Chapter 139: Water Style: Heavenly Weep
Karuo, an exceptional corps commander, immediately understood Sasuke's strategy upon hearing the explosions in the canyon. The Konoha Hundred hadn't ambushed them within the canyon itself, not only to lower their guard but also because the terrain at the valley entrance was perfect for his trap. The miles-long ravine was now their only escape route.
"Sand Hand!" Karuo shouted. Facing the rain of exploding kunai from above, he transformed the sand into a giant hand, blocking the blasts as he and his three subordinates continued to advance.
Sasuke, seeing that Fūjin and Raijin had nearly wiped out the Suna vanguard, abstained from launching another large-scale water attack. Instead, he continued to throw exploding kunai, hampering Karuo's advance while using his Taotie technique to rapidly restore his own chakra. Once he was back to seventy or eighty percent, a single Hard Whirlpool Water Blade would surely annihilate them.
However, Karuo's immense strength allowed him to push forward with astonishing speed. Soon, he and his men were about to break out of the canyon. Seeing Fūjin and Raijin defending the entrance, Karuo raised his hands.
"Continuous Sand Rain!" A barrage of sand bullets, like a machine gun, rained down on the two brothers. They spun their great iron rods, transforming them into giant windmills, attempting to block the attack. But Karuo's secret sand technique was far more powerful than a common sand rain. The brothers only managed to block a small portion before their iron rods were knocked from their grasp.
"Sand Coffin!" Karuo extended his hand and clenched his fist. The falling sand bullets transformed into streams of sand, engulfing the two brothers.
"Roar!" Feeling the unprecedented pressure, Fūjin and Raijin finally unleashed their boiling strength, scattering the sand that covered their bodies. But the scattered sand clung to them again, restricting their movements. Seeing their formidable physical defenses, Karuo ignored them and continued his charge, blasting them against the rock walls with another torrent of sand.
Just then, two mecha puppets descended from the sky. "Mecha: Roof Collapse Jutsu!" Karuo and his three men dodged as the five-meter-tall mechas crashed down with the force of a mountain, scattering their formation. At that moment, Fūjin and Raijin finally broke free and, along with the two mechas, attacked Karuo. Yeshan, Shun, and Ryo engaged the other three Sand ninja.
The space in the valley was extremely limited, leaving Karuo with little room to evade. "Sand Shield!" he shouted, forming a circular sand shield in front of him, easily blocking the slashing blows from the mecha's broadsword.
"Roar! Die!" Fūjin and Raijin, furious behind him, raised their great iron rods and rained blows down on the sand shield. Unfortunately, they failed to penetrate it, and their iron rods became entangled in the sand, robbing them of their most crucial weapon. Karuo then changed his strategy, controlling the sand to try and penetrate the mecha puppet's joints, but since his battle with Ebizō, Sasuke had already reinforced this flaw.
Taking advantage of Karuo's lost Sand Eye, Sasuke leaped down from above, a ball of chakra already condensed in his hand. "Rasengan!"
With a resounding crash, the Rasengan accurately struck the sand shield, finally creating a breach. The powerful, penetrating shockwave even reached the interior of the shield, striking Karuo. While the Rasengan is not necessarily more powerful than the Chidori, it was clearly much more effective against sand shields. The sand shield shattered, finally revealing Karuo within.
"Cough, cough!" Karuo coughed up blood. Despite being seriously injured, he maintained great combat strength. "Sand Desert Wave!" A swarm of sharp sand spikes suddenly emerged from the shattered shield, piercing towards Sasuke.
But Sasuke had already anticipated this and retreated. Just then, "Water Style: Heavenly Weep!"
Without any hand seals, Sasuke spat several high-pressure water needles from his mouth. As expected of Tobirama's sneak attack ninjutsu, the effect was truly impressive. Karuo was no Madara. Faced with such a sudden, seal-less attack, the high-pressure water needle pierced his chest on the spot.
The sand shield lost Karuo's control and fell to the ground, turning into scattered quicksand. Karuo, wounded in his vitals, knew his life was about to end, but he sighed, "What a great water-style sneak attack ninjutsu… powerful… ahem."
"Your sand shield secret technique is not bad either," Sasuke replied, impressed that Karuo could face death so calmly.
Karuo took the opportunity to ask one last question. "White-Blooded Demon, your wind-style ninjutsu is also good. Where did you get it?"
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