Chapter 84: Maiden vs. Southern Dipper
"Kyosuke, this young lady's strength is probably much higher than what the intelligence reports described," Minato said to Kyosuke, his expression worried as he looked at the lava slowly flowing in the arena.
"Her strength is indeed not to be underestimated," Kyosuke agreed with a nod. He then changed the subject. "But, aren't ninjutsu-type opponents what we're good at dealing with?"
Minato was stunned for a moment, then a smile touched his lips. "You're right."
Both of them were ninja who excelled in the Body Flicker Technique, so they were very experienced in dealing with this kind of "turret-type" opponent.
What they truly feared were those who hid behind a turtle shell, who wouldn't get hurt no matter how you hit them.
The counterattack launched by such a person after withstanding the first wave of attacks from a speed-type ninja was often the most difficult to parry.
So, the two of them just briefly marveled at Mei Terumī's powerful Kekkei Genkai and then paid her no more attention.
With the current state of the battle, Yugito and Mei had both won, and there were only four contestants left.
Uchiha Kyosuke.
Kisame Hoshigaki.
Sasori of the Red Sand.
Akatsuchi.
From among them, two more winners had to be decided before the next round of battles could begin.
Just as all four of them were focusing their attention on the big screen, the pairing for the next match appeared.
Mist Village's Kisame Hoshigaki vs. Sand Village's Sasori of the Red Sand.
The Maiden of the Akatsuki versus the Southern Dipper of the Akatsuki.
This was a battle that Kyosuke found quite interesting.
However, it was clear that the two who had already entered the arena did not share his relaxed mood.
Kisame looked at Sasori and thought to himself, This person's poison is very powerful. I must be careful of his puppets, otherwise...
Thinking of this, Kisame's hands suddenly clasped together.
Clap!
"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave."
He opened his mouth and spewed out a stream of water large enough to form a small lake, completely changing the terrain of the venue.
Then, his hands formed hand seals again.
"Water Release: Water Clone Technique."
"Water Release: Water Shark Bomb Technique."
Kisame created a shark-shaped water bomb with his chakra and sent it rushing toward the Hiruko opposite him.
And the two water clones he had created followed closely behind.
As for himself, he quietly slipped into the water, preparing to make his move.
In a short period of time, the amount of chakra Kisame had released was already more than the total chakra of many Chunin. And from the looks of it, this consumption was nothing to him.
It could only be said that, as expected of the man known as the Tailed Beast without a Tail, his chakra reserves alone were enough to crush a large number of Chunin.
And Sasori, who was opposite him, couldn't agree more.
To be able to release so many high-level ninjutsu so casually... what a monster, Sasori, hidden inside his puppet, could no longer maintain his calm expression.
He cursed inwardly and then had no choice but to control Hiruko to dodge.
At the same time, as he was dodging, Sasori raised his hand and released three more puppets.
Crow (attack puppet), Black Ant (capture puppet), and Salamander (defense puppet).
Adding Hiruko, which he was hiding in, he was simultaneously controlling four puppets.
Seeing this, most of the audience in the venue couldn't help but gasp.
Especially the Konoha ninja. They were all too familiar with the Sand's puppet masters.
So they knew very well what this nine-year-old boy's actions meant.
However, Sasori himself was in no mood to care about their gasps.
After leaving Salamander for protection, he directly controlled Black Ant and Crow to dive into the water and attack the lurking Kisame.
Kisame, of course, had also noticed this.
To avoid being poisoned, he had no choice but to target these two puppets.
"Water Release: Five Feeding Sharks."
Kisame swung his hand forward, and in an instant, he created five shark-shaped water bombs with his chakra.
After appearing, these sharks immediately rushed toward the puppets, tearing at them.
Although the puppets, under Sasori's control, were incredibly agile, dodging and occasionally managing to destroy a shark, the sharks would regenerate and rejoin the battle after a few seconds.
This was the greatest strength of this ninjutsu.
As long as Kisame's hand did not leave the water, the five shark-shaped water bombs under the water could repeatedly regenerate and attack the enemy until the enemy was bitten to death or the jutsu was canceled.
Although these sharks couldn't take down the two puppets in a short time, they also couldn't cause any effective damage.
So, for a time, the situation was at a stalemate.
In the end, it was Sasori who suddenly made a move and broke the stalemate.
After using Black Ant to unexpectedly trap a shark, he controlled Crow to charge directly at Kisame.
Sasori's objective was clear. As long as he could cause damage, no matter how small the wound, he could kill his opponent with his powerful poison.
That was why he had chosen such an aggressive attack method.
In the water, such a reckless charge, regardless of the final outcome, would likely mean the loss of the Crow puppet. This showed that Sasori was already planning to go all out.
As for Kisame, he certainly would not let Sasori's plan succeed so easily.
Seeing that the Five Feeding Sharks couldn't trap Sasori's puppet, he simply stopped maintaining the jutsu and chose to form hand seals again.
"Water Release: Water Shark Bomb Technique."
A huge shark suddenly appeared and enveloped Kisame. Then, the shark shot toward the surface of the water.
Caught off guard, Sasori failed to stop the speeding shark, which broke through the puppet's defensive line in one go.
Thump!
With a sudden explosion of water, the shark, with Kisame inside, shot out and appeared in front of Hiruko.
"Without the cover of your two puppets, do you think you can stop me with just this strange fish-like thing?" Kisame said with a strange laugh, looking at the puppet before him.
At the same time, he raised Samehada from his back and swung it forcefully at Hiruko.
"Samehada: Flying Chain Slash."
As Kisame swung, the hilt of Samehada suddenly extended and, with a powerful force, smashed Sasori's Hiruko to pieces.
Fortunately, Sasori, seeing that the situation was not good, had retreated in time. Otherwise...
Just as Kisame was preparing to press his advantage, his entire body suddenly froze, and an expression of extreme pain appeared on his face.
"Poison?! When..." Kisame muttered in a pained voice, his head bowed.
Seeing this, Sasori also slowly stopped his retreat.
He looked at Kisame with a calm expression and said, "Did you think that my poison could only be transmitted through wounds, and not through water?"
"Don't underestimate me!!!" Sasori said, then controlled the Salamander he had been using for protection to envelop Kisame.
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