While Kaiji practice Mystical Palm Jutsu diligently in his own place, on the other side of Sunagakure, a silent battle was about to begin.
Night fell as the moon crossed the sky, spreading its light over the entire village.
Sasori silently entered the residence of Satei, the Third Kazekage.
He carried a large box on his back.
With silent steps, he moved forward.
Puff!
Sasori sensed and located the Anbu around the Kazekage's place and threw his smoke bombs directly toward them.
He covered his face and threw a few smoke bombs, mixed with his poison, around the open yard of the residence, eliminating the Anbu and a few guards on duty swiftly and silently.
Those he saw trying to shout and alert Satei were killed by his poisonous senbon.
Because it was the Kazekage's residence, not any houses were present close proximity.
But for safety, Sasori made a few sealing formulas, creating an invisible barrier of Silencing Seal around Satei's home.
He then placed a few sealed poison bombs in other areas of yard.
Creak!
Sasori jumped up and landed softly on the top of the house as silently as possible.
He opened the window of a room above.
Sasori saw that Satei was sleeping and muttered, "Sleeping so soundly, tch. Does he really have the strength to be called the strongest Kazekage? Otherwise, all my preparations are wasted."
Sasori then took something from his pocket while sitting with his knees bent, both legs supporting his weight on the narrow sill.
His gaze landed on the bed where Satei was sleeping.
His eyes widened in surprise as Satei vanished with a poof from the bed. "Wha—"
He did not have much time to be surprised, as many sharp iron needles came directly at him, mostly toward his face.
He tried to dodge by turning to side but fell because he was seated on the window.
He fell from the top floor but steadied himself in mid-air, landing softly on the ground.
Sasori smiled sinisterly and muttered, "It's good I was outside the room; otherwise, dodging all of them would be difficult. But, at least I find that Kazekage isn't exactly weak.
Though I still want to check if he is staying true to his name and worthy of being considered for the masterpiece of my collection."
Satei also landed on the ground, but he was not in his usual Kazekage attire of high-collared robe and hat.
Satei was stunned upon finding that Sasori was the one who had infiltrated his house.
He asked, his voice deep and threatening, "Sasori, why did you kill my guards and attacks me?"
Sasori did not reply.
He simply threw many senbon at Satei, who easily blocked them with an Iron Wall created from his Magnet Release.
But they were just a distraction, as Sasori quickly threw many smoke bombs mixed with his poison.
His face was still covered with his mask.
Though he had his antidote for his poison, safety was always important, especially when fighting against a stronger opponent.
Satei recognized and sensed the poisonous substance in the smoke bombs.
He created a compact, dense platform of magnetized Iron Sand beneath his feet.
A dark, metallic rectangle, like a surfboard-shaped disc, formed under his feet, and he flew upward from the smoke bomb area.
However, the bombs Sasori had planted earlier, now unsealed, blasted, and smoke rose higher than Satei expected.
He flew even higher, thinking he was safe, then he paused.
Sasori sneered and taunted him, "Are you trying to run away or to ask for help?"
Satei sneered back and said, "I don't need anybody's help to take care of a brat like you. And I wouldn't go easy on you either. Just because you are Chiyo's grandson, you won't be able to escape punishment for trying to attack me."
Sasori, facing upward at Satei, smirked and said, "Very well, then how about I show you a surprise?"
He opened the box on his back.
And took out a large scroll.
With a swift move, he channeled his chakra.
Whoosh!
Thud!
Many puppets emerged, surrounding Sasori, who immediately extended an incredible number of chakra threads from his fingertips.
These threads, appearing like thin, luminous blue lines, attached to each individual puppet almost instantly.
Satei, who had not been taking Sasori seriously, letting him unleash the surprise he yelled about, stood with his arms crossed on his surfboard-like iron disc a few meters in the sky.
But he was stunned for a moment.
He wondered aloud, "Chikamatsu collection of Ten puppets? No, they are more than ten!"
Sasori's smile widened as he explained his Jutsu, "It's not my grandmother's Jutsu. It's my own creation, 'Red Secret Technique: Performance of Hundred Puppets!' It has the ability to use more than even a hundred puppets.
Though I lack that number for now, I will definitely improve my collection after you also join them."
Satei still stood, crossing his arms, and sneered, "Just numbers can't help you win!"
He then looked around and said, "Using a Silencing Seal, well, it's good. I don't want anyone to bother my fight either, especially Chiyo-sama. You will regret going against me, and betraying the village."
Sasori smiled sinisterly and said, "Tch, tch, looks like that Kazekage-sama didn't even recognize the faces of my puppets. Very sad."
Satei then looked at the almost 30 puppets summoned by Sasori, covering 70% of his residence yard.
He didn't recognize a few faces, which Sasori had just made for disposable use.
But Satei immediately recognized those Special Jōnin and Jōnin who had disappeared last week.
He gritted his teeth in anger and roared, "YOU... YOU EVEN KILLED YOUR OWN TEACHER?"
Seeing Satei angry, Sasori's smile widened even more, grinning widely.
Satei yelled, "Now I've decided, I wouldn't just simply imprison you, but directly... Kill you!"
With that said, he extended his hand, and black iron particles formed from his own chakra.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Gathering Assault!"
He manipulated the iron sand into large, piercing sharp spears that moved at blinding speed toward Sasori.
Sasori was not fazed by it.
He had many of his puppets already come forward, creating a large earth dome.
"Earth Release: Earth Dome Jutsu!"
This made a dome of sand, not just around Sasori but also around all the puppets.
But the Iron spears made by Satei were too strong to be blocked by Earth Release alone.
Crack!
BOOM!
The dome broke; cracks appeared on it and it shattered immediately.
Sasori didn't stop and have his puppets create more dome barrier around him.
Satei also did not stop and continued his assault.
Wind and dust rose from the place, completely blocking his own vision.
But due to the Silencing Seal and the empty area around Satei's residence, all of these attacks were unnoticed by anyone outside, especially considering the night time.
All his Anbu guards were dead.
His personal Dune Aegis, his student Yūta, was not present there, making his house an open ground for his fight against Sasori.
Sasori continuously had his puppets create Earth Dome and barriers around him, his expressions calm, as if everything was under his control.
This was because he knew that the reach of the poisonous smoke was much higher than Satei expected, and soon he would be effected by it.
Sasori was just waiting, waiting for his poison to start showing it's effect on Satei.
But for now, due to Satei's continuous assault from his Iron Spears, many of the puppets were destroyed.
But he saved his Sensei's puppet, as this was his trump card to use against Satei.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Jutsu!"
Satei used wind to push away all the dust that was blocking his vision.
Though he could sense Sasori's chakra on the ground, who had not even moved an inch from the start.
Once the dust vanished, he saw a few of Sasori's puppets completely broken.
But Sasori himself was calm, standing there, smiling mockingly at Satei.
Satei was angry, but he did not lose his cool completely.
He muttered in a soft voice, "Iron Sand World Method!"
Sasori sensed that Satei was using an immense volume of chakra in the Iron sand.
But suddenly, Satei paused.
His vision blurred slightly.
His eyes widened in disbelief as he thought, "When?"
Sasori sneered, "Hehehehe, Got you!"
•••