Chapter 116: Relentless Pursuit

Orochimaru and Kabuto's coordinated attack was as precise as it was brutal, striking just as Sasori was fatigued and numbed from dispatching countless venomous snakes.

Despite his skill, Sasori found himself unable to fully evade their assault. At best, he managed to shift his body slightly, avoiding critical damage.

Swish! Kabuto's chakra scalpel narrowly missed slicing through Sasori's head, instead grazing his cheek and severing a few strands of his crimson hair. Simultaneously, a venomous snake's blade pierced Sasori's chest, though it narrowly missed the black core concealed within his body.

Still gripping the snake that had struck him, Sasori murmured with a cold detachment, "What a pity..."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, deep in thought. "It didn't work... Is Sasori's weakness not in his Chest?"

Before he could ponder further, the steel cable extending from Sasori's abdomen lashed out, striking Orochimaru's back with brutal force and crushing his apparent body.

But Orochimaru had already anticipated this. His true form slithered out of the snake's ruptured body and seamlessly merged into the writhing mass of serpents nearby.

Sasori's head spun 180 degrees, his mouth revealing rows of sharp, blade-like teeth. Without warning, several venom-coated senbon shot toward Kabuto, who was airborne and vulnerable.

"Your attack is your weakness!" Sasori sneered.

Kabuto reacted instantly. He realized Sasori's movement stiffened during his attacks, providing an opportunity to strike. With a swift motion, Kabuto used his still-outstretched hand to slash at Sasori's neck.

Click! Sasori's head was severed cleanly and tumbled through the air, his body momentarily immobilized.

Using the brief opening, Kabuto flipped nimbly over Sasori's shoulder to evade a giant shuriken hurtling toward him. Yet, upon landing, his face twisted in pain.

"The poison... It's spreading fast. And it struck a meridian point—what rotten luck."

Kabuto yanked the senbon from his chest, but the venom had already numbed his body, slowing his movements. The disruption to his chakra network rendered him unable to maintain his chakra scalpel.

Kabuto knew that decapitating Sasori wouldn't be enough to defeat him. Still, he retreated cautiously, ensuring he was far from Sasori's reach.

Just as Kabuto moved, a steel cable lashed out, tearing a deep groove in the ground where he had stood moments before.

"You've been poisoned. Take the antidote now," Orochimaru instructed, emerging in human form nearby.

Kabuto quickly produced a syringe-like device from his pouch and injected it into his chest. It was a specially designed "toxicity retarder," developed by Orochimaru and Kabuto to counter Sasori's poisons.

The retarder didn't neutralize the poison but slowed its spread, granting them precious time in battle. Orochimaru had long determined that Sasori's poisons were adaptive, making pre-prepared antidotes ineffective.

Meanwhile, Sasori used his steel cable to retrieve his severed head. Holding it aloft, he fixed his expressionless gaze on Orochimaru. "You'll need to try harder, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru frowned. "The head isn't his weakness… Did I miss the core? Or is it not located in the upper body at all?"

As Kabuto's condition stabilized, Orochimaru sighed. "We should retreat for now. We can't kill Sasori under these conditions, and your injuries need immediate attention."

Orochimaru had realized that Sasori was far more formidable than he had anticipated. With his ninjutsu sealed and their attacks proving ineffective, Orochimaru decided it was wiser to withdraw and rethink his strategy.

But Sasori had no intention of letting them go so easily. Extending his free arm, a small nozzle emerged from his palm.

A blast of searing flames erupted, melting the venomous snakes in its path as it surged toward Orochimaru and Kabuto. "Hellfire Blaze!"

Orochimaru bit his thumb, slamming his palm to the ground. "Summoning: Rashomon!"

A massive steel gate adorned with demonic faces rose from the earth, shielding Orochimaru and Kabuto from the inferno.

The flames licked at the Rashomon, turning it red-hot, but it stood firm. However, Sasori wasn't finished. His iron sand shurikens morphed into a colossal cylinder, which he used like a battering ram to shatter the Rashomon.

When the gate crumbled, Orochimaru and Kabuto were nowhere to be found.

Realizing they had escaped, Sasori didn't pursue. Instead, he stood motionless, his head slightly tilted upward.

Moments later, four figures landed nearby, encircling Sasori.

"What an intense battle..." Sakura muttered, surveying the battlefield.

The Seventh Team had kept their distance to avoid detection, relying on Kirito's explanations and the sounds of battle to gauge the situation. Now, seeing the devastation firsthand, Sakura was stunned.

The forest was littered with splintered trees, shattered snake corpses, charred earth, and deep craters.

Noticing the damage to Sasori's puppet, Kakashi remarked, "It seems he's reaching his limit. That's good—we can focus on tracking Orochimaru."

But Kirito shook his head. "No. I just need to reattach his head. Holding it like this feels inconvenient."

With practiced ease, Kirito used Wood Release to reconnect Sasori's head. After confirming everything was functioning, he let the puppet resume its movements.

Naruto crouched to examine Sasori's puppet curiously, his gaze lingering in odd places. "So... this was his own body, huh?"

"Almost," Kirito replied while testing Sasori's head.

Clang! Sakura's fist came down hard on Naruto's head. "Don't even go there!" she shouted, her face red with embarrassment.

Kakashi chuckled softly, wondering what exactly Jiraiya had been teaching Naruto.

With his head reattached, Sasori retracted his steel cables and other puppet mechanisms. Stepping onto his iron-sand surfboard, he said coldly, "Let's continue. It's time for the 'single bird' to appear."

(End of Chapter)

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