A/N: With the posting of the last chapter, this story has passed the 100,000 hit mark. To celebrate this achievement, I worked hard and can gladly put out this chapter now. Thank you to everyone who read especially my dedicated readers and reviewers. (Quick thank you to Plus-44 who I mistook for 'anon' in last chapter.) For those of you who like the limited spelling and grammatical errors, you can all thank my beta, Leafy for all her hard work. Without further ado, here's the chapter

Chapter 26

Cursing his inability to hold the missing nin's attention while battling off the overwhelming numbers of puppets, Jiraiya raced as fast as he could trying desperately to reach the pink-haired medic in time. A testament to his ability, of the thirty puppets he was facing, only a handful remained while he was still completely unharmed. While it was questionable if he could traverse that distance in time in the best conditions, due to the remaining puppets which were now behind him launching attacks, Jiraiya had to maintain his Hari Jizou to keep himself safe from the poisoned projectiles, slowing his speed slightly. He could only yell out in an attempt to halt Sasori's attack.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as the beam of water fired from the tube, piercing effortlessly through the ground as Sakura rolled out of the way and flipped into a standing position. Well inside the man's guard, she planted her feet and launched a punch at their opponent. Though disbelievingly surprised by the previously doomed girl's sudden response, Sasori managed to bring up his arms to block. However, despite her petite frame, Sakura had picked up her mentor's freakish strength and the attack blasted Sasori's puppet body to pieces.

-----Flashback-----

A couple minutes earlier.

Wincing at the pain, Kankuro opened his eyes to Naruto's pink-haired teammate standing above him. Judging by the way his wound was closing rapidly, the girl had come a long way from the fangirl he had seen participate in the Chuunin exams all those years ago.

"Are you awake Kankuro-san?" she asked, noticing the alert eyes of her patient.

"Yeah. In a lot of pain, and completely paralyzed, but awake". He said, his throat sore from having screamed so loudly upon receiving his injury. Instantly, he felt the pain lesson as Sakura added an anesthetic technique to the ones she was already using.

"The paralysis is a byproduct of the poison, I've already given you the antidote, but it'll take some time for it to clear from your system. I would just remove it, but first I have to stop the bleeding or you could bleed out. Either way, once it's out of your system, you'll regain your motor function very quickly." As she continued to work, an idea suddenly popped into her head. "Judging by Sasori's appearance, I'm assuming that puppets can be made by converting human bodies. Is that true?" Seeing Kankuro's slight nod-the effects of the poison already diminishing-she continued, "Can you attach chakra strings to and control a living person?"

Pondering the strange question momentarily, Kankuro nodded again. "It is possible. I've never actually done it, but heard of it being done before."

Leaning down close as the wound finally closed fully removing Kankuro's life from any danger, she whispered her plan into the Suna Jounin's ear. Eyes widening at the girl's daring, Kankuro readily agreed to help her. The plan was just crazy enough to work. Leaning down in a way to obstruct Kankuro's uninjured arm from the enemy before them, Sakura quickly isolated and removed the poison from Kankuro's system. Feeling the effects of the poison disappear, Kankuro quickly reached up and attached chakra strings to the medic nin's arms, legs, and torso before his energy gave out and his arm collapsed back to the ground-he had lost more blood than he thought. The action was just in time too as a jet of water sent Sakura sprawling away.

Wincing slightly at the extent of the damage, Kankuro readied himself-it wouldn't be long now. Inwardly, he couldn't help but laugh at Sakura's pathetic looking attempt at an attack, but dutifully immediately forced her arm up to cover the cut even as she collapsed at the missing nin's feet. It was now or never…

'3…2…1…NOW!' he thought, flexing his fingers so the girl twisted out of the way of the deadly jet of water. With a flick of the wrist, she was back on her feet, chakra-enhanced punch already swinging towards the puppet master. 'She removed that poison in an instant, that girl's something else.'

------End Flashback-----

For a moment no one moved as Sasori's puppet army collapsed bonelessly around them. Chiyo, as an expert puppeteer herself, had noticed the chakra strings as Sakura had stood back up. Shocked by the girl's apparent plan, she found herself impressed with the pink-haired medic. 'Konoha shinobi are really something else.' she thought before sweatdropping as the girl closed her eyes and raised a peace sign towards her with a grin. Suddenly, however, her eyes widened as the shattered pieces of Sasori's body began to reform behind the girl.

