After a period of intense fighting, both sides suddenly stopped. The parents' puppets were tattered, and the Third Kazekage's mechanisms were heavily damaged.
"A puppeteer is just a normal person without their puppets. What do you plan to do next?"
With that, Sasori opened the Third Kazekage's mouth, and a large amount of black iron sand flowed out. This was the Third Kazekage's kekkei genkai, Magnet Release, and the iron sand was also Sand Village's most powerful offensive tool.
"This is... the Third Kazekage's kekkei genkai from when he was alive!" Granny Chiyo recognized it immediately. Of course, she was mentally prepared, as Sasori was a genius puppeteer, the only one who could turn people into puppets while retaining their ninjutsu.
"Puppets have kekkei genkai? Really? How do puppets have chakra?" Sakura was incredulous, finding such a thing utterly unreasonable.
"It's simple. You remove the internal organs and wash the skin clean, and a human-shaped puppet is complete. Of course, I have my standards, like the Third Kazekage. This is my art," Sasori answered Sakura's question with a smile, as if such a thing were as simple as slaughtering a chicken.
"Iron Sand Shower!"
Sasori had no intention of conversing further with the two in front of him. He immediately manipulated the iron sand into small stone-like shapes and launched them at Granny Chiyo and Sakura with extreme speed.
At the critical moment, Granny Chiyo used her parents' puppets to shield them both. However, the iron sand infiltrated the puppets' interiors, rendering them uncontrollable.
"So, how will you block the next attack?"
Then, the iron sand on the ground flew into the air, transforming from a scattered form into sharp needles. Aiming at Granny Chiyo and Sakura, the iron sand attacked again.
This time, Granny Chiyo used her own arm to block the blow. Granny Chiyo had also modified her arm into a puppet. She had managed to create a chakra shield just in time to barely block the attack.
However, like the parents' puppets, Granny Chiyo's arm was coated with iron sand, making it difficult to control. Granny Chiyo immediately detached that puppet arm.
Seeing that Granny Chiyo was without her puppets, Sakura had a unique idea.
"Granny Chiyo, use me! I'll be your puppet. A living person won't be invaded by the iron sand."
"Sakura! You... I only have one arm to assist you now. This battle still requires you to adapt to Sasori's attacks."
Sakura nodded without hesitation, "No problem. I inherited more than just medical ninjutsu from Lady Tsunade!"
In that instant, Granny Chiyo seemed to see the Slug Princess, Tsunade Hime, from the ninja wars of the past. Without further words, Granny Chiyo extended several chakra threads and connected them to Sakura's body.
"This move again? The same tactic won't work," Sasori said upon seeing this, his hands moving rapidly. He clearly didn't want to prolong the fight.
"Iron Sand Gathering!"
All the iron sand on the ground instantly formed several massive objects, cone-shaped, triangular, and rectangular. But undoubtedly, each piece of iron sand possessed immense destructive power.
However, Sakura, controlled by Granny Chiyo, was quite formidable. Each punch from Sakura sent the iron sand flying far away, nearly hitting Lixing.
"This young girl possesses such monstrous strength..." Sasori realized he couldn't defeat them if this continued and decided to change his tactics.
"Iron Sand World Formation!"
Sasori made two high-density iron sand blocks with opposite magnetic fields collide and simultaneously amplified the magnetic force. The iron sand blocks then scattered outwards due to the repulsive force of the magnetic fields, forming countless cone-shaped iron sand particles that filled the sky, and these cones would continuously stab into the ground, launching widespread attacks.
Sakura frantically dodged this attack but was still wounded by the iron sand. This iron sand had been infused with potent poison by Sasori, and Sakura subsequently collapsed from poisoning.
Seizing the opportunity, Sasori immediately controlled the Third Kazekage to fly towards Sakura, extending a long sword from his arm, intending to end Sakura's life then and there.
But just as the Third Kazekage was about to touch Sakura, she suddenly got up and punched the Third Kazekage into pieces. Without the Third Kazekage, the iron sand on the ground immediately scattered.
Due to the poison, Sakura could no longer fight after delivering that punch. Granny Chiyo immediately rushed to Sakura's side and helped her up.
"Oh, Haruno Sakura is poisoned. Because I intervened, she couldn't detoxify Kankuro and thus has no antidote. If she doesn't receive treatment, she'll likely die here," Lixing suddenly thought of this. If this continued, Sasori would win, but Sasori hadn't used his scroll yet, and it would be a shame for the puppet battle to end like this. So Lixing drew his Nichirin Blade and swung it at Sakura, instantly dispelling her poison. None of the three below noticed these subtle movements.
"It's useless, old woman. She's already been poisoned by me. If left untreated, she'll die in three days."
But just as Sasori finished speaking, Sakura immediately stood up. Though she didn't understand how, the battle wasn't over, and she couldn't fall here.
"Impossible! You've clearly been poisoned, so why can you still stand?" Sasori's face was filled with disbelief.
Sasori then regained his composure and slowly took out a scroll, "But it doesn't matter. The real show is about to begin."
