Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

Kakashi didn't back down an inch; instead, he gritted his teeth and faced the challenge head-on.

There's a method to retreating; it's not as simple as just turning around, exposing your back to the enemy, and running away. Doing that will only get you easily killed. The more you want to push them away, the less you can afford to lose your composure. If you can't stop this wave of attacks, then there's no point in even thinking about escaping.

"Water Escape·Water Formation Wall."

The surging water churned up from beneath Itachi's feet, forming a double defense with the rock wall carved with a dog's head that Kakashi summoned. Clearly, both of them knew what to do at this moment. Kimimaro, who had little knowledge of ninjutsu, also stepped forward and stood in front of Kakashi and Itachi.

He had a layer of bone beneath his skin, which would act as a shield in front of Kakashi and Itachi should they fail to block Sasori's attack, even if that shield was a bit small.

[Chapter 229. Earth Escape Technique: Earth Splitting Palm]

Kimimaro, the humanoid meat shield, was fortunate enough not to be used. The rock wall with a dog's head carved on it that Kakashi summoned was destroyed by the combined attack of the human puppets. However, after destroying the rock wall, the combined ninjutsu of the human puppets seemed to lack momentum and failed to break through Itachi's water barrier in one go.

but,

Killing is not the scorpion's purpose.

If such good materials are destroyed, all the efforts will be wasted.

The best outcome would naturally be to capture the body alive and then slowly modify and process it. If capturing it alive is difficult, then at least leave it intact. Cutting off arms or legs is acceptable, but it must not be so bloody and mangled that its original appearance is unrecognizable.

The five human puppets, having exhausted their strength, blocked the frontal attack.

However, this successfully slowed down Kakashi and the others' escape. After a brief delay, five other traditionally constructed puppets flanked them from the left and right, blocking their retreat route. At this point, Sasori finally moved.

Puppet masters have distance limitations when manipulating puppets. The farther the distance between the puppet and the puppeteer, the more chakra is consumed when manipulating them. More importantly, it takes a lot of mental effort. Even Sasori had to concentrate fully when manipulating ten puppets at the same time, without the slightest negligence.

"Clang!"

The short dachi deflected the poisoned blade thrusting straight at him. Itachi Uchiha alternated between the Body Flicker Technique and the Substitution Technique, moving through the battlefield like a ghost. His Uchiha-style swordsmanship combined with his Uchiha-style shuriken technique made him flawless in both ranged and close combat. If his genjutsu hadn't been rendered useless, he probably would have already taken down several enemies.

Unfortunately, this time their enemy was a puppet.

Illusions have no effect on puppets.

Moreover, the puppets are much harder than the flesh of a ninja. Unless one has mastered an extremely powerful wind release technique or possesses a divine weapon that can cut through iron like mud, it is difficult to damage these puppets with ninja tools. At present, the only things that can damage these puppets seem to be ninjutsu or explosive tags.

Uchiha Itachi used the corner of his eye to observe the surrounding situation and noticed that the puppets did not rush forward.

Instead, they maintained a one-on-one relationship.

Kakashi and Kimimaro were each entangled by one puppet, while the remaining seven puppets were scattered around, blocking any possibility of retreat... This situation was truly infuriating. Perhaps due to his personality, Itachi Uchiha always presented himself as humble and polite in front of others.

however,

As an Uchiha.

He was praised as a genius by many people, and even though he always responded with a humble smile, to be honest, he was still a little proud. Apart from feeling pressured in front of the clan leader and Shisui, he had never lost a single time since graduating from the Ninja Academy!

"Kakashi-senpai, what do we do now?"

As they passed each other, Itachi Uchiha asked in a low voice.

Kakashi remained silent until five seconds later when the two approached each other again, back to back, and moved to the closest point. At that moment, a new command was transmitted into Itachi's ear: "From now on, you are free to act. You decide what to do yourself."

The current situation is far from optimistic.

The human puppet was far more troublesome than expected. If he hadn't been injured, he might have had a chance to counterattack and find an opportunity to win. However, his deteriorating health made him realize that he probably couldn't hold out for much longer, and Scorpion was clearly not going all out yet.

Unfortunately, the retreat was hampered; if he were alone, escaping would not have been difficult.

However, he also brought along two subordinates, Itachi and Kimimaro, this time. Even though these two subordinates were not exactly burdens, they were just a temporary team. Their teamwork looked decent, but that was only on the surface. Against an opponent of Sasori's caliber, their teamwork was full of flaws.