As his body reformed, Sasori reactivated his chakra strings and launched the metal cable at the girl's unprotected and unsuspecting back. At that range, any warning would come far too late to save her.

Reacting purely on instinct as Sasori pieced himself together, Chiyo called out, "Kankuro!" as she commanded one of her remaining four puppets to release a formless glob from its mouth. Travelling at a rapid speed, the blob began to morph and take form into a giant, gaping maw-multilayered 'teeth' glistening.

Using the last of his strength, Kankuro quickly raised his arm, pulling Sakura out of the way of the incoming attack. Chiyo's attack no longer hidden by Sakura's form, Sasori's eyes widened as he noticed the attack moving towards him far too late to dodge. Metal teeth digging though his body, the attack pushed him back crashing into a wall as the seal on its back activated.

"It's over Sasori." said Chiyo, looking at the trapped figure before them as the red-cloaked puppets once again collapsed around them. "That sealing jutsu suppresses all chakra; you won't even be able to use a chakra string anymore."

"Looks like this is as far as I go." Sasori replied. Shaking his head in amusement, he continued, "It's a shame really, this is pretty embarrassing. How am I supposed to explain that I couldn't even kill a single one of you?"

"We can't let him go, a person like him is far too dangerous." Jiraiya said, walking up next to the others.

"Of course not, Jiraiya," Chiyo agreed, picking up one of the many discarded blades lying around. "I will end my line just as I swore to all those years ago."

"A true shinobi of the Sand, Grandma." Sasori said not even a note of fear etched on his face. "No feelings whatsoever, not even for your grandson. Before you do that, however, I'll do something for you. It may be somewhat selfish, but, think of it as a reward for defeating me. You Konoha shinobi want to know about Orochimaru, don't you?"

At these words, Sakura started while Jiraiya's face hardened. Stepping between Chiyo and the red-head, he asked, "What do you know?"

"I have what once was a spy amongst Orochimaru's subordinates. Though he's long since turned against me, I'm supposed to meet with him in ten days time. At noon on that day, be at the Tenchi Bridge in the Grass Village. If handled correctly, he should lead you right to the snake. I was intending to kill him myself, but as long as you take care of him when he's outlived his usefulness, it'll kill two birds with one stone." Sasori finished with a grin.

Making a mental note of the information, Jiraiya asked, "Is that all?" Seeing the missing nin nod, he stepped aside allowing the aged medic nin to run her blade through the only part of the man before them still human, the disk on the left half of his chest. Thus ended the life of one….

"Izumo?!"

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Ino crashed against the cold, hard floor. This was a dream, a nightmare, it just had to be. The last thing she remembered before she had passed out was staring up into those cerulean eyes. Eyes full of worry as they flicked over her battered form, but also of barely contained rage as the blonde halted the deathblow she had expected. Despite the pain, looking up at the boy standing protectively over her, she felt warm and safe. Unconsciousness had claimed her with a smile on her face.

The next time she awoke, however, there was nothing to smile about, at least for her. Standing over and grinning down at her shackled form, was none other than the snake Sannin, Orochimaru. "Welcome to my humble home Ino-chan." the man said, his tone as sweet as sugar, practically purring her name. "I do hope you like it, as it will be your home for some time. Who knows, if you give me exactly what I want, you may even get out of here alive." He added, licking her face lightly with his freakishly long tongue.

Turning her head in disgust, she wished she hadn't as she found herself staring into merciless red sharingan eyes. Terrified eyes pleading towards her first crush, Ino's already defeated spirits sank even further as her former comrade merely leered at her position.

"Kukuku." Orochimaru laughed. "See something you like Sasuke-kun?" Seeing his protégé's smile widen, Orochimaru turned back to the shackled girl. "Well, what do you say Ino-chan? Are you ready to show us all of your jutsu? Or shall I leave you to Sasuke-kun's ministrations?" Seeing the girl's silent defiance, the Sannin turned his back on the pair and walked out of the room. As he closed the door, the girl's pleas and screams were music to his ears.

Curling her body into a fetal position on the hard, stone floor, she took inventory of her injuries, trying desperately not to think about anything that occurred since she woke up. Though the life-threatening injuries she had received in her fight against Tenjin had been expertly healed, her broken arms and legs were left as they were and, if they weren't healed within the next couple weeks, could result in permanent injury when they begin to heal incorrectly. Of course, at the moment, these were the least of her worries. Sasuke had not been gentle as he 'welcomed' her to Orochimaru's base of operations. At first, she had struggled against her restraints, but that merely invited the young missing nin to filet her skin with a kunai. Only liberal use of smelling salts had kept her conscious until now, though if it were up to her, she would have remained blissfully unaware of what was happening.