"Red Secret Technique: Hundred Puppet Performance!"
"A puppeteer's strength is defined by the number of puppets they can control. I once destroyed an entire country with this technique!"
Granny Chiyo, seeing this, also slowly took out a scroll with the character for "forbidden" written on it, "I didn't want to use this, but it seems I have no choice now."
"White Secret Technique: Chikamatsu Ten Puppets!"
At the same time, Sakura stood among Granny Chiyo's ten puppets, indicating her intention to fight together.
Lixing, watching from above, was excited, "Here it comes, here it comes! The battle between the strongest puppeteers in the ninja world. It will definitely be an exciting fight!"
In a flash, Sasori controlled hundreds of puppets to engage with Granny Chiyo's ten puppets. However, Granny Chiyo's puppets were clearly of better quality. In the initial clash, Sasori lost many puppets.
After a period of combat, both sides' puppets were in tatters. When Sasori's final puppet was shattered by Sakura, he immediately took off his Akatsuki robe.
"Fighting with my own body is quite a rare feeling!"
Granny Chiyo was startled. It turned out Sasori had modified himself into a puppet, explaining why his appearance hadn't changed in twenty years.
Sasori wasted no time and immediately extended his hands, powerful flames erupting from his palms. Granny Chiyo and Sakura could only take cover behind rocks.
But Sasori's mechanisms weren't limited to flames. He extended his hands again, and two high-pressure water cannons shot towards the rocks where Granny Chiyo and Sakura were. The two rocks were instantly cut in half.
Forcing them out, Sasori attacked Sakura with steel cables from his abdomen. It was best to deal with the taijutsu-specialized Sakura first, then the puppet-less Granny Chiyo.
But Sakura was also clever. She grabbed the steel cable with her hand and pulled Sasori towards her with all her might, then punched his body into pieces.
Just as Sakura was about to relax, a chill ran down her spine. Sasori's body reassembled, and he lunged forward with a knife, but at the critical moment, Granny Chiyo appeared behind Sakura and took the blow for her.
"Sealing Technique: Lion Song!"
Taking advantage of the close proximity, Granny Chiyo used a sealing jutsu. A puppet shaped like a giant lion's head pinned Sasori to the wall.
Seeing Sasori no longer moving, Granny Chiyo and Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. Just as Sakura was about to treat Granny Chiyo, Sasori suddenly flew up from the ground, holding a knife and slashing towards Sakura's back.
But Granny Chiyo was prepared. With a wave of her hand, her parents' puppets, holding two swords, crossed them and inserted them into Sasori's core. Sasori instantly ceased moving.
Seeing this, Sakura temporarily put aside the matter of Sasori and immediately went to Granny Chiyo's side, using the Mystical Palm Technique to treat her.
Sasori smiled faintly, "It's useless. That blow has already injured the old woman's vital points, and she's also been poisoned by me. She's bound to die."
"Shut up!" Sakura shouted at Sasori, not caring about his words at this moment.
"Heh, women always like to do useless things. Then I'll do something useless as well, as a reward for defeating me. The Bridge of Heaven and Earth in Kusagakure. You can go there in ten days. There's news of Orochimaru there... I have a subordinate lurking with Orochimaru..." In his dying moments, Sasori still provided Sakura with some information. After saying this, Sasori died silently.
Seeing Sasori's death, Lixing and Karin immediately flew down. Lixing directly took Sasori's corpse. Sasori's longing for his parents resonated deeply with Lixing, and he would never allow Kankuro to use Sasori's body as a puppet in the future.
"Lixing! Senior Lixing! You are also a disciple of Lady Tsunade. Please, save Granny Chiyo, I beg you!"
Sakura, knowing her medical ninjutsu was insufficient to quickly save Granny Chiyo, knelt before Lixing and pleaded for him to save Granny Chiyo's life.
"Why should I save her? I have no relationship with her, and she's already dying anyway. Saving her is pointless." Lixing couldn't be bothered to meddle. Dispelling Sakura's poison was already a great act of mercy. After experiencing life and death, Lixing no longer valued others' lives as much as before. After all, everyone dies. Unless they are related to him, Lixing would not save anyone, even if it was just a small effort.
Then, Lixing, with Karin, flew away from the cave. Sakura's voice could be heard shouting from behind, "Is this how a medical ninja should be? You're not worthy of being Lady Tsunade's disciple! I will never acknowledge you as my senior!"
Hearing this, Lixing immediately laughed, "That's fine. Go back and tell Tsunade that I have no feelings of master and disciple towards her."
"Star-kun!" Karin, however, heard a different meaning and immediately became jealous.
"Enough, Sakura. There's no need to save a dying person like me. Hurry and go find Naruto. Retrieve Gaara. I still have one thing I must do!" Granny Chiyo slowly stood up, picked up her arm, and intended to pursue Gaara.
Seeing this, Sakura immediately carried Granny Chiyo on her back and quickly ran in the direction Naruto had left.
(A bit of a pacing issue)