"End things fast?" Mizuki scoffed. Sure, Red Sand of the Desert might have had the strength to talk that way, but still—he wasn't about to be underestimated like this. Even without Sage Mode, Mizuki didn't think he was someone who could be taken out in a single strike. With his strong survival instincts, he definitely wasn't the kind of guy who went down easy. He just didn't think Red Sand of the Desert was truly capable of pulling that off.
Now that he'd already revealed himself, Mizuki no longer held back. Without Hiruko, Red Sand's defensive power would drop dramatically when using other puppet bodies. And within a short time frame, Sasori wouldn't be able to replenish all his puppets quickly enough. So the Hundred Puppet Army had been reduced by more than half—crippled. As for his other jutsu, they might be more than enough to handle regular ninja—but against truly powerful foes, they weren't going to cut it. Only Iron Sand Body remained as Sasori's current trump card.
Of course, Sasori wasn't completely out of options either. Techniques launched through scrolls and the Poison Deployment he feared most were still potential threats. Scroll-based techniques were standard, sure—but still extremely powerful. The latter, though, was far trickier. It required constant vigilance, which might replace the previous battle's [Hundred Puppet Army] and [Iron Sand World Method] as the biggest threat Mizuki faced. Due to the limited lifespan of his cells, Mizuki couldn't even dare use life-draining pills or any other chakra-overuse methods anymore. Sage Mode didn't enhance cell vitality—it only extended the effective usage of what remained, giving him a bit more time to figure things out. But if he pushed his body too hard again, not even Sage Mode could save him.
"Troublesome poison… Ever since humanity started fighting, this weapon has never been neglected. Countless influential figures have died because of it…"
Although Mizuki found it troublesome, he wasn't unprepared just because he couldn't use those high-risk life-saving pills. Why else would he bring Shino Aburame along? Aside from boosting reconnaissance capabilities, an insect techniques user had all sorts of bizarre skills up their sleeve. If Red Sand unleashed a large-scale Poison Mist, it would be Shino's bugs helping Mizuki survive.
If the world ended tomorrow, chances are—bugs would be the last ones crawling around. While individual insects seemed fragile, the adaptability of their species was simply astonishing. Combined with their reproductive abilities, their incredible resilience allowed them to rapidly evolve and maintain functionality in new environments.
The real power of an insect techniques user went far beyond just sending bugs into battle. How did Shino Aburame manage to help parasitic bugs adapt to Guren's [Crystal Release] in three years? In a huge swarm, there'd always be one or two freaks of nature. Those unique traits could then be quickly passed on to other parasitic bugs. Mizuki had specifically confirmed this with Shino beforehand.
When it came to pushing through the poison mist and attacking Red Sand of the Desert's core body, or dealing effective damage in that toxic fog, sometimes even bugs could be just as useful as Mizuki's Sage Mode.
At the beginning, assistance from others wasn't needed yet, and Mizuki really wanted to test just how strong the Sage Mode actually was.
To begin with, Mizuki's taijutsu wasn't exactly top-notch. So when fighting against a dangerous opponent like Red Sand of the Desert, not having some sort of protective shield would naturally be worrisome. Secondly, the giant bear beneath his feet provided tremendous strength, but its large size also significantly increased the chances of being hit. Against regular ninja, this might not matter much, but when facing Red Sand of the Desert, most of the puppet's weapons were poisoned. Even though the bear's resistance to toxins might be much higher than that of an ordinary ninja due to its size, getting cut multiple times across its huge and hard-to-dodge body would still quickly overwhelm Master Botai, being just an ordinary wild beast—he wouldn't last long and would soon succumb to the poison.
Therefore, Mizuki immediately started enhancing his defensive ninjutsu—Chakra Shield—with natural energy. The previously light blue, mist-like chakra gathered into a barrier that now shimmered with a transparent crystalline luster. A massive shield formed in front of Mizuki and the giant bear, glowing with radiant colors under the midday sunlight, clearly revealing its extraordinary nature.
