Chapter 253: The Crimson Flowing Amber and The Puppeteer
The Sasori Confrontation.
KRAK! SHATTER!
Countless wood splinters, broken iron shards, and complex mechanical parts, mixed with a dark red, viscous liquid—Sasori's specialized poison—burst forth violently in all directions from the center of the desert ruins.
Sasori of the Red Sand's massive, armored puppet, Hiruko—his perfect disguise and mobile fortress—had just been obliterated.
It instantly turned into a pitiful, scattered pile of smoking junk.
This single, earth-shattering, brute-force punch silenced the distant battlefield where the main Konoha forces were skirmishing with Suna remnants.
Hyūga Tokuma, Uchiha Shunichi, and the other ninja who were desperately pursuing Deidara's soaring figure couldn't help but look back.
When they saw the colossal, shell-like Hiruko puppet scattered into a smoking pile of debris, annihilated by a single strike, they all gasped in collective shock.
"Is… is this truly Lady Tsunade's power?" Uchiha Shunichi's voice trembled slightly, filled with profound awe and fear.
It was… gone in one punch? The thought was terrifying.
"Too… too exaggerated… She's insane," another Jōnin muttered under his breath.
"Don't get distracted, you fools!" Hyūga Tokuma, the senior leader, roared sharply, forcing his own fear down. His Byakugan snapped back to the sky.
"Our immediate opponent is HIM! Focus! We have to bring him down or he'll bomb the entire column!"
The three immediately composed themselves and refocused their vigilant gaze on the soaring threat above.
The Deidara Engagement.
Above them, Deidara, standing proudly on the back of his massive clay giant bird, was also visibly startled by Tsunade's terrifying and unreasonable destructive power.
Whoa. That woman is pure destruction, yeah.
He saw the destruction of the fortress he'd flown over earlier, the crater where the main wall had been, and now, the instantaneous obliteration of Sasori's main defense.
Uncle Scorpion, this time, has probably kicked a steel plate the size of a mountain.
However, Deidara's attention quickly and ruthlessly returned to the three small "flies" below—the persistent Konoha pursuers—who were now regaining their composure and preparing a counter-attack.
A hint of cold ruthlessness flashed in Deidara's eyes.
He quickly regained his composure. He had a mission. And these were just bugs.
Now is not the time to care about the old man's toys!
Deidara yanked the reins, manipulating the chakra-infused clay giant bird. He prepared to ascend immediately, increasing their altitude to completely escape the entanglement of the ground-dwelling 'flies'.
"Trying to run?!" Hyūga Tokuma's Byakugan flared, instantly discerning Deidara's ascending flight path and his intention to gain altitude superiority.
"Dream on! We are not letting you go to the main column!"
Uchiha Shunichi's reaction was equally swift. His Sharingan spun as he formed hand seals like a blur!
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!" (Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!)
Puff, puff, puff!
Several fireballs erupted from Shunichi's mouth, but not in a simple straight line. They launched from different angles, strategically blocking the clay giant bird's immediate ascent path.
"Naive! Still relying on fire, hm!" Deidara sneered, his mouth-pouch grinning.
He sharply pulled down on the reins. The clay giant bird executed an extremely agile barrel roll, then followed it with a fierce flick of its massive, feathery clay tail, creating a concussive shockwave.
"Goodbye, ground-crawlers! Enjoy the dust!"
Deidara let out a wild laugh.
The clay giant bird flapped its wings with all its might, soaring almost vertically straight into the sky, away from the ground and the ineffective fire jutsu!
In just a few breaths, it flew hundreds of meters high, placing Deidara completely out of range of standard ninja tools or simple elemental attacks.
"Eight Trigrams Empty Palm!" (Hakke Kūshō!)
Hyūga Tokuma, using his own unique Gentle Fist technique, struck out desperately with a palm!
The invisible chakra shockwave tore through the air, but it only grazed the tip of the clay giant bird's tail, failing to cause any damage to the main body.
"It's useless!" Deidara looked down at the three pursuing figures below, a cruel, satisfied smile on his face.
"On the ground, you might still be able to jump around a bit and chase! But in the sky... this is my domain! You are just prey!"
"Since you guys want to play so badly," Deidara shouted down, his voice carrying clearly on the wind, "then I'll play with you properly! I'll put on a real show! Yeah!"
He once again pulled out a large chunk of explosive clay from the utility pouch at his waist.
The mouths on his palms made a "guji guji" chewing sound, rapidly kneading and chewing the clay, infusing it with volatile chakra.
"Taste my little darlings! Art is an explosion, after all! Hm!"
