Obtain Kusanagi Sword Secret Technique

Within the Wind Trace, Uchiha Shiraha grasped the true essence of the Wind Taming Sword Technique.

Sweeping Blade: riding the wind, using the wind as his own momentum, and following the trajectory of the wind—the Wind Trace—as his path, he continuously shuttled across every single trail of wind.

Without using any extra abilities, without using chakra, and without using any Breathing Method, his speed reached the level of the wind, drifting in an instant to close in on his enemy.

Following the rhythm of the wind, he created a vacuum, and the moment he controlled the enemy, he could follow the trajectory of the wind to dash through.

Sasori's Magnet Release was clearly a half-beat too slow; Uchiha Shiraha's figure arrived silently, and with a swing of his wooden sword, he cut into the puppet along the wind.

Three or five slashes fell!

There was not the slightest resistance.

At this moment, the wooden sword seemed like a divine weapon, and the puppet instantly shattered into several pieces, falling to the ground.

Sasori stared at the situation above in a daze; he hadn't felt the slightest trace of Uchiha Shiraha's movements.

It was as if a gust of wind had blown by, and suddenly, Uchiha Shiraha appeared beside the puppet.

"What happened? To be able to perform Wind Release without hand seals... and that wall that appeared just now, it actually deflected the Iron Sand directly... This is definitely not ordinary ninjutsu!"

Sasori was a Kage-level powerhouse with a high level of insight, and because he loved studying the human body, he understood the limits of a person better than the average individual.

Ninjutsu without hand seals was rare, and ninjutsu without hand seals that possessed such extraordinary attack power was even rarer.

Yet, this ten-year-old child before him had actually displayed a type of ninjutsu without hand seals that he had never seen before!

"Are you stunned?"

Uchiha Shiraha first destroyed the Third Kazekage puppet, then immediately launched a counterattack.

He had been suppressed and beaten the entire time, and his belly was already full of pent-up anger.

Now that he had a chance to strike back, he certainly wouldn't let it go.

"Sweeping Blade!"

Uchiha Shiraha abandoned the Thunder Breathing Method and entered the Wind Track in his normal state; when galloping along the path of the Wind Trace, he required no chakra, and his speed was extremely fast.

Where the wind went, he arrived.

In a single breath, Uchiha Shiraha appeared beside Hiruko again. This time, he drew his Reverse-Blade Sword, and the blade cut directly into Hiruko.

The feeling of resistance from before did not appear; this attack was exceptionally smooth. Hiruko's outer shell could not block the long sword in the Wind Track state at all.

An ordinary ninja sword instantly transformed into a divine weapon comparable to the Kusanagi Sword.

"Boom!"

Hiruko exploded, and a fifteen or sixteen-year-old red-haired youth jumped out from within.

He wore the black-cloaked, red-clouded uniform of the Akatsuki organization. His pale red hair fluttered in the wind, and his thin, red eyebrows furrowed slightly.

This was the first time he had emerged under such circumstances since he had built Hiruko.

No one had ever forced him out of Hiruko, not even Zero.

Because, when he met Zero, he hadn't finished building Hiruko yet.

"The air outside is still as annoying as ever. When I can stop breathing, I will achieve eternity."

Sasori muttered to himself.

Art is eternal and immortal.

Only eternity is true art.

"Red Secret Technique: Hundred Puppets Performance!"

He took a scroll from his body, and from it, more than two hundred human puppets were instantly released.

Every puppet was controlled by Sasori. With the Eternal Heart installed, there was no such thing as Sasori running out of chakra.

One person was an entire army.

"Sweeping Blade!"

Uchiha Shiraha didn't care in the slightest and slashed directly at one of the puppets.

Slicing through the Wind Trace, the Sweeping Blade swung through, directly hacking one puppet to pieces.

"What Hundred Puppets Performance? Isn't this just an experience farm!"

After hacking down the Third Kazekage, Uchiha Shiraha discovered that his Battojutsu had increased again; it turned out that puppets could also count as enemies. The Third Kazekage had given him a full one hundred thousand draws, and with so many days passing, his total number of draws was about to break two hundred thousand, enough for two ten-pulls.

"Continue!"

Uchiha Shiraha discovered that all the puppets could increase his Battojutsu count.

Now, in his eyes, these puppets were nothing more than experience points.

