At the same time, the group led by the Raikage at the very front of the formation also encountered fierce sniper fire from the Akatsuki.
Red puppets flooded the sky and ground as they launched a sudden assault. It was none other than Sasori's Hundred-Puppet Performance.
Amid a sharp whistling sound, one of the red puppets raised a gigantic scythe high and charged straight toward the Cloud Village troops with thunderous force.
Before the other Cloud ninja could even react, a figure as fast as a gale suddenly flashed into view.
With a deafening bang, the red puppet was blown to pieces in an instant, shattered into countless fragments that scattered across the ground.
The Raikage snorted coldly, "Hmph! Trash like this and you dare bring it out to embarrass yourself?"
At that moment, movement suddenly erupted from the flank of the Cloud formation.
Two Earth Grudge Fear creatures had silently converged and unleashed a powerful combined ninjutsu.
Flame Wind Turbulent Wave!
They activated at the same time
Fire Release: Searing Migraine!
Wind Release: Pressure Damage!
Two elemental techniques at once. In an instant, raging flames burst forth, as if they were about to burn the entire ground to ashes; and a violent gale followed immediately after, sweeping everything in its path.
The two merged together, forming an enormous sea of fire that surged toward the Cloud side with world-ending might.
Fortunately, the Cloud ninja maintained a high level of vigilance at all times. The moment something felt wrong, someone immediately sounded a warning.
Right after that, several ninja skilled in Water Release stepped forward, their hands flying through seals.
"Water Release, Water Formation Wall!"
In the blink of an eye, a thick wall of water rose from the ground, like an unbreakable dam standing before the Cloud formation.
The water wall slammed head-on into the sea of fire, sending up countless splashes and waves of heat that formed massive clouds of steam. The sight was spectacular.
The Raikage's eyes burned like torches as he stared intently at the two attacked directions of the Cloud Village formation and the sky above.
He immediately began issuing orders.
"Cee, take two squads and advance with me to meet them head-on."
"Killer B, circle around the side and find a way to take out that guy called Kakuzu."
Then the Raikage turned toward Mabui at his side and shouted loudly.
"Mabui, concentrate fire and shoot Deidara down for me."
"Yes!", everyone responded in unison.
After finishing his rapid deployment, the Raikage's entire body suddenly erupted with dazzling arcs of lightning, as if he were completely wrapped in electricity.
At the same time, his hair stood on end. He kicked off the ground hard, his body leaping high like an arrow loosed from a bow, charging straight toward Sasori's puppet army.
Although those puppets were able to hover in midair, they were not truly flying.
Because of that, for a veteran powerhouse like the Raikage, dealing with them was effortless.
Almost every punch he threw sent a puppet crashing down, shattered into pieces.
After all, these ordinary puppets simply could not break through the Raikage's ironclad defense.
However, the cunning Sasori stayed hidden high in the sky while controlling the puppets, making it difficult for the Raikage to reach him directly.
Watching the Raikage destroy seven or eight of his puppets in the blink of an eye, Sasori showed not the slightest hint of panic.
He calmly directed three of the puppets to pounce viciously at the Raikage.
The remaining three rushed off separately toward Cee behind him and the other two squads of Cloud ninja.
It should be known that Sasori had to control more than two hundred red-clad puppets at the same time.
In reality, even though he constantly worked to improve his control over each puppet, such control could never be perfectly precise.
The actions these puppets could perform were extremely limited. They only mechanically repeated those simple, brutal slashing motions.
Seeing the Raikage casually smash puppet after puppet with ease, the Cloud Village ninja could not help but light up with excitement. They felt it did not seem that difficult after all, and one by one they clenched their fists, ready to follow the Raikage's example and dismantle some puppets themselves.
Just then, the ever-vigilant Cee suddenly changed expression.
With his extremely sharp sensory ability, he detected an overwhelmingly strong and deadly danger rapidly approaching.
Without hesitation, Cee shouted, "Danger! Everyone, get out of the way!"
As he spoke, he reached out and yanked two Cloud ninja beside him, then threw himself forward with all his strength, slamming to the ground.
The other four Cloud ninja were not so lucky.
The red-clad puppets lunged forward like ghosts, and in the next instant, terrifying chakra fluctuations erupted from their bodies.
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion echoed through the air.
It was as if countless high-powered bombs had been buried inside those puppets, all detonating at once.
In an instant, flames shot skyward, thick smoke billowed, and the massive shockwave swept outward in all directions.
The huge number of explosive tags hidden inside the puppets detonated together, stacking their power to a truly horrifying degree.
The four unprepared Cloud ninja had no time to react at all. In the face of such a violent blast, they were instantly blown apart, reduced to scattered flesh and bone.
Hearing the enormous explosion behind him, the Raikage was stunned.
He whipped his head around, only to see that his four brothers had already been blown to pieces, turned into a crimson mist drifting through the air.
The thick stench of blood rushed straight into his nose, stabbing at his nerves.
"Damn it! AKATSUKI!"
The Raikage's hair stood on end with rage, his eyes wide open as his body shot forward like a bolt of lightning, lunging straight at Sasori flying in the sky.
If they were on the ground, with Sasori's strength and speed, he probably would not even have had a chance to escape.
But now that they were in the air, the situation was completely different. The moment the Raikage leapt upward, his trajectory became relatively fixed, giving Sasori an opening to exploit.
Seeing this, Sasori did not hesitate. He manipulated the red puppets in his hands, sending them charging at the Raikage like starving tigers pouncing on prey.
Each puppet was nimble and agile, and in the blink of an eye they were already engaged in close combat with him.
The Raikage swung his fists, hard as steel, smashing fiercely into the oncoming puppets.
With a sharp crack, the first puppet shattered into countless fragments.
But before the Raikage could even catch his breath, the second puppet arrived right on its heels.
BOOM!
A massive explosion rang out, and the Raikage was blasted backward through the air.
Although he had activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode, granting him extremely powerful defense, and he did not suffer any real injury, the blast still left him looking thoroughly disheveled.
Moreover, judging by Sasori's direction of movement, he was clearly preparing to throw a large number of red puppets straight into the Cloud formation.
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