On the battlefield, Rōshi still hadn't found the puppeteer hiding in the shadows.
His mood grew more and more foul.
And with his already explosive temper, there was no way he was willing to keep dragging this out.
Boom...
That shoulder charge from Rōshi carried real force behind it.
How terrifying was the strength of the Four-Tails jinchūriki?
That steel puppet was sent flying like a cannonball that had been blasted away.
It smashed viciously into a rock wall dozens of meters away, letting out a heavy, muffled crash.
Dust billowed.
Broken stones clattered down in showers.
Rōshi exhaled and was just about to look for his next target...
Click.
A faint sound came from within the dust cloud.
Immediately after, the chest of that steel puppet opened slowly.
A young Suna ninja rolled out from inside.
He was filthy and disheveled, looking utterly miserable.
But in his eyes...
There was only fanatic excitement.
"Hahahaha..."
The Suna ninja sat on the ground and threw his head back in wild laughter.
He laughed so hard tears nearly came out.
"I actually... I actually fought a jinchūriki for that long!"
He waved his fists around, so excited that his whole body was practically dancing.
"Kazekage-sama was right!"
"A puppet can actually be used like this! It can be used like this!"
Rōshi froze.
No wonder he hadn't been able to find the puppeteer. No wonder he hadn't found any chakra threads. No wonder someone could control such a clumsy steel puppet...
So the puppeteer had been hiding inside the puppet the whole time?
Did that still count as a puppet?
Or was it more like puppet armor?
But then...
His gaze landed on that Suna ninja, and his expression began to twitch.
A chūnin?
This guy in front of him, so ecstatic he looked like a lunatic.
He was just a chūnin.
His chakra reserves were mediocre at best, his physical condition was average, and there was no special aura about him at all...
In Iwagakure, he wouldn't even count as one of the tougher field ninjas.
He certainly wouldn't count as elite.
And yet just now...
He had fought against him for that long?
The corner of Rōshi's mouth twitched even harder.
The ninja ranking system of the shinobi world might not have an absolutely universal standard, but in broad terms it was still divided according to chakra capacity.
Genin, chūnin, tokubetsu jōnin (special jonin), jōnin, elite jōnin, Kage level...
The difference in chakra between each rank was real.
Of course, chakra reserves did not equal combat power.
A genius shinobi could fight above their rank.
A taijutsu specialist could crush opponents through sheer physical ability.
And someone with a kekkei genkai could unleash strength far beyond what their chakra tier would suggest.
But...
A chūnin?
A mere chūnin who wasn't even a jōnin?
He had entangled him, Rōshi, the Four-Tails jinchūriki, a Kage-level powerhouse, for this long?
Even if he hadn't been using his full strength, even if part of his attention had been on finding the puppeteer, even if he had never taken this kind of "small fry" seriously...
The fact that a chūnin could last that long against him at all...
Was an insult in itself.
A humiliation beyond bearing.
Rōshi's face darkened.
He stared at the Suna ninja who was still laughing wildly, and the last of his patience snapped.
A cold, cruel smile spread over his face.
"Well now. That really is something worth celebrating."
He raised a hand, and crimson chakra instantly covered it.
"If you're that happy... then die in the middle of that happiness!"
"Yōton (Lava Release): Shakugaryūgan no Jutsu (Scorching Stream Rock Technique)!"
Blazing lava roared out again, surging toward that Suna ninja like a flood!
The Suna ninja lifted his head and looked at the overwhelming magma pouring toward him.
But there was no fear on his face.
Only even more feverish excitement.
"Hahahaha..."
He laughed loudly, spreading his arms as though welcoming some grand ceremony.
"Kazekage-sama was right! Puppets aren't tools, they're partners! They're too-"
Before he could finish...
Boom boom boom boom...
Dozens of figures dropped from the sky and smashed down onto the ground in front of him!
One, two, three... ten... twenty...
Under the sunlight, the gleam of steel connected into one unbroken line!
Every single one of those puppets was identical to the steel puppet from before!
Jet-black metal shells, thick reinforced joints, clean and forceful lines...
Like a silent army of steel.
They lined up in perfect formation in front of him!
Boom...
The lava slammed into those puppets with a deafening explosion!
Blazing magma splashed everywhere, heating the outer shells of the puppets until they glowed red.
But those puppets...
Did not move an inch.
Rōshi's pupils shrank sharply.
He stared hard at that line of steel puppets.
For the first time, an expression of genuine disbelief appeared on his face.
So many?
That kind of troublesome steel armored puppet, the kind that could withstand his Yōton (Lava Release) attacks...
There were actually this many of them?
As the dust slowly cleared, that Suna ninja was revealed standing at the very back under their protection, only half his face visible.
That face still wore the same crazed grin as he waved at Rōshi.
"Hey... old man! Come on!"
"There's still a lot we haven't tested yet!"
Rōshi's face turned completely black.
Far away, behind the hidden Suna position.
Kankurō lay on the sand, trembling with excitement.
"It worked... it really worked..."
He muttered to himself, his eyes never leaving the battlefield for even a moment.
Sasori stood beside him, his eyes fixed on that row of steel puppets as well.
"The defensive power passes."
His voice remained hoarse and calm.
But if one listened carefully, there seemed to be the faintest trace of... satisfaction.
"The heat resistance exceeded expectations. The joint design is sound. The control feedback..."
He paused for a moment.
"That chūnin survived."
Kankurō nodded frantically.
He survived.
A chūnin had survived an attack from the Four-Tails jinchūriki.
That was enough.
Enough to prove that his new-style puppets...
Had succeeded.
He took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart, and looked toward Teizawa, who stood beside him with his hands clasped behind his back.
Like a student hoping to be praised by his homeroom teacher.
Teizawa laughed.
"Not bad. There are still plenty of flaws, but at least the development direction isn't wrong."
After a pause, he continued, "Keep watching. A jinchūriki isn't as simple as you two think."
"Heh."
Kankurō clearly didn't think much of that warning.
"Well, aren't you here too?"
Teizawa's mouth twitched.
He couldn't be bothered to deal with him.
He simply turned his gaze back toward the center of the battlefield.
At this point, Rōshi was truly enraged.
As the Four-Tails jinchūriki, as a Kage-level powerhouse of Iwagakure, he had actually been toyed with at the Shinobi World Tournament by a chūnin's puppet...
When had he ever suffered such humiliation?
Held off for half a day by a chūnin.
Blocked by a pile of metal lumps.
Treated as an experimental subject, played with like some kind of performing monkey.
Enough.
"You bastards... do you really think I'm some soft target?!"
Rōshi roared, and his entire presence suddenly surged upward!
Crimson chakra erupted from his body like a volcanic explosion, instantly wrapping around him!
That was not ordinary chakra...
That was Tailed Beast chakra, the power of Son Gokū, the Four Tails!
Waves of scorching heat spread outward, and the sand underfoot instantly melted.
A ring of flowing magma formed around him!
Rōshi's body began to twist and swell.
Strange markings surfaced across his skin, his muscles bulged, and his bones shifted.
His entire form became savage and terrifying!
And most striking of all...
Behind him, a long tail formed entirely from Tailed Beast chakra burst from his body!
Version 1 Tailed Beast cloak.
Not a complete transformation, but more than enough.
Rōshi lifted his clawed hand, now transformed, and his crimson eyes swept across those steel puppets. A brutal smile split across his face.
"Now..."
His voice had become low and hoarse, carrying the distinctive echo of a Tailed Beast.
"I'll show you... what real power looks like!"
(End of Chapter)
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