Chapter 279: Iron Sand Shukaku
Even without the prerequisite of "sensing natural energy"—which 99.999% of people in the ninja world can't do—the process of making a Puppet Core was still extremely difficult.
Just engraving the puppet core seal onto hexagonal rectangular blocks, then assembling them like a 3D Rubik's Cube—where all six faces of each block had to align correctly—was incredibly complex.
If Li Yao's Wind Release clone hadn't had a deep understanding of sealing techniques and strong chakra perception abilities to sense whether the puppet core seals were working correctly (essentially like solving a test with the answer key), he wouldn't have succeeded.
Forget three hours—even with years of time, he might not have been able to create a single Puppet Core.
Even he had to "cheat" to succeed.
For others, it would be even harder.
Probably only Sasori—the one who created the Puppet Core seal in the first place—could guarantee a certain success rate.
In short, the number of people in the ninja world who could create a Puppet Core was very limited. In all of Sunagakure, perhaps only Chiyo might stand a chance. It had little practical applicability.
But as a personal trump card, it was a significant power gap booster.
"Next, I need to check whether Jiraiya has learned Sage Mode."
"That subordinate of Orochimaru who can absorb natural energy—his name is Jūgo, right? I wonder if he's been born yet. I should assign the ANBU to investigate."
Very quickly, Li Yao's Wind Release clone made up his mind: he needed to gain the ability to sense natural energy as soon as possible.
"My lord, I want to go to the battlefield."
Just as Li Yao's Wind Release clone was about to leave, Sasori suddenly spoke up.
Looking into the cold, gleaming eyes on Sasori's puppet face, Li Yao's Wind Release clone smiled, instantly understanding his intention. He said, "Very well, head to the Land of Rivers. We're just about to attack the Land of Fire—Konoha will likely send Sakumo to respond."
That works too. Once the Lightning Release clone finishes developing a jutsu comparable to a Kekkei Tōta, he can test it against Sasori's current power.
So thought Li Yao's Wind Release clone.
"I'll go in a few days," Sasori replied.
He wanted to install Puppet Cores into several important puppets, especially the human puppet of the Third Kazekage. He needed to remodel its appearance before using it publicly.
"Whenever you're ready. Just come to me for the approval signature."
Just like in Konoha, in Sunagakure, any ninja leaving on a mission needed formal authorization. War was treated as a mission too.
The next day—
Li Yao's Wind Release clone set up a secret chamber in his home to study the spell scripts within the soul replication seal array.
Sasori's current soul state was very special.
No longer humanoid, it had taken the form of a "spark"—somewhat like the core from the Transformers.
The soul replication seal array—not just a seal but an array—had restructured and fused Sasori's body, spirit, and soul into that spark form.
In a sense, Sasori was no longer human—even his soul had changed.
But his thinking remained that of a human.
Li Yao's Wind Release clone wasn't researching the array to analyze Sasori's soul. He was interested in the array's ability to deconstruct and transform the spirit, flesh, and soul.
"If I can materialize this kind of transformation into a ninjutsu like the black hole space technique, it could become a powerful offensive jutsu!"
That was what Li Yao's Wind Release clone wanted to achieve.
However, clearly, researching the combat application of the soul replication array would require a lot of human experimentation.
As the Kazekage, it wasn't convenient for him to do this directly.
His other clones were too busy—only the Water Release clone had the time, but he would have to wait until that one developed a Kekkei Tōta-level water technique first.
For now, Li Yao's Wind Release clone focused on studying the spell combinations within the array.
Three days later—
Sasori, having equipped several of his puppets with Puppet Cores, set out for the Land of Rivers.
Half a month later—
Land of Rivers capital—
Daimyō's estate.
Boom boom!
Bang bang… BOOM!
With a series of deafening explosions, the daimyo's estate—spanning several dozen acres—was reduced to ruins.
The cause of this destruction was a massive black, fat tanuki-like monster. Standing 50 meters tall, with a tail and limbs as large as train cars, every movement it made left the earth shattered in its wake.
Aside from its color, it looked exactly like the One-Tail, Shukaku.
