Onlookers

"There's such a method... Sasori of the Red Sands from Sunagakure truly lives up to his reputation. This skill is far superior to that old woman, Chiyo. If I remember correctly, Chiyo of the Sand could only control a maximum of ten puppets, right?"

"Lord Hokage, no matter how strong Sasori of the Red Sands, encountering Katsuki can only be described as his misfortune."

"... That's true, Minato. If you were to face Sasori of the Red Sands, how long would it take you to defeat him?"

On the other side of the park, in the forest, two people stood side by side on a large tree, gazing at the ravaged battlefield.

It was none other than the Fourth Hokage, Orochimaru, and the Root Chief Minato Namikaze, both of them looking relaxed and at ease, watching the spectacle with composure.

Snakes, rats, insects, and ants scurried away in the surrounding bushes and underground, but the elites of the Hokage's direct Anbu and Root had created an impenetrable fortress around the area.

"Please don't joke around. I don't possess the invincible power of Katsuki, and besides... transforming a living person into a puppet is something unexpected. Without knowing the full story, I can only maintain an undefeated position at best, not with the composure of Katsuki -kun..."

Minato hesitated for a moment before speaking.

Orochimaru smiled and shook his head, saying, "You're still the same as always, Minato. If you ask me... you're being far too modest. Even Katsuki- kun admitted that your Flying Thunder God Technique is extremely troublesome! Sasori of the Red Sands may be difficult to deal with, but I doubt he's a match for you."

"You flatter me. The Flying Thunder God Technique is fast enough... but unfortunately, my attack methods are not as domineering as Katsuki's. If I can't kill with one blow, I'll eventually be stuck in a protracted battle."

Minato vehemently denied the allegations.

Orochimaru smiled and said no more.

Katsuki and Minato were the two most outstanding members of their generation. While others like Nawaki and Otoha were also quite remarkable, it must be admitted that the gap between them gradually widened over time.

Nawaki once mentioned in a casual conversation with Orochimaru that his record of sparring with Katsuki in private was 47 losses, with 19 draws due to interruptions; while Minato was known for his loyalty and dedication, the two did not spar often, with Nawaki's record being 14 losses, and 11 draws due to reasons such as prolonged delays.

In other words, Nawaki never won a single fight against these two.

This result left Nawaki disappointed and frustrated for a long time before he recovered.

However, Orochimaru was not surprised when he heard this; instead, he seemed to take it for granted.

Between Katsuki and Minato, Katsuki felt like a volcano about to erupt, containing boundless power that could crush enemies into dust with an invincible and domineering attitude.

What Orochimaru perceived from Minato was a bottomless abyss, silently devouring enemies whole, skin and bones, making it impossible to ever gauge his depths.

"What two freaks!"

Orochimaru thought to himself.

"Minato, have you heard anything about Jiraiya lately?"

"Jiraiya- sensei?"

Minato blinked; this topic had jumped a bit too far!

And why ask him? Isn't this kind of thing the responsibility of the Anbu?

"The Anbu lost track of that bastard Jiraiya, but based on Jiraiya movement route, he'll likely come back to the village. He'll probably come looking for you then. If that guy really comes back, remember to let me know." Orochimaru explained, noticing Minato's confusion.

"Back to the village? I'm not sure. If Master really does return, I'll send someone to inform you, Lord Hokage."

Minato didn't ask Orochimaru why he wanted to see Jiraiya. The two were brothers from the same school, so it was hard to say whether they were discussing personal or official matters.

If it were a private matter, he would feel awkward asking about it; but if it was a public matter or a major issue, he, as the head of the Root department, could not possibly remain silent.

"Thank you for your help, Minato."

Orochimaru nodded, quite satisfied with Minato's attitude. Given Minato's good reputation, he would definitely keep his promises.

Minato hadn't yet told him about the White Zetsu impersonating Sasori. He sought Jiraiya that idiot Minato for this very reason. Jiraiya been traveling around tracking Madara Uchiha all these years; it was time for him to come back and have a proper talk.

"Bang--!!"

A muffled thunderclap boomed, and a huge column of smoke shot up, plunging into the forest. Cracking and sputtering sounds echoed continuously, and countless trees suffered damage.

"Hey, where are you shooting? I told you you can attack as much as you want, but don't just aim for my groin! I only have one pair of pants on, do you want me to lose face in front of my son and nephew?"

Katsuki's eyes widened, and she complained loudly.

That puppet, oblivious to its own mortality, headed straight for its lower body and was slapped away by him.

"······hateful!!"

Scorpion's puppet body was trembling.

For three minutes, Katsuki stood still, letting Sasori attack without retaliating, only focusing on defense.

Three minutes.

That's enough for Scorpion to take down hundreds of enemies.

However, when facing Katsuki, he used every trick in the book within those 180 seconds: poison, explosion, vacuum suffocation, burying him underground, but none of them could effectively harm Katsuki.

The poisoned weapon couldn't even break through Katsuki's skin, so it couldn't hurt anyone. They did release a lot of poisonous smoke, but the smoke, which would normally take down a strong adult bull in a second, seemed to have no effect on Katsuki. Her tenacious vitality made Sasori doubt whether she was even human.

Then, the flames ignited by hundreds of Explosive Tag were slapped back down, and the shockwaves from the explosions were all pushed into the ground, creating a huge, black-smoking crater in front of them. The surface soil and rocks even turned into magma due to the excessive heat.

The vacuum created by Wind Release had no effect. Judging from Katsuki's leisurely appearance, he could hold his breath for seven or eight minutes without any problem. I had no choice but to switch to Magnet Release and planned to Katsuki Mizuki two hundred meters underground... As a result, it took only nine seconds to carve out a straight hole and then calmly climbed out.

"Wind Release: Sandstorm"

With a flick of his fingers, Human Puppet unleashed a gust of wind that whipped up a cloud of dust, obscuring everyone's vision until they couldn't see their own hands in front of their faces, and every breath filled their nostrils with dust.

"... Is this a plan to launch a sneak attack?"

Katsuki closed her eyes, pondering where Sasori's attack would come from...

"Huh? This direction... Holy crap, are they planning to escape?"

In his Mind's Eye's eye, Sasori's Chakra fluctuations were rapidly moving towards the depths of the northern forest, his movements swift and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

"Ahhh!! I've been underestimated. Are you planning to run away like this? This won't do!" Katsuki's stomach suddenly contracted, and she opened her mouth and exhaled a mighty wind, sweeping away the dust flying in front of her and uprooting more than a dozen not-so-thick trees in front of her, sending them flying into the air.

"Since you've voluntarily given up the attack, now it's my turn..."

Before the words were even finished, the person had already launched themselves forward like a cannonball, their footsteps striking the ground with the force of artillery fire, leaving a trail of deep craters in their wake. (To be continued)