Suikazan Fuguki

"Argh!"

Amidst the constant roars of Raidō, the Lightning Dragon and the Gold Dragon clashed violently once more.

But this time, with Raidō personally controlling it, the Lightning Dragon was several notches higher in both agility and intensity than before.

Souya frowned slightly, clearly finding this formidable enemy who had mastered Lightning Release a troublesome opponent.

Souya turned his gaze toward Sasori's battlefield.

He saw the two puppets Sasori controlled locked in a fierce struggle with Suikazan Fuguki and Juzō Biwa.

To Souya's surprise, Sasori's two puppets seemed to be forged from fine steel; Juzō Biwa's Kubikiribōchō struck them without leaving a single nick, instead producing the metallic clanging of steel against steel.

This must be the Earth Style: Earth Spear Technique... After all, Sasori had previously mentioned that he had turned the corpses of several Iwagakure jōnin into puppets. Using the Earth Spear Technique, the puppets moved with unstoppable momentum and a fearless disregard for their own destruction.

This proved to be quite a headache for both Juzō Biwa and Suikazan Fuguki.

Juzō Biwa tried to use the Hidden Mist Technique midway through to conceal his presence, intending to unleash his exquisite assassination arts, but he was easily thwarted by a hurricane conjured by Sasori's Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.

After trading a few blows with the puppets, Suikazan Fuguki seized an opening to slash at the back of the puppet with Samehada, knowing full well that Puppet Masters relied on Chakra Threads to control their creations.

Ordinary people were helpless against these Chakra Threads, but Samehada's ability to devour chakra was a hard counter to these Puppet Masters; after all, once the threads were severed, the puppets would instantly become a pile of scrap metal.

Suikazan Fuguki succeeded. After the Chakra Threads were cut, the puppet in front of him slumped as if it had suddenly crashed, falling from the air.

But before he could let out a triumphant laugh, another ant-shaped puppet lunged from beneath his feet. The puppet possessed a pair of red, demonic horns and six arms; its wide belly hung open, and cold, icy glints flickered on both sides of its midsection. The Black Ant Puppet moved directly into an embrace, intending to stuff Suikazan Fuguki's body into its stomach.

Suikazan Fuguki's reaction was equally swift. The muscles in his arm gripping Samehada bulged, and as if sensing its master's rage, the barbs on Samehada's body stood on end like sharp metallic thorns before he brought the blade down heavily on the Black Ant Puppet.

Bang!

The Black Ant Puppet, struck by Samehada, shattered into many holes and flew several meters away, kicking up clouds of dust.

Regaining his composure, Suikazan Fuguki temporarily plunged Samehada into the ground and wove a series of hand seals.

"Water Style: Water Wave!"

He summoned a thick, surging column of water that spiraled upward like a tornado before cascading down like a waterfall, rushing toward his opponent with the force of a torrential river.

Fortunately, Sasori still had one puppet left that was proficient in Earth Style ninjutsu. Sasori's expression remained indifferent, showing no signs of worry as his hands moved again, and the Chakra Thread connected to the puppet in front of him suddenly thickened significantly.

Clearly, Sasori had increased the volume of chakra injected into the puppet.

Earth Style: Earth Style Wall!

Against this large-scale Water Style technique, Sasori made the same decision Souya had made earlier.

Rumble!

A wide, conical earthen wall rose from the ground, shielding Sasori and his puppet. The rushing river washed against the wall in frustration, but unable to break through, it could only divert around the sides.

Looking closely, one could see Sasori's fingers still twitching slightly.

The puppet in front of Suikazan Fuguki, which had previously gone limp and slumped into a heap, suddenly revealed its sharp fangs like a lurking viper.

Suikazan Fuguki's expression changed drastically; clearly, he could not comprehend how a puppet whose Chakra Threads had been severed could move again.

He could only sidestep and retreat, not even having the time to pull Samehada from the ground.

Swish!

The puppet's gleaming blade left a sharp arc in the air, but fortunately, Suikazan Fuguki managed to dodge the perilous strike.

But the next instant, something even more unexpected occurred.

The humanoid puppet let out a creaking sound, and its blank face suddenly opened its mouth. The jaws stretched wide, reaching up to its eyes and down to its neck, and from where its mouth should have been, a metal tube extended, spraying a stream of thick, sickly-green liquid.

In his haste, the orange hair on Suikazan Fuguki's back instantly shot up, forming a dense ball of hair around his body.

"Argh!"

Suikazan Fuguki let out a shrill, agonizing scream.

Several plumes of green smoke rose from his chest, accompanied by a constant hissing sound. The lower half of the orange hair-ball had evaporated into thin air, leaving only the portion above his neck.

The flesh, now stripped of its hair-ball protection, dissolved instantly like snow meeting a raging flame, and in the blink of an eye, his pale white ribs were exposed to the air.

One could see his living, pulsating organs inside, and the dark red tissues began to be slowly tainted by a pale green hue.

As the earthen wall crumbled, Sasori stood upon the water, the corner of his mouth curling up imperceptibly. He seemed to be lamenting why this guy had so much fat; otherwise, with that dose of poison, the fellow should have been dead by now.

"Hah! Hah!"

Suikazan Fuguki's eyes were bloodshot, the intense agony nearly drowning his sanity. He gasped for air, but the tenacious vitality granted by his extraordinary physique still kept him going.

He gestured with his hand, and Samehada, lying several meters away, suddenly seemed to be imbued with life; it swam like a nimble fish, gliding to Suikazan Fuguki's side.

Suikazan Fuguki grabbed Samehada, and then a miraculous thing happened: the blade seemed to turn into a substance as soft and weightless as liquid, slowly seeping into Suikazan Fuguki's body.

His body underwent a massive transformation at this moment; his head gradually protruded and stretched, his sides broadened, and he looked for all the world like a humanoid shark!

As Samehada merged into his body, a faint White Smoke rose from the horrific wound on his chest, and it began to heal at an astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, the area was covered once again by shimmering blue fish scales.

Suikazan Fuguki touched the site of his wound, his eyes filled with undisguised killing intent.

"Brat!" he roared.

With his delicate features and slight frame, Sasori naturally looked like a standard handsome youth.

Suikazan Fuguki's hands moved rapidly, weaving one hand seal after another.

Sasori was not about to let him continue uninterrupted, and just as he began manipulating his puppet to launch an attack—

Clang!

Seeing that Suikazan Fuguki had already unleashed his trump card, Juzō Biwa naturally stepped in to back him up.

He held the Kubikiribōchō horizontally, blocking the puppet's strike.

"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!"