Chapter 581: Sasori
"...Shortly after separating from Sakura-kun, we encountered the Akatsuki duo..."
That was a few days ago...
On the other side of the vast ocean.
"I wonder if Sakura-kun has found anything over there?" Walking in the fierce wind and torrential rain, Naruto, having found nothing, mumbled somewhat depressingly.
Sasuke followed behind him, his clothes soaked through, looking miserable.
He looked at the dark sky and the rain curtain that blotted out the sun, and sighed: "Even if Sakura-kun found something over there, we probably wouldn't be able to sense it, right? With rain this heavy, even if we were fighting the Three-Tails right now, all the commotion would be covered up by this storm."
He stopped his footsteps, narrowing his Sharingan to scan the surroundings, his mouth already beginning to pant slightly.
Naruto forcefully wiped the cold rainwater off his face with his left hand and stopped as well.
Looking around, there was nothing else but the roaring ocean waves and the heavy rain.
"Let's go," Naruto also sighed. "Sooner or later, we'll—"
The sudden change happened exactly when the boy was speaking!
Swoosh swoosh swoosh!
Several dark figures abruptly burst out from underwater. Swords carrying a cold, gloomy glint aimed straight for the boys' defenseless lower bodies!
The noisy rain and waves, along with the dim lighting, created excellent conditions for an ambush. The sneak attackers had been hiding deep on the seabed all along, extremely difficult to detect among the indistinct shadows, causing Naruto and Sasuke to not realize the danger until the moment they were attacked.
—No, Sasuke, with more combat experience, had already faintly sensed something amiss beforehand, which was why he had suddenly stopped walking.
In the nick of time, lightning flashed on Sasuke's body, and Naruto's chakra erupted. In an instant, their speeds surged significantly, narrowly dodging the sharp blades.
Boom boom!
The two who had reacted immediately launched a counterattack. A Chidori short sword and a Rasengan hit a dark figure simultaneously. The sneak attacker emitted the cracking sound of shattering wood and turned into countless fragments that splashed everywhere.
"Puppet?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"It's that man called 'Sasori'!"
For the first time, Naruto reacted faster than Sasuke, because he had fought this enemy before...
That was last year, when he had fought shoulder to shoulder with Haruno Sakura against this powerful enemy! (Chapters 264-268)
"Be careful, he's a very dangerous puppet master!" Naruto leaned against Sasuke's back and said in a deep voice.
"Hmph... I've heard Sakura-kun talk about this person." Sasuke's face was stern, the corner of his mouth twitching, his eyes staring fixedly at the unknown area outside the rain curtain. "How unfortunate, it seems we encountered the enemy first!"
In the heavy rain, in such cold weather, the two boys actually felt cold sweat threatening to seep out on their foreheads...
"The Nine-Tails brat, and the surviving orphan of the Uchiha clan?"
A voice wafted over gloomily. Sasori slowly walked out from the rain curtain leading a group of dark figures, a faint smile on his delicate small face.
"How lucky! Not only can I catch the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki as a bonus, but I also get a superb puppet material included for free."
He licked his lips. His lifeless pupils sized up the two with murderous intent, and his tyrannical chakra momentum was astonishing!
So strong! Sasuke's pupils shrank violently.
Among the Akatsuki members, Sasuke had seen Itachi, Orochimaru, and Kisame; every single one was a super strong ninja! Proud as he was, he had to admit that he temporarily lacked the ability to compete with them. And this Sasori right now, his strength was not the slightest bit inferior to any other Akatsuki member he had seen!
"Don't your Akatsuki always capture Tailed Beasts in teams of two?" While staring at Sasori, Sasuke nervously paid attention to movements elsewhere. "Where is the other person? Come out!"
"Are you talking about Kakuzu? He's up ahead capturing the Three-Tails." Sasori casually sold out Kakuzu's intelligence. "It doesn't matter, I alone am enough to deal with the two of you!"
He smiled easily, his confident eyes not putting Sasuke and Naruto in his sights at all.
