Chapter 346: Transform For Me To See
Inside the Hidden Stone Village, in front of the collapsed Tsuchikage Building.
Ohnoki hovered in mid-air, his right arm encased in thick rock, punching his opponent back blow by blow. But his opponent was not human; it was a giant, headless steel monster. The cut on the monster's neck was smooth, a masterpiece of Ohnoki's previous Dust Release.
Even without a head, the monster was still over five meters tall. Fighting against it, Ohnoki appeared even smaller, but with every clash of fists, it was always the monster that retreated continuously, emitting ear-piercing sounds of metal friction.
The outer perimeter of the battlefield was surrounded by a multitude of Hidden Stone ninjas, guarding against the enemy's escape. Further out, Anbu were constantly running about, urgently evacuating nearby civilians and lower-ranked ninjas.
When Masahiko and the five children arrived at the Hidden Stone Village, this was the scene they saw.
As for why there were five children, it was because Akatsuchi was too chubby and couldn't run fast...
"The old man is fighting a monster?" Kurotsuchi's eyes lit up. Her originally worried face immediately cleared up, becoming full of excitement and high spirits.
"Eh? What is this thing?" Karin was also full of curiosity.
Masahiko held his forehead. He recognized at a glance that the monster ahead was a modified version of Optimus Prime, and he could also sense Sasori's chakra. But shouldn't boys like things like Optimus Prime more? Why did the three boys have no reaction, while the two girls were so highly interested?
"Speaking of which, why would Sasori invade the Hidden Stone Village?" Masahiko was slightly surprised.
Deidara spoke up from the side, "Only the old man is fighting alone. Is everyone else in the village dead? Un!"
Kurotsuchi turned her head and glared at him, then grew slightly puzzled. "Right, where did my father and Uncle Gari go?"
Hearing this, Masahiko slightly expanded his sensory range, and his expression became even more surprised.
Behind the collapsed Tsuchikage Building, there were four somewhat massive chakra fluctuations. Three of them should be high-ranking ninjas of the Hidden Stone Village. Masahiko could roughly guess their identities: Kurotsuchi's father Kitsuchi, the captain of the Hidden Stone Village Explosion Corps Gari, and the other person was the Five-Tails Jinchuriki of the Hidden Stone Village.
The three of them had formed a triangular formation, surrounding another of Masahiko's acquaintances: Kakuzu!
"Interesting. Sasori and Kakuzu teamed up and even invaded the Hidden Stone Village. What kind of play is this?" Masahiko muttered to himself, then turned to the five children. "I'll take you closer to have a look."
"Tch!" Deidara curled his lip. In this situation, how could the Hidden Stone ninjas possibly let them get closer? Even with Kurotsuchi and him in the group, they would be stopped by the guards.
But as they got closer to the battlefield, Deidara's expression gradually turned to one of surprise. The Hidden Stone ninjas seemed completely unable to see them, allowing them to walk right up to the edge of the battlefield just like that.
"It really is Sasori." Even though the profile of the person in front of them was obscured by a hood, Masahiko confirmed Sasori's identity from his figure, which constantly waved its hands to control Optimus Prime.
"Is it a puppet master?" Kurotsuchi asked softly.
Masahiko nodded, not forgetting to educate Kimimaro's trio: "Watch the puppet master's fighting style carefully. You might encounter this kind of enemy in the future."
Kimimaro and the others nodded. Just as they were about to respond, Sasori raised his voice and said, "Tsuchikage! We did not come here to cause meaningless casualties. Stop fighting!"
Ohnoki's old face wrinkled together, squeezing out a slightly mocking expression: "Meaningless casualties?"
He looked at the tottering Optimus Prime in front of him. "Relying on this kind of thing? Earth Release: Super Added-Weight Rock Jutsu!"
The density of the rock encasing his right fist instantly increased tenfold. With a single punch, Optimus Prime let out an overwhelmed, ear-piercing screech, its right arm disintegrating into a pile of fragments on the ground.
After doing this, Ohnoki's face suddenly showed a 'floating on air' expression. It wasn't out of pleasure, but because he had twisted his back again...
"Old man, didn't I tell you a long time ago that you should retire?" Kurotsuchi spoke softly from the side. She understood her grandfather the best.
"A useless action!" Sasori hooked his right hand, and the scattered fragments on the ground reassembled into Optimus Prime's right arm, reattaching itself perfectly.
Ohnoki's old face wrinkled even more. "A genius design, but still too naive!"
Optimus Prime suddenly lost control and tilted to the right, crashing down.
"Did that previous strike change the weight of the puppet's right arm?" Sasori frowned slightly. "As expected, puppets made of steel still have their limits."
Ohnoki slowly landed on the ground. "Brat, remove those disguises of yours, I have already recognized you! A missing-nin from the Hidden Sand Village, teaming up with Kakuzu, the leader of the Hidden Waterfall Village, to come and discuss peace for the Hidden Rain Village with me. How ridiculous!"
Hearing this, Masahiko revealed a slightly strange expression. "Discussing peace for the Hidden Rain Village... is it Yahiko? How did he manage to get Sasori to come to the Hidden Stone Village to negotiate for him?"
Unlike Sasori, Kakuzu coming didn't surprise Masahiko too much. That guy would do anything as long as there was money to be made.
Sasori raised his hand and threw off the thick hooded cloak, revealing the youthful face Masahiko was familiar with.
"Did you still... turn yourself into a puppet?" Masahiko sighed slightly.
"Tsuchikage, I am not here as a missing-nin this time. I have temporarily joined the Land of Rain, and I am here representing the Land of Rain to sign an alliance treaty with you," Sasori said slowly.
"Temporarily joined the Land of Rain..." Masahiko frowned, somewhat unable to figure out how Yahiko managed it.
But Ohnoki was old and stubborn now; he wouldn't listen to Sasori's explanations. Up until now, the Land of Earth had only concluded alliance treaties with the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire, which also belonged to the Five Great Nations. A mere Land of Rain...
That was what he thought, and that was what he said: "A mere Land of Rain, do you think that by attracting a missing-nin like you to join, you have the strength to stand on the same level as the Five Great Nations for peace talks?"
The surrounding ninjas also showed proud expressions, looking at Sasori with eyes full of hostility and disdain.
"As expected, I still have to prove my strength first, huh?" Sasori murmured softly. He took out a scroll from his clothes, formed a few seals, and a human puppet appeared before everyone.
"How could it be..." Suppressed gasps of exclamation continuously rang out.
"Who is that?" Kurotsuchi asked in a low voice.
Masahiko's brows were tightly knit. He finally knew why Sasori temporarily joined the Land of Rain, because the puppet in his hands was Hanzo!
"This is going a bit too far. The corpse of a ninja like Hanzo shouldn't be treated like this."
Masahiko whispered a sentence. Suddenly, the bodies of some Hidden Stone ninjas around him began to sway, and soon they collapsed headfirst. Ohnoki's expression changed drastically.
"Everyone, step back a bit! Beware of the poison in the air! Dust Release... hmm?" Ohnoki paused.
Sasori was also startled. The human puppet Hanzo was suddenly enveloped by a light blue barrier, and the poison he had carefully prepared was trapped inside.
A middle-aged man with red hair suddenly appeared beside him. Sasori quickly jumped back a few steps.
"You are..."
Masahiko glanced at him and suddenly revealed a bright smile: "Since you made yourself look like this, then kaka-kaka-kaka-kaka, transform for me to see, won't you?"
Sasori: "..."
It's that Hamura bastard.
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