"Red Secret Technique · Black Armor."
A cold, clear voice echoed in everyone's ears. At the same time, a puppet rapidly flew in front of Chiyo, instantly assembling itself into a shield that blocked the incoming arrow.
Boom!
Even the explosion of Bowie God, derived from Adamantine Sealing Chains, failed to break through that shield made entirely of refined steel!
A red-haired youth with short hair and a straight, upright posture appeared before everyone.
Kyūsei looked at him.
Sasori of the Red Sand.
The chakra he had sensed earlier—full of vitality and youth—clearly belonged to this man.
Chiyo glanced at her grandson, then fixed her gaze solemnly on Kyūsei, who was still holding the golden longbow.
So this was the technique mentioned in the intelligence—one that could manifest weapons like this?
"Comrades," Chiyo commanded coldly,
"Kill them."
With her order, thousands of Sand shinobi surged forward without hesitation toward Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others.
At the same time, Orochimaru rapidly formed seals and slammed his palm onto the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
A massive cloud of white smoke instantly erupted in front of the Sand forces, causing them to halt instinctively.
"Orochimaru, why did you summon me this time?"
A deafening voice boomed from within the smoke, and Kyūsei felt himself being lifted much higher off the ground.
When the smoke dispersed, an enormous purple figure appeared before everyone—
A gigantic purple serpent.
"Orochimaru, my head isn't a place for random trash to stand—hm?"
Manda cut himself off mid-sentence.
He had seen the man standing on his head, gripping an iron staff.
Orochimaru ignored Manda's rudeness and calmly pointed down at the thousands of Sand shinobi.
"These people—eat them however you like."
"Hmph! Orochimaru, you said it yourself!"
With that, Manda charged straight toward the Sand forces without restraint.
Seeing how obedient Manda was today, Orochimaru nodded in satisfaction.
Facing the massive summoned beast rushing at them, Chiyo remained calm and immediately ordered everyone to scatter and fight independently.
At the same time, she pulled out a scroll from her robes—on it was a single white character.
Sarutobi Hiruzen leapt down from Manda's head, Adamantine Staff in hand, charging straight at Chiyo!
Chiyo, facing the Third Hokage himself, dared not underestimate him. She opened the scroll at once and shouted:
"White Secret Technique · Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets!"
Against Sarutobi Hiruzen, Chiyo opened with her killing move.
The Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu were the masterpiece of Monzaemon, the founder of puppet techniques—Chiyo's ultimate trump card!
At the same time, Kyūsei and kaoru also leapt down from Manda.
Strictly speaking, this was Kyūsei's first time fighting side by side with kaoru .
And their opponent was—
Sunagakure's genius puppeteer.
Sasori of the Red Sand.
Looking at Sasori, who was about the same age as himself, Kyūsei fell silent for a moment.
This guy was really brave, huh?
Still, Kyūsei's position meant that even if he felt a faint sense of affinity toward this fellow redhead, he could not hold back.
But Sasori gave him no time to think.
He pulled out a scroll and unfurled it in front of Kyūsei and kaoru .
Bang!
Three puppets appeared.
Black Ant.
Salamander.
Crow.
With a slight movement of his fingers, ten chakra threads connected to the three puppets, producing creaking mechanical sounds.
Before Sasori could even begin his attack—
A golden flash had already reached him!
kaoru swung her chakra blade, instantly severing one of Sasori's chakra threads!
Then, before his stunned eyes, a Rasengan slammed violently into his chest!
During the Land of Rivers campaign, kaoru had thoroughly learned the combat style of puppeteers and knew exactly how to deal with them.
Watching the red-haired youth fly backward, kaoru frowned slightly.
The impact felt wrong.
That wasn't his real body.
At that moment, Black Ant suddenly opened its chest, and several cables shot toward kaoru at high speed!
Sensing danger, kaoru reacted instantly, pouring chakra into the Flying Thunder God kunai in her hand.
A brilliant blue chakra blade formed in an instant.
Three rapid slashes—
The cables snapped apart immediately!
This woman…
Hidden in the shadows, Sasori showed no surprise at his failed ambush.
He had long heard of her.
Konoha's newly risen powerhouse.
The Golden Flash.
The woman who had once made his second uncle suffer badly on the Land of Rivers battlefield.
If such a simple ambush had worked, that would have been strange.
And—
Sasori instinctively glanced at Uzumaki Kyūsei, who still hadn't made a move.
That guy… is dangerous.
The very next second, his nerves screamed in warning.
An attack, fast as lightning, surged toward him!
Seeing the deadly beam grazing past his waist, Sasori broke into a cold sweat.
If he'd been even a little slower, that single strike would have sent him to join his parents.
The source of the attack—
Was the Uzumaki Kyūsei who had remained silent until now.
"Huh?"
"He dodged?"
Kyūsei tilted his head slightly, looking toward the corner where he sensed Sasori hiding.
But at that moment, a massive waterfall of golden sand swept toward them from an unknown direction!
The attack range directly engulfed both Kyūsei and kaoru !
The two of them vanished simultaneously from where they stood, leaving only the raging golden sand behind.
Rasa…
Seeing that absurdly extravagant attack, Kyūsei immediately thought of one person.
The future Fourth Kazekage.
The most frustratingly dead Kage in history.
And the only shinobi in the world who literally fought by throwing gold.
A brown-haired man around seventeen or eighteen years old appeared before Kyūsei and kaoru , arms crossed.
"kaoru , one each," Kyūsei said calmly.
"I'll take the one who plays with gold."
"Alright. Be careful, Kyūsei."
kaoru nodded.
Though she said so, she didn't believe for a second that this man could be a match for Kyūsei.
After all, Kyūsei was someone who had practically flattened Kirigakure by himself.
How could he lose to someone whose name she had never even heard before?
With that thought, kaoru stopped worrying about him.
She threw a kunai toward Sasori's position, then rapidly formed seals.
"Ninja Art · Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
Mid-flight, the Flying Thunder God kunai split—
One into two.
Two into four.
Four into eight.
In less than a second, a single kunai became a sky-filling rain of shuriken, crashing down toward Sasori of the Red Sand.
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