The iron sand pellets infused with magma transformed into an unrelenting barrage, engulfing the Six-Tails on the ground.
Unstoppable and unavoidable—the storm of attacks was the dire situation the Six-Tails now faced!
"Hmph!" Sasori let out a cold snort, but immediately felt a wave of emptiness wash over him.
This move consumed too much Chakra. Although it wouldn't completely drain him, even with his "Regenerating Core," the fact that it could cause such an effect showed just how powerful it was.
Could such an attack truly harm the Six-Tails? Sasori himself wasn't sure.
"Tsstssts!" The Six-Tails lifted its head, letting out strange noises while a thick grayish-white Chakra began to radiate around its body.
"Hu hu!" It inhaled sharply—and suddenly, violent winds erupted all around it, yanking debris and objects straight toward its massive form before fading away just as quickly.
The Six-Tails reared up, its body swelling further as it coiled upward like a poised, venomous serpent ready to strike—fully prepared for what came next!
Sasori's attack had already reached its position, yet the beast simply opened its mouth, revealing its dark-colored maw.
"Woosh!" A stream of white-smoking liquid sprayed from its jaws. Even at this distance, the suspended Sasori frowned. It seemed like another acid attack—but something about it felt different this time?
Is that all? Doubt flickered through Sasori's mind; this wasn't matching what he had anticipated.
"Boom!" Both attacks collided instantly, unleashing a massive explosion—sounds of corrosion, detonation, and piercing force intermingling in a chaotic roar.
"Roar!" The Six-Tails bellowed, crouching low. Unfazed as its own assault got overwhelmed, it allowed the enemy technique to keep coming, refusing to abandon its counterattack and retreat.
As it roared, a tiny dark purple energy core formed beside its mouth.
Tu Yi appeared, and even Sasori floating midair involuntarily flinched, surprise flashing across his face.
He could feel the terrifying power radiating from that sphere—a concentration of energy unlike anything he'd ever encountered before!
"This is getting bad!"
Before his eyes, the previously tiny energy orb near the Six-Tails' mouth rapidly expanded into an even larger sphere...
[Tailed Beast Ball!!!]
The Six-Tails looked electrified, its tails whipping behind it excitedly. Even as the enemy's technique closed in fast enough to hit, it remained completely unmoved, unwilling to break off its counterattack or retreat.
It resolutely continued charging its ultimate technique.
"Pop!"
The Tailed Beast Ball left the Six-Tails' mouth at a deceivingly slow pace, only to accelerate instantaneously to an extreme speed. Like lightning tearing through void, it carved a blazing trail of whiteness through the air ahead, rushing forward to meet the incoming crimson storm of fire-infused projectiles after effortlessly piercing through the recently expelled acid.
"That's..." Ao's eyes shot wide open, shock flickering in his gaze. He immediately identified the technique the Six-Tails was unleashing.
As someone close to the Mizukage, he had once seen this technique—the Tailed Beast Ball—used before. It struck with the force of shattering a mountain, firing toward an unknown distance in the far horizon.
It was the first time he had witnessed a Tailed Beast's power, and it left an indelible mark on his mind!
"Boom!" The explosion from an extreme distance finally reached him, sending powerful gusts sweeping through like a typhoon.
"Now... has it ended?" At the moment of the blast, Ao deactivated his Byakugan.
Such intense energy unleashed—bright light and chaotic chakra—was dangerous for even the Byakugan to observe directly. Staring at it risked damaging the eye.
Besides, this Byakugan wasn't authentic; it had its own limitations and flaws. Ao intended to reduce as much harm as possible—this Byakugan was hard to come by and mustn't be ruined under his care.
But one thing he could confirm was that at the exact moment he shut off his vision, the Tailed Beast Ball had already reached its target. Even if two puppets were in front as shields, such devastating power would certainly wound or perhaps even kill the enemy!
The wind still howled, and Ao could only hide behind rocks with the others, struggling to shield themselves from the raging gusts.
"Lord Ao, what was that jutsu just now? It was so powerful!" A nearby ninja approached, eyes still wide with shock over what he'd just seen. Fear flickered within his pupils. As a member of the Sealing Team, their mission target was precisely the Six-Tails who had released such terrifying might—he felt an uncontrollable urge to run away. This was no longer something humans could oppose!
"That's the signature attack of the Tailed Beasts. Lord Mizukage called it the Tailed Beast Ball—an overwhelming destructive force. However, every time it is used, there are certain limits and side effects upon the Tailed Beast itself..."
Ao explained briefly to the surrounding ninjas, his tone turning hesitant at the end.
This last thought about the Tailed Beast Ball was his personal assumption. After all, if the beasts could use it freely, the shinobi world wouldn't have survived their destruction.