"Quick, stop that monster!"
"Don't let it get any closer!"
At a street intersection in the capital, the Great General of the Land of Rivers watched the terrifying beast rampaging ahead and hurriedly gave orders to nearby soldiers and hired shinobi to stop it.
Meanwhile, he and the Daimyō fled with their families.
But where could they run?
After destroying the daimyo's estate, the black Shukaku continued advancing toward them. Despite its massive size, it wasn't slow.
Whoosh whoosh… The hired shinobi threw kunai and shuriken.
Clang clang… The weapons struck the black Shukaku's body with metallic clangs, as if hitting solid steel—useless.
The black Shukaku kept moving.
"Fire Style!"
"Water Style!"
Some hired shinobi used ninjutsu to attack, but none of it could stop the black Shukaku.
Seeing the beast rapidly closing in, the Daimyō of the Land of Rivers panicked!
"Damn it! Where are Konoha's shinobi?!"
When Sunagakure struck at the Land of Rivers, the country had immediately sent a request for aid to Konoha.
But unlike Sunagakure's well-prepared invasion, Konoha needed time to rally troops from various locations. They could only dispatch small squads to harass the enemy and delay their advance.
Based on experiences from the First and Second Ninja Wars, Sunagakure typically only clashed with Konoha forces within the Land of Rivers and didn't attack the Daimyō's estate.
But this time, someone from Sunagakure had gone straight for the daimyo's residence.
Now, no one could stop the black Shukaku's assault.
"We've already sent the distress signal. Konoha's shinobi should be arriving any moment."
The Great General, shielding the Daimyō, forced himself to sound calm as he continued ordering guards to block the black Shukaku's path.
Outside the capital—
Two Sunagakure ninja squads stood on the branches of a tall tree, watching the rampaging black Shukaku with expressions of awe.
"So that's the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand manipulation…"
"Didn't think we'd ever get to see it again in this lifetime. Lord Sasori is amazing—he managed to learn the Third Kazekage's adult-level ninjutsu in secret!"
To hide the fact that the puppet was the actual Third Kazekage, Sasori had encased it in a Puppet Core sphere and used it to manipulate iron sand, shaping it into a Shukaku-like form and controlling it with various Iron Sand jutsu.
The black Shukaku rampaging through the capital was formed entirely from Sasori's controlled iron sand.
His true body was inside the Iron Sand Shukaku, directing it through a pair of eyes formed from the iron sand itself.
"Well, Sasori was once the Third Kazekage's personal guard—it's not surprising he learned Iron Sand techniques. But I never imagined he would have such massive chakra reserves."
"I heard Lord Sasori developed a device called the Puppet Core that can absorb natural energy from the environment to restore chakra. That's how he possesses more chakra than even Kage-level shinobi."
"Too bad I don't have the talent for puppetry. Otherwise, with the Puppet Core, I might have become Kage-level too."
"They say using the Puppet Core requires the ability to sense natural energy first. What exactly is natural energy? Do any of you know?"
"Uh… don't look at me. I've got no clue."
The six shinobi exchanged confused looks. None of them knew what natural energy was—much less how to sense it.
In truth, very few people in the ninja world knew about natural energy.
That's because hardly anyone could perceive it without help from the Three Great Sage Regions. Maybe only one or two people in the whole ninja world could do it unaided.
So there were virtually no written records on natural energy.
Within the Five Great Shinobi Villages, perhaps only some major clans in Konoha and high-level members of the Uzumaki clan knew anything about it.
Sunagakure's leadership might have a little knowledge, but most lower-ranking ninja didn't know what natural energy was at all.
After arriving in the Land of Rivers, Sasori didn't hide the abilities of the Puppet Core and shared some insights with his fellow Sand shinobi. Of course, he didn't reveal everything.
Anyone who wanted the Puppet Core's manufacturing techniques had to follow strict protocols. Paying a high price was just the beginning—they also had to demonstrate enough talent in puppetry.
Sasori wasn't about to casually hand over the Puppet Core he had painstakingly developed.
(END CHAPTER)
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