Chapter 69: The Hundred Puppets
The torrent of iron sand right in front of him immediately turned into poisonous iron sand particles almost invisible to the naked eye, sweeping toward him like a gust of wind. Poisonous iron sand particles and the surrounding poisonous mist—unless one stopped breathing, it was impossible to avoid being hit.
Under such an extremely fast offensive, only the Five Kage could react. But unless they were as fast as Uchiha Itachi with his hand seal speed, they would still be tricked. Toxins were everywhere! A single careless breath, and even Kage-level powerhouses couldn't withstand it.
This time, even Uchiha Naoki couldn't use elementalization because it was useless.
"Scorching Detonation!" Uchiha Naoki held his breath and punched forward.
ROAR!
Like a Tailed Beast's roar, it shook heaven and earth. A scorching torrent that blurred everything roared forth, instantly destroying all the iron sand particles while its remaining power, undiminished, charged toward the Scarlet Sand Scorpion and the Third Kazekage. Though not as powerful as the complete 'Scorching Flow,' it still possessed 70-80% of its destructive force, remaining highly destructive.
"Heh! This is the moment you've been waiting for, Naoki!" Facing the terrifying heat wave, the Scarlet Sand Scorpion suddenly showed madness and shouted, "Iron Sand Realm Law!!"
He himself was surrounded by a massive half-wall of iron sand, as was the Third Kazekage. Instantly, the sky was covered with long iron sand thorns that interconnected and grew rapidly, forming a huge, nearly airtight thorn cage. Uchiha Naoki was wrapped within it with no room to retreat. And the floating iron sand particles seemed attracted, shrouding this enormous 'cage.'
Uchiha Naoki couldn't dodge this blow with elementalization due to the poisonous mist and iron sand particles. Therefore, the threat to him skyrocketed. Even though many were instantly destroyed by the terrifying scorching wave he blasted, they were still full of menace.
"Even a powerhouse of the Fourth Mizukage's level is no match for the Scarlet Sand Scorpion now!" Based on the battle so far, Uchiha Naoki felt the pressure. One could imagine how terrifying the Scarlet Sand Scorpion's growth was—stronger than his strength in the original story.
"But..." Uchiha Naoki's eyes narrowed. "This isn't enough to trouble me!"
As the words fell, a pillar of lava shot straight up. "Lava... Burst Shot!" Uchiha Naoki completed his elementalization instantly, soaring into the sky with the lava while holding his breath, breaking free from the poisonous area and the Iron Sand Realm's scope.
BOOM!!
The moment Uchiha Naoki escaped the danger zone, a scorching, heavy impact also landed before the Scarlet Sand Scorpion. The iron sand retaining wall cracked after just two seconds of confrontation. The terrifying heat made the Scarlet Sand Scorpion despair; his body was quickly burned. The Third Kazekage puppet had already begun to burn, with finger-thick cracks spreading over its body, on the verge of disintegration.
"Sand Clone!" The Scarlet Sand Scorpion gritted his teeth, quickly retracting the Third Kazekage while activating a long-prepared Sand Clone.
BOOM!
The unstoppable scorching storm incinerated countless large trees behind the Scarlet Sand Scorpion. The already sparse woods suddenly became even barer.
Whoosh!
The Scarlet Sand Scorpion had just appeared when a severe crisis came from behind him. Without even thinking, he retreated rapidly, but the Third Kazekage puppet was grabbed by the newcomer.
It was Uchiha Naoki! He looked at the Third Kazekage puppet and couldn't help but admire, "It's truly powerful and terrifying. The strength of this puppet isn't the slightest bit inferior to the Third Kazekage in life!"
The Scarlet Sand Scorpion couldn't help but curl his lips upon hearing this. "Of course, my puppet isn't bad, right? However, I still want to thank you for the chakra metal. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to create this human puppet that exceeds my limits!"
As he spoke, he took out another scroll. "Although the strength of this work isn't as powerful as the Third Kazekage puppet, since you've never seen my set of works, I think it's necessary to show you!" With that, he removed his red cloud-patterned robe. After opening the core marked 'Sasori' and throwing the scroll, countless figures rushed out. Dense chakra strings immediately shot from his heart.
"Performance of a Hundred Puppets, commence!" The puppet army blotted out the sky and sun, floating thus. Even without movement, it was enough to make one's scalp tingle and heart retreat.
The area suddenly fell eerily quiet. Only Uchiha Itachi's panting and the slight friction of parts between the puppets could be heard.
"The puppet art of the legendary level, capable of destroying a small country in the original story?" This was Uchiha Naoki's first time facing this move; even he couldn't help but feel, "It's truly spectacular!" These hundred human puppets could all use chakra. And if Sasori could manipulate them, these human puppets could actually use the ninjutsu they possessed in life.
Think about it! A hundred Chunin might not be scary! But what about a hundred Jōnin? Even Uchiha Naoki would despair. Although not every one of these hundred puppets possessed such terrifying strength, even if only one-fifth were Jōnin-level, it would be terrifying.
"I'm coming!" The Scarlet Sand Scorpion didn't waste words. A hundred puppets rushed toward Uchiha Naoki like dumplings under his control.
Some used chakra broadswords and large saws! Some used long swords and sickles! Others spat poison, shot hidden weapons, and used explosive tags. There were even those whose bodies were full of various strange weapons. Uchiha Naoki thought this move wasn't much inferior to the Third Kazekage puppet. The Scarlet Sand Scorpion had been too modest.
"Armament, Harden!" Since the Scarlet Sand Scorpion had shown so many surprises, he should get more serious.
"Dark Hound!" Uchiha Naoki's body suddenly blazed brightly, emitting a raging heat wave. With a whoosh, Uchiha Naoki vanished from his spot.
The next moment! BOOM! Among the puppets, a heavy blow suddenly landed. Uchiha Naoki was actually fighting the puppets in close combat. BOOM! BOOM! The coverage of the three-tomoe Sharingan and Observation Haki made him almost like a god of war. No blind spots for sneak attacks could be found, and no actions could be hidden from him. Under his terrifying destructive power, the puppet army rapidly decreased.
Watching Uchiha Naoki's battle was truly a feast for the eyes. It didn't look like fighting but like dancing—powerful and visually stunning.
Whoosh! Suddenly, a puppet took advantage of the situation and sneaked behind Uchiha Naoki, stabbing at him with the long chakra knife in its hand. It emitted an extremely sharp Wind Attribute chakra aura. There was no doubt about this knife's power—it could definitely cut gold and crack rock.
Facing such a terrifying blow, the Scarlet Sand Scorpion thought Uchiha Naoki would dodge with elementalization. But Uchiha Naoki let the long knife descend as if he hadn't noticed it at all.
"Why... doesn't he dodge?" The Scarlet Sand Scorpion was extremely surprised. He didn't believe that with Uchiha Naoki's terrifying perception, he couldn't handle this kind of attack. But if that were the case, if he didn't evade with lava, he would be injured. Knowing he would be injured, why didn't Uchiha Naoki act?