Using the Tailed Beast Ball seemed to require lengthy preparation. Perhaps this charging delay was the biggest drawback in the technique.
Ao thought to himself, then redirected his gaze back toward the battlefield, expression grim.
If the Six-Tails could eliminate Akatsuki's enemies, it wouldn't be long until they themselves had to step forward.
He didn't yet know the current condition of the Six-Tails—but none among them possessed enough strength to contain such a beast.
"I wonder when reinforcements will arrive..."
Ao's thoughts raced. In his mind, that mysterious puppet master should have perished under the Six-Tails' overwhelming assault.
...
"This is the power of a Tailed Beast? No wonder everyone wants to capture these creatures..."
From a hidden location, a pale White Zetsu Clone revealed part of himself from the tree branches, staring into the distant battlefield with lingering fear.
He had always wanted to find an opportunity to inform Sasori about the current situation and the Hidden Mist ninja hiding here, but due to the intensity of the battle, he hadn't managed to squeeze in even a single casual word.
"Can't see what's going on inside at all. I wonder how Sasori is doing? It must be hard for him to protect himself under those circumstances."
Squinting his eyes, the White Zetsu Clone tried to get a clearer view of the situation, only to find his vision completely obscured by smoke and dust from the explosions.
"If Sasori dies like this, it'd truly be a pity!"
The White Zetsu Clone shook his head slightly, pretending to sigh, but the grin on his face betrayed his true emotions.
He didn't care who lived or died. He only said that stuff because he knew people usually did in moments like this.
The original White Zetsu didn't care about much of anything. As a clone, it naturally inherited that same apathy.
Although stronger allies would accelerate and stabilize the Tailed Beast collection process, even with just Nagato and Saitama, their plan would still move forward steadily.
"Hmm?" Lost in random thoughts for a moment, the White Zetsu Clone snapped out of it, narrowed his eyes—and wore a look of genuine surprise.
Looking over there, he noticed something seemed to have changed—nothing resembling what he'd imagined appeared.
Smirking with amusement, he melted into the branch beneath him and vanished from the spot.
...
Is this...?
Walking along the road, Saitama hesitated mid-step, slightly slowing his pace while glancing toward the distant horizon.
In the far-off sky, an enormous mushroom cloud was slowly rising—an image reminiscent of scenes from explosions caused by terrifying weapons from his past memories.
Moreover, chakra fluctuations continuously passed through the air, triggering a reflexive reaction within his body and causing chakra to manifest on his skin surface.
"A Tailed Beast Ball? Such a strong fluctuation!"
Muttering a few words, Saitama immediately accelerated forward.
If the Tailed Beast had already begun using such techniques, it meant one thing: it had become serious!
Never did he imagine that Sasori had pushed the Six-Tails Jinchuriki to this extent. A smile emerged on Saitama's face as these thoughts crossed his mind.
At this time, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki was much younger than the Ephemeral he remembered, so naturally he hadn't mastered the technique of freely utilizing the Tailed Beast Ball yet.
Therefore, the one currently employing the Tailed Beast Ball must be the Six-Tails.
Putting two and two together, Saitama could roughly guess Sasori's present predicament.
From his previous life, he recalled how Sasori had been defeated through combined efforts by Chiyo and Sakura Haruno.
Although in Saitama's opinion, there was a high possibility that Sasori had held back significantly during that fight, judging purely by what had been displayed, Sasori didn't seem particularly powerful.
Yet, without knowing the exact situation over there, Saitama refused to believe that Sasori had been easily eliminated. Someone calling themselves a [Human Puppet] wouldn't make empty threats!
Hopefully that's the case.
With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Saitama sped up further. Arcs of electricity danced across his entire body, stimulating his physical abilities to accelerate even more!
Sasori narrowed his eyes as he watched the ominous purple-black energy sphere tear effortlessly through the Third Kazekage's and Roshi's techniques, flying straight toward him and his two puppets.
"Click!" The Third Kazekage extended his arm, producing the distinctive sound of a puppet mechanism.
A talisman appeared on the exposed limb, then blazed with brilliant light. Countless puppet arms sprang into existence as the Third Kazekage thrust his hand forward, aiming straight at the incoming Tailed Beast Ball, followed immediately by waves of black iron sand. The iron sand spiraled around the arms, thickening and expanding them like pitch-black armor wrapping their limbs.
[Lava Release – Kako no Jutsu!] Sasori manipulated Roshi, unleashing another defensive ninjutsu technique.
There was no way those puppet arms plus iron sand alone could stop a Tailed Beast's technique—not even close!
Slowly moving in front of Sasori, Roshi transformed into a wall of burning magma. His jet-black eyes remained tightly shut, like a knight vowing to protect his princess with his life.