After hacking Hiruko to pieces, he continued to hack through several more puppets, each granting him about three thousand draws.

Finally, he accumulated the count to two hundred thousand.

He was still eight hundred thousand away from one million!

He was one step closer.

Uchiha Shiraha grew increasingly spirited as he hacked away at the puppets.

"Iron Sand Secret Technique: Iron Sand Unseal!"

Just as Shiraha was hacking away with gusto, the Third Kazekage, which had been shattered into seven or eight pieces, was hastily repaired by Sasori and restored to combat readiness.

However, it could no longer unleash skills as freely as before.

Even so, it could still manipulate the puppet to unleash Magnet Release!

Hum!

Shiraha felt his Reverse-Blade Sword tremble in his hand, and it instantly flew from his grip.

"Magnet Release... it's been strengthened. It seems you've figured out the pulse of the technique?"

Shiraha sighed and moved at top speed to grab the Reverse-Blade Sword.

His hands did not slow down, and he continued to hack and slash at the puppets.

Once the Third Kazekage puppet was disabled, Shiraha no longer worried about Sasori's attacks.

The unique skills Sasori possessed were not limited to puppets; he also had a specialty—poison-making.

Beyond that, he had no other abilities.

Most ninjas died primarily because of his poisons.

Researching puppet arts, especially human puppets, mostly required intact bodies.

Compared to corpses with missing limbs, those killed by poison were far more suitable.

Although Shiraha was proficient in toxins himself, he remained extremely cautious not to let any of Sasori's ninja tools graze him.

"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Gathering Assault!"

A massive surge of chakra appeared above Sasori's head, and the pitch-black Iron Sand formed into various weapons.

"Stop!"

Just as Sasori prepared to deliver the killing blow, the figure of Orochimaru suddenly appeared, calling out to him.

Seeing Sasori in this state for the first time, Orochimaru looked him over with surprise.

"If we continue fighting, the commotion will be too great."

Orochimaru stated; they still had a mission from Zero, and this encounter with Shiraha was merely an accidental meeting.

Uchiha Shiraha was not his target.

Shiraha's talent was too poor.

Orochimaru favored geniuses, not ordinary people who relied on hard work.

Having seen Uchiha Itachi earlier, he had already set his sights on that body.

It was just that he had recently switched bodies and would need to wait another two or three years.

Hearing Orochimaru's words, Sasori suddenly recalled Zero's instructions.

He glared fiercely at Shiraha before finally packing away the battered Third Kazekage and his other puppets.

Orochimaru turned to look at Shiraha and said with a smile, "Take good care of that body for me. Let's make a trade: give me the antidote, and I can exchange it with you for the secret technique to control the Kusanagi Sword."

A summoner could pinpoint the location of the Kusanagi Sword, so Orochimaru had temporarily left the blade behind just in case.

Now, seeing that Shiraha had not brought the Kusanagi Sword with him, he felt the blade was of no use.

In Orochimaru's eyes, a single Kusanagi Sword was not important.

He did not use sword techniques much himself, so he did not care about handing this Kusanagi Sword over to Shiraha. Initially, Orochimaru hadn't summoned the Kusanagi Sword; he had only intended to use it as a tracking beacon.

The Kusanagi Sword!

Orochimaru had many...

Shiraha pondered Orochimaru's intentions.

That body...

Uchiha Itachi, was it?

I'm afraid that by the time he grows up, you won't be able to handle him.

Shiraha retorted in his heart; Orochimaru was very strong right now, but as he aged, his growth in strength could not keep up.

"No problem, let me see the secret technique first!"

Shiraha said directly. With Orochimaru and Sasori of the Red Sands standing together, Shiraha was not stupid enough to provoke a conflict like this.

"Take it!"

Orochimaru pulled a wet scroll from his mouth and tossed it to Shiraha.

Shiraha looked at the scroll before him with disgust, but upon opening it, he discovered that it truly contained various secret techniques for a Kusanagi Sword.

It was precisely for the one Shiraha possessed.

"Summoning Technique: Kusanagi Sword!"

Baiyu recited the incantation according to the records in the book.

He attempted to cast the technique, and a precious sword suddenly appeared before him.

It was none other than the Kusanagi Sword!

This book... it truly contained secret arts.

The deal was struck.

Baiyu handed the antidote to Orochimaru, then watched as the two of them departed.