Clash (4)

"Magnet Release? Iron Sand Wall!"

A low, authoritative voice rang out. Sōya, who had been about to form hand seals and raise a wall of Gold Dust, froze. A solid Iron Sand Wall had appeared directly in the path of Ryūen's flight.

BOOM! BOOM...!

Several violent roars echoed, and the three-meter-high Iron Sand Wall was blasted through.

However, the power of the Great Fire Dragon was already at its limit. Sōya gently raised a hand, stirring up a cloud of Gold Dust to extinguish it.

"Teacher?!" Sōya recognized the distinctive Magnet Release from the pitch-black Iron Sand. Only the Third Kazekage could use this technique!

The Third Kazekage, with blue hair, yellow eyes, and clad in blue Ninja Garb, was flying through the air. A pair of black wings extended from his sides, their fine texture adding a somber, murderous aura to his presence.

Seeing Sōya's gaze, the Third Kazekage simply nodded lightly, saying nothing more.

Then, his eyes narrowed, and he formed a "Un" hand seal. Instantly, Iron Sand appeared out of nowhere like a tidal wave, forming countless fine needles that shot rapidly towards the Konoha Ninja at the canyon entrance.

"Ah!"

"Charge!"

The Ninja of Sunagakure and Konohagakure let out completely different cries.

Behind Sōya, in the forest, Sand Ninja appeared from all directions, densely packed and creating an astonishing spectacle.

The Konoha Ninja at the canyon entrance turned ashen. Their leader, Orochimaru, had disappeared, and their intelligence had severely underestimated the strength of the Sand Ninja's assault.

"It's time to finish you!" Sōya said coldly.

Uchiha Longping, exhausted from using the Great Fire Dragon Technique, was struggling to stand, gasping for breath.

But Sōya had no intention of waiting for his enemy to recover. He raised his hands slightly.

A ring of Gold Dust instantly rose around Uchiha Longping, forming a sphere intended to restrain him.

Uchiha Longping's Sharingan swept over it, and he understood Sōya's intention. He forcefully twisted his body again, trying to push off with his one good leg and leap away.

But just as he lifted off the ground, a streak of Gold Dust shot out from the earth, transforming into a thick arm that grabbed his injured leg and slammed him violently back to the ground.

BANG!

Uchiha Longping was pulled back to the ground by the top of the sphere. After a dull thud, a large, golden sphere appeared on the spot, completely sealed.

Sōya even covered the bottom of the sphere with condensed Gold Dust to prevent him from escaping through the ground, should he be skilled in Earth Style.

Seeing that Uchiha Longping had become a bird in a cage, Sōya's hand seals shifted.

Sharp golden spikes appeared in all the corners inside the sphere, and the golden sphere began to shrink slowly.

Trapped in darkness, Uchiha Longping could not see, but with his Sharingan, he could sense dense points of Chakra all around him.

He spun his body and swung his Kunai, attempting to slash at the protruding points. Metallic clangs echoed, and sparks flew.

His expression changed dramatically. The hardness of these golden spikes was beyond his expectations.

But soon, he had no time to ponder further. As Sōya's hand seals changed, the spikes, faintly gleaming coldly in the darkness, suddenly extended.

They pierced Uchiha Longping's body from all directions in unison.

SQUELCH!

Crisp piercing sounds could be faintly heard. After carefully sensing for a moment and confirming there was no longer any movement inside, Sōya released the jutsu.

The golden sphere instantly disintegrated, leaving only a pool of crimson blood on the ground. Uchiha Longping was now riddled with holes, but under Sōya's deliberate control, his eyes had been preserved.

His blood-red eyes were still wide open, his expression of rage and terror seemingly frozen in place.

Sōya took out a sealing scroll and placed one hand on Uchiha Longping's corpse. Black runes spread across the surface of the body like a spiderweb. Then, Sōya formed a hand seal, and with a POP.

White smoke dispersed, and Uchiha Longping's corpse vanished. Sōya then stood up, satisfied.

"Sasori? You're here too?" Sōya turned his head and spoke to a red-haired youth not far away.

"Yeah! What? Are you interested in the corpses of the Uchiha clan? I have another one here. If you want it, I'll give it to you. If not, I'll keep it to make into a puppet." Sasori's expression remained indifferent to Sōya's smiling face.

"Give it to me, it's a waste to turn it into a puppet," Sōya said without hesitation.

Then, Sasori made a slight gesture with his right hand, and a glowing blue Chakra thread swung out. The Black Ant Puppet, its body shimmering with a dark metallic sheen, rapidly flew to Sōya's side.

Its belly opened, and after a gurgling sound, there was a PLOP.

The bloody water from the Black Ant's abdomen poured out, and another Uchiha Ninja's corpse tumbled to the ground.

Sōya took out another sealing scroll and quickly sealed it. Sasori had mentioned that this guy was also a Three Tomoe Uchiha Ninja. He had really struck gold this time...

Before the Uchiha clan's massacre, it was rare for Three Tomoe Sharingan to fall into the hands of others...

"Sasori, what were your orders?" Sōya turned and stood shoulder to shoulder with Sasori, then gazed ahead.

A large number of Sand Ninja had completely occupied the canyon entrance. The Konoha Ninja were either dead or fleeing.

And if they continued along this canyon for a short distance, they would reach the strategically important Kikyo Mountain!

If they could successfully occupy Kikyo Mountain, Sunagakure would instantly become a thorn in Konoha's side.

At that point, Sunagakure would completely dominate the war. At the very least, they could extort a large sum of money from Konoha, crippling them!

"Attack Konohagakure." Sasori's back was laden with four scrolls from top to bottom. Only twenty to thirty percent of the materials for Souya's Starfall Rod had been used.

Most of the materials and rare metals had been used by Sasori to create brand-new puppets.

A puppeteer's combat power was directly tied to the quality of their puppets. Furthermore, Sasori himself was currently Sunagakure's most outstanding puppeteer, so his strength had increased far more than Souya's.

"Oh..." After hearing Sasori's brief reply, Souya's expression showed no relief. The higher-ups in Sunagakure had clearly been too optimistic.

Even though he didn't know if they had allied with other villages for this attack, Souya didn't dare to have too many expectations given Konohagakure's current combat strength.

Let alone the others, even if Minato and Jiraiya, the master and student duo, were brought over, Souya felt that their side's defeat was all but certain.

Hopefully, we succeed. The more we fail, the more brutal the fall will be