Chapter 254: The Puppet Master's Masterpiece
Sasori, within the hardened shell of Hiruko, surveyed the wreckage of Deidara's attack. He moved the puppet's large, jointed arm and took out a scroll from a concealed compartment.
"To show my respect," Sasori's muffled voice stated, devoid of warmth, "I'll let you see my most prized collection. A work of art that captures the essence of eternity."
Tear.
The seal securing the scroll was torn open. Sasori formed a one-handed seal with Hiruko's inner left arm and slammed it onto the unrolled parchment!
Bang!
A huge cloud of thick white smoke exploded, obscuring the sky briefly.
As the smoke cleared, a brand new puppet appeared beside Sasori, one far more elaborate and powerful than Hiruko. It was humanoid, unnervingly lifelike, and wore the traditional robes of a Kage.
"That is... !" Tsunade gasped in utter surprise, her eyes wide, a sense of deep foreboding washing over her.
"The Third Kazekage!!"
The figure was unmistakable. The strongest Kazekage in the history of Sunagakure! The man possessing the terrifying Magnet Release (磁遁, Jiton) Bloodline Limit, whose power over Iron Sand was legendary!
Tsunade's voice was heavy with dark realization. "So... the Third Kazekage died by your hand! You turned him into that!"
"Died?"
Sasori ignored the accusation. He reached out with Hiruko's puppet arm, as if caressing a priceless treasure, gently tracing the cheek of the Third Kazekage puppet.
"No, this isn't death, Tsunade."
"I merely transformed him into eternity."
Sasori's voice became soft, imbued with a cold, terrifying pride. "You see, isn't he more perfect now than when he was alive? Immortal. Unchanging. Always at my command."
"This," Sasori declared, his eyes—hidden beneath the shell—gleaming with morbid obsession. "This is the ultimate art I pursue! The fusion of human genius and eternal mechanics!"
Tsunade felt a wave of nausea. A primal revulsion at the desecration. This man was completely, utterly insane!
"Tsunade, you should feel honored."
Sasori's mechanical gaze returned to Tsunade.
"I heard your newly appointed Fifth Hokage is named Uchiha Akira? He's a very formidable fellow. His power is indeed… beautiful in its destructive scale."
"Once I deal with you," Sasori stated, his voice a promise, "I will personally kill him. And then, I will transform him into my most perfect collection. The pinnacle of my artistic career!"
"The stronger he is," Sasori finished, "the more perfect the puppet made from him will be!"
Before he finished speaking.
A terrifying surge of crimson killing intent erupted violently from Tsunade, tearing through the desert air! It was the rage of the Sannin unleashed!
"Shut up!"
"How dare trash like you, a shadow-hiding, puppet-obsessed maggot..."
Tsunade's voice was laced with endless, unholy fury.
"...even utter his name?!"
"Akira's power is something a coward like you can never imagine! He commands gods! He doesn't hide in shells!"
"The one who truly angered me… is you!"
Boom—!
The desert sand beneath Tsunade's feet exploded outwards, pulverized instantly by her released chakra. She transformed into a blur of green and gold, an afterimage, instantly charging towards Sasori and his deadly masterpiece!
"CHAKRA-ENHANCED SUPER STRENGTH PUNCH!"
"Naive."
Sasori sneered, utterly calm. His ten fingers, connected to the chakra threads of Hiruko and his new puppet, moved rapidly.
The Third Kazekage puppet beside him suddenly opened its eyes—empty, yellow, metallic eyes!
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Shigure!" (磁遁・砂鉄時雨, Jiton: Satetsu Shigure)
Clatter!
Black iron sand, charged with magnetic chakra, surged out from the Third Kazekage puppet's mouth in a torrent!
In mid-air, it instantly condensed into hundreds of sharp, needle-like projectiles. Like a torrential downpour, an overwhelming barrage of black iron needles shot towards the charging Tsunade!
Each iron needle was coated with Sasori's infamous, secret venom—a poison that could paralyze the entire body with a single scratch!
"Petty tricks!"
Tsunade roared. Her speed, rather than decreasing under the barrage, increased!
She gathered terrifying amounts of explosive chakra into her right fist, the blue-green light visible even in the dimming sunlight. She unleashed it with a fierce blow, aimed not at Sasori, but directly at the sky-filling rain of needles!
Rumble!
The punch exploded!
The violent, contained air currents formed a visible, localized shockwave, tearing a huge, V-shaped gap directly through the dense needle rain!
Tsunade shot through the gap, instantly closing the distance with the shocked puppet master!
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Gathering Assault!" (磁遁・砂鉄界法, Jiton: Satetsu Kaihō)
Sasori's reaction, even within his puppet shell, was extremely fast.
The iron sand, scattered momentarily by Tsunade's shockwave, didn't stop for a moment. It swirled violently in the air and instantly condensed into two colossal black arms, one left and one right, slamming down fiercely towards Tsunade!
Their speed was so great that they instantly sealed off all of Tsunade's dodging space! They were moving to crush her!
Facing this mountain-crushing pincer attack, Tsunade advanced instead of retreating! She chose to meet the power head-on!
"Break for me!"
She unleashed both fists, meeting the two giant iron sand arms with concussive force!
Clang! CLANG!
Two deafening sounds of metal violently clashing exploded, sending sparks flying!
The terrifying force instantly covered the two sturdy iron sand arms with spiderweb cracks!