"Thud!" In an instant, the Tailed Beast Ball pierced the Third Kazekage's resistance, barely slowing as it continued flying toward Sasori.
"Hiss! Hiss!"
Meanwhile, the Six-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball instantly broke through the previous combined attacks from the Third Kazekage and Roshi. However, such a technique had an extremely wide area of effect, very difficult to completely neutralize unless using another large-scale jutsu.
As a result, the attack hit the Six-Tails head-on before it could dodge.
This was the price the Six-Tails had to pay for launching the Tailed Beast Ball without dodging!
But for a Tailed Beast, this cost seemed trivial.
"Swish! Swish!"
Scorching-hot iron sand pellets smashed into the Six-Tails, hitting their marks one after another, leaving holes all over its body.
Letting out a shriek, the Six-Tails' body might have been formed entirely from chakra, but that did not mean it couldn't feel pain—being pierced still caused agonizing pain!
However, the strength of a Tailed Beast lay not only in its limitless expendable chakra but also in its rapid regenerative abilities.
The Six-Tails kept oozing white acidic liquid all over its body. The moment the iron sand touched this liquid, it began dissolving rapidly, while its wounded body healed under contact with the acid, leaving behind not a single scar!
"Boom!"
The Tailed Beast Ball exploded right in front of Roshi. With a flash of intimidating black brilliance, the explosion instantly spread outward in all directions as violent energy surged.
Roshi's defense, against the Tailed Beast Ball, proved as fragile as paper. It barely held up for less than a second before shattering into fiery fragments scattered in all directions.
Behind Roshi, however, Sasori smiled calmly, fearlessly facing the explosion head-on. The defense provided by Roshi had given him just enough reaction time—one second!
The shockwave spread onward, engulfing Roshi, swallowing the Third Kazekage beside Roshi, and consuming Roshi's master, Sasori, behind him.
Violent shockwaves raged wildly, clearly forming a deadly zone dozens of meters in radius right where Sasori stood.
The explosion had occurred mid-air, yet the ground still bore its mark — a massive crater now lay where the impact struck.
[Tailed Beast Ball] fully demonstrated its terrifying power!
"Huff!"
Six-Tails stared at the huge crater formed by its attack and let out a satisfied shudder. Its tail twitched faintly — a rare sign of contentment.
Its enemy seemed to have turned into ashes under its assault, vanishing without a trace. Now, he believed victory was his!
"Sss!"
He raised his head and let out another excited screech. Slithering forward, Six-Tails approached the massive crater.
"Crack!" However, after crawling only a short distance, Six-Tails suddenly stopped. Its antennae extended and retracted rapidly, revealing confusion and alertness.
At the bottom of the crater, a hand pierced through the earth, stretching out into open air.
The arm was mostly smooth, marred only by a few ugly burn scars—an eerie contrast.
"Wow! That really was amazing. You actually pushed me to this point!"
Emerging again from below was none other than Sasori's head. Though his facial expression looked stiff, his eyes were glaring coldly at the Six-Tails outside as he spoke.
Whether the beast understood or not, he said it anyway.
Standing on the crater's edge, Six-Tails calmly observed its resurfacing foe. While surprised that its Tailed Beast Ball hadn't killed the enemy, the monster made no sudden moves. Instead, it patiently watched.
Anyone surviving such a powerful attack must possess some special method. It needed to be careful.
By this point in the battle, Ephemeral—the Jinchuriki—had completely lost control of his own body. As Six-Tails' chakra surged outward continuously, Ephemeral's personal will gradually wore away. Before long, the Six-Tails would use this burst of power to tear apart the sealing cage that imprisoned him and regain freedom once more!
Therefore, it no longer carried the same anger or emotional instability—it was now purely its own will, not mixed with Ephemeral's lingering feelings as before.
As for the pest standing before it? Six-Tails would definitely kill Sasori—but first, it wanted to see how much longer the puppet master would struggle. It was the predator's pleasure—playing with prey who had already lost any chance of escape!
Sasori clawed his way out from underground, his body in terrible shape. His head and body faced in completely different directions, and one arm had already separated from his torso.
"Crunch!"
Grabbing his head with one hand, Sasori twisted it back to face straight forward. After dragging himself a few steps toward the detached limb, he yanked it from the dirt and shoved it back into place.
It was a grotesque sight—something no ordinary man could replicate.
"Rip!"
He tore off his torn and tattered robe in one motion, revealing his body underneath.
Right in the center of his chest sat a Regenerating Core marked with the name "Sasori"—the very heart of this entire form!
[Battle continues!] You cursed slime slug!
Behind Sasori, several spiral-shaped metal plates spun out with a swish, while from his abdomen, a ring of poison-dripping steel chains dripped eerie purple liquid steadily.
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