This guy… is he really just a genin?
With a single strike, Senju Haruto had shattered Hiruko.
In terms of defensive capability, Hiruko ranked among the finest of Scorpion's many puppets. That was precisely why Akasuna no Sasori had chosen to use it as his standard battle puppet, concealing his true body inside.
Yet—even though Sasori was shocked—such a feat wasn't enough to inspire fear in him.
"Impressive material," Sasori said coldly as he ripped away the black cloak shrouding him, finally revealing his long-hidden true form. His eyes gleamed as he praised Haruto's power.
The only regret Sasori felt was that Haruto's strength came from the Nine-Tails sealed within him. Once Pain extracted the beast, Haruto's abilities would plummet. Even if he were turned into a human puppet, he would hardly be the strongest of Sasori's collection.
Still, the fact that this boy had become a perfect jinchūriki at such a young age spoke volumes about his talent. Even if not the absolute strongest, he stood firmly among the elite.
"That's… Sasori?"
Temari's voice trembled in disbelief as she gazed at him.
"What is it?" Yamato (Tenzō) noticed her reaction and frowned.
"According to the intel I've seen, Akasuna no Sasori should be in his thirties… but this—he looks barely older than a teenager." Temari's throat tightened. The sight before her made no sense. Sasori looked absurdly young.
"Now that you mention it…" Yamato muttered, realization dawning—then he noticed Temari moving forward as if to join the fight. Quickly, he extended an arm to stop her.
Temari assumed Yamato doubted her strength, that he thought she'd be useless.
"That's not it," Yamato shook his head.
The truth was simple: Haruto had mastered Sage Mode and could freely wield the Nine-Tails' chakra. His strength far surpassed Yamato's own.
From Yamato's perspective, the greatest help they could give Haruto was to avoid interfering in his battle. Of course, if things grew dire, he was prepared to support with Wood Release.
"Leave Sasori to me."
Haruto, sensing their hesitation, glanced back with a grin and raised his thumb, telling them not to worry.
The only reason Sasori had caught him off-guard earlier was his lack of experience against puppeteers. Now that he understood, it no longer posed much of a threat.
At that moment, Sasori unfurled a special scroll, its surface marked with a large kanji—"Three."
Boom!
With a burst of smoke, a puppet appeared before them, its form unmistakably modeled after the Third Kazekage.
"That's… the Third Kazekage!?" Temari's eyes widened in shock.
The mystery of the Third's disappearance had plagued Sunagakure for years. No one knew his fate—alive or dead. But now, staring at Sasori's puppet, Temari understood the truth.
Sasori did not bother to hide his achievement. Seeing Temari's horrified expression, he sneered and boasted proudly.
It had been him—he was the one who had slain the Kazekage once hailed as the strongest in Sunagakure's history. He had killed him and then transformed his body into a human puppet.
"And the beauty of human puppets," Sasori said, his mouth curling upward, "is that they can wield every jutsu the original shinobi mastered in life… and possess limitless chakra. Against this, you have no chance."
Haruto frowned, muttering under his breath, "Sounds an awful lot like Orochimaru's Edo Tensei…"
Based on Sasori's description, the similarities were undeniable: both twisted the dead into weapons.
The mere mention of Edo Tensei made Sasori's expression darken.
Orochimaru's so-called "revival" technique was a desecration of art, an insult to the craft he had perfected.
"Enough—I'll kill you first!"
Sasori snarled and sent the Third Kazekage puppet hurtling toward Haruto, its hidden mechanisms spewing a dense cloud of poison, meant to paralyze him on the spot.
Yamato immediately pulled Temari back, retreating from the spreading toxin.
"Haruto…" Temari whispered, her lips pale with worry.
But the poison never touched him. The chakra cloak of the Nine-Tails shimmered around Haruto's body, effortlessly repelling the toxins.
In that instant, Haruto drove forward, his fist smashing into the puppet's jaw and sending Sasori's prized Kazekage puppet flying.
"Looks like your human puppets don't quite measure up to Edo Tensei after all," Haruto taunted.
Unlike Edo Tensei, which regenerated endlessly from any injury, Sasori's puppets, once destroyed, were gone for good.
"Thousand-Armed Manipulation!"
Sasori's fury boiled over at the insult. To him, Edo Tensei was nothing but filth, unworthy of being compared to the perfection of his art.
In a flash, the Kazekage puppet spread its arms, and thousands of blades erupted forth like a forest of death, shooting toward Haruto.
But Haruto was already ready. With a surge of chakra, he created shadow clones to pour elemental energy into his attack.
"Wind Release: Rasen Shuriken!"
As the countless arms shot toward him, Haruto hurled his devastating jutsu. The whirling sphere of wind chakra tore through everything in its path, slicing every puppet arm to ribbons.
Sasori's eyes widened in disbelief.
This boy… is he truly just a genin of Konoha?
Even as Sasori yanked on his chakra threads to pull the Kazekage puppet back, Haruto's attack surged further.
The Rasen Shuriken stopped midair for a heartbeat—then exploded outward, its chakra expanding in a deadly storm. The blast swallowed the Kazekage puppet whole, obliterating it instantly.
In mere moments, Haruto had destroyed Sasori's two greatest puppets.
"Face reality, Sasori," Haruto said firmly, pointing at him. His voice dropped low. "You have no chance of winning. Tell me where Deidara is taking Gaara, and I might let you live."
"You… let me live?"
For a moment Sasori was stunned, then his lips curled into a laugh.
The very thought that a brat from Konoha would speak to him that way—preposterous.
"It seems you've underestimated me."
With a slow shake of his head, Sasori cast aside his red clouded cloak.
"Don't forget—I am an S-rank missing-nin. Once, long ago…" His eyes narrowed, voice cold and sharp as steel.
"…I destroyed an entire nation."