[Neither of us is a taijutsu specialist, but here we are, going at it head-on. Who'd have thought?]
Compared to Mizuki's unremarkable ninjutsu abilities, Red Sand of the Desert, as a Puppet Master, wasn't faring much better. However, relatively speaking, Sasori's talent and experience far surpassed Mizuki's, who felt quite nervous in comparison.
Mizuki had the giant bear charge toward Red Sand of the Desert, freeing him up to fully maintain his Sage Mode.
Red Sand of the Desert rushed to deploy a few puppets to stop Mizuki's charge. However, when swords and blades struck the Chakra Shield, they had absolutely no effect. This Sage Art-enhanced Chakra Shield was simply beyond what ordinary blades could easily destroy.
The giant bear charged ahead like a bulldozer, its massive claws slashing wildly, tearing the attacking puppets apart.
Seeing his strategy actually work, successfully suppressing Red Sand of the Desert—who didn't have full battle readiness—Mizuki finally breathed a sigh of relief.
[Just as I thought—Red Sand of the Desert is definitely easier to handle than last time. But how do I even land a hit on his original body, not to mention the reincarnation core?]
Though the original body puppet of Red Sand of the Desert wasn't as tough as Hiruko, the very nature of the Original Body Puppet made it naturally more durable than a human body. Earlier, Mizuki had launched a fire release technique reinforced with natural energy; the power was already quite impressive. Although he hadn't directly hit Sasori, the blast had grazed his position, scorching away much of his outer clothing while barely affecting his original body.
『Unless you land a direct hit, or use a ninjutsu with special effects, you really can't do anything to him.』
The Original Body Puppet was fast and agile, making it a tough target. For someone with Mizuki's skill, even hitting it with a Fire Release was next to impossible. How many ninjas in the whole story ever got hit by regular Fire Releases? Practically none. Only with a special fire technique or some massive AoE jutsu could you even hope to land a hit. If you had something like Kagutsuchi, of course, that would be different. Even supercharged fire techniques powered by natural energy weren't easy to pull off without the right strategy and support jutsu.
Facing Mizuki's sudden ambush, Red Sand of the Desert seemed unprepared and was swatted away by the giant bear's paw.
Before he could hit the ground, Mizuki quickly launched [Great Fireball] Jutsu. The massive fireball, amplified by natural energy, spewed scorching flames that ignited everything nearby before engulfing Red Sand of the Desert.
After more than ten seconds of burning, the flames gradually died down, revealing Red Sand of the Desert charred at the bottom of the crater created by the explosion.
『Did we resolve this so easily? Hmm? No! That can't be right — it wasn't even his real body?』
Mizuki was shocked — the Sasori in front of him wasn't real. Just another puppet. The puppet that had been struck did contain something resembling a reincarnation core, but clearly, it was fake.
『Damn it! I never would've made this mistake if my sensor ability was still as sharp as before.』
This made Mizuki realize just how powerful Sage Mode really was — it drastically enhanced his combat abilities across the board. Strength, speed, chakra reserves, recovery capabilities, even perception of natural energy — all were greatly improved. With time, Mizuki even felt that if he kept this up for a little longer, he might literally see natural energy with his own eyes. Of course, the moment he dropped Sage Mode, all those perks would fade away quickly. Still, his perception of natural energy would be significantly improved. Actually, sensing natural energy while in Sage Mode felt a lot like training chakra control — the more you did it, the better you got.
However, the disadvantages of Mizuki's own Sage Mode also became apparent. His internal chakra was messy and unstable — containing tailed beast chakra, the collective will of summoned beasts, and hard-to-control natural energy. He had to maintain certain proportions among them, which consumed too much of his energy and greatly weakened his spiritual perception of the outside world.
『Nothing in this world is perfect,』 Mizuki thought bitterly.
After getting played by Red Sand of the Desert from the start, Mizuki started toning down his overconfidence. When it came to tactical thinking, he just couldn't keep up with those naturally brilliant fighters.
