Sasori's indifferent pupils suddenly contracted, fixing tightly on Sora.
The disappearance of the Third Kazekage was an unsolved case in Sunagakure and the entire shinobi world. Everyone believed the Third Kazekage had vanished mysteriously. It was absolutely impossible for anyone to know that he had assassinated the Third Kazekage and turned him into his strongest human puppet!
This mysterious person wearing the Vermilion Bird mask not only exposed his identity in one breath, but also directly pointed out his most deeply hidden secret!
'How does he know?!'
An icy killing intent instantly emanated from Sasori.
Since the secret had been discovered, this person before him must die.
"It seems you know too much."
Sasori's voice remained flat, but the murderous intent within was undisguised.
He wasted no more words. His hands moved slightly, and chakra threads instantly connected to the scroll he carried with him.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
White smoke burst forth consecutively. Dozens of puppets of varying designs, wielding sharp blades or hidden mechanical weapons, instantly appeared on the sandy ground. Like a well-trained army, they surrounded Sora completely.
"A puppeteer..."
Sora's brow raised slightly beneath his mask.
Faced with this swarm tactic, using large-scale attacks to clear the field was undoubtedly the best choice.
In the past, with insufficient chakra reserves, he could only rely on taijutsu and the Eight Gates to force a breakthrough, or use the power of the Azure Dragon Fruit.
But now...
Sora focused his mind. The small, earthy-yellow energy dragon resting in his dantian seemed to awaken. A vast, immense chakra, carrying the heaviness of the earth and the wildness of nature, instantly surged out, flowing through all his limbs and bones!
The amount of this chakra was so immense that Sora felt his body slightly swell, his meridians experiencing an unprecedented sense of fullness.
"Is this... Dragon Vein chakra?"
Sora carefully sensed it, discovering that the Dragon Vein's chakra affinity leaned towards earth and natural energy. It wasn't a complete match with his commonly used fire and wind affinities, requiring a simple nature transformation.
After a rapid transformation within his body, Sora formed hand seals.
"Fire Release, Great Fireball Technique! (True)"
He opened his mouth and spat out an intensely hot fireball!
Its volume was shockingly huge, with a diameter exceeding ten meters. Its color wasn't pure fiery red, but carried a faint halo of earthy yellow. The edges of the flames even had ripples of natural energy distorting the air!
The massive fireball descended like a falling meteorite, carrying an overwhelming momentum as it smashed down towards the puppet group ahead!
"What?!"
A flicker of surprise passed through Sasori's eyes.
Was this still the C-rank "Great Fireball"? This scale far exceeded the limit of what an average Jonin could release, almost reaching the scope of an S-rank jutsu!
Moreover, the peculiar energy fluctuations contained within those flames were identical to the immense energy source he sensed earlier!
Sasori hurriedly controlled his puppets to scatter. Simultaneously, several defensive puppets quickly advanced, deploying chakra shields.
Boom!!!
The massive Great Fireball slammed fiercely into the sand and the puppet frontline, erupting with a deafening roar!
Several defensive puppets in the direct impact zone, along with several attack puppets behind them, were instantly blasted to pieces. Parts and poison-dipped weapons flew everywhere!
The power of a single strike was terrifying to this extent!
Looking at the destruction he caused, Sora's heart also trembled slightly.
'Although in terms of pure temperature and destructive power, it might still not compare to my Boro Breath, the scale and the cost-effectiveness of chakra consumption are too high!'
The Dragon Vein chakra seemed inexhaustible. The amount consumed by that single Great Fireball just now was, in terms of the Dragon Vein's total, a mere drop in the bucket.
This allowed Sora to experience Naruto's feeling for the first time!
Endless! It's simply endless!
As the dust settled, Sasori looked at the mess on the ground, having lost nearly ten puppets. His expression grew colder.
He no longer held back. The ten fingers of both hands danced frantically.
The remaining puppets immediately became as if alive, their movement trajectories turning more bizarre and tricky. From all directions, above and below, they launched an even denser assault towards Sora!
Poison needles, senbon, explosive tags, restraining steel wires... all sorts of insidious attacks emerged endlessly.
Sora's heart remained utterly calm about this. Utilizing the vast chakra provided by the Dragon Vein, he continuously employed various ninjutsu to respond.
"Wind Release, Great Breakthrough!"
"Earth Release, Earth-Style Wall!"
"Lightning Release, Earth Flow!"
Ninjutsu of various natures came effortlessly. Although the conversion efficiency varied, leading to uneven power levels, the sheer quantity was more than enough!
Often, a C-rank jutsu was forcibly elevated to B-rank or even A-rank scale by him using a massive amount of chakra.
For a time, the desert sky was ablaze with the chaotic flashes of ninjutsu, the sounds of explosions unceasing, and puppet fragments constantly being blasted away.
