Chapter 4: Victory Decided—His Strength Is Insane!
Konan soared into the sky on wings of paper, evading Sasori's strike. That left Oborotsuki on the ground as the puppet master's next target.
"Take out one first!"
Sasori snarled. The metallic scorpion tail whipped through the air, changed direction mid-flight, and pierced straight through Oborotsuki's torso at blinding speed.
Pshht—
Konan's pupils contracted as she watched the attack run him through.
"Oborotsuki!"
She shouted, flinging a kunai laced with explosive tags toward Sasori while diving to rescue her partner.
But then Oborotsuki casually glanced down at the tail protruding from his chest.
His head rotated a full 180 degrees, body front and back swapping places in a fluid, unnatural motion.
"You bastard… Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?!"
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM…
Before he could finish complaining, Sasori took the full brunt of Konan's exploding kunai. Shockwaves and thick smoke swallowed him whole.
"Did we get him?"
Konan descended cautiously, landing beside Oborotsuki, eyes still warily fixed on the blast zone.
She glanced at his body in disbelief.
"He avoided a fatal hit with Hydrification…?"
Her murmur barely left her lips when the smoke cleared.
Hiruko stood unscathed, Sasori perfectly intact inside.
Konan's expression flickered in shock—he'd shrugged off her explosive tags like nothing.
"You two have pissed me off!"
"Now you'll see what I can really do!"
Sasori growled, launching his counterattack.
"I'll turn you both into human puppets!"
A storm of hidden weapons rained down—gleaming daggers, kunai, spiked flails, poisoned darts. An endless, bizarre arsenal.
"Water Style: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Oborotsuki answered instantly. Massive chakra surged, erupting into a colossal torrent.
A roaring river over a hundred meters wide carved through the desert, thundering toward Sasori with crushing force.
Both Konan and Sasori stared, stunned.
Sasori's eyes narrowed sharply. He leaped backward in panic—but too late.
The flood engulfed him, neutralizing every projectile and swallowing Hiruko whole.
CRASH…
Thousands of tons of water slammed past, shaking the earth.
Sasori vanished beneath the deluge.
Konan's jaw dropped.
"Oborotsuki's Water Style… it's monstrous."
"Is this kid a chakra freak?"
She turned to him in astonishment.
He still held the seal, guiding the current with a Water Prison Technique to lock the target in place.
He thought that would end it.
Then, impossibly, flames erupted from within the water, roaring skyward.
Blazing tongues evaporated the flood in seconds, sending a terrifying shockwave barreling toward them.
"This guy's no joke. Konan-senpai, stay back—head up high and watch from the sky!"
Oborotsuki shouted, throwing up another Water Style to counter the flames.
"…"
Konan was momentarily speechless.
A rookie was protecting her?
…
Sasori proved far stronger than either had anticipated.
The battle raged from blistering noon until sunset before a winner emerged.
In the end, the one with near-bottomless chakra and complete immunity to physical attacks via Hydrification—Oborotsuki—claimed victory.
But it hadn't been easy.
"He's finally down…"
Oborotsuki exhaled quietly, staring at Sasori sprawled motionless on the soaked sand, bloodshot eyes wide with unwilling defiance.
"Hey, you okay, Konan-senpai?"
Remembering her, he spun around to check her condition.
Though he'd told her to stay airborne, she'd joined the fight to help finish Sasori—and paid for it.
Her left arm bore a deep gash from a scythe wielded by one of Sasori's puppets; blood flowed freely.
"Secure him first."
"I'm fine…"
Konan warned, still shaken, gazing at Oborotsuki with newfound depth of surprise.
He casually tossed a Water Prison over Sasori.
"No escape this time."
"Your wound's bad. Let me bandage it, Konan-senpai."
He pulled a medical kit from his pouch and began wrapping her arm with care.
"You know field dressing too?"
Konan watched his focused, handsome face up close—clean features, almost boyishly charming. For the first time, she felt an unexpected warmth toward him.
She never imagined a rookie would save her today.
Even less that the cocky, carefree newcomer was this powerful.
"His chakra reserves… might even surpass Nagato's, despite the Uzumaki bloodline…"
She studied his perfect profile in silence.
"Done. Bleeding's stopped."
Oborotsuki looked up to find her staring, lost in thought. He blinked innocently.
"What's up?"
He touched his face self-consciously.
"N-nothing…"
Konan snapped out of it, cheeks faintly warm, and stood to face the immobilized Sasori.
"Our leader sent us specifically to invite you to join Akatsuki."
"Refuse, and we finish you here."
She loomed over him coolly, explaining the organization's goals.
"Heh. Akatsuki, huh? Sounds… interesting."
"I'll play along for now."
After hearing her out, Sasori calculated that the group might help him pursue his dream of eternal art.
He nodded.
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