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"Ugh…"
Caught off guard, Kakashi inhaled a mouthful of poisonous smoke.
He immediately held his breath, lowered the hand covering his left eye, and reactivated his dōjutsu.
Kamui!
A spatial vortex spun rapidly. Sensing danger, Sasori swiftly dispersed his body into segments again.
Kakashi hurriedly shifted his gaze, locking onto the core embedded in Sasori's chest.
Crack.
Under the distorting force of space, the left side of Sasori's chest began to fracture.
"Explosive Clay Puppet Technique!"
Deidara's voice rang out just in time.
An abstract clay doll rushed forward and knocked Sasori's body aside, sacrificing itself to be swallowed by Kakashi's Kamui.
By the time Sasori reassembled his body, Kakashi had already deactivated his dōjutsu. Staggering slightly, he retreated beyond the range of the poisonous smoke.
He quickly pulled an antidote from his ninja pouch and injected it into himself, gasping heavily.
"It's not over yet!"
Deidara stretched out his arms, sending several more clay puppets charging toward Kakashi.
At the same time, Tokuma—who had rushed over due to the unmanned puppets on the other side—leaped into the air and struck at Deidara with a palm strike.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
"Tch!"
Deidara dodged, disrupting his control over the clay puppets. Seizing the opportunity, Tokuma swiftly grabbed Kakashi and retreated further, shielding him with his body.
Meanwhile, Sasori had already reattached his right arm, and the chakra threads extending from his fingertips reconnected to all his puppets.
"Deidara, leave the rest to me," Sasori declared firmly. "Your fighting style is too wasteful—you'll just blow them to pieces."
Deidara withdrew his clay puppets, grumbling, "Seriously, the puppets you're using now aren't even as good as my dolls, un. You almost died just now."
"Shut up!" Sasori snapped impatiently.
"Whatever!"
"Kakashi, how are you holding up?" Tsunade, still trapped inside the barrier, sounded anxious.
"I'll manage," Kakashi replied, his condition seeming to stabilize slightly. "Thanks to the antidote you prepared, Hokage-sama."
"No, a general-purpose antidote won't fully neutralize such a potent toxin. We need a specialized antidote," Tsunade clenched her fists.
"Kakashi-senpai?" Tokuma frowned in concern.
"Watch out!" Kakashi barely managed to block an incoming puppet attack.
Tokuma immediately moved to protect him, engaging Sasori's puppets head-on.
However, unlike when fighting human opponents, the Hyūga clan's Gentle Fist—which specialized in targeting internal organs and chakra pathways—was far less effective against puppets.
The usual tactic for Hyūga ninja against puppeteers was to use the Byakugan and Gentle Fist to sever the chakra threads.
But now, with Tokuma forced to defend Kakashi in his weakened state, he had no choice but to clash directly with the puppets, quickly putting him at a disadvantage.
"Eight Trigrams Mountain Crusher!"
Tokuma unleashed one of his most effective techniques against the puppets, shattering one that was about to strike Kakashi.
But in doing so, he failed to dodge a thin poison needle, which embedded itself in his arm.
"Tokuma!!"
Both Kakashi and Tsunade shouted in alarm as the needle pierced Tokuma's flesh.
"Your name is Hyūga Tokuma, right?" All the puppets abruptly stopped moving as Sasori's voice, laced with delight, reached them. "Then you'll join Kakashi as part of my collection."
"Guh!"
With his Byakugan, Tokuma could clearly see the poison spreading through his arm. Gritting his teeth, he made a split-second decision—grabbing a kunai and slashing at his own arm.
"I can't allow that."
A puppet's arm suddenly elongated, precisely blocking Tokuma's kunai.
"Since you're already a designated addition to my collection, even you don't have the right to damage yourself," Sasori's voice carried a hint of anger.
"Damn it!!"
Tokuma's vision darkened, his body swaying unsteadily.
"Tokuma!"
Kakashi reached for another antidote, only for it to be shattered by a thrown projectile.
"You bastards!!" Tsunade, witnessing this, finally snapped. "Dispel this barrier right now!!!"
The former Root members maintaining the barrier exchanged glances but remained unmoved.
"Save your breath, Tsunade-sama," one of them spoke up. "After Danzō-sama's death, we lost our purpose. Since our original goal is now unattainable, venting our anger for Danzō-sama seems like a fitting end."
"You worthless scum!!!"
Fury burned in Tsunade's eyes—but then, inspiration struck.
She bit her right thumb and swiftly drew a bloody seal on her left palm.
"Summoning Jutsu!!!"
A cloud of white smoke erupted as the massive form of Katsuyu materialized, instantly bursting through the confined space of the Four Violet Flames Formation. Tsunade vanished in the chaos.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Four rapid impacts resounded like drumbeats.
When the smoke cleared, Tsunade stood protectively in front of Kakashi and Tokuma.
"Katsuyu, heal Kakashi and Tokuma."
She flicked the blood from her fist and turned her glare toward Sasori and Deidara.
Meanwhile, the dissipating smoke revealed Katsuyu's scorched body, its surface blackened by the violet flames.
Beside her, the four former Root members lay motionless, their chests caved in from Tsunade's devastating strikes.
"Understood, Tsunade-sama."
Katsuyu shed the burned portions of her body, her form shrinking slightly as she regenerated seamlessly.
Two smaller slugs, each about half a meter long, split off and crawled onto Kakashi and Tokuma.
Throughout this, Sasori made no move to stop them.
Well aware of Tsunade's combat prowess, he knew his current arsenal of standard puppets wouldn't last a single exchange against her.
"I forfeit."
Sasori severed his chakra threads in frustration, letting all ten puppets collapse to the ground.
In a flash, he appeared on the back of Deidara's clay bird.
"My art has poor compatibility with the legendary Princess Tsunade," Sasori said, his tone disinterested. "The rest is up to you, Deidara."
"Hahahahaha…" Deidara leaped onto the bird as well, laughing uproariously. "To think even you would give up on a potential addition to your collection! The Slug Princess of Konoha truly lives up to her reputation, un!"
Tsunade ignored their taunts, her focus solely on her comrades. "How are they, Katsuyu?"
"Do not worry, Tsunade-sama," Katsuyu's soothing voice replied. "I can stabilize them. Once the battle is over, you can develop the antidote in time."
"Good."
Relieved, Tsunade turned her attention back to Deidara and Sasori.
"Now, it's my turn to perform, un!"
Deidara's clay bird flapped its wings, ascending rapidly.
"I can't let him gain altitude!"
Tsunade's eyes sharpened as green markings spread across her face.
In the next instant, she lunged at Deidara, her fist driving straight through his chest.
"This feeling—!"
Realizing something was wrong, Tsunade tried to pull back—but the Deidara in front of her dissolved into white clay, rapidly expanding and ensnaring half her body.
The real Deidara emerged from the clay bird's body, leaping down with Sasori.
The clay clone on the bird's back continued swelling, completely encasing Tsunade.
"Heh, just like with Sasori no Danna. Who'd have thought the great Tsunade would fall for the same trick twice, un?" Deidara formed a hand seal. "Art is an explosion— Katsu!!"
*****
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