Chapter 336: Your Heart, I Want It
At the very beginning, the reason Nagato, Kakashi, and the others hadn't realized what Neji was talking about — was entirely because their rhythm had been disrupted by Tobi's sudden appearance and Granny Chiyo's suspicions.
Moreover, Konoha and Kirigakure had never been on good terms, and being in Sunagakure on top of that, they had subconsciously overlooked certain issues.
Or rather, they simply hadn't considered things from that angle yet!
Kakashi's eyes flickered slightly. They might not have considered it, but the Sunagakure side couldn't possibly have failed to notice.
From how seriously Granny Chiyo regarded the One-Tail jinchuriki alone, it was enough to show that this matter had likely been analyzed by a dedicated ninja strategic team.
Granny Chiyo had indeed been enraged by Uchiha Obito's provocative actions.
But Ebizo, who stayed at Granny Chiyo's side, had not!
On the other side.
About one kilometer away from Sunagakure's main gate.
Uchiha Obito had infiltrated Sunagakure using Space-Time Ninjutsu, but Kakuzu and Sasuke didn't have Space-Time Ninjutsu, so naturally they couldn't infiltrate directly.
However, Uchiha Obito's objective had always been different from Kakuzu and Sasuke's to begin with.
Right now, Kakuzu struck an imposing posture, looking as though he intended to force his way into Sunagakure single-handedly.
Sasuke followed closely behind Kakuzu, the three-tomoe Sharingan in his eyes already activated, cautiously surveying his surroundings.
Suddenly, Kakuzu up ahead came to a halt!
"Heh, looks like this is as far as we can go without trouble."
Kakuzu stopped, cracked his neck as he looked forward, and let out a low chuckle.
Sasuke stopped right after him, gazing ahead cautiously. In Sasuke's field of vision, five Suna ninja slowly emerged from the flat sandy ground ahead.
"Only five people? It seems that guy's infiltration into Sunagakure's interior really did draw away some of their forces."
Seeing only five Suna ninja appear, Sasuke's eyes flickered as the thought crossed his mind.
The five Sunagakure ninja gazed at Kakuzu and Sasuke before them, their eyes carrying a trace of mockery — as if looking at dead men.
"Just two people, and one of them is a kid, and they think they can invade Sunagakure?"
"What an absolute joke!"
One of the Suna ninja suddenly burst out laughing, his voice dripping with unmasked disdain.
"Enough talk. Finish this quickly. Their other companion has already infiltrated the village."
"And pay special attention to that kid — try not to kill him."
"A brat from the Uchiha clan? Capturing him would surely bring us considerable benefits!"
The Suna ninja squad leader spoke coolly, his expression calm and composed.
The moment the squad leader finished speaking, the four Suna ninja beside him moved their fingers almost simultaneously.
A massive barrage of kunai laden with explosive tags flew out from all directions, sweeping toward Kakuzu and Sasuke like a torrential downpour.
Sasuke's Sharingan spun rapidly. As his body swiftly retreated to one side, he pulled kunai from his ninja pouch and hurled them out in return.
The kunai Sasuke threw collided precisely midair with the ones fired by the Suna ninja, followed by a series of explosions.
Of course, the reason Sasuke so easily dealt with these explosive-tag-bearing kunai was that the majority of them had been aimed at Kakuzu — only a small fraction were directed at Sasuke.
As for Kakuzu, he stood in place without moving even an inch, letting the kunai slam into his body and set off a chain of explosions!
Seeing this, the Suna ninja side clearly froze for a moment. The man was completely within the blast radius of the explosive tags, and taking so many of them along with kunai at once — he should be dead without a doubt!
Could they really have taken care of this intruder so easily?
The same thought flashed through every Suna ninja's mind simultaneously!
But the next moment!
From the dust and smoke caused by the bombardment, Kakuzu burst forth at incredible speed.
Aside from slightly tattered clothes, Kakuzu didn't have a single injury on his entire body. Instead, his skin had taken on a metallic sheen.
"Your heart, I want it!"
Kakuzu's face was filled with excitement and unmasked killing intent. At blinding speed, he appeared right before the ninja squad leader.
As Kakuzu surged forward, the metallic sheen across his body gradually faded, while at the same time, his arm began to harden and turn black.
He thrust his hand directly toward the Suna ninja squad leader's heart!
"This speed —!"
The squad leader's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly reached up to form hand seals, but given the speed Kakuzu was displaying, there was no time.
His hand seals had barely begun when Kakuzu's hardened arm was already touching the squad leader's chest — and pierced straight through!
However!
The arm that pierced through didn't draw a single drop of blood from the squad leader's chest. There was only scattered wood debris!
Kakuzu hadn't grabbed a heart. Instead, at the heart's position, he had seized a weapon coated in emerald-green liquid.
But under Kakuzu's hardened arm, the weapon's poison couldn't penetrate his palm — and the weapon itself was crushed to pieces by his hardened hand.
Poof! Poof! ...Poof!
Along with five plumes of white smoke dissipating, the five Suna ninja from earlier all transformed into five bizarre, strangely-shaped puppets of varying forms.
At the same time, these five puppets instantly assumed an encirclement formation, surrounding Kakuzu at the center.
It wasn't just Kakuzu's side either — Sasuke was encountering trouble as well.
Sasuke, who had just evaded the explosive tag attacks, had barely steadied his footing when he suddenly felt the sandy ground beneath him churning. He quickly leapt upward, moving backward.
"Those are chakra threads!"
"So that's it. The puppets were lying in wait underground all along — they were just connected just now."
"The Puppet Jutsu... to think it could be used this way!"
In the vision of Sasuke's Sharingan, chakra threads shot out from a concealed position, connecting to a puppet right where he had been standing.
In other words!
There should be more than just one puppet buried beneath this sandy ground!
Swish!!
Countless flying needles shot out from where he had just been standing, all of them flying toward Sasuke who was still airborne.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Sasuke, leaping through the air, showed no panic whatsoever. He rapidly formed hand seals and simultaneously opened his mouth, spitting out a massive fireball!
The searing flames, combined with the explosion, blasted away every single needle the puppet had fired.
Not only that — after releasing the Fire Release ninjutsu, Sasuke's hand seals still didn't stop. He continued forming seals midair, and the instant Sasuke touched down —
Accompanied by the sound of chirping birds!
A mass of blue lightning gathered in Sasuke's left hand, crackling with sharp, electric pops.
Lightning Release: Chidori!
The Sharingan in Sasuke's eyes spun at high speed. After pinpointing the source of the chakra threads, he violently stomped the ground and charged directly toward where the threads connected.
The puppet user seemed to sense the danger of the Chidori in Sasuke's hand as well, rapidly manipulating the puppet to launch continuous attacks, trying to obstruct Sasuke's advance.
Unfortunately, with the dynamic vision of the Sharingan, Sasuke dodged every single one of the puppet's attacks.
And at that moment, Sasuke spotted the Suna ninja hidden in the shadows, controlling the puppets!
The Suna ninja's expression changed. He quickly retreated while simultaneously maneuvering the puppet to shield himself in front.
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