Who would have thought that Scorpion had actually used the Earth Milk Jade, to create a new type of puppet?
However, in Sōmi's perception, this human puppet relied on Senjutsu Chakra pre-stored within its body by Scorpion to perform Sage Techniques.
Although the power of the Sage Techniques unleashed by the puppet was about 30-40% weaker than if cast by a person, one must not forget—this was just one of Scorpion's puppets...
Even Sōmi had no idea how many puppets were hidden within the scrolls on Scorpion's back.
Even if it was pseudo-Senjutsu, it was still Senjutsu, and the difference between that and ordinary ninjutsu was evident.
Under Scorpion's control, the two-meter-wide river suddenly reversed its flow, transforming into a lifelike, massive water dragon that began to engage Rōshi in battle.
What's more, the water dragon's tail remained connected to the river, meaning that as long as the puppet's Senjutsu Chakra wasn't depleted, this shimmering blue water dragon would not disappear.
Boom!
The water dragon rose majestically, its massive head crashing down toward Rōshi.
Sizzle!
The moment Rōshi made contact with the water dragon, clouds of steam billowed upward once again. However, the water within the dragon seemed endless. No matter how high Rōshi's surface temperature climbed or how much steam was produced, the water dragon showed no signs of weakening.
Suddenly!
The entire body of the water dragon exploded, transforming into countless streams of water cascading from above, resembling a heavenly river pouring down.
The water streams coalesced into thick water whips that lashed toward Rōshi, aiming to extinguish his molten lava armor.
Roar!
Rōshi let out a deep, guttural roar.
The fiery red glow on his body flared brilliantly, and he slammed both beast-like claws into the ground.
"Lava Release: Scorching River Blast!"
The ground beneath Rōshi's feet instantly cracked, turning from brown to red as the temperature skyrocketed. Within moments, the area around Rōshi had transformed into a flowing river of molten lava, its terrifying heat making it resemble molten steel.
Boom!
In an instant!
The viscous lava surged upward from a protruding "rock mound," erupting violently.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
It was a scene straight out of a volcanic eruption. Though the "volcano" was small in scale, the lava balls spewing from its crater were as dense as a swarm of bees.
The semi-solid, golden-hued lava balls hurtled toward Scorpion and Sōmi with precision.
Under the overwhelming range of Rōshi's Lava Release, not only was Scorpion's water dragon obliterated, but even the nearby river was consumed by the lava, turning a bright orange-red.
Meanwhile, Sōmi, who had his hands pressed to the ground, remained calm. He even looked up at Scorpion with a teasing smile.
"After all, he's one of Iwagakure's 'big shots.' If he were taken down by just one of your puppets, wouldn't that be too embarrassing?"
"Leave this to me!"
With those words, Sōmi's hands began forming seals at lightning speed, his movements so fast they seemed to blur into afterimages.
"Sage Art: Heavenly Prison Burial!"
Rumble!
As Sōmi's hands clapped together, the ground before him split open with a thunderous crack, forming a massive fissure at least several dozen meters wide and deep, as if an invisible giant blade had cleaved the earth in two.
On either side of the fissure, the upper layers consisted of flowing molten lava, while below, a turbulent sea of golden sand roared and surged like ocean waves, crashing against the fissure walls.
With the ground beneath him suddenly gone, Rōshi fell into the chasm. He quickly swung his beast-like claws, embedding them into the molten lava walls to suspend himself mid-air.
But.
The surging golden sand at the bottom of the fissure suddenly grew more violent, with waves of sand crashing upward, rushing toward the suspended Rōshi.
Rōshi's beast-like pupils constricted sharply. Opening his jagged maw wide, he spat out a massive, millstone-sized sphere of superheated molten lava.
Sizzle!
The spinning lava sphere melted the first wave of golden sand into liquid gold, which dripped down.
However, in the next instant, even denser waves of golden sand adhered to the liquid gold, continuing their assault on Rōshi.
Suddenly!
The golden sand began to writhe and transform into massive weapons of various shapes and sizes—gleaming blades, maces, and more—all shining with a dazzling golden light.
"Lava Release: Granite!"
A layer of dark red, high-temperature rock rapidly formed over Rōshi's body. In addition to radiating intense heat, the rock emitted a faint metallic sheen, indicating its incredible durability.
Boom!
A half-meter-wide spiked mace was the first to strike Rōshi's abdomen, producing a deep, resonant impact. However, the hardened rock layer on Rōshi's surface showed no signs of damage.
Clang!
In the blink of an eye, a massive golden-backed broadsword descended from above, slashing at Rōshi's back.
Ding! Ding! Clang! Clang!
Soon, the crisp sound of metal striking rock filled the area.
With his beast-like claws spread horizontally, Rōshi hung in mid-air like a prisoner undergoing torture, enduring a relentless barrage of golden weapons.
Sōmi narrowed his eyes, carefully sensing Rōshi's aura. Against this opponent, the key was to avoid going too far. The goal was to weaken him to a certain extent.
If Rōshi were accidentally killed, the Four-Tails' resurrection would take years, and who knew what complications might arise by then.
Thus, when Sōmi noticed the rock layer on Rōshi's surface beginning to crack, he adjusted the intensity and direction of his attacks, focusing on Rōshi's limbs to incapacitate him.
Just as Sōmi was about to activate a sealing technique to extract the Tailed Beast from Rōshi's body—
A guttural roar erupted from Rōshi, whose beast-like claws had just been severed.
Roar!
A massive surge of violent Chakra exploded from Rōshi's abdomen. As the Chakra leaked out, his body began to swell like a balloon.
In the blink of an eye, Rōshi transformed into a giant red ape!
The ape, seemingly aware of the peril it was in, immediately pounded its massive fists into the golden sand waves below.
"Lava Release: Flower-Fruit Mountain!"
Boom!
The ape's fists erupted with blazing molten lava, striking the golden sand waves and melting a large section into liquid gold.
However, the liquid gold quickly began climbing up the ape's legs.
"Originally, I was worried about accidentally killing you, but since you've come out on your own, you've saved me some trouble..."
Muttering softly, Sōmi began forming seals once more.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Clatter!
Dozens of thick, silver chains shot out from behind Sōmi, binding the giant red ape tightly.
Meanwhile, the golden sand at the bottom of the fissure coalesced around the ape's legs, further immobilizing it.
Seeing the ape completely trapped, Sōmi calmly retrieved a black tea kettle from behind him, opened its lid, and placed it in front of himself.
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