Deidara waved his hands fiercely!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
This time, it was no longer small, sneaky spiders. Instead, a dozen palm-sized, perfectly lifelike clay birds detached from his hand!
They trailed white, smoky exhaust flames, emitted sharp whistling sounds, and shot down in a blanket attack towards the three Konoha ninja below!
"Not good!" Hyūga Tokuma's Byakugan clearly saw that each individual flying bird contained an astonishing, volatile charge of chakra!
"Iwa! Defend! Now!" Hyūga Tokuma roared at the Earth Release specialist in the squad.
"Earth Release: Multiple Earth-Style Walls!" (Doton: Tajū Doryūheki!)
With the previous experience of the single-hit strikes, the Earth Release ninja (Iwa) reacted extremely quickly, slamming his hands onto the ground and pushing chakra violently.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three incredibly thick earthen walls erupted from the ground simultaneously, forming a triangular pattern to firmly protect the three individuals within!
Deidara watched this scene from his aerial perch, the smile on his lips growing even more maniacal.
"In the face of my art, this kind of pitiful, turtle-shell-like defense is absolutely meaningless! Yeah!"
"Art is... Katsu!" (Explosion!)
Boom! Boom! Boom! BOOM! BOOM!
A continuous, linked series of earth-shaking explosions instantly linked together across the desert floor!
The explosive power of each small clay bird was comparable to a high-grade explosive tag! With a dozen such explosions superimposed and concentrated, that terrifying shockwave and heat was far more than a simple one-plus-one effect!
Crack—! SHATTER!
The first earthen wall, hastily raised by Iwa, was almost instantly pulverized!
The second earthen wall lasted only a single, desperate second under the continuous assault, then became covered in spiderweb-like cracks and collapsed with a deafening crash!
The third earthen wall followed closely behind, completely blown away by the subsequent shockwaves of the relentless explosion chain!
Countless shattered rocks mixed with flames, smoke, and hot shrapnel swept out in all directions!
"Pfft!"
Although Tokuma and the two others ducked and shielded themselves in time, they were still violently thrown backward by the explosion's concussive force. They rolled several times in the sand before stopping, looking utterly disheveled, their clothes torn and smoking.
All three were visibly injured, bleeding from minor cuts and internal bruising from the shockwaves. Their breathing was ragged, their chakra reserves dipping dangerously low.
"Damn it!" Uchiha Shunichi gritted his teeth, his Sharingan glaring hatefully at the figure in the sky who was now laughing triumphantly.
"He has too much of an advantage! We can't reach him!"
Their fire attacks couldn't reach Deidara at such a height. Their physical leaps were futile.
But the opponent, like now, could carpet-bomb them with impunity!
The three could only passively dodge and desperately defend, completely falling into a disadvantaged, reactive position!
As Sasori and Deidara wished, the battlefield was successfully divided. Deidara was now a perfect distraction and containment force.
But the three Konoha ninja were helpless against him!
The Sasori Confrontation (Continued).
On the other side of the clearing, Lady Tsunade slowly retracted her fist, the powerful chakra in her knuckles fading. Her cold, furious gaze was fixed on the messy ruins of Hiruko before her.
The residual smoke from the explosion gradually dissipated.
Amidst the shattered wooden remnants and metal scrap of the destroyed puppet, a figure slowly and steadily stood up.
It was a young man who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old.
Striking red short hair, and a face so delicate, so handsome it was almost unsettlingly perfect.
Sasori.
He wore the ominous Akatsuki Organization's cloud-patterned black robe, but his exposed neck and arms were covered with grotesque seams and etchings, like the spherical joints of a doll.
His eyes were perhaps the most chilling feature: hollow, lifeless, devoid of any vitality a living person should possess.
No one unfamiliar with the legends would have ever thought that this young-looking individual was the S-rank rogue ninja who struck fear into the entire Ninja World, hailed as the strongest puppeteer in history.
Sasori of the Red Sand! (Akasuna no Sasori!)
Tsunade's brows furrowed instantly.
"Is this… another puppet?" she muttered to herself, focusing her medical-ninja perception on him.
No, that's not right!
From her perspective as the world's top medical ninja, the structure of this body was more than just wood and wire. It was a terrifying biological modification!
He turned a living, breathing person... into an immortal puppet! A vessel!
"To actually… force me to abandon Hiruko to this extent."
Sasori slowly raised his head. His cold, doll-like eyes locked onto Tsunade across the wreckage. His voice was metallic, synthesized, devoid of human warmth.
Hiruko was one of his favorite 'collectibles' and fortresses. Now, it had been turned into junk by a single, barbaric punch!
"Tsunade!"
Sasori's cold voice echoed. "You have successfully... angered me."
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