"In that case, the outcome is hard to say."
Kakashi once again felt what it meant that there's always a higher sky and stronger people. The Youth Martial Arts Tournament hadn't even gathered all the geniuses of the Ninja World, yet figures like Nagato and Sasori had appeared. The waters of the Ninja World were far deeper than he'd imagined.
"Lighting Release: Pseudo-Darkness!"
After a brief thought, Nagato chose to unleash a Lighting Release with greater penetration power, intending to first use its high-efficiency single-target output to take out part of the puppets.
But just as Nagato spat out the Thunder Spear, a puppet with a special Tail Spike moved, stepping into the path of Pseudo-Darkness, then drove its special Tail Spike into the ground.
Zzzzz!!
Dazzling lightning enveloped the puppet, yet failed to inflict much damage on it.
The corners of Sasori's mouth lifted slightly. A Puppet Master with intel and one without were two completely different things. Right after, the five fingers of Sasori's left hand moved in unison.
Swish swish!!
The leg and foot mechanisms of five Human Puppets all activated. Various Great Sabers and Longswords extended from their limbs, and under Sasori's control they slashed toward Nagato at high speed.
"Wind Release: Pressure!"
Nagato burst out Chakra to dodge while continuing to form Hand Seals and cast Ninjutsu.
Although two of his standard Ninjutsu had been countered, he knew many techniques. He didn't believe Sasori could restrain all of his Ninjutsu.
Whoosh whoosh!!
The moment the wind sphere was spat out, violent gusts swept across the field.
What followed was a massive storm with terrifying destructive power. Even the ground was torn apart under this tempest, mud and stones flying, dust rising everywhere.
Nagato's guess was right. At this stage, Sasori indeed had no good way to counter Pressure.
But it was only that he couldn't counter it as perfectly as the other two Ninjutsu. Dealing with it was still not a problem.
Sasori's ten fingers moved together, powerful Chakra surging. Defensive puppets blocked in front of his true body, while he simultaneously controlled the remaining puppets to evade and form an encirclement around Nagato.
"This young Puppet Master is no ordinary one. To have such Puppetry at his age, he'll surely become a Puppet Grandmaster in the future." Hanzo felt a burst of delight in his heart as he watched Nagato fall into disadvantage.
Originally, the one Hanzo held higher hopes for in defeating Nagato was Might Guy.
He hadn't expected Sasori to hide this deep, having fought his way here without even revealing half of his strength.
Hanzo glanced sidelong at Mokgetsu, only to find that Mokgetsu still wore that same carefree, unruffled expression, as if the one currently at a disadvantage in the arena wasn't a Ninja of the Ninja Sect, but Sasori.
"Sosuke, keep pretending. Let's see if you can still act this calm when Nagato actually loses," Hanzo thought resentfully.
He'd been so invested in the Ninja Sect's wins and losses, yet Sosuke maintained this attitude, making him look like a petty man judging a gentleman's heart by his own.
"He is indeed not ordinary. Even among the top eight where geniuses gather, he's still a rare one." Kakuzu first nodded in agreement.
Then he added, "I imagine Lord Hanzo must feel regret that the Rain Ninja have no chance to cross blades with such an outstanding genius, since there are no Rain Ninja in the top eight."
"Oh, that's not right—there are no Rain Ninja even in the elimination bracket."
Hanzo did not respond to Kakuzu's words. His eyes were fixed on the arena, as if he were so absorbed in the match that he hadn't heard him.
But that stiff face made it clear Hanzo was not in a good mood.
Though Kakuzu's attack was only one line, it struck deep into his heart.
The next generation of Rain Ninja wasn't even as good as the Grass Ninja.
Whoosh whoosh!!
All kinds of Poison Needles, poisoned spikes, and Hidden Weapons shot toward Nagato, only to be blocked by the arcing earth wall he summoned.
Bang!
Boom!
Sasori continued to relentlessly control his puppets in pursuit. Each puppet unleashed its full firepower, like a small squad of Elite Ninja.
"This Puppetry looks pretty impressive." Obito touched his chin as he spoke.
He suddenly realized Puppet Masters were fierce; as long as the puppets were strong enough, their opponent was essentially fighting one against ten, and ten with different abilities at that.
"Rather than dragging this out and exposing more intel, better to end it quickly." Nagato suddenly stopped, deciding to change his battle plan.
Although he wanted to save Almighty Push for the semifinals or even the finals, Sasori's puppets were just too annoying.
Sasori had left only three puppets guarding himself. The remaining seven puppets were attacking and blocking Nagato from all directions.
Nagato took a deep breath and halted in place, no longer dodging, rapidly gathering a massive amount of Chakra in preparation to cast Ninjutsu.
"Oh? Given up struggling?" Sasori felt something was off.
Nagato's current condition was still very good. By rights he shouldn't be giving up so quickly, yet this stance of abandoning defense was plainly in front of him.
After a brief thought, Sasori still chose to control his puppets to press the attack. No matter what, an opportunity had to be seized. After all, he was operating via puppets and had a high margin for error.
Whoosh whoosh!!
Swish!
Under Sasori's control, the seven puppets launched their assault simultaneously.
Some puppets fired Poison Needles at Nagato, some charged in with blades, and some spewed flames, their attacks covering every possible route Nagato could use to evade.
At this moment, even if Nagato wanted to use Instant Body to dodge, it was almost impossible, unless it was a Space-Time Ninjutsu that could warp him away in an instant.
"Almighty Push!"
The vast amount of Chakra Nagato had gathered erupted in an instant. The air around him began to tremble slightly, as if heralding an oncoming storm.
In the next moment, Nagato's Rinnegan suddenly pulsed, and an enormous Repulsive Force surged out from him as the center, sweeping across the entire battlefield in an instant.
Whoosh!
Facing this overwhelming Repulsive Force, the Poison Needles were bounced back in the opposite direction, shooting into the ground and walls.
Boom!
The flames being spewed were shoved back onto the puppets themselves, and a roaring explosion resounded.