"Come to think of it, you might not believe me, Sensei, but if I use that technique to escape, I could run all the way back to Konoha. But why are you asking, Teacher Shinku? Don't tell me you're planning to follow the Second Hokage's example and sacrifice yourself to cover your student's escape. If so, there's really no need."
As he spoke, Kawaki Aoba turned his hand over, and a large and a small blue potion appeared in his palm.
That's right. This time, Kawaki Aoba had taken out bottled potions, not those stingy-looking little vials.
A Medium Blue Potion restored an average of 500 points of mana every five seconds for three minutes. Converted to Chakra, that was about a third of a Kakashi.
The Large Blue Potion was even more impressive. It restored an average of 4,500 points of mana every three seconds for ten minutes. Converted to Chakra, that came to one Kakashi per second. The whole bottle held the equivalent of 600 Kakashis. Scared yet?
Incidentally, the Blue Potion in the little vials that Kawaki Aoba often drank restored a maximum of two-thirds of a Kakashi, with no sustained recovery.
Handing the Large Blue Potion to Yuhi Shinku, Kawaki Aoba worried that the man might do something rash, so he hurriedly urged him, "Don't worry, Teacher Shinku. It hasn't come to that yet. Your student here still has plenty of trump cards he hasn't played."
"Honestly, Aoba, sometimes I wish you weren't such a genius. But since you've said that, I'll just have to wait and see what you can do." Yuhi Shinku took the Large Blue Potion and drank it without hesitation.
The potion went down, and its effects took hold instantly. Yuhi Shinku's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Kawaki Aoba.
As the boy's Jonin squad leader, he'd long known that the so-called military ration pill solution the kid mixed up himself was unusual. But this was beyond unusual.
What did it feel like to have your body filled with Chakra? Yuhi Shinku could tell you: he'd experienced it. Not only was he filled to the brim, but his Chakra was practically overflowing. He'd never felt better.
"Holy crap!" Kawaki Aoba cried, jumping back in fright.
This was his first time using a Large Blue Potion, too, and the effect had left him completely stunned.
Yuhi Shinku was now wrapped in Chakra pouring from his body, looking just like he was wearing a Tailed Beast Cloak. But that Chakra was his own.
You really did get what you paid for. The Blue Potions had never had this effect. They always became useless once they'd replenished the Chakra in his body.
Kawaki Aoba gripped the Medium Blue Potion in his hand even tighter, then downed it without hesitation. If the Large Blue Potion had an effect like that, what would the Medium Blue Potion do?
"Just as I thought, this one overflows too. All right, Teacher Shinku, let's go. Remember, the potion will only work for ten minutes from the moment you drink it." As he spoke, Kawaki Aoba downed a Medium Red Potion as well.
"Ten minutes in this state? That's incredible." Feeling the Chakra spilling out of his body, Yuhi Shinku couldn't help wincing. That was Chakra, and he'd never wasted this much in his life.
Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!
Kawaki Aoba's figure blurred into a streak. He watched the dragon of fire pour from Yuhi Shinku's mouth, utterly astonished. Teacher Shinku knew Fire Release? Why had he never used it before?
Luckily, Kawaki Aoba had only wondered that to himself. Otherwise, Yuhi Shinku would definitely have spat all over him.
A Jonin who specialized in genjutsu wasn't a Jonin who only knew genjutsu. If he'd been good at genjutsu but poor at every other ninjutsu, he'd have been a Special Jonin, not a Jonin.
"Hm, you've got some skill after all. Looks like you're not completely useless. Even better." Sasori moved his fingers, controlling the Third Kazekage Human Puppet to form an Iron Sand Wall that completely blocked the fire dragon's attack.
Then more Iron Sand poured out and gathered in the air under his control, forming needle after needle.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand Shower.
A dense barrage of fine needles swept toward them. Yuhi Shinku's expression darkened, and he turned and ran.
The unprecedented amount of Chakra had almost made him think he stood a chance. That was the Third Kazekage—even as a Human Puppet, he was no opponent for Yuhi Shinku. For a moment there, he'd actually thought he could win.
On the other side, Kawaki Aoba, who was constantly sensing the situation with Observation Haki, couldn't help twitching his mouth. Teacher Shinku was really too weak.
All right, he'd misunderstood. Chakra reserves didn't necessarily equate to combat strength, especially for a ninja like Teacher Shinku, who specialized in genjutsu. Even with his reserves boosted, he was still at a disadvantage against a puppeteer.
And no matter how much Chakra you had, ordinary ninjutsu still had its limits.
Watching Yuhi Shinku dodge the Magnet Release attacks in a panic, Kawaki Aoba figured he might have to rely on his cheat abilities again.
A weight settled into his hand as he took out a packet of explosives. He'd only had one hand grenade obtained by sacrificing an Explosive Tag, and he'd already used it. Almost all that remained were various kinds of explosives.
He lit one and tossed it toward Sasori of the Red Sands, then used Shave to leave his spot in one fluid motion. Next, of course, he had his left hand follow his right in slow motion, then threw another one.
There were still plenty of explosives in the Altar Space, but Kawaki Aoba wasn't planning to bury Sasori of the Red Sands under a barrage of blasts. He just wanted to buy time and give them a chance to escape.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand Giant Needle.
Meanwhile, Sasori of the Red Sand was still controlling the Third Kazekage Puppet to attack Yuhi Shinku as he dodged.
But rather than a real fight, it looked more like ordinary practice.
That's right, it was practice. Sasori of the Red Sand was using Yuhi Shinku to get more familiar with controlling the Third Kazekage Puppet in battle.
This only happened in a fight when one side didn't take the other seriously at all. And once things reached that point, it proved that the difference in strength between the two was enormous.
That was exactly what was happening now. Even with ten minutes of unlimited Chakra, Yuhi Shinku still couldn't stand up to Sasori of the Red Sands. He was being chased and beaten the whole time, helping his opponent gain experience controlling the Third Kazekage Puppet.
He was even starting to question his own worth, wondering if he'd wasted the precious potion Aoba had given him.
As for Kawaki Aoba's explosives, well, he'd thrown the kind that took an especially long time to explode. Not a single one had gone off yet, so they posed no threat to Sasori.
Even so, Sasori wasn't foolish enough to treat them as harmless objects.
If even one explosive landed near him or his puppets, Sasori would use his other puppets to clear them away before they could detonate.
Before you continue