"I never imagined Orochimaru was hiding such a terrifying jutsu!"
Realizing the danger, Sasori immediately intended to recall the Third Kazekage puppet.
But the eight-headed white snake was even faster.
One of its heads knocked away the iron cone, which was smaller than its eye.
Then, two other snake heads rapidly wrapped around the puppet's arm.
Following the path of the puppet's arm, it rushed in front of the Third Kazekage puppet in a second, finally biting down.
Crack!
The thick, hard fangs directly crushed the Third Kazekage puppet.
The iron sand, aggregated by Magnet Release, also lost control and scattered completely.
"Hehehe, Sasori, your eternal art seems to shatter with a touch!"
Orochimaru, covered in mucus, popped his head out of the gaping maw of one of the snake heads, chuckling.
"I also suggest you stop calling it 'eternal art' from now on; 'fragile art' would be more fitting!"
Orochimaru hadn't forgotten Sasori's request for him to change his name to 'Loach-maru' just moments ago.
"Fragile art?" Hearing his art insulted by Orochimaru,
Sasori immediately waved his hand, pulling out the scroll from behind him and opening the cover on his right chest.
The next moment,
countless red-robed puppets surged out from the scroll like dumplings falling into a pot.
In just a breath, they filled the entire sky, like dark clouds pressing down!
At the same time, Sasori's opened right chest revealed dense Chakra threads, connecting to all the puppets in the sky.
Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets!
Although named 'Hundred Puppets,' there were actually over two hundred ninety puppets.
"This is the jutsu I once used to conquer a country."
"I hope your eight ugly snakes can last a little longer."
With ice-cold killing intent in his eyes, Sasori's thought stirred.
These over two hundred ninety puppets, armed with weapons, charged towards the eight-headed white snake.
"Hehehe, even your Kazekage puppet couldn't break through the defense of the Eight Branches Technique. Do these trash puppets really think they can?"
"Let me show you reality!"
Rumble!
As he spoke, Orochimaru also controlled the eight-headed white snake to charge into the puppet army.
The sound of impacts, like jade striking, resounded through the sky once more.
Sasori's puppets, as Orochimaru had said, could only barely leave shallow blood marks on the white scales with their weapons.
But a casual swing or collision from the eight-headed white snake could dismantle several puppets!
If this trend continued,
even if Sasori used up all his puppets, he wouldn't be able to sever a single head of the white snake!
"Orochimaru, I truly underestimated you!"
"If it were the previous me, perhaps I really would have lost to you, but unfortunately, the leader behind me has changed…"
The moment his words fell, golden-red Chakra seeped out from Sasori's core.
The dense Chakra threads on his right chest turned from blue to golden-red.
The weapons in the hands of the more than two hundred puppets in the sky instantly became tinged with golden-red!
"This is Nine-Tailed Chakra!"
"He actually bestowed this kind of power upon you!"
"And the new leader you just mentioned…"
Recalling Sasori's words, Orochimaru abruptly turned his head to look at Feng Xu in the distance.
"So this is your purpose for joining the Akatsuki Organization!?"
However, Orochimaru's only response was the weapon blades imbued with Nine-Tailed Chakra.
Empowered by Nine-Tailed Chakra,
the originally tough white scales were as fragile as paper under the puppets' weapons.
A light slash could completely sink into the snake's body, tearing open a gash!
Sensing his inevitable defeat, Orochimaru turned without hesitation and activated his signature move—
—escape!
Moreover, he had sensed the Konoha Ninja arriving at Hidden Sound Village.
They could be used to increase his chances of a successful escape!
Chapter 168: Art is an Explosion
Hiss, hiss, hiss!!!
Orochimaru, having formulated his retreat plan,
immediately controlled the roaring eight-headed white snake, twisting its heads to break through the surrounding puppets and charging towards the distant Hidden Sound Village.
"Hmph, in a crisis, are you already losing your composure and fleeing haphazardly?"
"Too bad your subordinates in your snake den should have been thoroughly cleaned out by Deidara; they can't help you escape at all."
"So just obediently become my snake puppet collection."
"I will personally gouge out your filthy organs and cleanse your disgusting snake skin!"
