Chapter 188: Unsolved Mysteries of the Shinobi World
Those countless paper spikes and lances poised to strike transformed into streams of white death, precisely and violently meeting the overwhelming black iron thorn forest pressing down from above!
White judgment spears and black death thorns—about to stage an ultimate destructive collision in the skies above this desert!
At that critical moment—
Whoosh—!
A white shadow dove down at extreme speed from high altitude! It was actually a smaller white clay dragon, only the size of a person!
Like a suicide attack, it inserted itself with perfect precision right into the center between Konan and Sasori's imminent clash of ultimate techniques!
This sudden variable made both combatants, who'd been completely focused on their duel, freeze in shock. In that brief moment of bewilderment—
A crisp shout came from above. "Hah!"
BOOM—!!!
A massive explosion suddenly erupted! That small clay dragon detonated itself right at the midpoint between their attacks! The violent shockwave and chaotic air currents it produced spread forcefully in all directions, forcibly disrupting both their prepared ultimate techniques.
Konan's paper lance torrent was deflected slightly by the blast's air pressure. Sasori's Iron Sand World Method was also disrupted by this sudden explosion, countless sharp iron spikes trembling in midair.
Their attacks weren't directly scattered by the explosion, but rather both chose to temporarily abort due to this unexpected interference and variable—clearly, a third party had intervened!
Konan's expression instantly grew grave. Her paper wings hovering in the air folded slightly as her eyes swept toward where the explosion came from, an extremely ominous premonition surging in her heart.
At the same time, a shout carrying the distinctive flamboyance and excitement of youth came from above.
"Hahaha! How's that! My super flat art! Art is an explosion!"
Accompanying this signature catchphrase, a C2 clay dragon dozens of times larger than the small self-destructing dragon slowly descended, its massive shadow falling across the sand. Several figures leaped down from the dragon's back, landing steadily on the desert.
It was Shisui's group, having rushed over at full speed after hearing the intense battle.
Deidara led the charge, his face showing undisguised excitement and a provocative smile. He first glanced at Sasori's Third Kazekage puppet, then shouted to Shisui behind him.
"Hey! Senpai! It really is a puppet user! Looks like our target has appeared, yeah!"
Then he immediately turned his head and shouted unceremoniously at Konan hovering in the air, his tone carrying that fearless arrogance unique to youth.
"Hey! You woman up there! Listen up! This puppet guy is a target our Ember organization spotted first! We can't let you just kill him off, yeah!"
Clearly, due to his young age, Deidara at this time was far from having the relatively composed demeanor he'd display after joining the Akatsuki organization in the future. His behavior was more direct and... punchable.
Konan's expression turned completely dark. That mysterious Ember organization—which shared similar goals with Akatsuki but pursued them through completely different methods—had actually appeared here and now!
Previously, when they'd learned that Kakuzu, the bounty hunter famous for being "immortal," had seemingly evaporated from the underground bounty market and ceased taking any bounty missions, Konan and Nagato had already realized it—another force was secretly recruiting those powerful yet dangerous and unrestrained missing-nin.
This had forced the Akatsuki organization to accelerate their originally covert recruitment process.
However, she never imagined that on the very first day they'd obtained intelligence about Sasori of the Red Sand appearing in the Land of Wind—possibly even just preliminary information—people from the Ember organization had already appeared here like sharks smelling blood.
Honestly, deep down Konan didn't want to directly antagonize the Ember organization. That Great Rasengan suspended in the sky outside Konoha, capable of easily destroying an entire village, was enough for her and Nagato to elevate their assessment of the Ember leader's strength and danger level to the absolute maximum.
Creating such a terrifying enemy for Nagato merely for Sasori of the Red Sand, who hadn't even been recruited yet, simply wasn't worth it.
Just as Konan's heart gave birth to thoughts of retreat, weighing whether to temporarily abandon this mission—
On the other side, Shisui's heart was greatly shocked! He stared fixedly at that red-haired figure and the puppet beside him emanating ominous chakra fluctuations.
That red-haired youth... his face clearly showed he was around the same age as Shisui himself! Even if Sasori of the Red Sand was a genius who'd defected at a young age, after all these years, there was no way he could still look like this! What was going on?
Of course, what shocked Shisui so profoundly wasn't merely Sasori's bizarrely youthful appearance.
More importantly—that exquisitely crafted human puppet beside Sasori! The puppet's face... was clearly the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure who'd been missing for so long!
Regarding the Third Kazekage, this leader hailed as the "strongest Kazekage in history," his sudden disappearance had always been one of the great unsolved mysteries hanging over the entire shinobi world, with far-reaching effects.
It was precisely because of this strongest leader's mysterious disappearance that Sunagakure had fallen into tremendous panic and chaos. They first suspected other great nations—especially the most powerful Land of Fire—of orchestrating this assassination to thoroughly weaken the Land of Wind's combat power.
Suspicion, panic, and the long-accumulated contradictions between nations and imbalanced resource distribution were ultimately ignited completely by this event!
The Third Kazekage's disappearance became the most direct catalyst for the outbreak of the Third Shinobi World War!
That brutal war that swept the entire shinobi world claimed countless lives and completely changed the fates of many people, including Shisui himself.
And now... Shisui had just clearly seen it! The ability that puppet used to control black iron sand—that was the Third Kazekage's unique, powerful Magnet Release kekkei genkai!
All the clues connected at this moment, pointing toward a bone-chilling truth.
The Third Kazekage hadn't disappeared... he'd been killed!
By this seemingly youthful Sasori of the Red Sand before his eyes... murdered! And moreover... turned into a human puppet for his use?!
The impact of this realization made even Uchiha Shisui, who'd experienced countless battlefields, feel a chill run down his spine.
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