Chapter 284: The Eighteen Enslaved Demon
Deidara felt it too. Sitting atop his clay bird, he looked back, the lens over his left eye quickly zooming in on a horizon now saturated with blinding thunderlight.
"It seems my man Sasori has run into a formidable enemy. I wonder if he can handle it? Well, whatever. Better focus on how to bag the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."
Deidara looked down at the pursuing Kakashi and Naruto, a smirk playing on his lips. His hands spat out clay, molding it into countless tiny grasshoppers and fleas which he rained down toward them.
"First, I'll separate this Copy Ninja Kakashi from the Jinchuriki... then they can witness my art!"
Sasori's final scroll unfurled. Countless seal formulas extended from the parchment, absorbing every puppet on the field—including those already broken and those still intact.
"While I do not agree with Deidara's 'instant' art, I would very much like to collect your body as my most satisfying masterpiece. I hope you don't die under this move."
Sasori wore a puppet-like smile. As the scroll finished devouring the chakra of all the puppets, it triggered the final link of the puppet forbidden technique.
Within the long, unfurling scroll, eighteen blank spaces amidst the formulas suddenly glowed, and corresponding names manifested: Black, White, Crimson, Azure...
At the exact moment Tonbo Tobitake's Lightning Style was complete, Sasori's technique was also finished. The chakra within Sasori's core depleted at a terrifying rate. Eighteen gargantuan puppets materialized, surrounding Sasori in a protective, offensive formation.
"Drink!"
Zzzzt!
From the Divine Thunder Palace in the sky, countless yellow lightning bolts descended. Each bolt was as thick as a man's torso.
RUMBLE!
The thunderous roars were incessant. Tonbo Tobitake watched Sasori's movements, his eyebrows twitching upward.
What kind of puppet secret art is this?
He truly hadn't heard of this one. It appeared this final scroll was indeed Sasori's ultimate trump card. From the way Sasori was manipulating it, he seemed to be merging the chakra natures of every puppet he had ever collected into a single technique. It was likely a forbidden jutsu on the same tier as his own Divine Thunder Palace.
Divine Thunder Palace was a Lightning Style Senjutsu Tonbo had developed out of boredom after successfully mastering Limitless Mode. He had developed a powerful Senjutsu for every basic element; this was the lightning equivalent to his Earth Style: Land Return.
He hadn't expected Sasori to have the confidence to withstand a city-leveling ninjutsu. It seemed he hadn't underestimated the man.
Based on the original story's records, Sasori's battle was often called one of the best, but in terms of pure visual scale and "destruction mechanics," Sasori had never seemed like he could actually topple a nation—he just seemed like a version of Naruto who used gadgets instead of clones. Now, seeing this move, Sasori's reputation finally carried weight.
At that moment, facing the Divine Thunder Palace, the eighteen puppets roared. A sea of chakra erupted from the circle surrounding Sasori.
BOOM!
With Sasori as the center, a massive convergence of chakra exploded outward. In an instant, a pillar of light pierced the heavens.
"Heh, hiding something that deep, are you? Also... didn't you say you hated Deidara's 'instant' art? What exactly do you call this?!"
In the split second of the chakra explosion, Tonbo's mind raced. If Sasori had used this when Konan came to recruit him, she would have probably had to break out her six hundred billion paper bombs immediately.
The thought flashed by. His Shadow Clone vanished in the collision of the two forbidden techniques. He had originally planned to fake his death here after using a "suicidal" forbidden move, but now, he didn't even need to pretend. The collision did the work for him.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Far away, Chiyo and Sakura felt the shockwave. Sakura, who had recovered most of her chakra using a soldier pill, slammed her hand down just as the aftershock arrived. A massive slug (Katsuyu) materialized, enveloping her and Chiyo.
Just as the slug closed its body, the blast hit. Even as a mere aftershock, the force was enough to turn the surrounding landscape upside down.
"Ngh? What is that? ARGH—Eight Inner Gates: Gate of Life, OPEN!"
Guy was still fighting his clone, worrying about Sakura, when the sudden fluctuation made him turn his head. His eyes went white as he erupted in green steam, delivering a kick to temporarily blow his clone away before sprinting in the opposite direction. Behind him, the ground was literally being peeled away by the wind, chasing his heels.
"Ngh? Gate of Pain, OPEN!"
Rock Lee was horrified. Combat experience told him: Run. He mirrored Guy's move, kicking his clone away and spinning his legs like a fiery wheel to escape. "RUN!"
Neji's Byakugan saw it first. He knew his Body Flicker wasn't fast enough to outrun the blast.
Drawing on his tactical experience, he forced his clone into a distance where they both initiated Rotation simultaneously. Two blue domes spun against the oncoming wave. However, Neji didn't clash with the clone; he retreated several steps. As the explosion arrived, the clone Neji took the brunt of the impact first, shielding the real Neji from a portion of the devastation.
Tenten noticed it too. Her eyes went wide, terrified by the sheer scale of the energy. She was relatively close to the epicenter. Ignoring her clone, she retreated and pulled out the specialized ninja tools she had developed over the years.
First, she summoned heavy shields—morning stars, massive shuriken, and iron gates—to create a barrier. Then, she pulled ten small scrolls from her pouch.
"Summoning: Ten-Fold Earth Wall!"
Tenten's heart ached at the cost. These were Earth Style scrolls she had paid Teacher Tonbo a fortune to help create, sealing his high-level jutsu into her scrolls. It had taken a massive amount of time.
Once these ten Earth walls were gone, she only had ten Lightning, ten Water, ten Fire, and ten Wind scrolls left. If she had the time, she would have used them all. It wasn't about the money—it was the hassle of restocking.
Bang! Bang!
Space-time ninjutsu was instantaneous. The moment the seals were finished, ten massive stone walls rose before her.
"Another one with a death wish."
Zetsu was surprised by the power of the ninjutsu, though he didn't feel much emotional weight. In a thousand years of history, he had seen many such "suicidal" forbidden techniques—some even stronger than Sasori's. The Ten-Tails could change the weather of an entire continent; the Sage of Six Paths could create the moon.
Under his machinations, most geniuses who developed such techniques died before they could leave a legacy. Sasori and that unknown man would likely be the same today.
Even if they didn't die from the blast, Zetsu would make sure they didn't leave the crater alive.
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