Feeling her life blood run out of her, Ino wondered if she was really going to die tonight. But no, of course not…Orochimaru was not that merciful. Hearing the lock clang as it was opened, Ino didn't even have the strength to look to see who entered, let alone make any bid to escape.

Ignoring Kabuto's presence next to her, Karin stepped into the cell. Pushing her glasses up her nose, the redhead glared down at her patient. She had no pity towards the twitching figure on the ground, in fact, other than the injuries, she actually envied her. She fixed the chakra suppression device around the girl's chest, not even bothering to try to avoid the lacerations as the blonde screamed in pain. Honestly, she had no desire to help this girl. However, not daring to go against Orochimaru's orders, she kneeled down and pulled back her sleeve as she placed her arm, scarred with teeth marks, at the girls lips.

"Bite it." she commanded, gritting her teeth in preparation for the pain to come. Seeing the girl make no move to obey, she slapped the girl hard across the face before snarling, "Bite my arm, damnit."

Face stinging, Ino tentatively moved her mouth slightly and placed her teeth gently on the girl's arm, not having the energy to clamp down. Of course, that wasn't really an issue as the moment her teeth made contact with the marred skin, her jaw locked up and she found that she couldn't possibly pull away. As the redhead next to her screamed in agony, Ino's skin began to knit itself back together. Her condition no longer critical, she felt the arm wrenched from her grasp. Still weak from blood loss, Ino turned to face the panting medic next to her, her gaze questioning.

Seeing the prisoner's gaze, Karin's face immediately became stoic. Standing she looked down at the girl. Eyes running over the nasty red lines where the cuts still bled slightly, she smirked at the blonde. "Can't have you dying just yet, not until Orochimaru-sama gets what he wants. But, no one said you have to be fully healed. Give in or get used to pain. Welcome to hell."

With that, she turned and walked out of the room, Kabuto slamming the door behind them.

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Moving swiftly through the trees, the group of four leaf shinobi plus one sand Jounin and large dog followed Naruto's chakra trail. With his all-seeing eyes, Neji noticed the sand Jounin, apparently known as Yuura, shudder suddenly causing his body to tense and stumble. "Everything ok Yuura?" Neji asked, not even turning his head.

"Of course." came the reply as the man effortlessly righted himself.

Continuing in silence, not even Neji noticed the predatory glint is his eyes.

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"What does this mean?!" asked a terrified Sakura staring at the limp, lifeless form of her comrade. "Was Isumo attacking us under a Henge?"

"No," answered Chiyo. "Those techniques were clearly Sasori's, Konoha shinobi don't use puppets, and even the puppetmasters of Suna aren't nearly as capable as Sasori."

"It means," added Jiraiya clenching his fists, "that Sasori was never really here. We were fighting a mere shadow of the real thing." Eyes suddenly widening in realization, Jiraiya uttered, "Naruto!" before darting off into the trees in the direction that Neji and his group had gone. Putting the pieces together themselves, the others (Kankuro being embarrassedly carried by Sakura) following swiftly behind.

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Using his sand to intercept another large clay projectile, Gaara stared across the sky at his opponent. No longer riding a large clay bird, Deidara now stood atop an absolutely massive clay dragon. Though the explosives moved somewhat slower than before, the C-2 clay, as his opponent called it, appeared to be guided and packed a much larger punch. Despite the distance it occurred from him, as the winged explosive detonated, the recoil pushed him back slightly.

In the best conditions, the man before him would certainly be a difficult man to defeat; his 3D style of combat was difficult to attack for the vast majority of opponents. Even someone like Gaara who is able to take the battle into three dimensions himself, ends up using vast amounts of chakra to keep himself afloat. Deidara, though one wouldn't know it relies primarily on his clay creations' ability to glide and ride up on thermals to stay afloat, only using small amounts of chakra for evasive maneuvers if necessary. Battling over the water as they were, Gaara actually doubted his ability to defeat the man before him.

