"It seems I can replace a batch of more artistic puppets now."
Sasori controlled the Third Kazekage, looking at the fallen Hyuga Clan Ninja scattered across the ground, and said expressionlessly.
Unlike the normal puppeteers of Sunagakure who create various oddly shaped puppets from different materials, a genius like him created a new Ninjutsu at the age of fifteen—Human Puppet Jutsu.
Human Puppet Jutsu is made from the bodies of deceased Ninja; besides being able to install various powerful mechanisms like normal puppets, the most terrifying aspect is that it can retain all of the Ninja's Ninjutsu abilities from when they were alive.
The first Human Puppet he created was the Third Kazekage, who possessed terrifying Magnet Release and was known as the strongest Kazekage in Sunagakure's history.
Therefore, fighting him was equivalent to fighting two Shadow-level Ninja and a hundred Ninja with various different Ninjutsu simultaneously, and crucially, they were all controlled by the same person, coordinating seamlessly.
It was just that among those hundred Ninja, most were ordinary Ninja, lacking distinctiveness, which made him feel they weren't artistic enough.
This attack on Konoha was a perfect opportunity to select some well-known Bloodline Limit Ninja from Konoha, turn them into Human Puppets, and replace the previous ordinary puppets.
As a puppeteer who pursued Eternity in art, he was not interested in Pain's ideology; what he liked was continuously collecting higher-grade materials to create stronger and more artistic puppets.
The reason he joined Akatsuki was also for the convenience of collecting materials.
Just like this time, under normal circumstances, even he wouldn't dare to infiltrate Konoha, the strongest Ninja village, alone to collect materials.
But now, the ground was filled with various excellent materials: the famous Byakugan, the transparent Release that allowed invisibility, and various other Ninja with outstanding abilities.
Turning them all into Human Puppets would elevate his art to another level.
"Is it possible that this time, both our Hyuga Clan and Konoha are doomed?!"
Hyuga Hiashi, pinned to the ground by the Iron Sand Giant Needle, looked at the Konoha Ninja around him, who were either poisoned or severely injured and collapsed, and a sense of desolation welled up in his heart.
As the most ancient and powerful Hyuga Clan, he never expected it to end in his hands today; after death, he would have no face to meet the past clan leaders.
Now, he only hoped that Neji, Hinata, and Hanabi, who had been sent to evacuate, could survive this invasion and revitalize the Hyuga Clan.
As the poison invaded, his consciousness slowly blurred, and his eyes gradually closed.
However, just as his eyes were about to fully shut, a familiar voice suddenly sounded in his ear.
"Thankfully, most people here are only poisoned and injured; they can be saved."
"Your Highness."
Seeing that the person who appeared before him was Li Chuan, Hyuga Hiashi tried to reach out, then finally fainted.
"Detoxify, save them."
Li Chuan casually threw Deidara and Kisame onto the ground, pulled out various antidote magic potions and the Main World's most advanced antidote agents from his small cloth bag, and handed them to the Shadow Clones behind him, instructing them to save people.
Unlike Kisame on the south side of the village, who basically killed whenever possible, Sasori on this side, to ensure the integrity of the Human Puppets he created, generally inflicted severe injuries and poisoned them in non-essential situations, stopping once they lost the ability to resist.
So, as long as they received timely treatment and detoxification, they could be saved quickly.
"Deidara and Kisame have both been defeated; it seems you do have some strength, enough to become one of my most satisfying works of art."
Sasori looked at Deidara and Kisame, who were thrown on the ground, his tone revealing a morbid appreciation.
To defeat Deidara and Kisame in such a short time indicated that Li Chuan's strength was indeed as strong as Zetsu's intelligence report stated.
However, after two consecutive high-intensity battles and creating so many Shadow Clones, he estimated that Li Chuan's Chakra wouldn't have much left.
Therefore, when facing Li Chuan, he did not believe he would lose.
Of course, primarily, he felt he was stronger than Deidara and Kisame and had great confidence in his puppet Ninjutsu.
Within the Akatsuki organization, besides Pain, almost every member believed themselves to be stronger than most other members; after all, they were all geniuses with impressive combat records.
"But please do not casually move my other reserve artworks."
Sasori's fingers twitched, and the Third Kazekage puppet, controlled by his Chakra threads, immediately activated its Ninjutsu.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Shigure!"
Immediately, countless fine iron sand needles shot towards Li Chuan and all his Shadow Clones.
"Earth Release: Earth Wall!"
The Shadow Clones who were detoxifying and healing the many Ninja continued to treat them with medical Ninjutsu, healing magic, and antidote agents, unfazed by the countless iron sand needles flying towards them.
The other Shadow Clones, meanwhile, stood in a line and jointly used Earth Wall to block all attacks.
"Let's see how long your Shadow Clones can last!"
Seeing that the attack was ineffective, Sasori directly pulled out a scroll from behind him and released his hundred puppets.
He believed he could definitely defeat the opponent but also knew that the opponent's strength should not be underestimated, so he immediately brought out his full power to fight.
"Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets!"
"Take them down!"
Li Chuan waved his finger, and except for the dozens of Shadow Clones responsible for healing, all remaining Shadow Clones moved out to confront the puppets.
Although Shadow Clones are tangible, they are still a Ninjutsu transformation, so they cannot possess the same strength as the true body's physical form. Those with incredibly strong Taijutsu, like Might Guy and Tsunade, rarely use Shadow Clones for combat.
The primary purpose of creating Shadow Clones is for intelligence gathering; even in combat, they are generally used more for luring enemies.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, Li Chuan's few hundred Shadow Clones naturally couldn't compare to Sasori's formidable Human Puppets.
However, the reality was not so.
Because Li Chuan's original Chakra capacity was already enormous, and combined with Sage Mode, each of his Shadow Clones, while not possessing his main body's strength, had a very good amount of Chakra.
Especially since his limit was to create two thousand, and now he had only created over two hundred, the average Chakra of each Shadow Clone was even more prominent.
Furthermore, each Shadow Clone could cast various magic spells without a wand or incantation, and could also use some Taoist arts, lasting not the usual few minutes, but several days.
As long as the main body didn't suffer too much damage, the overall strength of each Shadow Clone was actually no less than that of a normal Jonin.
Thus, when a group of severely injured and poisoned Konoha Ninja were treated and regained consciousness, they witnessed such a scene.
The Red Sand Sasori, who had just completely overwhelmed them with a single puppet, was now controlling over a hundred puppets, yet was being somewhat precariously suppressed by Li Chuan's Shadow Clones.
"Just using Shadow Clones is truly too strong!"
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