper chill.
Watching a young figure step into the battle between him and Jiraiya, Orochimaru initially sneered in disdain. But he quickly realized that his trusted partner, Sasori, had already been defeated by this newcomer.
Itachi's distinctive tear troughs left a deep impression on Orochimaru. This was none other than the bloodline genius he had long coveted—Uchiha Itachi.
At such a young age, wielding such power, Orochimaru's greed surged—but he quickly suppressed it.
And a sense of foreboding—"This isn't going to end well"—rapidly welled up in Orochimaru's heart.
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