Sasori, speaking with excitement and fervor,
did not allow the puppets to continue blocking the eight-headed white snake from running towards Hidden Sound Village.
Instead, he leisurely trailed behind the eight-headed white snake.
Controlling the sky-filled puppets, he continuously attacked from the sides and rear!
He even allowed many puppets to burrow into the eight-headed white snake's flesh through the surface cuts!
Forming numerous lumps, as if afflicted by parasites!
Constantly oozing crimson blood mixed with flesh!
Orochimaru, hiding inside the eight-headed white snake, felt the puppets imbued with Nine-Tailed Chakra moving within its body.
Constantly moving and dodging to prevent his main body from being discovered, his face was terrifyingly gloomy.
"That hateful Four Stars Village masked man…"
"As long as I escape, your Four Stars Village, your method of using Tailed Beast Chakra, will all be my targets!"
Orochimaru had originally prioritized taking Sasuke's body.
Now, it seemed he had to reorder his priorities; he absolutely had to acquire this method of driving Tailed Beast Chakra!
As long as he could obtain the method, he could directly gain the power of the Eight-Tails through the broken horn of the Eight-Tails Gyuki in his laboratory!
Even if it wasn't as powerful as the current Nine-Tailed Chakra,
it could at least elevate his strength to the same level as Sasori's current power, boosting it by a notch!
...Above Hidden Sound Village.
Deidara, standing on a giant clay bird, his entire body emitting golden-red Chakra like flames,
was chewing clay with the mouths on his hands, integrating himself and the Nine-Tailed Chakra into the clay.
At only seventeen years old, he was not a steady middle-aged man like Sasori, capable of concealing the power he had gained.
As a sharp and ambitious teenager, upon gaining immense power, he only wanted to display and show it off!
Just like now.
Deidara looked down at the Otogakure Ninja below, who were fleeing in all directions, crying out and searching for cover.
With an excited expression, he held a large handful of clay spiders tinged with golden-red.
Then, he raised both hands and scattered them all downwards!
"Art is…"
Rumble!!!
The scattered clay spiders instantly transformed into countless explosions of fire soaring into the sky!
Beautiful clouds of flame enveloped and erupted over the cover and the Ninja!
Smoke and dust filled the air, debris flew.
The ground cracked inch by inch!
Dense craters, like those from meteor impacts, appeared!
Under this terrifying explosion, the Otogakure Ninja vanished.
Only charred, incomplete limbs remained on the ground!
And Deidara, after watching the explosion, finally shouted his last words:
"Explosion!!!"
After shouting, Deidara withdrew the Nine-Tailed Chakra and hugged his own shoulders with both hands.
His face was flushed with excitement and elation over the power of the explosion before him.
This time, the explosive clay, formulated with Nine-Tailed Chakra, had almost two to three times the power of the original version!
For Deidara, this was nothing short of a miracle!
To be honest, this instantaneous brilliance, two or three times more intense than before, almost made him… well, you know.
"Feng Xu, this shared, enhanced art is truly amazing!"
"Sorry, Master Sasori, but afterward, I'm going to ask Pain to let me partner with Feng Xu, hmm!"
Deidara had already decided to abandon Sasori and team up with Feng Xu!
He had a premonition that by following Feng Xu, his explosive art would surely continue to increase in power!
Even with just the Chakra of one tail, it was already so strong.
If Feng Xu could give him the Chakra of Eight-Tails,
perhaps his ultimate art, the C0 self-detonation, could wipe a country off the map!
Just thinking of such a terrifying explosion, Deidara's legs involuntarily squeezed together, turning inward, and he inexplicably rubbed them.
However, before he could continue fantasizing about the explosions in his mind,
he heard the whooshing sound of projectiles coming from below.
Deidara's clone couldn't react at all.
The wings of the clay giant bird beneath his feet were directly pierced by these projectiles, and it began to sway and descend.
"Ugh!"
"Damn it, there are actually survivors who could endure my art?"
Deidara hadn't expected those trash Ninja of Hidden Sound Village to survive his explosion!
Immediately, while controlling the clay giant bird to slow its descent,
he reached his hands into the two pouches at his waist again, creating clay bombs.
Just as the giant bird was about to crash to the ground,