Yahiko, upon noticing this, sent a water clone to stall the newly emerged puppet, while his main body used the Water Instant Body Jutsu to swiftly rush towards Sasori.
Sasori had no intention of getting entangled with Yahiko for long. After deploying a second puppet, he once again brought out two more puppets, simultaneously controlling four puppets in battle.
Originally rushing forward at high speed, Yahiko immediately halted, realizing he wasn't confident enough to break through the defenses of the two puppets and defeat Sasori.
Yahiko's offensive slowed, yet Sasori launched an aggressive attack, controlling three puppets with one hand, systematically breaking through Yahiko's water clone with extreme speed.
At the same time, Hiruko on the other side also eliminated Yahiko's water clone, charging towards Yahiko under Sasori's control.
In the blink of an eye, the situation reversed, and Yahiko found himself surrounded by four puppets.
"What's the deal with this ninja named Sunagani? Such manipulative skill, even our village doesn't have any young ninja who can reach this level."
Eliminated and seated in the audience, Maki watched Sasori's puppet manipulation with a look of shock.
Even though he specialized in Wind Release, he had often seen teammates or elders use Puppetry, gaining considerable understanding of it.
Maki found it hard to believe, knowing that The Hidden Sand Village was the origin of Puppet Masters, yet they were outclassed in Puppetry by an outsider from who knows where.
"Something's not right. His puppet handling resembles that of our village's. Could he be a disciple of a traitor from somewhere?"
Maki soon discovered another inconsistency. Sasori's Puppetry didn't look like something out of the blue; it resembled pure Hidden Sand Puppetry.
"This Sunagani is indeed extraordinary, simultaneously controlling four puppets and yet allowing such agility." In the lounge, Kakashi elevated Sasori's threat level by a notch.
As a Puppet Master, Sasori clearly possessed unusual strength.
Kakashi grew more eager for the third round of battles, wondering whether the Ninjutsu artillery or the puppet master with many numbers would come out on top.
"Yahiko." Konan showed a hint of worry.
Sasori's real strength exceeded what was predicted in Kakuzu's intelligence report.
Under the oppressive advance of the four puppets, Yahiko couldn't even form hand seals to use a Water Release counterattack. Various hidden weapons on the puppets left Yahiko struggling to cope.
"Sunagani wins!"
In the end, Yahiko fell under the siege of the puppets, and after the referee announced the result, Sasori promptly sealed the puppets back into the Scroll and returned to the lounge.
"I really lost in the first round." Yahiko looked up at the sky, scratching his head helplessly.
Even though he was usually thick-skinned, his cheeks couldn't help but turn slightly red. He was discussing with Obito about making it to the finals and becoming famous in the Ninja World, yet he was knocked out in the first round.
Soon, a Ninja of the Ninja Sect carried Yahiko away for treatment, and the referee called out the names of the next group of competitors.
"Number nine, Hoshigaki Kisame versus number ten, Yura."
Both Hoshigaki Kisame and Yura swiftly moved into the battle arena.
"Now I'm the only Hidden Sand Ninja left in the elimination match. No matter what, I must win the battle." Yura thought resolutely in his heart.
Even though Rasa didn't seem to place much importance on the Youth Martial Arts Tournament, Yura felt that since they participated, their results couldn't be too mediocre.
Yura's thoughts were commendable, but he overestimated his own strength and underestimated Kisame's.
After the battle began, despite Yura showing considerable resilience, the gap in hard strength led to Kisame defeating him within two minutes, leaving Yura covered in wounds from Kisame's water shark bite.
After the referee announced the battle result, Kisame didn't spare a glance at Yura and directly walked back to the lounge.
"Number eleven, Might Guy versus number twelve, Nagaishi!"
"Might Guy, how much have you improved after fighting the Seven-Swords Ninja?" Kisame looked seriously at Might Guy as he walked into the battle arena.
Due to Hidden Mist concealing the details of the Seven-Swords Ninja's defeat, Kisame, who stayed in the Land of Water, didn't know the specifics of Might Guy's encounter with the Seven-Swords Ninja. He only knew that Might Guy, under Mokgetsu's lead, had a massive victory over them.