Trying to get close enough to attack (or at least make his opponent think twice about detonating an explosive) Gaara directed his Sabaku Fuyuu to rush towards Deidara. Seeing the tail of the monstrous explosive retract another notch from its tail, Gaara prepared himself for another assault. "Here comes the big one." Deidara said as a large, sort of pig-shaped winged clay fired from the mouth of the dragon. Surprised by the speed combined with the closer proximity, Gaara had no time to intercept or dodge. Automatically forming a Suna no Mayu around him, Gaara braced himself for impact. He was not, however, prepared for the destructive power of Deidara's attack, the force tearing apart his protection and launching him through the back wall. Hurt, but not defeated, Gaara instinctively called his sand underneath him again. Looking up, however, his eyes widened as he found another explosive already heading towards him, far too close to intercept.

"Did I get him?" Deidara asked no one in particular as the explosion began to clear.

Sand dripping from him, a very different, but very much alive Gaara glared up at the Akatsuki member with his golden eyes and diamond shaped pupil. No longer standing on a thick platform or sand, Gaara stood on a thin disk of sand only about 5 feet in diameter, the rest of the sand being used to cover his form in a miniature visage of Shukaku.

Despite his injured state, Gaara couldn't help but smile as he felt an approaching presence. "You're late, Naruto." he said in his deepened voice as the wind rushed passed him, the only announcement of his friend's arrival as the boy landed silently on the sand behind him.

"Where's Tenjin?"

"I don't know. He disappeared in an explosion awhile back."

"How're you holding up Gaara?" he asked the chibi demon in front of him, completely unperturbed by the boy's appearance.

Taking a moment to size up the new arrival, Deidara recognized him immediately from the fight he had witnessed less than an hour ago. Despite the boy's obvious skill, Deidara wasn't particularly worried. After the match and chasing after them, even the blonde jinchuuriki had to be low on chakra. Checking his clay supply, Deidara readied his next move.

"Not well. Staying in the air is rapidly burning through my chakra and the terrain is highly limiting my abilities. This guy, he's really strong." said Gaara, his eyes never leaving the dragon. Seeing the tail retract once again, he took a large inhalation of air. "Futon: Renkudan." he said, pounding his expanded stomach as the clay projectile was just leaving the dragon's mouth. The fast moving sphere of wind crashed into the pig-shaped explosive not ten feet from where it was launched causing the large explosion to encompass the head of the dragon.

Using the distraction the explosion created, Naruto created a shadow clone and had it drop down to the water's surface to prepare a jutsu from below. Of course, no sooner did the clone touch the water, did it get encompassed by an explosion.

"Kukuku." came Deidara's laugh as he appeared unharmed. Having noticed the incoming wind attack far too late to dodge, he simply skated down the neck and onto the back of his clay dragon, avoiding the blast. "My C-2 can box you in with land minds and lock on with guided air-to-ground or air-to-air. This is the beauty of my art. You have nowhere to run." In order to set up this combination, Deidara had escaped under water earlier when his bird's wings had been pierced by Gaara's sand spikes, leaving a Nendo Bunshin in his place.

"I have an idea how to deal with the mines." said Naruto. Still obscured by Gaara's demonic form, Naruto created another clone; this one again jumped to the lake below. Unlike the first, this clone immediately began flipping through hand seals. Channeling a large amount of chakra, just before reaching the water, the clone called out "Sui-Fuuton: Gufuu Shuika no Jutsu." Releasing the chakra, a massive tornado of water erupted from the water's surface, rushing into the air at the even larger dragon before the clone was destroyed by a mine as it touched the water's surface.

Trained eyes easily spotting the incoming torrent, Deidara easily directed his creation out of the attack's path. Leaping off the sand platform, Naruto once again used Geppou tomove about through the air. Hands forming seals, he gathered a large amount of his remaining chakra and called out "Suiton: Dai Suiakuhei." immediately darting back across the sky towards Gaara.

From the column of water, dozens of snakes burst forth, darting in all directions before contorting and launching towards Deidara and his clay dragon. Dodging the water snakes as best he could, the massive size of Deidara's C-2 dragon ended up being disastrous as the snakes trapped him within their 'bodies,' the heads doubling back to strike. The moment they did, the mines within the waters exploded, peppering the beast with explosions.

Predicting the dragon's demise, as the hydra heads assaulted the clay construct, Deidara placed his hands on the beast's back, the mouth on his hands forming another clay bird and, spiraling upwards, avoided the explosions. Watching the massive dragon, which now appeared to be a large, clay piece of Swiss cheese, crash into the waters and get consumed by the explosions of most of the mines remaining in the waters below, Deidara gritted his teeth. Despite his initial advantages, he was now low on both clay and chakra.

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Bursting through the edge of the trees, the tattered remains of Team Gai reached the waterline just in time to witness the explosions.

