The Battle (4)

"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Wall!"

A deep, authoritative voice rang out.

Souya had been about to form hand seals and raise a Gold Sand wall, but he froze when a thick Iron Sand wall appeared in the path of the Great Fire Dragon.

Boom! Boom...!

A series of violent explosions rang out, and even the Iron Sand wall, which stood over three meters tall, was blasted through.

But by then, the Great Fire Dragon had already spent most of its power. Souya simply raised a hand, sweeping up a mass of Gold Sand to extinguish it.

"Teacher?!" Souya recognized the dark Iron Sand and its signature Magnet Release. The only person capable of using that technique was the Third Kazekage!

The Third Kazekage, with blue hair and yellow eyes, wore a blue ninja uniform and flew through the air. A pair of black wings extended from his sides, their fine, intricate texture lending him a fearsome air.

Seeing Souya's expression, the Third Kazekage merely nodded casually without saying a word.

Then his gaze sharpened. He formed the "Ram" seal, and in an instant, Iron Sand appeared out of nowhere like a surging wave, forming countless tiny needles that shot toward the Konoha Ninja at the mouth of the gorge.

"Ah!"

"Charge!"

The Sunagakure and Konoha Ninja cried out in completely different ways.

In the forest behind Souya, Sunagakure Ninja appeared from every direction, packed densely together in a breathtaking show of force.

The Konoha Ninja at the mouth of the gorge, meanwhile, looked ashen. Their leader, Orochimaru, was nowhere to be found, and their intelligence had seriously underestimated the strength of the Sunagakure attack.

"I'm going to finish you off!" Souya said coldly.

After using up his strength to perform the Great Fire Dragon Technique, Uchiha Longping was panting as he tried to push himself up.

But Souya had no intention of waiting for his enemy to recover. He raised both hands.

Gold Sand instantly rose up around Uchiha Longping, forming a sphere that sought to trap him inside.

Uchiha Longping's Sharingan swept over the sphere, and he immediately understood Souya's intentions. He once again forced his body to turn, trying to push off with his one good leg and leap away.

But just as he left the ground, a ribbon of Gold Sand shot up from below, transforming into a thick arm that grabbed his injured leg and slammed him hard into the ground.

Thud!

Uchiha Longping was pulled back down through the top of the sphere. With a dull thump, a gleaming golden ball appeared on the ground, completely sealed shut.

Souya even covered the bottom of the sphere with refined Gold Sand to keep the man from using Earth Release to escape underground.

Seeing that Uchiha Longping was now a bird in a cage, Souya changed his hand seals.

Sharp golden spikes began to emerge from every corner of the sphere's interior. Then the golden ball slowly began to shrink.

Though trapped in darkness and unable to see, Uchiha Longping could use his Sharingan to sense countless Chakra points bulging all around him.

He spun around, swinging his Kunai and trying to slash at the protrusions. Metallic clangs rang out, and sparks flew.

His expression changed drastically. These golden spikes were far harder than he had expected.

But soon, he had no time to think any further. As Souya changed his hand seals, the spikes, glimmering faintly in the darkness, suddenly lengthened.

They thrust into Uchiha Longping's body from every direction.

Squish!

A crisp sound of penetration came from inside. After sensing for a moment and confirming that there was no longer any movement within, Souya released the technique.

The golden ball disintegrated in an instant, leaving behind only a pool of crimson blood. Uchiha Longping had been punctured like a sieve, but thanks to Souya's deliberate control, both his eyes remained intact.

His blood-red eyes were still wide open, fury and terror seemingly frozen in them.

Souya took out a Sealing Scroll and pressed one hand against Uchiha Longping's corpse. Black markings spread across the body like a web. Then Souya formed a hand seal, and with a puff of smoke, the corpse vanished. He stood up, looking thoroughly satisfied.

"Sasori? You're here too?" Souya turned toward a red-haired young man nearby and called out.

"Mm. What? Interested in the Uchiha Clan's corpses? I've got another one here. If you want him, you can have him. Otherwise, I'll keep him and turn him into a puppet." Faced with Souya's cheerful grin, Sasori remained impassive.

"Give him to me. It'd be a waste to turn him into a puppet," Souya said without hesitation.

Sasori gave a slight flick of his right hand, and a shimmering blue Chakra Thread swung out. The Black Ant Puppet, its body gleaming with a dark metallic sheen, swiftly flew over to Souya.

Its belly opened, and after a rush of liquid came a sudden splash.

Blood poured from the Black Ant's abdomen, and another Uchiha Ninja's corpse tumbled onto the ground.

Souya took out another Sealing Scroll and quickly sealed the body away. Sasori had said this guy was also a Three Tomoe Uchiha Ninja. This was a huge haul...

Before the Uchiha Clan suffered the Uchiha Clan Massacre, it was very rare for a Three Tomoe Sharingan to end up in someone else's hands...

"Sasori, what orders did you receive?" Souya turned and stood shoulder to shoulder with Sasori, gazing into the distance.

The Sunagakure Ninja had completely taken over the mouth of the gorge. The Konoha Ninja were either dead or fleeing.

And if they continued along the gorge for a while, they would reach the strategic stronghold of Kikyo Mountain!

If they managed to seize Kikyo Mountain, Sunagakure would become a thorn in Konoha's side in an instant.

At that point, Sunagakure would gain complete control over the war. At the very least, they could extort a large sum of money from Konoha and leave it badly wounded!

"Attack Konoha." Four scrolls were strapped down Sasori's back. Only two or three tenths of the materials used for Souya's Starfall Rod had gone into it.

Sasori had used most of the materials and rare metals to make new puppets.

A Puppet Master's combat strength was directly tied to the quality of their puppets. On top of that, Sasori was currently Sunagakure's most outstanding Puppet Master, and his strength had increased far more than Souya's.

"Oh..." Souya's face remained troubled after hearing Sasori's brief reply. It seemed Sunagakure's leaders had gotten far too carried away with their plans.

Though he didn't know whether they had joined forces with any other ninja villages for this attack, Souya didn't dare get his hopes up, given Konoha's strength.

Forget anyone else. Just bringing Minato and his teacher Jiraiya over would make Souya feel that defeat was all but certain for their side.

The higher the hopes of success, the more devastating the fall when things went wrong...