However, Sasori's puppetry was indeed exquisite and peerless. Moreover, the number of puppets was large, and they cooperated with perfect tacit understanding.
Sora, relying on ninjutsu bombardment, could destroy puppets but couldn't truly threaten Sasori himself, who hid behind the puppet army.
These puppets seemed endless. Sasori's scrolls appeared to have reserves. One truly wondered how many people he had killed to make these puppets.
'No, this will just become a war of attrition if it continues. Although the Dragon Vein chakra is plentiful, my mental energy and control precision are limited. Releasing ninjutsu at such high intensity continuously will eventually lead to fatigue. I must close the distance!'
Sora's thoughts raced. After trying this different tactical style, he instantly changed tactics.
Just as a puppet swung a poison-dipped blade to stab him from behind, Sora neither dodged nor avoided, only shifting his body slightly.
"Shrrrip!"
The blade tore through the clothing on his back but made a sound as if cutting against steel, even sparking a few points of fire!
The puppet paused, seemingly not expecting this situation.
As for Sora, the skin on his back was already covered by a layer of blue scales!
"Now!"
A gleam of sharp light flashed in Sora's eyes. The Dragon Vein chakra within his body surged forth once again!
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
Poof poof poof poof poof...!!!
A series of white smoke explosions burst forth. A full twenty shadow clones instantly appeared on the battlefield!
"What?!"
Sasori finally showed clear surprise.
Created twenty shadow clones at once?
And each clone's aura was quite solid? What kind of immense chakra capacity did this require?
Wasn't this guy just relying on that peculiar energy to perform powerful ninjutsu earlier?
How did his own chakra suddenly become so terrifying?
Naturally, he didn't know. After the Dragon Vein's energy was constrained by the artificial tailed beast technique, it could not only be directly called upon to perform ninjutsu but also serve as a powerful power bank, continuously supplementing and amplifying Sora's own chakra.
At this moment, Sora, on the level of chakra quantity, was already not inferior to any Jinchuriki or certain cheat characters!
He could fully be called a Dragon Vein Jinchuriki!
"Go!"
At the command from Sora's main body, the twenty shadow clones, along with himself, shot forward like twenty-one arrows released from their strings, charging fiercely into the puppet group!
Close combat had begun!
The swords and blades of the puppets struck the shadow clones, still sparking showers of sparks. The clones did not disperse. Sora's shadow clones could also undergo partial beast transformation!
"Super Strength!"
A fist covered in scales, containing terrifying super strength, smashed fiercely into a puppet's chest.
Bam!
That puppet, made of hard material, instantly shattered into pieces, parts scattering everywhere!
Sora's main body and his shadow clones weaved and dodged among the puppet group. Each strike was powerful and heavy, accurately destroying the puppets' joints and cores.
The Dragon Vein chakra not only provided quantity, Sora discovered it also slightly enhanced his physical qualities, increasing his speed, strength, and reactions a notch.
Coupled with the super defense brought by localized beast transformation, he could ignore most of the puppets' ordinary attacks.
The balance of offense and defense instantly reversed!
The originally advantaged puppet army, relying on numbers and ranged attacks, rapidly collapsed under the assault of twenty-one human-shaped beasts.
Puppets turned into fragments one after another, scattering on the sandy ground.
Sasori's expression grew increasingly unpleasant.
He found that his proud puppet army was so powerless before this mysterious masked man.
The opponent's chakra seemed endless, his taijutsu was absurdly powerful, and even the defense of his shadow clones was bizarre. Poison-dipped blades couldn't even break through.
What's the point of fighting this?!
'I can't continue like this...'
Sasori's eyes turned completely cold. He knew he couldn't win without getting serious.
This opponent was worth him bringing out his strongest collection.
He formed hand seals, suddenly leaping backwards to create distance from Sora.
Simultaneously, the remaining puppets also stopped attacking, quickly returning to defend, forming a protective line in front of him.
Sora and his shadow clones also halted their movements, focusing intently, on guard.
He knew Sasori was about to use his trump card.
Sasori slowly retrieved an exceptionally large scroll from his back, unfolding it with a solemn expression.
"You can be proud to have forced me to use this."
Sasori said flatly, forming a special hand seal with both hands.
BOOM!!!
A burst of white smoke far denser than when any previous puppet appeared exploded forth.
As the white smoke slowly dispersed, a humanoid puppet wearing black robes, with short black hair and a cold, stern face, quietly floated before Sasori.
It was completely different from the other puppets. Not only did its appearance more closely resemble a real person, but the chakra fluctuations emanating from its body carried a kind of dignity and oppressive force unique to a Kage.
A slight curve appeared at the corner of Sora's mouth beneath his mask.
Finally here...
The Third Kazekage, hailed as the strongest Kazekage of all generations, possessed the Kekkei Genkai to control magnetic sand, Magnet Release!
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