-----Flashback-----

A short time earlier.

Without warning, Yuura attacked the group. Though Neji's keen eyes caught the movement, he couldn't react in time to save Kiba's eye as the Jounin slashed the younger boy's face with a kunai. Reacting immediately to the attack, Akamaru dove for the Suna Jounin before he could press the assault.

Flicked the kunai towards the turning Lee, Yuura dodged the large dog's snapping fangs and ferocious claw swipes and, activating Kaze no Yaiba in his hand he sliced Akamaru from sternum to stomach, blood bursting forth from the wound.

Lee, who easily dodged the kunai aimed a Konoha Senpuu for the traitor, but seeing the man aim the wind blade at him, was forced to twist and instead use Konoha Shoufuu to kick the man's wrist upward avoiding the deadly winds.

Jumping backwards, Yuura avoided a hail of weapons from Tenten but was blasted backwards by Neji's Hakke Kuushou. Not giving the man time to recover, Lee and Neji immediately jumped to engage him in close range combat as Tenten released more weapons.

Over the next several minutes, Yuura demonstrated just why he was considered an elite Jounin of Sunagakure as he fought off the team engaging Lee in Taijutsu while he avoided Neji's Juuken and deflected or dodged Tenten's weapons. Ultimately though, despite inflicting damage with his wind and earth attacks, once Kiba joined the attack, he was pushed back. After an enraged Kiba managed to hit him with a Tsuuga, bruising his torso and shattering his clavicle, the man quickly blinded the team with a "Doton: Sables." tossed a collection of shuriken at their current locations and fled without even waiting to witness the results of his attack.

Automatically moving despite having to shield their eyes, as the sand sliced at their bodies, peeling their skin off like course sand paper, none of the Konoha shinobi were seriously injured by the shuriken, only Tenten taking a glancing blow which slashed her left arm. As the sandstorm died down, the battered Konoha shinobi took stock of their situation. Neji's byakugan confirming the enemy's retreat, the group applied what medical aid they could: setting Lee's shoulder, bandaging Tenten's arm, disinfecting their raw, bleeding skin, and wrapping bandages around Kiba's ruined eye, before moving on, leaving Kiba behind to tend to Akamaru.

-----End Flashback-----

Easily a mile away, the collections of explosions lit up the sky, the pressure it caused even reaching them. Using chakra to stay in place, they could only wait until the shockwaves passed. Jumping high over the massive, crashing waves the explosions caused, the group continued on hoping to find their allies alive.

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Landing back on Gaara's sand, Naruto was panting. His jutsus had accomplished their purpose, but now he was running on empty. In his weakened state, he couldn't risk tapping into Kyuubi's chakra as the beast's primal rage would overtake him almost instantly. "Gaara," he said as his friend keenly watched the skies for signs of their opponent's movements, "I've got maybe 10 percent of my chakra remaining, and I know you're running low yourself, we have to end this now."

"The mines under the water are gone, yes?" asked Gaara.

Sending a couple clones to the water below to investigate, Naruto affirmed their safety. Standing back-to-back with Gaara, Naruto noticed the approach of three figures on the waters below. "Shit, we have backup, but it's Team Gai, in a battle like this, I don't know how much they're going to be able to help." While Naruto's clones moved to intercept the group and catch them up on the enemy's abilities, Gaara lowered the sand platform. Sand receding from his feet, and the two jumped onto the water's surface in order to limit their chakra usage and meet up with the incoming Konoha shinobi.

Briefed on the situation, Team Gai landed next to the two Jinchuuriki. Looking up at the man circling above them, the group saw him grinning. Pulling out another stone sculpture the mouths in his hands channeled chakra to it, the thing growing larger than the bird he was standing on. Unfolding its wings revealed a large, fat, bird-like shape. "Allies are but a nuisance. I tire of this battle; I'll simply kill you all. This C-3 clay holds my strongest exploding power. I wonder how many of you can still protect yourselves, let alone each other, yeah." Deidara said, dropping the large bird towards the group.

"Shit, we can't outrun that explosion. Naruto, give me a boost!" cried out Gaara, immediately launching himself into the air.

Not even thinking to question his comrade, Naruto gathered his chakra and formed hand seals as quickly as possible before calling out, "Fuuton: Reppushou." extending a palm towards Gaara. Gale-force winds exploded from his palm, augmenting Gaara's jump pushing him high into the air.

