Now, what lay before Chiyo, Baki, and Sasori was nothing short of a walking natural disaster.
Every move Tsunade made—every punch, every kick—shattered anything that came into contact with her limbs in an instant.
The iron sand constructs created from the Third Kazekage’s puppet were destroyed by Tsunade’s fists almost immediately.
Even though they could reform, under Tsunade’s overwhelming assaults, Sasori could only swallow his rage and retreat while trying to keep her at bay.
As a puppeteer, close combat was never his strong suit.
Even if Sasori had some methods to deal with close-range enemies, it all depended on who he was facing.
And Tsunade, standing in front of him now, was the last person he wanted anywhere near him.
Her fists didn’t even need to use full force—just one strike might be enough to completely destroy his entire body mechanism.
In just a short span of time, the pressure on Sasori had grown immense, and the way he looked at Tsunade had unconsciously shifted to one of helplessness.
Her body didn’t feel like that of a normal shinobi.
It wasn’t as if his puppets hadn’t hurt her—she bore wounds.
Even the Third Kazekage’s Iron Sand Rain had torn open gory, brutal gashes across Tsunade’s skin.
At the same time, the poison coating the blades hidden in the puppet’s body had seeped into her wounds and was eating away at her from the inside.
But just as she had warned, before the battle was over, her body was already developing antibodies to neutralize his poison.
What stunned Sasori even more was that the moment a wound appeared on her body, it began to heal on its own.
Even though the Third Kazekage puppet’s attacks came down like a torrential storm, they still couldn’t keep up with the speed of her regeneration.
Often, the moment a wound appeared, blood would splatter through the air.
But in the very next second, the injury would heal completely, as if nothing had happened.
Sometimes, that woman didn’t even bother dodging.
She would charge forward straight into the Third Kazekage’s attacks, taking them head-on.
It wasn’t just Sasori who was stunned.
Even Chiyo and the others behind him were shocked by what they were seeing.
Especially Chiyo, who had fought Tsunade many times during the Second Great Ninja War and knew her techniques well.
She couldn’t believe the reckless woman charging like a berserker from the Hidden Cloud was the same Tsunade from her memories.
"When did Tsunade’s taijutsu become this powerful?"
Chiyo’s face twitched slightly as her eyes widened.
When the puppet of the Third Kazekage first appeared, she had planned to relay intel about it to Tsunade and the others.
She had also intended to use her knowledge of Sasori, the Third Kazekage, and puppet-style combat to help develop a battle strategy.
But now... it seemed none of that was necessary.
Tsunade alone had already pushed Sasori into a corner.
Forcing him to defend awkwardly and retreat again and again.
Chiyo wasn’t surprised that Tsunade could suppress Sasori.
After all, she was one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha.
Though known as a medical ninja, her monstrous strength and massive chakra reserves made her a terrifying opponent in battle.
What confused Chiyo was Tsunade’s current fighting style.
And that unnatural, almost instant self-healing!
Had she developed some forbidden jutsu over the years?
Was it some kind of advanced jutsu where the price was actually bearable?
Anyone else who took the same injuries as Tsunade would’ve already died and passed on to the Pure Land.
But Tsunade, in order to quickly get close to Sasori, didn’t even bother dodging some of the attacks she could have avoided.
In just a short moment, the Third Kazekage puppet that Sasori had sent to the front had already been nearly dismantled by Tsunade. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs novel(ꜰ)ire.net
At the very least, all the mechanisms Sasori had installed inside the puppet had been violently destroyed by her, leaving only the Iron Sand kekkei genkai still usable.
He couldn’t even escape.
In the end, before the puppet was completely scrapped, Sasori was knocked down by a single punch from Tsunade.
Chiyo, who had caught up just in time, nearly had her soul fly out in shock.
For a second, she thought her only grandson would die at the hands of a Konoha shinobi—just like her son and daughter-in-law.
"Don’t give me that ’I’m going to kill someone’ look. I held back—he’s not dead."
Tsunade crossed her arms, glanced sideways at Chiyo, who was checking on Sasori, and looked visibly annoyed.
"My punch scrambled his nervous system. He won’t be able to move for a while. You’d better seal him now."
Without waiting for Chiyo to respond, Tsunade turned her gaze to Baki, who had followed behind, and reminded him.
"Thank you for your assistance," Baki said respectfully, then turned to Chiyo and said in a serious tone, "Elder Chiyo, please step aside. As the murderer of the Third Kazekage, we must take him back to the village and hand him over to the Fourth Kazekage for judgment."
After confirming that Sasori was still alive, Chiyo stepped back and joined Baki in sealing Sasori’s hands and chakra using a sealing technique.
"I should have turned myself into a puppet too."
Now that Sasori had regained the ability to move, he didn’t show any anger. Instead, he calmly began reflecting on his defeat.
As expected, a puppet master’s body was too limited. Once an annoying enemy got close, it was easy to be overwhelmed.
"You and Orochimaru must have a lot in common. At the very least, your ideas are both so twisted they make me uncomfortable," Tsunade said, glancing at Sasori. She saw something familiar in him.
Compared to the old Orochimaru, who used to modify his body and now constantly cuts away at his own soul, this guy in front of her—who casually said he wanted to turn himself into a puppet—had the same madness in his scientific pursuits.
But Sasori was more reckless, more blunt.
"As long as I’m around, I won’t let you do anything crazy!" Chiyo narrowed her eyes at his words. She had no intention of watching her grandson walk down that path.
"A bet is a bet. I lost. So I’ll go back to the Hidden Sand Village with you." Sasori responded as if he hadn’t even heard his grandmother.
On the way back to the village, Sasori behaved as if he had accepted his fate. He was calm and obedient.
The only time his emotions shifted was when his eyes fell on Tsunade.
"I feel like you’re thinking something shady again," Tsunade said, shooting a glare at him and waving her fist in front of his face.
"I was just thinking... if I could make you into a human puppet, you’d be an even greater masterpiece than the Third Kazekage! A piece of art that could live on forever," Sasori said seriously.
"Replace a person’s flesh and blood with mechanical parts and gears? My greatest strength is my body. Becoming a puppet means giving that up. Your skills aren’t nearly good enough for that!" Tsunade replied, unable to understand his way of thinking.
But with the village drawing closer, she didn’t bother thinking any more about it.
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