Chapter 25

Blake felt perplexed about how to proceed further. The system had basically set him up, but now it was also giving him a way out. Of course, he wouldn't get a reward, which he thought would greatly boost his body. Maybe it was because of his Unique Class that Ruthless Heaven was paying so much attention to him.

Still, Blake had to think and act promptly. Killing one of these men wouldn't be easy, as he felt them to be extremely strong. However, he wasn't alone, so he had to carefully consider his cards. He could either go on to chase that yellow-haired man, who would probably run away with his bird if things got messy. Or, he could just stay here to battle with the hunched man in this dark, comfortable cave.

It wasn't too hard to make his choice, but it didn't come so easy for Kakashi. He had no idea what to do. Guy and the others were stuck in some trap, Chiyo wasn't there, and Naruto was running away.

It was too dangerous for him to leave Naruto alone, as he may go wild and, even worse, get captured by that organization. However, he also couldn't leave Sakura, especially not knowing whether this masked man was truly on their side.

"Kakashi sensei, just go. I can deal with this." Sakura said, staring at the hunched man with determination in her eyes. She had been training, preparing for this moment. She could definitely do this.

Kakashi unconsciously glanced at Blake, who nodded. "She is not going to die. I am giving you my word, but still try to get back as soon as possible."

There was that innate confidence in Blake's voice, which has formed during his years of surviving difficult adversities. Kakashi removed the textile covering his face, revealing a crimson eye underneath, and then turned around with some hesitation.

'Is he somehow connected to Itachi?' Blake thought for a moment before dispersing these unnecessary thoughts. Taking a deep breath, he focused on the enemy at hand, who still stood in the same spot, seemingly waiting till they attacked first.

"Blake was your name, right?" Sakura asked, not sparing a glance his way. "Sasori is proficient with poison, so try to never get braced or stabbed by anything. I have three tubes with antibodies, but they might not work if the poison spread too much, so notify me as fast as possible."

Blake nodded, liking the fact that Sakura turned out to not just be a useless burden. She also had that monstrous strength, which Blake believed to be quite useful in the forthcoming battle.

"So, just you both are meant to stop me? That's quite insulting, maybe even pitiful." Sasori had a deep, overwhelming voice. The tail behind him moved in a threatening, imposing manner. "Though I have to admit, you might make quite an interesting puppet."

Sasori pointed his tail at Blake, who didn't show a single reaction to the announcement. Instead, he smiled underneath the mask and said. "You will have to work a bit harder if you want to make a puppet out of me."

At that moment, another terrifying explosion shook the cave. Yet, this time, it came from above. Sasori glanced up, only to see hundreds of rocks flying his way from above. Someone had destroyed the roof of the cave.

Unfortunately, Sasori's body wasn't agile enough to dodge, as he was submerged in the avalanche of huge rocks. Blake smiled momentarily before nodding at Sakura, as they both rushed forward.

He had 'borrowed' some explosive kunais from Tenten when they were traveling here, and had placed them on the ceiling while they were talking. Thankfully, the hole above wasn't that wide, so the prevalence of the cave was still inundated in the shadows.

Sasori's tail stuck out from the stack of rocks, penetrating the ground and lifting him out of the entrapment. His body was completely unscathed from the attack, but that wasn't for long. Blake, moving much faster than Sakura, was already mid-swinging his axe embraced in the shadows.

Sasori managed to put his tail in the path of the attack, as Blake's axe collided with it, a menacing sound echoing through the cave. Sasori was momentarily pinned against the ground, unable to resist the overwhelming strength.

Fortunately, that little moment was enough for Sakura to come closer. Shouting, she forced as much strength into her hand and punched Sasori from the side, breaking his body into many pieces.

'That was a great punch.' Blake thought, retracting his axe for a moment before once again swinging in the same direction. It couldn't be that easy, there was no way. However, a human figure, wrapped in a dark coat, still managed to slip by.

The figure jumped to the nearest wall, leaving its outer shell in the same spot. Blake was ready to once again rush forward to not let the enemy take a breather when he suddenly felt his authority activate. Blake grabbed Sakura by her wrist and jumped away from the sunlight.

Sasori's fingers moved and the puppet's head suddenly opened, breathing out a cloud of purple poison. However, by that time, Blake and Sakura were already traversing through the shadows.

They came out a few inches away from the poison cloud, Sakura appearing quite dizzy and disoriented. It was probably the after-effect of it being her first time.

"Thank you," Sakura said, standing back to her feet. Blake completely ignored her, staring at the figure in the distance. It seemed that the primary body was just an outer shell to someone hiding inside. And that someone was actually just a red-haired teenager.

"It seems that I have underestimated you. To think that I would be forced to come out so fast." Sasori smiled, taking out a scroll from his pocket. "The more you show, the more my desire to make you a puppet grows."

Sasori stared at Blake as another figure appeared next to him. It didn't look human and had dark spiky hair rising into the air. "So, show me more. Show me what you can truly do."