Naruto's face flushed slightly red, and a hint of indignation flashed across his eyes. Having undergone rigorous training, he was confident he had grown up and could somewhat be considered an expert. Even if he still couldn't defeat Sasori, he absolutely shouldn't be underestimated!
Being looked down upon by the enemy like this, if it were the him from before, he would have long since clamored and charged over with hot blood rushing to his head. But now, Naruto calmly controlled his emotions, suppressed the churning in his heart, and exchanged a glance with Sasuke.
Without needing words, the two knew what the other wanted to say.
If Kakuzu was also here, they wouldn't think twice and would honestly defend until Sakura-kun came to support them.
But since Kakuzu was still entangled with the Three-Tails, fighting two against one, they could actually give it a try!
Fight!
The boys tacitly launched an attack at the same time:
"Lightning Release: Chidori Phantom Form Mode!"
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" "Rasengan Barrage!"
In an instant, a mighty army of shadow clones holding Rasengans crowded the entire sea area. And among those densely packed clones, a figure flashing with blinding blue light was especially eye-catching!
"Interesting..." Sasori narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling he seemed to have underestimated these two a bit.
However, the stronger Sasuke's power was, wouldn't the human puppet made from him be even more formidable? At this thought, Sasori became even more excited, his chakra morbidly surging wildly.
"Attack!"
"Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets!"
He retreated violently, but the numerous dark figures behind him suddenly grew a size larger, charging towards the two boys overwhelmingly!
Boom boom boom!
Naruto's shadow clones had high attack but low defense; they would dissipate into white smoke immediately upon being pierced by a puppet, but the power of the Rasengan in their hands was not discounted. Sasori's puppet craftsmanship was extremely high, and even mass-produced puppets had high attack and defense, but they couldn't withstand taking a Rasengan either. So when clones fought puppets, whoever hit first would win. And although under Sasori's manipulation, the puppets moved more agilely and were extremely numerous, the number of Naruto's shadow clones was even greater!
With these two sides clashing head-on, they unexpectedly ended in a stalemate, turning into a scene of mutual attrition between the puppets and Naruto's chakra!
Only the continuous sound of explosions could be heard, for a time even suppressing the sound of the storm. Countless shadow clones exploded and died in the rain, turning into bursts of white smoke, while puppets were also constantly smashed by Rasengans, scattering into debris on the ground. Both sides advanced wave upon wave, unafraid of death, making the scene extremely heroic!
"To think they were actually blocked?" Sasori was slightly surprised.
The demon fox brat in his impression didn't fight like this. Where was the Tailed Beast cloak?
Moreover, the number of his shadow clones was actually so high, and their combat power was actually this strong...! Sasori suddenly realized that compared to the Naruto who had fought him last year, the current Naruto's combat awareness had improved far too much. He was no longer that rookie who only knew how to act tough relying on the Tailed Beast cloak!
What surprised Sasori even more was the combat power of the true bodies of Naruto and Sasuke.
Putting Naruto aside, Sasuke, having activated the Lightning Release mode, had a massive surge in both strength and speed. Paired with his Sharingan, he slaughtered everything in all directions among the crowd of puppets. A graze from the lightning sword in his hand meant injury, a slash meant death. There was actually no enemy who could withstand a single round!
Sasori was too arrogant.
Naruto and Sasuke both currently showed faint signs of breaking through to the Kage level; what they lacked was just a massive amount of combat experience.
Trying to subdue Sasuke and Naruto fighting side by side with mere puppets? In a battle of numbers, Naruto wasn't afraid; in a battle of quality, Sasuke could fight. Sasori was completely having a pipe dream!
It hadn't been long before the Performance of a Hundred Puppets was massacred to pieces. Sasori hurriedly recalled the remnants, his heart aching intensely.
Ever since his puppets were massively destroyed by Haruno Sakura last time, replenishing new puppets had always been a sore spot for him. He had finally managed to scrape together another wave, only to have more than half destroyed by these two wet-behind-the-ears brats!
"Damned brats..." Sasori's face was so gloomy it seemed like water could drip from it. "To actually force me to use 'this'!"
He took out a scroll from behind him.
"Round two..."
"And also, the final round!"