Chapter 107: Fierce Battle with Sasori of the Red Sand
Nan had always played the role of Uchiha Han, hyping up the might of the Mangekyō Sharingan—yet never allowing Han to appear too often.
It was all part of his long game: to make others believe that even the Mangekyō had flaws, so that attention on "Han" would gradually fade.
And now Sasori's deductions proved that Nan's ploy was working.
A part of him was grateful—Sasori had just confirmed his strategy was sound.
But the highest art of acting is to deceive even yourself. Even though Nan had the confidence to keep Sasori here, what if the puppet master managed to escape?
So he decided to keep up the act. His expression twisted into feigned rage, as though Sasori's words had struck a nerve.
"You know nothing! The Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan is flawless—it is the power of gods!" Nan snapped, though he deliberately let a hint of uncertainty slip into his tone.
Sasori smirked. So young. So easy to read.
Just a little probing, and the boy had already betrayed himself.
Still, facing the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan without preparation made even Sasori uneasy. After all, these were the very eyes once wielded by Uchiha Madara himself.
But now he was convinced—Han's Mangekyō carried some hidden defect. That was only natural. No shinobi was perfect. Every power had its weakness. And if there was a weakness, he could exploit it.
With a cold smile, Sasori snapped open a scroll. Chakra threads snaked from his ten fingers, attaching to ten puppets in a flash.
Red Secret Technique: Performance of Ten Puppets.
The air grew heavy with killing intent. Sasori was ready for battle.
Across from him, Nan widened his eyes in mock fury, shouting:
"Damn you, Sasori! How dare you trick me! I'll grind you to dust—Susanoo!"
A skeletal frame of jet-black chakra erupted around him, incomplete but formidable, one massive arm forming without a head.
With deliberate dramatics, Nan swung the Susanoo's colossal hand in a wide arc, aiming to swat Sasori like an insect.
Sasori only shook his head. So reckless. Losing his temper in battle…
He dodged easily. Such a telegraphed strike, he thought, was nothing but wasted chakra.
But Nan's mind was elsewhere. Only ten puppets? So he hasn't perfected the Hundred Puppet Performance yet. That must mean he hasn't made himself into a puppet either. No regeneration core…
Relief flickered through his thoughts. Without a puppet body, Sasori was much easier to deal with. If he had already undergone the transformation, hunting down his true core would have been far trickier—especially if even the Sharingan couldn't spot it.
Sasori retaliated, launching a volley of poisoned needles from his puppets. But the black chakra of Susanoo easily blocked the barrage.
The puppet master's brows furrowed. So this is Susanoo? The same technique he used to suppress Shukaku…
Though he had dodged the blow, the earth where he once stood lay shattered.
This much power from only a partial form? Dangerous.
His eyes narrowed. But if he can only summon a fragment of it, then the Mangekyō's drawbacks must be worse than I thought.
Watching Uchiha Han's eyes weep bloody tears, Sasori's suspicions solidified.
He sneered.
"Such a technique takes a heavy toll on you, doesn't it? I was right—the Mangekyō Sharingan's flaw is no small matter."
Nan almost wanted to laugh and admit, Yeah, forcing these eyes to bleed really is exhausting.
But instead, he sneered coldly:
"Even so, before I collapse, I'll make sure you're the one who falls first. You can't begin to comprehend how overwhelming this power truly is."
With that, his Mangekyō blazed scarlet, and Susanoo surged higher—its upper torso fully manifesting in a towering ribcage and skeletal arm.
At the same time, Nan quietly wove chakra illusions, conjuring two phantom doubles that flanked Sasori from the left and right.
All of Sasori's attention was locked on the sudden expansion of Susanoo, leaving him blind to the silent approach of the two phantoms.
These illusory bodies were nearly undetectable—imperceptible to anyone without a dōjutsu or advanced sensory techniques.
Yet instinct was a weapon in its own right. As the phantoms closed in, killing intent surged—and Sasori's battle-honed reflexes screamed. He twisted defensively, but too late.
A fist and a kick connected, slamming into his chest and abdomen.
Pain lanced through his body, sharp and inexplicable, forcing a spray of blood from his lips.
What… what just hit me? Sasori's mind reeled. One moment he had braced against a threat he couldn't see, and the next, agony had bloomed from nowhere.
Some unseen technique? Impossible… I've never even heard of such ninjutsu.
But Sasori was no novice. He snapped his hands into seals.
Ninpō: Poison Cloud Technique!
From the joints and vents of a nearby puppet, jets opened with a hiss, spewing a rolling tide of violet gas. In seconds, the battlefield was shrouded in a dense, toxic fog.
Nan pulled Susanoo back, wary. He trusted his body to resist poison if he needed to—but he had no desire to test Sasori's venom firsthand.
Sasori smirked from within the haze. The poison cloud wasn't just venom—it was cover, a weaponized mist much like the Hidden Mist Technique, only laced with neurotoxins. More importantly, it enhanced his own perception of movement within the fog, rendering hidden threats visible.
Through the purple haze, his senses pricked. Two vaguely human shapes lurked nearby, completely unaffected by the toxins.
"What are these things… special clones? And immune to my poison, no less… No matter. If they can be seen, they can be fought."
Two of his puppets surged forward, blades gleaming, engaging Nan's illusory doubles.
The battle was fierce but inconclusive. Nan's phantoms—creations of Mangekyō—possessed raw presence, but little else. Without Yin–Yang Release techniques to fuel them, they could not weave ninjutsu. Their offense was limited to fists and kicks.
If Nan had already mastered the Rasengan, they might have wielded it as a pure chakra form—but he had not yet. For now, their strikes were brute force alone.
Against Sasori's master-crafted puppets, the fight deadlocked, neither side gaining ground.
Seeing his puppets hold the phantoms at bay, Sasori exhaled in relief. Now he could focus on the real threat—Uchiha Han himself.
So this is Susanoo… hard as legend claims. The reports said it withstood a tailed beast bomb. Breaking through directly is impossible. No… I need to bypass it, strike at the man inside.
He replayed the earlier exchange in his mind: needles had been fired in volleys, yet none had pierced through. Not one had slipped between Susanoo's rib-like armor.
His gaze drifted to the ground. The Susanoo towered above, only half-formed.
So the weakness… must be beneath his feet.
A glint flashed in Sasori's eyes as he whispered into the toxic fog:
"Yes… underfoot. That's where you bleed."