Shadow Clone Showdown

While Kawaki Seiu was still thinking, Yuhi Shinku's Shadow Clones beside him had already sprung into action.

If he doesn't have to worry about the Third Kazekage Human Puppet, does Teacher Shinku want to test himself against Sasori of the Red Sand?

That was exactly what Yuhi Shinku had in mind. This was the famous Sasori of the Red Sands, after all.

With Chakra to spare, Yuhi Shinku produced dozens of Shadow Clones in no time. He was far more efficient than Kawaki Aoba, who could only make one clone at a time.

For a moment, Kawaki Aoba saw a glimpse of Uzumaki Naruto in Teacher Shinku.

"Here we go!" With an excited roar, dozens of Shadow Clones charged.

Now the resemblance was even stronger.

Kawaki Aoba's mouth twitched. His own Shadow Clones followed close behind.

At the same time, he found himself wondering: Where did I go wrong? Why does every fight that makes me chug potions feel like a boss battle in a game?

Meanwhile, the boss they were trying to bring down, Sasori of the Red Sands, was still wondering why his Magnet Release attack had failed. Had turning the Third Kazekage into a Human Puppet weakened his Kekkei Genkai?

Perfect. I'll test it on these people.

Magnet Release: Iron Sand Triangular Pyramid.

Cheat Release: Neodymium Magnet Sky-Filling Flower Technique.

It turned out that what had happened earlier was no fluke. The mass of Neodymium Magnets severely disrupted the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release. Any attack that entered their range instantly collapsed into ordinary iron sand, which was difficult to recover and reuse.

With that outside help, Kawaki Aoba played his support role to perfection, successfully covering Yuhi Shinku's approach toward Sasori of the Red Sand.

Sasori's expression darkened. He had never expected his newly completed masterpiece to be countered in its first battle. He blamed his own technique, thinking he had failed to preserve the Third Kazekage's Kekkei Genkai intact when he turned him into a Human Puppet.

By then, Yuhi Shinku's clones had closed to a range where they could cast genjutsu.

Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Clone.

Genjutsu: Mirage.

Genjutsu: Absolute Lotus.

Genjutsu: Triple Cherry Blossom.

Genjutsu: Tree Binding Death.

One genjutsu after another came from Yuhi Shinku's Shadow Clones.

It was the equivalent of dozens of genjutsu Jonin casting on the same target at once. Even Sasori of the Red Sands would surely struggle under an assault of that scale.

That was the hope. Reality was far less kind.

Sasori of the Red Sand was not going to stand still and let them hit him.

He had already prepared to counter genjutsu. Rather than face Yuhi Shinku head-on, he swept his hand out and released ten puppets from a scroll, each visibly different from the common sort.

The ten puppets moved the moment they appeared. Different weapons sprang from their bodies as they lunged at Yuhi Shinku's Shadow Clones.

Red Secret Technique: Performance of Ten Puppets.

Controlling ten puppets in battle at once was the limit of what Sasori, still human, could currently do. It was also the theoretical limit for an ordinary puppeteer.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two sides had barely clashed before seven or eight Shadow Clones burst into white smoke.

Up ahead, Yuhi Shinku stumbled as he fled with Asuma over his shoulder, nearly pitching face-first into the sand.

I've made a complete fool of myself in front of my student. And the gap between us is absurd. Shadow Clones were fragile enough to vanish at a touch, but there was no way Sasori of the Red Sand's puppet weapons were free of poison. Even if Shinku had faced them himself, he doubted he could have avoided being poisoned.

The puppets Sasori of the Red Sand controlled were astonishing in their own right. Each could fight at a level no weaker than an ordinary Jonin.

This was what a ninja with a name of his own could do—a ninja capable of shouldering the burden of an entire village.

What had happened to his Shadow Clones was a blow to Yuhi Shinku, but it also made his eyelids twitch. He knew Sasori of the Red Sands was a Sunagakure prodigy, but this was ridiculous. Sasori had reached Kage Level at such a young age.

Maybe he really did kill the Third Kazekage in a straight fight.

As Yuhi Shinku grasped the gap between them, he also felt a surge of relief. Thank goodness Kawaki Aoba was here.

If his student had not taken the Third Kazekage Puppet out of the fight, they would have been facing the combat power of two Kage Level ninja at once. They might truly have died today.

Yuhi Shinku made more Shadow Clones and glanced toward Kawaki Aoba out of the corner of his eye. Aoba had already downed another medium bottle each of the red and blue potions.

It seemed master and student had reached the same conclusion. If they could not beat Sasori of the Red Sands head-on, they would keep him pinned down with Shadow Clones instead.

At the speed they were moving now, it would not take long to escape into the endless desert.

As for their trail giving them away, what were all those Shadow Clones for? They could simply scatter in different directions.

But just as Yuhi Shinku was about to look away, something caught his eye.

Wait. Where does that brat think he's putting his hand on my precious daughter? Who holds someone like that while running?

If the situation had been different, Yuhi Shinku would have strung Kawaki Aoba up and given him a beating.

Back at the battlefield between clones and puppets, white smoke had billowed without pause since the fighting began. Yuhi Shinku's Shadow Clones were not the only ones charging in to their deaths.

Kawaki Aoba knew his Shadow Clones could not do what Teacher Shinku's could not, but that did not stop him from trying.

He sacrificed clone after clone to create a real opening for Teacher Shinku to reach Sasori of the Red Sand himself.

Yet no matter how they attacked or how hard they tried, they achieved next to nothing. Getting close to Sasori of the Red Sand was out of the question.

Before their real bodies made a clean escape, keeping Sasori of the Red Sand inside the city was all they could manage.

Kawaki Aoba and Yuhi Shinku were helpless against Sasori of the Red Sand's terrifying strength. A powerful puppeteer was a terrible match for them. Despite their vast Chakra reserves and their many clones, they had no way to make those advantages count.

Without an attack that could settle the fight, all they could do was send Shadow Clones to their deaths.

The two of them were frustrated. Sasori of the Red Sand, their opponent, felt much the same.

He could not understand it. They were just two weaklings, so how did they have enough Chakra to produce so many Shadow Clones and hold him up for so long?

Between them, they had probably spent as much Chakra on Shadow Clones as Shukaku possessed.