"Finally it's Nagaishi's turn." Seeing the genius from Hidden Rock appear, Kitsuchi showed a gentle smile.
Among the ninjas Hidden Rock sent to the Youth Martial Arts Tournament, Nagaishi was the strongest, and Kitsuchi held high expectations for him.
"Bad luck to run into me." Nagaishi couldn't help but smile as he looked at the opponent before him.
Hidden Rock had sent a total of twenty-one ninjas to participate in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament. Each competition area had ninjas from Hidden Rock, and they had gathered intelligence on all qualifying ninjas.
According to the preliminary information, Might Guy was a ninja specializing in Taijutsu and hadn't used any Ninjutsu in his four battles.
And Nagaishi happened to counter Taijutsu Ninjas the best.
Because he developed the Explosion Release direction similar to Gari, specializing in Taijutsu Explosion Release, fighting Taijutsu with him would truly lead to explosive consequences.
"Begin the battle!"
"Eight Gates, Injure Gate, Open!"
Might Guy immediately opened the Eight Gates to the Four Gates, unleashing a constant flow of Chakra to reinforce his body's power.
The sudden eruption of mighty aura from Might Guy surprised Nagaishi slightly, but he didn't mind. Ninjas can win against stronger opponents by exploiting advantageous relationships.
Nagaishi gathered substantial Chakra on his fist and took the initiative to launch an Instant Body strike towards Might Guy.
Might Guy had heard beforehand from Kakashi's intelligence that Nagaishi was an Explosion Release Ninja, so he had prepared, accumulating a significant amount of Chakra in his legs.
Whoosh!
BOOM!!
Nagaishi's fist, imbued with Explosion Release Chakra, struck the ground where Might Guy had just stood, creating a crater.
"With this level of strength, entering the Breath of Rock Chakra Mode should suffice," Might Guy analyzed internally.
Though he was a Taijutsu Ninja, Might Guy didn't rely solely on charging head-on in battles.
Based on Nagaishi's displayed destructive power, he could rely on the defense provided by the Breath of Rock Chakra Mode and Chakra protection to endure it, at most suffering some minor injuries.
The Breathing Chakra Mode could accelerate the healing of injuries, so minor injuries didn't bother him unless there was poison.
"Explosion Release: Explosive Punch!"
Nagaishi once again gathered Chakra, charging towards Might Guy and taunting, "If you have the guts, face me like a real man in a Tae Kwon Do match where fists hit flesh."
Might Guy couldn't help but laugh heartily, wishing the person speaking those words was Kakashi, "Sure, this is youthful! Let's do it!"
Might Guy, without retreating or avoiding, concentrated his breathing to the extreme and entered the Breath of Rock Chakra Mode, with his momentum surging once more.
"Leaf Hand Blade!"
Might Guy gathered a massive amount of Chakra in his right hand's palm, dispersing some Chakra to protect his body, then relentlessly charged towards Nagaishi.
"I've won!"
Nagaishi was overjoyed, not expecting Might Guy to fall for such an easy bait.
If Might Guy kept running, Nagaishi would have had no way since his speed was indeed much slower than Might Guy's.
Might Guy's running speed was extremely fast, and Nagaishi, eager to seize this rare opportunity, rushed towards Might Guy at full speed.
Accompanied by a gust of wind, the two figures intersected.
BOOM!!
The massive explosion resounded as earth and rocks scattered everywhere, thick dust shrouding both figures.
Bam!
The next moment, a figure was sent flying rapidly out of the yellow mist, like a cannonball, crashing hard against the sturdy wall at the edge of the battle arena, leaving a large human-shaped indent.
Kitsuchi widened his eyes, as his angle clearly allowed him to see the figure being blasted away.
Kitsuchi stood up and rechecked, unwilling to believe his eyes.
"How is it possible that our Hidden Rock's genius was knocked out with one punch?"
No matter how incredulous Kitsuchi found it, this was the reality that had just unfolded. Their Ninja Village's Explosion Release genius had been defeated by Konoha's Taijutsu Ninja with a single punch.
"Might Guy wins!" After laboriously extracting Nagaishi from the wall, the referee announced Might Guy's victory.
PS: Asking for monthly tickets, another chapter may be released around 2:30 or 3:00.