As Li Xing and Deidara were happily conversing, the giant rock blocking the entrance was smashed by Sakura's fist. Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and Chiyo then flashed into the cave.
"Yo, we meet again so soon, Naruto, Haruno Sakura. It seems your other teammates are trapped by the Five-Seal Barrier and can't come to support. Can you two really defeat Deidara and Sasori with just yourselves?"
Li Xing greeted Naruto and Sakura with a smile, appearing so harmless that one might mistake him for an ally.
However, upon seeing Gaara lying on the ground, lifeless, Naruto's eyes instantly transformed into the Nine-Tails' demonic form.
"You scoundrels! I'm going to beat you all to a pulp!"
Seeing the furiously enraged Naruto, Deidara and Sasori immediately guessed he was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki that Itachi had mentioned. However, this Jinchuriki seemed a bit slow-witted.
"Brother Sasori, I'll take this corpse for now. That guy seems to have a special affection for it." Saying this, Deidara threw out a clay bird, which swallowed Gaara on the ground. Deidara then jumped onto the bird's back and flew straight into the sky.
"Deidara! We agreed on one each! What do you mean by this?" Sasori was very angry. Deidara had already captured one Jinchuriki and now he wanted to snatch his target as well.
Seeing this, Li Xing quickly intervened: "Don't argue, don't argue. Isn't there a puppeteer here? I think you'd be happy to fight her. As for the Nine-Tails, if Deidara catches him, I'll persuade him to give him to you, and then your mission will be complete!"
"Hmph! You, always saying things people don't understand. I'll handle the rest of the fight alone. You two are not allowed to interfere."
Li Xing immediately agreed. He didn't want to clash with the Leaf Village ninjas; what if he displeased his master, Tsunade?
Then, Li Xing looked at Naruto: "Hey, Naruto, aren't you going to get Gaara back? Deidara flew away with him, and you're just standing here? Aren't you going to chase him?"
Although Naruto wanted to take Li Xing back, his primary mission was to retrieve Gaara. He could only run out of the cave and chase after Deidara. Kakashi, entrusted by Jiraiya to protect Naruto, naturally had to follow him.
Next was the battle between Sasori and the old grandmother. Li Xing and Karin simply flew to the sky to watch.
Chiyo took out a string of kunai and threw them directly at Sasori, but they were all blocked by the tail of Hiruko.
"Old woman, why are you out here instead of waiting to die in Sunagakure? Did you come specifically to become my collection?"
Chiyo simply smiled lightly: "What's wrong with someone like me, who is about to die, wanting to see my grandson?"
Sasori muttered in boredom and immediately opened the mouth of Hiruko, firing countless silver needles from it. Each needle was laced with potent poison, and even a slight graze meant instant death.
However, both Sakura and Chiyo perfectly dodged all the needles. Seeing this, Sasori did not stop his attack and launched the left arm mechanism of Hiruko, which scattered in the air, raining down even more silver needles.
These attacks were easily dodged by both of them without a doubt. Sakura was charging straight at Sasori, raising one hand and concentrating chakra on her fist. Sasori was not to be outdone, controlling Hiruko's tail to strike directly at Sakura.
But just as it was about to touch Sakura, Hiruko's tail suddenly stopped attacking. Sakura seized this opportunity and smashed Hiruko into pieces with a single punch.
Then, a figure flashed out of Hiruko: "Old woman, it's you. You discussed tactics with this young lady when you came in, and we were distracted by the Jinchuriki, so we didn't notice your conversation at all."
"That's why this young lady could perfectly dodge my attacks. You were controlling everything. During the kunai attack just now, you secretly attached chakra threads to the tail, which is why my attack stopped then."
As he spoke, Sasori removed the black cloth covering his face. His head full of red hair and his youthful appearance shocked both Sakura and Chiyo. After twenty years, Sasori still looked so young.
"Then... I will fight you with my favorite collection!"
Sasori took out a scroll, unrolled it, and a cloud of smoke spread out. A figure moved beside Sasori.
When the smoke cleared, Chiyo saw the puppet clearly. It was the Third Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village, the man hailed as the strongest Kazekage.
"Sasori! You actually made the Third Kazekage... You've harmed all three Kazekages of the Hidden Sand Village!" Chiyo said with a heartbroken expression. Her grandson had betrayed the Sand Village and turned the Third Kazekage into a puppet.
"Hey, hey! Although the Akatsuki and Orochimaru had dealings, I don't know what Orochimaru did." Sasori didn't think the Fourth Kazekage's death had anything to do with him.
"One of your subordinates killed the Fourth Kazekage, right? So it has something to do with you."
Hearing Orochimaru's name, Sakura lost some of her composure and clenched her fist: "I will capture you and make you reveal everything about Orochimaru!"
Sasori couldn't be bothered with the young girl. From beginning to end, Sasori had never taken Sakura seriously. The only one who could be considered an opponent was Chiyo.
Subsequently, countless puppet arms extended from the Third Kazekage's body, targeting Sakura. However, under Chiyo's control, Sakura narrowly dodged the attacks.
Just as Chiyo was about to pull Sakura out, several ropes shot out from these puppet arms, firmly binding Sakura's body. Then, one of the arms sprayed a stream of purple poisonous gas.
Sakura was completely engulfed by the purple poisonous gas, but she held her breath, preventing the gas from entering her body.
However, after some time, Chiyo still couldn't pull Sakura out. Sakura painfully took out an explosive tag and detonated herself, using the shockwave from the explosion to blow away the poisonous gas and break the ropes. She herself was also affected by the explosion, her clothes becoming tattered, and her hair slightly scorched.
"Wow, what a feast for the eyes! Brother loves watching female ninjas fight the most." Li Xing's eyes were wide open. He had never seen such a tragically beautiful sight before. He had never injured Xiao Mei himself, so this novel experience piqued his interest.
"Xing-kun, don't look. What's so great about that broad forehead? I'll let you see enough later." Karin pulled Li Xing's hand from the side, trying to stop him from watching Sakura.
...
Chiyo also took out two scrolls and opened them. Two puppets appeared before Chiyo. These were the first puppets Sasori made himself: Father and Mother.
"What's the use of taking out those two puppets now? I made them both, and I know them inside and out," Sasori said with disdain.
"That remains to be seen!" Chiyo then controlled the Parent and Child puppets to charge forward. The Father and Child puppets clasped their hands together, and when they pulled them apart again, steel wires appeared on their fingers. Through these wires, the Parent and Child puppets severed all of the Third Kazekage's puppet arms.
Following that, various mechanical weapons extended from the Third Kazekage's arms, while the Parent and Child puppets produced a sword. Both sides controlled their puppets to engage in battle.
The speed was so fast that even Karin had to activate her Sharingan to watch. Li Xing finally realized that puppeteers were quite formidable, but he had encountered a cheat like himself.