Seeing their impending doom, Tenten instinctively moved next to Lee and grasped his hand. Smiling at the contact, Lee prayed that whatever Gaara's plan was would work.

Digging deep, Gaara screamed as he transformed fully into his full sized Shukaku form. Unfortunately, as he lacked anywhere close to sufficient sand, the tanuki's chakra was forced to create the sand, almost immediately burning through his chakra reserves. It should be noted that, despite Gaara's ability to control both sand and Shukaku's chakra, unless fully transforming, he was unable to actually create sand which prevented him from doing this earlier in the battle as he needed to stay airborne and conserve his strength. With his remaining strength, Gaara spun his massive form around and struck the falling clay doll with his tail. The effect was instantaneous as the creation detonated.

Riding the explosion upwards, Deidara squinted through the rushing wind to try to see the results of his attack. Despite his big words, he didn't actually want to kill the entire group. The jinchuuriki in particular were needed for their plan. As the smoke cleared, Deidara's smile widened.

There, lying across the waters were the unconscious forms of all five of his opponents. Despite Gaara's noble effort and success in detonating the attack as far from them as possible, as chakra exhaustion overcame him, unconsciousness overcame him and his sand form began to immediately disintegrate. Though his massive form did manage to shield the group from the brunt of the attack, the explosion tore through his dissipating sand, covering his back with nasty burns. Shockwaves tore through the sand, the concussive force sprawling the Konoha shinobi and knocking them out.

He didn't care about the three newest additions, whether they lived or died was no concern of his. But he did circle downward to claim his prizes. Noticing movement out of the corner of his eyes, he spun to use his clay bird as a shield as needles peppered the bottom. Rising again through the air, he searched for his attacker. Locking his eyes on the white haired old man who interrupted his victory, he bared his teeth in a snarl. Though he wouldn't necessarily give himself good odds on beating the Sannin at full strength, with his current level of exhaustion and lack of clay, the situation was hopeless.

'Made it.' thought Jiraiya breathing heavily as his hair returned to its normal length and density. He had run at his full tilt to catch up to the others, only pausing to check on Kiba and his injured familiar until Sakura and Chiyo caught up. Leaving the two medics to treat the injured, Jiraiya had once again raced towards his student's battle.

As the explosive notes Jiraiya propelled with his Hari Jigoku detonated on the bottom of the Deidara's vehicle, the missing nin took that as his key to leave, gliding away over the waters. Not taking his eyes off the Akatsuki member until he disappeared completely from sight, Jiraiya created a quartet of shadow clones and each picked up one of their unconscious allies before hurrying back towards the rest of the team.


A/N: And there's a good stopping point. For a change, it's not even a cliffhanger. I believe this is the longest chapter to date, but I did promise that I'd conclude each of those fights in this chapter. What'd you think? Though it gets tedious writing "And Deidara made his clay go BOOM," I think that Deidara for one is a character that never gets the recognition he deserves. Sasori as well is normally one of the first killed off Akatsuki members. Any of you predict that the Sasori they were fighting was simply a Shouten no Jutsu (Shape Changing Technique)? For those wondering, this is why Sasori didn't use the Sandaime Kazekage puppet for example. In fact, the 100 puppets the group was fighting wasn't even the same as the ones fought in the manga, that scroll he kept for himself. Sorry if you're disappointed in the conclusion of the fight, but here I really wanted to show that Naruto isn't invincible, but you can take comfort in the fact that he was already exhausted by the time he caught up. Next chapter will slow down a bit from the endless fighting before the meeting with Sasori's 'spy' commences. As always, please read and review.

Jutsu Library

Hari Jizou-Underworld Guardian Spikes

Henge-Transformation

Sabaku Fuyuu-Desert Sand Floating

Suna no Mayu-Cocoon of Sand

Futon: Renkudan-Wind Element: Drilling Air Projectile

Nendo Bunshin-Clay Clone

Sui-Fuuton: Gufuu Shuika no Jutsu-Water-Wind Element: Typhoon Water Vortex Technique

Geppou-Moon Step

Suiton: Dai Suiakuhei-Water Element: Great Water Hydra

Kaze no Yaiba-Blade of Wind

Konoha Senpuu-Leaf Whirlwind

Konoha Shoufuu-Leaf Rising Wind

Hakke Kuushou-Eight Divination Signs Air Palm

Tsuuga-Piercing Fang

Doton: Sables-Earth Element: Sandstorm

Fuuton: Reppushou-Wind Element: Gale Wind Palm

Hari Jigoku-Hell Needles