At this point, instead of forcing each other to cooperate,

It would be better to let them decide for themselves.

After Itachi answered, the same order was then relayed to Kimimaro.

However, as the captain, Kakashi couldn't bring himself to flee first. With a sigh, he swallowed a pain-relieving pill, focused all his attention, cleared his mind of distractions and burdens, and launched a fierce attack on the persistent puppet.

This entanglement has continued until now.

While he was entangled by these puppets and unable to retreat, Kakashi gained a deeper understanding of them, essentially figuring out all their mechanisms. He then silently concealed the explosive tag in his left palm.

Blades clashed in the air.

The puppet's five-eyed, five-armed body twisted in the air in a bizarre manner. All of its arms concealed deadly weapons, its five eyes could spray out poisoned needles, and its knees could spew out poisonous mist. Its diverse methods were eye-opening, allowing people to personally experience what a puppeteer was like... However, Kakashi had already figured out all the details about this puppet.

Using the dynamic vision granted by the Sharingan, he predicted the puppet's attack and calmly dodged it. At the same time, in the instant they were about to cross paths, he slapped the explosive tags in his hand onto the puppet's side, thigh, and back. This maneuver was extremely dangerous, like walking a tightrope.

If his prediction is even slightly off, or his physical reaction is even a beat too slow,

Then Kakashi will be the one to fall.

However, there are no "what ifs" in this world. Kakashi believed that the eyes his best friend had given him would help him see the way forward, and that his hard work in training would not let him down. He safely crossed the thin, life-threatening tightrope.

Amidst the three almost overlapping "boom" explosions,

The puppet, made of a mixture of steel and wood, was blown to pieces. The destructive power of the three explosive tags exploding in succession was still quite considerable. The blade, made of poisoned refined steel, was shattered into pieces, which were thrown high into the air and flew a considerable distance.

"They're not that difficult to deal with!"

Kakashi thought to himself.

His previous judgment seemed to be inaccurate. After becoming familiar with the way the puppets fought, he realized that his previous judgment was hasty. Illusion was ineffective, and shuriken and kunai could not harm these puppets. In addition, he was unfortunately injured, and the invisible pressure brought by Sasori killing the Third Kazekage caused him to misjudge.

He overestimated how terrifying these puppets were!

Of course, such a misjudgment is not a big problem. Compared to the disaster caused by underestimating or underestimating the opponent, this misjudgment did not actually cause any irreparable consequences. Although Sasori's puppet is not strong enough to be invincible, Sasori, who has not yet gone all out, is indeed a very troublesome enemy.

He destroyed a puppet with a traditional structure, not the human puppet created by Scorpion!

The human puppet that had been chasing him earlier, using earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magic or technique), was now guarding one of their escape routes, blocking their escape path.

Shortly after Kakashi dealt with the puppet that was harassing him, Itachi Uchiha finally used ninjutsu for the second time.

【Fire Release: Phoenix Claw Crimson】

Small bursts of flame rained down, striking the puppet that had no time to dodge. The intense heat of the flames caused the puppet's body to twist and deform to some extent. However, the puppet, whose body was mostly made of wood, was not ignited, as every part of its body was coated with fire-retardant paint.

For the puppeteers of Sunagakure,

Fire prevention is a required course for them. They don't need to be able to withstand the extremely high temperatures or the shock waves generated by an explosion; they just need to be able to avoid being easily ignited.

However, Itachi Uchiha's goal was not to burn the puppet. The Phoenix Flame was just one part of the attack. The shuriken hidden in the flames were another part of the complete attack. Under Itachi's precise control, the shuriken accurately pierced the puppet's joints, and then the high temperature of the flames caused the puppet's body to deform.

The shuriken was stuck in the joint.

The puppet's mechanisms were thus rendered ineffective.

Even though this puppet can still be controlled compared to the one Kakashi blasted to pieces, a puppet with stiff limbs that cannot move flexibly is practically useless. Instead, it only distracts Sasori from some of his attention and occupies a controllable position.

The broken puppet was quickly abandoned by Sasori. Without the control of the chakra threads, the puppet fell to the ground and lay motionless.

"Stop right there!"

Like a roar from a young tiger, Kimimaro was clashing head-on with the puppet.