Losing sight of Red Sand of the Desert was dangerous — like losing a snake in the dark. A puppet master hiding in the shadows was far more threatening than one charging head-on. Without Hiruko's protection, Red Sand of the Desert abandoned the foolish idea of confronting Mizuki directly and immediately employed centuries of tradition puppet master combat tactics.
While Mizuki was anxiously searching for Red Sand's location and keeping watch for possible attacks, Neji Hyuga suddenly shouted from behind, "Captain Mizuki, above?!"
"Above?" Taken aback, Mizuki hurriedly looked up, but the glare of the midday sun left his vision blurred. Following the direction Neji pointed, he saw nothing but the bright sunlight. Shielding his eyes with his palm and squinting carefully, Mizuki finally noticed a tiny black speck hidden within the blinding rays. The dot rapidly grew larger until it flew right in front of him—a long, prism-shaped iron block.
[Iron Sand Gathering Assault?] Using the noon sunlight as cover… Could the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand Body really have such an extensive range?
Despite his doubts, Mizuki didn't hesitate. He quickly adjusted the angle of his Chakra Shield to block the incoming iron prism. The shield held up admirably under pressure—though hastily deployed and unable to completely stop the massive iron block, it significantly reduced both its speed and impact force.
As the Chakra Shield shattered, Mizuki remained calm. With the immense power boost granted by Sage Mode, even a weakened Iron Sand Gathering Assault posed little threat at close range. Mizuki punched straight into the attack, shattering part of the iron mass into shards of metallic debris while the rest rocketed backward, landing on open ground nearby and rolling several times before coming to a stop.
"Damn it, I should've remembered this kind of maneuver."
Though Mizuki successfully reflected part of the Iron Sand Gathering Assault back toward its source, there was one major problem—he wasn't standing on solid ground. While Sage Chakra had greatly enhanced his physical abilities, allowing him to withstand multiple rounds of such attacks, the giant bear beneath him was only an enhanced wild beast. Despite its strength, after absorbing the full counterforce of the blow, it immediately collapsed flat onto the ground. From Mizuki's perspective, it appeared severely injured, likely with multiple fractures. Clearly, it would be out of commission for a long time.
"Just an ordinary summoned beast, huh? I guess they're not all that practical after all."
The massive strength boost provided by the summoned bear had once given Mizuki high hopes. Against Tobi's Wood Release techniques, it had stood up decently enough. But now, facing just one strike from Red Sand, it had been instantly knocked down. Its weaknesses were plainly too obvious.
Reluctantly, Mizuki canceled the summoning technique, sending the giant bear back. As for what came next, he would leave that to the Artificial Jinchuriki side to handle properly. The real priority lay with Mizuki's original body.
"Neji, locate where that puppet master's real body is hiding." This kind of situation—enemy hidden, allies exposed—was exactly what Mizuki feared most.
"I can't find it, Captain," Neji replied after scanning the battlefield intently. Surprisingly, he failed to detect Sasori's real body.
"No sign? How is that even possible?" Mizuki absolutely refused to accept that Red Sand could evade detection by the Byakugan. If the legendary eye passed down from Hamura Otsutsuki—the so-called ultimate ocular jutsu—could truly be countered like this, then it certainly wouldn't deserve its reputation as the strongest visual ability around.
"No, it's not that simple. There are several suspicious figures, and under the Byakugan's observation, you can't tell which one is the original body."
"So that's his trick..." Mizuki caught on to Red Sand of the Desert's plan right away after hearing Neji Hyuga's explanation.
Since there was no way to hide from the Byakugan, he made multiple decoys instead. The Byakugan worked by detecting differences in a person's meridians and chakra. For ordinary humans, it would be nearly impossible to fool the Byakugan, but Red Sand of the Desert was different—he was a genius, his whole form was a puppet. Making a few replicas similar to a reincarnation core and some stand-ins was incredibly easy for him.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>