But, they were only cracks! The arms did not shatter!
A huge recoil force slammed into Tsunade, abruptly halting her forward momentum. She was thrown backward, skidding on the sand.
"Hmm?"
Tsunade frowned, shaking her head to clear the ringing in her ears.
"So hard!"
The density and hardness of this iron sand far exceeded Tsunade's imagination. It was denser than any normal metal.
And just in this momentary stalemate, this failure to shatter the defense...
"It's over."
Sasori's cold, dry voice rang out, the voice of the predator.
Whoosh!
A third surge of iron sand erupted from behind the Third Kazekage puppet, transforming instantly into a giant triangular iron cone in mid-air. It pierced fiercely, precisely, towards Tsunade with a sharp, terrifying whistling sound! A fatal spear!
...On the other side of the battlefield.
High in the sky.
"Hahahahaha! Run! Why aren't you running anymore, hm!"
Deidara stood on the back of the giant clay bird, letting out a wild, high-pitched laugh of manic joy.
Below him, Hyūga Tokuma, Uchiha Shunichi, and Iwa were frantically scrambling.
Boom! Boom! BOOM!
One clay spider after another fell, exploding in dazzling flashes of fire and smoke against the earth walls thrown up by the Doton user, Iwa.
Iwa's face was already streaked with sweat and dirt, his chakra heavily depleted.
He gritted his teeth, pressing his hands firmly on the ground, continuously repairing the destroyed earth walls.
"Damn it! This isn't going to work! We're just delaying!"
Uchiha Shunichi gasped for breath, his eyes watching the terrifying battle in the distance. He looked resentfully at the two figures in the sky.
Boom!!!
A gigantic iron sand pyramid slammed onto the exact spot where Tsunade had just been standing, kicking up a sky full of pulverized, blinding yellow sand!
In the absolute nick of time, Tsunade, utilizing a burst of her inhuman speed, performed a sharp backflip, narrowly avoiding the fatal impact.
But as soon as she landed, the sand beneath her feet suddenly stirred violently!
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand World Method!" (磁遁・砂鉄界法, Jiton: Satetsu Kaihō)
Countless black iron sand spears, sharp as needles, like metallic bamboo shoots, wildly thrust out from the sand all around her, forming an impenetrable, razor-sharp iron jungle!
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Tsunade moved at high speed, darting, weaving, dodging through the narrow spaces between the lethal spears. But the iron spears were too numerous, too fast.
Several sharp spears still grazed and cut her arm and thigh.
A numbing, paralyzing sensation instantly spread from the shallow wounds.
"Poison!"
Tsunade's expression darkened. She immediately used a precise flow of medical chakra to seal off the meridians around the wounds, frantically preventing the rapid spread of the potent toxin.
But the desperate maneuver meant Tsunade's defensive movements were inevitably affected. She was slowed.
"In my Iron Sand World, you have nowhere to run, Sannin."
Sasori clapped his puppet hands together, the movement sharp and final.
The iron jungle instantly contracted towards the center!
Countless sharp iron spears, thrusting from all directions, stabbed violently towards Tsunade, who was trapped in the center!
There was no escaping! No physical space left to move!
"Hmph!"
Yet, in this absolute, terminal, desperate situation, Tsunade let out a cold, defiant snort. The look on her face was one of absolute, furious resolve.
She stopped all her frantic dodging movements, just standing quietly in place, feet planted firmly in the sand.
The purple diamond mark on her forehead instantly swelled and spread. Black, vein-like patterns, like a powerful cursed seal, crawled across her face and entire body!
"Dodge?"
Tsunade slowly raised her head, her eyes flashing with renewed, terrifying power.
"When did I ever say I was going to dodge, puppet master?"
"Ninja Art: Creation Rebirth!" (創造再生, Sōzō Saisei)
"Strength of a Hundred Seal: Release!" (百豪の術・解除, Byakugō no Jutsu: Kai)
BOOM—!!!
A surge of terrifying chakra, vast, overwhelming, and infinitely regenerative, erupted from Tsunade's body! Far, far more powerful than anything Sasori had seen her use before!
At this moment, Tsunade completely ignored the sharp iron spears stabbing into her skin. They pierced her, but they instantly shattered against the raw, healing power of her Byakugō.
Her right foot sharply pulled back. Her body sunk low, adopting a perfect stance for gathering world-destroying power!
She gathered all that immense, overwhelming power into her right fist!
With this punch, Tsunade aimed not at Sasori, not at the puppet, but at the ground beneath her feet!
"Let me show you!"
"What true power is!"
"HMPH AH—!!!"
She unleashed the punch! The sound was a fusion of shattering metal and erupting earth!
Immediately after.
CRACK—!!!
Centered on Tsunade's fist, the surrounding ground instantly pulverized! The very stone and sand beneath the iron jungle were violently, completely fragmented!
The entire battlefield, under the force of this single punch, was literally sunken! It cratered violently!
The entire cage made of iron sand, along with the ground Sasori stood on and the Third Kazekage puppet, instantly collapsed, falling apart under this irresistible, mighty, concussive force!
In mid-air, Sasori barely managed to stabilize the Third Kazekage puppet with a last-second burst of chakra threads.
And just then.
Tsunade's figure, fueled by the explosive release of the Byakugō, had already shot into the sky!
She appeared instantly before Sasori and the Third Kazekage puppet! Ready to deliver the next blow!
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]