A few minutes later, Deidara climbed out of the deep hole, looking slightly disheveled.
Though the battle had seemed dangerous, everything had actually gone according to plan.
One thing was clear: the existence of the Three Great Sage Lands had indeed caused significant trouble for the Akatsuki. Whether it was Jiraiya or Tsunade, without their connection to the Sage Lands, they wouldn't have posed any real threat.
Take this fight, for example. Without Katsuyu Sage assisting Tsunade—suppressing Deidara's aerial advantage and providing her with Sage Chakra—Tsunade wouldn't have been able to put even the slightest pressure on him.
Now, with no sign of Tsunade in the area, it was likely that Katsuyu Sage had rescued her.
Deidara dusted off his clothes and began heading toward Konoha.
Since things here were settled, it was time to infiltrate the village and uncover Konoha's secrets. He couldn't leave those for Jiraiya and the others.
...
In the conference hall, the battle had entered a new phase.
Sasori, Kakuzu, and Hidan had switched opponents. Sasori now faced the numerous Konoha ninjas, while Kakuzu and Hidan took on Yamato.
After all, continuing the earlier wood-on-wood battle between Yamato and Kakuzu was leading nowhere.
Moreover, Sasori was particularly suited for large-scale warfare.
Hiruko lay silently on the battlefield, facing off against the Konoha forces alone, yet Sasori's aura didn't falter in the slightest.
"Perfect!"
"The enemy has made such a foolish move, sending those two immortals to fight Yamato while leaving this puppeteer to us."
"Even if he's the legendary Sasori of the Red Sand, the so-called greatest puppeteer, how could he stand against our numerical advantage?" A young Konoha ninja spoke with excitement, as if victory was already within reach.
"No! Don't underestimate this guy! His Red Secret Technique is said to be capable of wiping out an entire nation single-handedly," an older Konoha ninja warned, clearly aware of Sasori's past feats.
"So what? We're not weaklings from some small nation—we're Konoha elites!" the young ninja retorted.
Sasori, however, had no patience to listen to their chatter.
"Enough!"
"Who's foolish will soon become clear."
Hiruko's back opened, and Sasori stepped out, exposing his true form to everyone.
"What?! The enemy's real body was inside that puppet all along!" The Konoha ninjas were shocked.
"Wait! Why does the enemy look so young? According to the intel, he should be in his thirties by now!" The sight of Sasori's youthful appearance left them even more stunned.
"Hey, Kakuzu! Sasori's even revealed his real body. Looks like he's ready to go all out. We can't let him outshine us!" Hidan shouted, cutting down an incoming Wood Release attack with his scythe before turning to Kakuzu.
"Hmph! I don't need you to remind me!" Kakuzu replied irritably.
The five heart monsters behind him turned a deep earthen color, sprouting wings as their aura doubled in intensity.
The old man had entered his second state.
On the battlefield, Sasori paid no attention to the astonishment of the Konoha ninjas. He calmly retrieved a second scroll from his back, unfurled it with a flick, and spoke with a hint of nostalgia in his voice:
"Red Secret Technique. It's been a while."
Poof!
Amid the smoke, one hundred human puppets of various designs surrounded Sasori, appearing within the hall.
These weren't mere puppets with mechanical gimmicks like in the original story. Each was a human puppet crafted by Sasori, retaining the unique jutsu or Kekkei Genkai of the original person. The watered-down versions from the original series were a kindness Sasori reserved only for Chiyo.
"Let's burn them to ashes!"
"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
A ninja from the Sarutobi clan stepped forward, unleashing a powerful Fire Release from his mouth in an attempt to incinerate the puppets.
Sasori tilted his head slightly, his face still bearing that innocent, youthful look.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
One of the puppets stepped forward. With light blue hair and sharp teeth, it was clearly a member of the Hōzuki Clan. Enhanced by their bloodline, the puppet easily countered the Fire Release with a powerful water technique.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Bullets!"
This time, sixteen puppets simultaneously launched Wind Release techniques. The sheer number of air bullets created a qualitative change, bombarding the Konoha formation and throwing it into chaos. Though the ninjas managed to evade using various methods, many still sustained injuries.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Sphere!"
Twenty-seven puppets unleashed a barrage of lightning spheres, densely packed like raindrops. The electric web descended upon the Konoha ninjas, seeking to claim their lives.
"How is this possible?! Puppets shouldn't be able to use ninjutsu!" A panicked Konoha ninja shouted.
Even seemingly insignificant, low-power ninjutsu could become a formidable force when unleashed by enough users simultaneously.
With just over twenty puppets, the destructive power was already overwhelming. He couldn't imagine what would happen if all one hundred puppets attacked at once.
"Those are the human puppet techniques of Sunagakure!"
"Don't panic! We outnumber them. Follow my lead, and we'll counter their ninjutsu together!" A Nara clan ninja stepped forward, rallying the others.
He didn't bother explaining the intricacies of human puppets, focusing instead on uniting everyone to fight back. After all, in terms of numbers, Konoha did have the advantage.
Sasori stood silently amidst the chaos. His innocent expression, in the eyes of the Konoha ninjas, now seemed unbearably arrogant and dismissive.
"It's useless," he said softly, as if stating an obvious fact.
With a single thought, all one hundred puppets surged forward. Fire Release, Water Release, Wind Release, Lightning Release, Earth Release, various Kekkei Genkai, secret techniques, deadly mechanisms, and poisons—it was like a tiger unleashed upon a flock of sheep. Amidst the screams, lives were harvested one after another.
Of course, Konoha wasn't entirely on the defensive. These were elite ninjas, after all. However, controlling one hundred puppets spread Sasori's attention thin, limiting the individual power of each puppet.
Even so, the psychological toll was immense. While Sasori's side lost only lifeless puppets, Konoha's side was losing living comrades.
"Outer formation, focus on the puppets! Inner formation, follow my lead!" the Nara ninja commanded.
"Three, two, one—Fire Release together!"
The combined Fire Release of the Konoha ninjas, as powerful as an S-rank forbidden technique, roared toward Sasori.
Yet Sasori remained calm. A black wall of iron sand formed in front of him, blocking the attack completely.
"It's the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release! This is going to be tricky!" the Nara ninja muttered, frowning deeply.
"Akimichi Clan, use the Multi-Size Technique to break their defense!"
"Understood!"
Three giants appeared on the battlefield, their massive fists hammering the iron sand wall and leaving deep dents.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
Sasori manipulated Hiruko, summoning three massive wood dragons that coiled around the Akimichi giants, binding them and draining their chakra.
"Cancel the Multi-Size Technique! Sand iron conducts electricity—use Lightning Release to attack!"
Crackle!
Facing the widespread Lightning Release attacks, Sasori summoned a sharp wooden shell to shield himself, easily withstanding the assault.
When the crackling of lightning ceased, Sasori dismissed the wooden barrier, his face still bearing that same innocent expression.
"Is this all you've got?"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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