In Naruto with the Flame-Flame Fruit

Kiyosuke sighed helplessly at Black Snake's blatant blasphemy. Then again, most of the snakes from Ryūchi were like this—arrogant and unruly. Still, he had to admit, without Black Snake, he wouldn't have been able to escape at all.

But now Black Snake was going to confront the Third Kazekage and Sasori?

That had him genuinely worried.

"Hold your breath," Black Snake said abruptly.

Kiyosuke obeyed without hesitation.

Black Snake took in a deep breath, its body swelling, and then released a massive cloud of purple venom from its mouth. In an instant, the dense poisonous mist spread across several hundred meters, engulfing the area.

High above, standing atop a platform of iron sand, Sasori hovered in the air. He covered his mouth and nose, squinting into the toxin-choked fog below. With a flick of his fingers, he controlled the Third Kazekage puppet to launch an attack.

"There!"

Black Snake's massive body stood out clearly in the haze. From above, colossal iron sand constructs formed into sharp-edged polyhedrons and came crashing down.

But Black Snake had sensed the attack long before it hit. It twisted its body with ease, dodging gracefully. Hidden in the poisonous fog, it rumbled,

"Hang on tight! Whether this works or not is up to you!"

With that, it whipped its tail and flung Kiyosuke out of the mist.

Bursting free from the toxic cloud, Kiyosuke took deep gulps of air as he soared toward Sasori at breakneck speed. Even as several iron sand projectiles pierced through him, his face remained expressionless—after all, he couldn't feel pain anyway.

His leg ignited in flame, and he descended like a blazing meteor!

"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Wall!"

A thick iron sand barrier rose to block Kiyosuke's attack.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Kiyosuke's original body leapt back while the clones rushed forward.

"Art is an explosion!" they shouted in unison.

BOOM!!!

The clones detonated, blasting the iron sand wall apart and revealing Sasori's cold, unflinching expression behind it.

With a sweeping motion, Kiyosuke unleashed a sea of fire that engulfed Sasori entirely. Moments later, two figures shot out from the flames.

One was the human puppet of the Third Kazekage.

The other was Sasori himself, now completely wrapped in a cocoon of iron sand for protection.

The fire had melted away the iron sand covering both him and his puppet, reducing it to ordinary black dust that scattered onto the desert below.

There was no way to control it anymore.

"This is…"

"High-temperature demagnetization," Kiyosuke said with a grin. "Once it gets hot enough, magnetism disappears. Which means…"

He pointed straight at Sasori.

If Sasori hadn't reacted quickly enough, that last attack would've done some serious damage.

"Oh?"

To Kiyosuke's surprise, Sasori actually smiled.

"But your fire still consumes chakra. How much do you have left? Iron Sand Drizzle!"

Iron sand condensed into countless fine needles and rained down.

But as the needles passed through the lingering heat, they lost their magnetism, becoming nothing more than ordinary black dust.

Behind Sasori, Black Snake's massive body surged forward, jaws open wide, ready to swallow him whole.

But before it could strike, a cube of iron sand expanded inside its mouth, forcing its jaws apart. With a violent toss of its head, Black Snake spat the block out.

"You little brat! Are you looking to die?!"

It opened its mouth again and sprayed a torrent of corrosive venom onto the iron sand, melting a massive hole right through it.

"Persistent," Sasori muttered with a frown.

With this summon around, taking Kiyosuke down had become a far more complicated endeavor.

"What's your name?" he asked suddenly.

"Asakawa Kiyosuke. And Sasori—your grandmother is out there fighting right now."

"Oh? So you recognize me. But what's that got to do with me? Granny Chiyo can wage her wars—I'll just keep doing what I want."

"Tch. What's with that weird voice of yours?" Kiyosuke sneered. "If your parents were still alive, would you have grown up to be a useless clown?"

Something about Sasori's voice was just… off-putting.

Leaping back onto Black Snake's head, Kiyosuke made a quick decision—it was time to run.

Sasori had taken down the man once hailed as the strongest Kazekage. That alone meant he was far too dangerous to deal with head-on. Kiyosuke and Black Snake could probably avoid getting killed, sure, but it would drain him fast. Between summoning Black Snake and keeping his body elementalized, he had already burned through most of his chakra. Drag this out any longer, and he might die here.

"Black Snake! We're retreating—back to Ryūchi!"

"The summoning duration isn't over yet, and I'm not leaving until I eat this brat!"

Black Snake was clearly annoyed—it hadn't come here just to be someone's ride.

But Kiyosuke didn't care.

He dispelled the summoning, pulling both himself and Black Snake back into Ryūchi.

...

"Gone, huh? No matter," Sasori said, putting away the Third Kazekage puppet. "Asakawa Kiyosuke—your body will be mine eventually."

He wasn't bothered that Kiyosuke had discovered his secret. After all, he had already killed the Third Kazekage. Unless Granny Chiyo and Elder Ebizō personally came after him, no one in Sunagakure posed a threat.

Returning to the oasis, Sasori decided it was time to finish the work he'd left undone.

...

Ryūchi

Back near the water pool, Black Snake and Kiyosuke reappeared.

With a flick of her head, Black Snake flung Kiyosuke off her back.

"You think I'd lose to him?" she snapped.

"Of course not," Kiyosuke replied as he hit the ground. "But time was running out. My chakra's low, and that guy isn't easy to deal with."

He plopped down and let out a long sigh.

"That guy's a puppet master prodigy. Took down the Third Kazekage. I'm not looking to go toe-to-toe with him just yet. What kind of crap luck do I have, running into monsters like that?"

Was he cursed lately?

"Not my problem," Black Snake growled. "Only the chakra of the strong is worth devouring. Hmph. Don't make this a habit."

Clearly irritated, she dove back into the pool.

Kiyosuke, meanwhile, needed to report back to Orochimaru.

He summoned a snake and let it swallow him whole.

...

Back in Orochimaru's hideout, a white snake on the desk suddenly lifted its head.

Orochimaru, sensing the blood contract activate, immediately summoned the snake that had eaten Kiyosuke.

Kiyosuke emerged from the snake's mouth, completely drenched in slime.

"You must've run into serious trouble," Orochimaru said. "Otherwise, you wouldn't use reverse summoning to come here from Ryūchi."

Still wiping off goo, Kiyosuke replied, "My opponent was Granny Chiyo's grandson. Orochimaru-sensei—I know who killed the Third Kazekage."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed.

"You don't mean to say it was Chiyo's grandson who assassinated him?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Not only that—the Third Kazekage's body has been turned into a human puppet, one that retains his kekkei genkai. He can still use Magnet Release and Iron Sand. I ran into him by accident. That's why I came back."

"A puppet that retains a kekkei genkai… What irony," Orochimaru murmured, chuckling coldly. "The man said to be immune to puppets… turned into one himself. Fate does love its little jokes."

He nodded approvingly.

"Well done, Kiyosuke. This information is extremely valuable for Konoha. After all your time on the front lines, I'd say it's time your team returned to the village for some rest."

Kiyosuke's eyes lit up at the word "rest."

He'd been slogging through warzones for what felt like forever—finally, a chance to relax.

Compared to the battlefield, the peaceful village was nothing short of paradise.

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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