White bones protruded from his palms, elbows, shoulders, back, and sides, like a white hedgehog, making it impossible for the six-armed puppet to attack. All its attacks were blocked, as the incredibly hard bones could not be cut through. Instead, they chipped the blades with chips of varying sizes.

This isn't the limit; it can be even stronger!

Watching Kakashi and Itachi Uchiha successively defeat the puppets they faced, Kimimaro felt a surge of anger. He kept trying to increase the concentration of calcium and the hardness of his bones. Then, he stretched out his left hand and finally pulled out his own spine, whipping it out like a whip and wrapping it around the puppet.

at the same time,

Bones rapidly formed, and he hurled them with all his might with his right hand. The intersecting bones completely restrained the puppet. Even though the puppet's body was disassembled under Scorpion's control, every disassembled part was still restrained and could not break free.

No sooner said than done.

In reality, it took less than five minutes. After realizing that retreat was impossible, Kakashi and the others chose to fight. They used different methods to disable the three puppets. Kimimaro, who had successfully restrained one of the puppets, was panting heavily. Before he could savor the taste of victory, he found that Kakashi and Itachi had already fallen into a new round of fierce fighting.

This time,

Both of them were facing attacks from three puppets each, and the last puppet rushed in front of them at this moment, seamlessly connecting with the attack!

victory,

It's still a long way off!

Defeating a puppet is only the first step; to completely defeat the Crimson Sand Scorpion and achieve victory... it won't be that easy.

"Great! Excellent! These are all fantastic materials!"

Three puppets were dismantled.

Instead of being angry, Scorpion revealed a subtle hint of pleasure on his otherwise expressionless face. After all, the puppets he destroyed were all older models. Even if they weren't destroyed in battle, he would have disposed of them sooner or later anyway. These puppets were ones he used before he could create enough human puppets.

With the increasing number of human puppets, there is no longer a great need for older models of puppets!

Moreover, even if the puppets are destroyed, it doesn't really matter to Sasori. The destruction actually proves to him that they are not eternal, and he is still on the path of pursuing eternity... The skillful Sasori can still spare some time to ponder these things that are not very relevant to the battle in front of him.

In comparison, Kakashi and his group looked rather disheveled.

Their previous triumph seemed to be a fleeting moment, and now they were somewhat dispirited after being hit hard. At the same time, they were being suppressed by three puppets, one of which was a human puppet. The fierce and stormy attacks were really hard for Kakashi and the others to handle. Kimimaro, on the other hand, was only facing another old model of puppet.

However, Kimimaro's chakra reserves have already dropped to less than half.

Moreover, methods used once before may not work the same way a second time, and Kimimaro's situation is not optimistic either.

Kakashi was filled with thoughts, trying to figure out how to break the deadlock. Fortunately, Sasori seemed to be preparing to capture them alive and was holding back his strength, not trying to kill them. Unfortunately, this situation meant that Sasori didn't mind dragging the battle out for a long time.

Rather, the longer it drags on, the happier Scorpio becomes.

Because they are exhausted, prey in a state of depleted chakra is obviously easier to capture alive. The longer the time drags on, the more tired Kakashi and his group will become, and their condition will continue to decline. Sasori, who has transformed himself into a puppet, will not get tired. As long as he pays attention to mental exhaustion, he is confident that he can completely wear down Kakashi and his group.

Kakashi didn't know Sasori's secret, but his intuition and experience made him realize that stalling for time was definitely not a good option!

If they couldn't break this stalemate before their chakra ran out, the three of them would really be doomed today. But this stalemate wasn't so easy to break... Kakashi gritted his teeth and puffed out his cheeks.

"Itachi, Kimimaro, watch your step!"

Kakashi shouted loudly.

He used the Body Flicker Technique to instantly create distance between himself and the puppet that was entangled with him. His hands formed hand seals at a speed so fast that they left afterimages. A large amount of chakra was refined and gathered in his hands. Then he bent down and slammed his hands heavily on the ground beneath his feet.

[Earth Release: Earth Splitting Palm]

This is a high-level earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of technique that allows one to escape through earth).

Its destructive power is second to none among the many Earth Release techniques. Its wide-range destruction can not only attack the target, but also destroy the battlefield, thereby achieving a tactical effect. It is one of the most popular techniques used by Iwa ninja in large-scale battles.

[Chapter 230. Human Puppet - The Third Kazekage]