Ever since the seawater surged in, Orochimaru stopped making any moves.
He simply stood to the side with Manda, watching Gekko Chizan crush Sasori in a completely one-sided beatdown.
It wasn't that Sasori was weak, but when facing a water-style technique on the level of a natural disaster, there was no way for him to stir up any waves at all—especially since the waves themselves were being played with by his enemy.
A puppeteer fights with puppets; all attack methods are built into the puppets themselves.
Sasori of the Red Sand was an elite even among puppeteers, but puppeteers live by their puppets and die by their puppets. With puppets, he's the master; without them, he's just an apprentice.
In the previous battle in the Land of Rivers, a huge number of puppets were destroyed, and many of the remaining ones were caught up in Nagato's Chibaku Tensei.
As a result, the number of puppets Sasori had left—counting even the Third Kazekage—was only a little over a dozen.
For a rebellious youth like this, Gekko Chizan chose the simplest and most effective method.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
"Water Release, Canopy Umbrella Covers the Sky!"
"Water Release, Tidal Giant!"
"Water Release, Fang Cage."
With the shadow clone technique, he split into three. The clones and the original body formed hand seals simultaneously and unleashed their ninjutsu.
The azure parasol suppressed the battlefield, tidal giants rose one after another from the water's surface, and streams of water tornadoes guarded the surroundings.
The overwhelming waves completely stunned Sasori.
Fragile puppets versus towering ocean giants—how was this even a fight?
Even weapons filled with poison were utterly useless against flowing water.
Only the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand managed to hold out for a short while, but it was nothing more than a drop in the bucket.
From the moment the seawater surged up to Sasori's defeat, barely two minutes had passed.
Submerged by the seawater, Sasori was directly trapped inside a Water Prison by one of Gekko Chizan's shadow clones.
Orochimaru stared dumbfounded at the scene before him. He felt that his estimation of Gekko Chizan's strength had been disastrously wrong—spectacularly wrong.
This violent and ferocious Water Release made Orochimaru unconsciously think of someone: the Second Hokage of Konoha, Senju Tobirama.
That was the man who truly turned Water Release into Sea Release, whose mastery of Water Release was unmatched by anyone.
"Hmph, just a puppet man, and you really think you're impressive?"
"If I'm not mistaken, that thing in your chest is your core, right?"
"So you didn't go all the way after all. You still left a chakra core as the driving force. Hmph, what an idiot."
Trapped inside the Water Prison, Sasori was furious at these words—though no, he didn't even have seven orifices anymore. He was all puppet now, and couldn't even spit out smoke.
As the battle ended, all the seawater slowly disappeared. Even so, the torrent had washed away all the surrounding snow, revealing the ground beneath the white blanket.
"So, Sensei, what do you think?"
"Interested or not? This is a chakra core—take it back and see if you can make me a robot."
Gekko Chizan hadn't forgotten Orochimaru's talent in mechanics for even a moment.
This absolutely had to be put to use—he needed Orochimaru to build him a robot.
"Who did you learn your Water Release from?"
"Huh?"
But Orochimaru ignored his words, instead becoming extremely curious about Gekko Chizan's Water Release.
Several of those techniques were ones Orochimaru had never seen before.
The enormous canopy umbrella, the sea giants, plus the water tornadoes—this entire series of ninjutsu definitely wasn't recorded in Konoha's archives.
That made someone like Orochimaru, who wracked his brain in pursuit of ninjutsu, unconsciously grow curious.
"Water Release?"
"Let me think… some I learned in Kumogakure, some in Kirigakure."
Orochimaru felt terrible all of a sudden. So every time this kid went out on missions, he was aiming straight for his targets.
Kidnapping people, stealing techniques—very good, extremely good.
"Fine. Your strength has completely surpassed mine."
"Just the power of this Water Release alone—even an average Kage wouldn't be able to deal with it."
"Hehehe, who would've thought… a disciple surpassing his teacher would actually happen to me."
Orochimaru suddenly thought of Jiraiya, and Jiraiya's disciple, Namikaze Minato.
The Fourth Hokage had already surpassed his teacher. He'd even heard that Jiraiya was chasing after Minato to learn ninjutsu from him.
"Tch, isn't that perfectly normal?"
"The waves behind drive the waves ahead; the ones in front die on the beach."
"Sensei, let me tell you—have you ever seen a one-year-old with a kekkei genkai? Tsk tsk."
Looking at the emotional Orochimaru, Gekko Chizan felt he needed to add more fuel to the fire, to make Orochimaru understand that the era was moving forward, and that science was the only thing he should be pursuing.
"That little one, Gekko Dōnin?"
"He's already awakened a kekkei genkai? Scorch Release? Transparent Release? Or Crystal Release?"
Both Gekko Chizan's and Pakura's kekkei genkai were well known to Orochimaru. Any one of them was exceptionally powerful.
Still, Orochimaru hadn't expected that a one-year-old brat could awaken a kekkei genkai. The timing was far too early—and that also meant Gekko Dōnin's talent was outstanding.
"Scorch Release. Sigh, so I'm planning on having a second child soon."
"My ridiculously powerful Transparent Release has to be passed on somehow!"
"The title of Konoha's Ghost needs an heir!"
Gekko Chizan let out a sigh. He was still a bit depressed that his son hadn't inherited Transparent Release—how did Pakura's bloodline end up overpowering it?
That was a huge blow to someone as fiercely competitive as Gekko Chizan!
So lately, Pakura had been very tired.
"Hehehe, your title… yeah, that's true."
"So, Sensei, I think you should focus more on researching science. Look at this guy—just relying on puppet modification, look how strong his substitute body is."
Gekko Chizan once again steered the topic toward science, even using Sasori of the Red Sand as an example.
"The exploration of ninjutsu is far inferior to scientific research."
"For example, the forbidden techniques you're studying—Edo Tensei? And that reincarnation technique?"
"I think you should put in more effort. Live longer, research more. Sensei, you could become the most outstanding scientist in this shinobi world."
"By then, tsk tsk—you research, I provide the muscle, and we sweep everything away!"
Gekko Chizan was already imagining it: a mechanical army charging forth. Black Zetsu, White Zetsu—one Madara, two Madara—
Just bulldoze straight through! All of them die!
Watching Gekko Chizan sink into his fantasies, Orochimaru couldn't help but find it amusing.
Research…
Heh, it really was something he liked. And his two great forbidden techniques were already on the right track.
It was just that the cost of research was truly enormous.
"Alright, let's deal with this guy in front of us first."
"Injecting everything into the core to use it as a driving force… that really is a good approach."
Orochimaru turned his gaze to Sasori's chest. The latter glared back furiously—though it didn't really do much good.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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