The fire from the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet was still roaring, and Sasori hadn't immediately freed himself from the inferno.
Regardless of how Sasori felt while being "barbecued," Ui didn't let up. Using the flames as a smokescreen, his assault intensified. The intensity of his Chidori Stream surged, the powerful lightning effortlessly cutting through the wall of fire. Protected by his own electrical aura, Ui charged straight into the blaze without a moment's hesitation.
His right hand, wreathed in lightning, lunged forward. Before Sasori could retract the remaining half of Hiruko's severed tail, Ui grabbed it.
It looked like a suicide move. How could he touch a poisoned blade?
But looking closer, his palm never actually made contact with the metal. A high-voltage electrical field acted as an invisible cushion between his skin and the toxic edge.
The pulling force from the other end of the tail was massive. In a pure contest of physical strength against a heavy puppet, Ui was no match. He couldn't afford a stalemate.
With a sudden burst of Lightning Style chakra, the explosive power traveled from his core to his shoulders and down to his arm. This extreme burst of momentum yanked the fire-engulfed Hiruko clean off the ground.
As Ui's back hit the earth, he used the momentum to heave the puppet into the air. Through the sparks and flames, he felt the puppet's position perfectly through the conductive connection.
The Chidori Stream on his body began to flow, concentrating entirely into his right leg. With an upward kick—not a strike, but a launch—he hurled Hiruko across the clearing.
The Superpower Emerges
Sasori wasn't idle. Despite being airborne and losing his tail, Hiruko continued to emit its mechanical clicks, unhinging its jaw to spit a barrage of poison needles at Ui.
Sasori had easily distinguished the original from the clone. He focused his entire counter-attack on the original body. From above, the density of the needles looked like a torrential downpour—the infamous "Storm of Pear Blossoms."
Ui was lying on the ground, seemingly defenseless. By all rights, he should have been turned into a pincushion. But the needles never touched him. They were deflected mid-air, clattering uselessly to the side.
Ui was self-aware: as a "ninja," he couldn't beat Sasori yet. He couldn't dodge that many needles from that position. But he wasn't just a ninja. Facing a "touch-and-die" situation, he prioritized survival over skill-building and activated his Electromagnetic Field Defense.
At this moment, the "Shinobi" Uwabami Ui had partially logged off, and the "Esper" Ui had taken over!
The Suicide Strike
Hiruko was flying straight toward the waiting Shadow Clone.
The original and the clone were in perfect sync. To bait the tail attack earlier, the clone had retreated; now, it lunged forward. This time, the clone channeled every drop of its remaining chakra, glowing far brighter than the original.
It was a linear, max-speed sprint—Ui's "Godspeed" mode. To a spectator, the clone seemed to be teleporting, leaving a trail of overlapping afterimages. His torso leaned so far forward it was parallel to the ground—a "strange creature" gait that traded aesthetics for pure velocity.
As Hiruko came within range, the clone's lightning-clad right foot slammed into the earth, shattering the ground and providing a final boost of reactionary force.
Body like a drawn bow, shape like a lightning bolt!
The Chidori Stream on the clone's body flickered out, and his right hand ignited with a blinding brilliance. He swapped the stream for a concentrated Raikiri (Lightning Blade).
Due to the visual lag of such high-speed movement, Ui didn't aim for a specific vital spot. He just needed to hit. Fortunately, Hiruko was mid-air, a helpless target.
His arm plunged entirely into the puppet, piercing through the shell to the other side.
With the chakra for the strike exhausted, the clone had one final utility.
Hiss, hiss, hiss...
One, two, three... dozens of Explosive Tags plastered all over the clone's body began to burn.
BOOM!
The clone initiated a point-blank, suicidal explosion. Explosive tags are incredibly lethal—provided they actually hit. Given the history of famous ninjas taken out by them (does Nawaki count?), the damage potential was high.
Ui didn't expect the tags to kill Sasori. If an S-rank threat died to basic paper bombs, he'd be a "fake boss" for sure. But Ui had fulfilled his promise: he had dragged Sasori out of his "blanket."
The Real Scorpion
The exchange had happened in a flash. On the surface, Ui had the advantage, but he knew that without his "cheat" defense, he'd be dead.
As dawn began to break, the dust from the explosion settled. Ui didn't rush in.
From the wreckage of Hiruko, a red-haired figure walked out slowly. Sasori was, predictably, unharmed. But his voice had changed—gone was the raspy, fake croak of the puppet. It was now clear, steady, and youthful.
"Leaf ninja, you did well. You actually destroyed Hiruko," Sasori said, standing amidst the splintered remains of his favorite shell. He looked at the wreckage, then turned his gaze to Ui.
"But... that hair color of yours. It's truly disgusting."
Sasori stood firm, his eyes locked on Ui. His comment was pure displacement of anger. Many years ago, a man with that same white hair had taken his parents' lives on the battlefield. Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang, had left a legacy of hatred that Ui was now being forced to inherit.
Ui stared back, silent and focused.
(Note for the audience: At this point in time, Sasori looks to be in his early twenties. He hasn't yet performed the final, extreme puppet modification on his own body. Five years ago he was a "shota" (boy); now, he's a young man.)