Hozuki Castle.
After Ryou hypnotized his perception of Satori into that of a little catgirl, the advantage shifted entirely to his side.
Because Satori's mechanism for perceiving malice had been cracked by Ryou, and in terms of raw stats, its chakra was only at the level of an ordinary Tailed Beast.
It simply couldn't compare to Ryou, whose chakra was already approaching the level of the Nine-Tails.
The absolute defense formed by Susanoo combined with Wood Release was impenetrable to Satori's attacks, while the Iron Sand Fine Needles fired by Ryou using Magnet Release were relentless.
Therefore—the advantage is mine!
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Dragon!"
Ryou led the Susanoo to perform hand seals together. Suddenly, all the iron sand began to converge into a massive steel dragon under the guidance of Ryou's Magnet Release chakra.
The Iron Sand Dragon took the form of an Eastern Azure Dragon, winding dozens of zhang long with distinct scales and claws.
The dragon's head had sharp edges, and its two horns were made of magnetized black iron, appearing pitch black.
The dragon's body was covered in overlapping layers of scales, each piece fitting perfectly under magnetic pull. As it moved, the scales rubbed against each other, emitting a continuous low-frequency vibration.
When the dragon's mouth opened wide, fine steel teeth could be seen.
Compared to the Wood Dragon, the Iron Sand Dragon's strength lay in its hardness; its entire body was a weapon formed of iron sand. Its claws were crafted from high-purity iron sand, capable of splitting mountains and shattering stone with a single strike.
The Iron Sand Dragon flew using magnetic force. It was very fast and soon caught up with Satori.
Satori possessed a top-tier flight mechanism; in the entire Shinobi World, nothing could fly faster or more stylishly in the sky than it.
Unable to catch up directly, the Iron Sand Dragon opened its mouth wide and spat out thick steel needles formed of iron sand.
Satori could no longer see through Ryou's thoughts, and it couldn't read the combat intentions of a lifeless object like the Iron Sand Dragon.
Satori dodged in a panic, but three or four steel needles were thrust into its body, locking firmly into its flesh.
Satori summoned the Box of Ultimate Bliss, which emitted a red light that replenished Satori's body.
As the light shone on Satori, its injuries were repaired, and even its lost chakra was replenished.
Candy looked at Satori's recovered injuries and said, "The Box of Ultimate Bliss can repair Satori's wounds. We must find a way to destroy it."
Ryou shook his head: "No, the Box of Ultimate Bliss is a product of Yin-Yang Release; it cannot be destroyed!"
Candy suggested again: "Use the Thousand-Armed Kannon! Summon the Great Tree of Takigakure and drink the Hero Water to perform the Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands."
Ryou still shook his head: "Satori's flight is too fast. Even without mind-reading, its speed allows it to instantly evade the attacks of the Thousand-Armed Kannon."
Shukaku spoke up then: "Use my Desert Layer Imperial Burial Seal! This move is a Sealing Jutsu developed in conjunction with Magnet Release, making it most suitable for dealing with such high-mobility enemies."
Ryou nodded: "Fine, Shukaku, we'll use your seal!"
Having decided on a tactic, Ryou immediately attacked again.
The Wood Release Susanoo and the Iron Sand Dragon charged forward simultaneously.
Not finished yet, in order to lock down Satori's aerial advantage, Ryou used Wood Release to summon another Wood Dragon.
The Iron Sand Dragon handled long-range attacks while the Wood Dragon engaged in close combat; as long as the Wood Dragon touched it, it would be a death coil followed by absorption.
(´⊙ω⊙`).
Satori was visibly stunned. In the sky were two great dragons—one iron, one wood—and on the ground was a giant rattan-armored warrior holding a Gunbai.
Any one of these was larger in size than Satori.
Satori had to face three such enemies.
"What is wrong with this era?"
Satori felt a deep confusion. The last time it was revived, it had nearly leveled the Shinobi World.
But this time, it encountered such top-tier Shinobi right outside the door.
The last time it met someone like this was a thousand years ago, when a monk with prominent horns appeared; with just a glare, Satori had fallen asleep.
Although the people Satori was facing now weren't as powerful as the Sage of Six Paths of old, they possessed power far exceeding its own.
Satori wanted to flee, to return inside the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
But the two dragons in the sky blocked Satori's movement.
Satori could only turn into a black shadow and attack the Wood Dragon, which seemed less formidable.
To its surprise, as soon as its claws touched the Wood Dragon, the dragon initiated a death coil, frantically devouring the chakra inside Satori's body.
Satori hadn't expected the Wood Dragon to have the ability to absorb chakra.
Satori concentrated its chakra into its paws, which turned a dangerous red, and with a fierce rip, it tore the Wood Dragon's body apart.
Just as it broke free from the Wood Dragon's death coil, the Iron Sand Dragon's attack arrived. Satori shot upward like a firework.
Ryou, controlling the Susanoo, also caught up.
The Susanoo held the Gunbai in one hand and slammed it hard against Satori's body. Satori was swatted down, crashing into the Iron Sand Dragon.
The Iron Sand Dragon instantly disintegrated, turning into clumps of iron sand that wrapped around Satori.
Ryou controlled the Susanoo to perform hand seals in sync with Shukaku.
"Iron Sand Layer Imperial Burial Seal!"
Because iron sand was being used, the Desert Layer Imperial Burial Seal was renamed the Iron Sand Layer Imperial Burial Seal.
The binding force of iron was countless times stronger than sand.
The Susanoo's hands pressed against the iron sand, which formed into a pyramid under Shukaku's manipulation.
Shukaku also mixed the marks from its body into it, deepening the seal.
Layers of Shukaku's cursed seals began to appear on the pyramid, and finally, a sealing pyramid made of iron sand was formed.
Satori was trapped inside, unable to move even a fraction.
He wasn't Madara; he couldn't just activate Susanoo to break out after being sealed by Shukaku's Imperial Burial.
Not enough yet, Ryou injected Wood Release chakra into the Iron Sand Layer Imperial Burial Seal, forming vines that absorbed Satori's chakra.
Now Satori was truly and completely controlled!
After waiting for a few breaths and seeing no movement from Satori, Ryou finally dispelled the Susanoo and jumped down with Candy and Shukaku.
Ryou patted Shukaku's head: "Shukaku, you did a great job this time. I'll reward you with some chakra!"
Ryou injected his own chakra into Shukaku's body. After receiving Ryou's chakra, Shukaku's body didn't grow larger.
However, the Shukaku patterns on its body became more solid.
Shukaku's face was full of joy. Tailed Beasts are chakra creatures and naturally feed on chakra.
Ryou's life-attribute Wood Release chakra was a huge supplement for a Tailed Beast!
Why did the Nine-Tails have the most chakra?
That was because after the Nine-Tails was sealed inside Uzumaki Mito, every time Hashirama provided output to Mito, the Nine-Tails would secretly devour Hashirama cells.
Over time, its chakra became massive.
Black and White Zetsu were monitoring Ryou's situation from a distance. White Zetsu found the Shukaku on Ryou's shoulder extremely strange: "That's Shukaku, right? Wasn't it sealed by Lord Madara?"