Shadow Clone Technique Grand Battle

While Kawaki Seiu was still deep in thought, the Shadow Clones of Yuhi Shinku beside him had already sprung into action.

If one were to set aside the Third Kazekage human puppet, was Master Shinku actually trying to test his mettle against Sasori of the Red Sand?

Indeed, that was exactly what Yuhi Shinku intended; after all, this was the legendary Sasori of the Red Sand.

With a plentiful supply of chakra, Yuhi Shinku produced dozens of Shadow Clones in a short span of time—a rate of efficiency far faster than Kawaki Aoba, who could only manage to manifest a single clone at a time.

In this moment, Kawaki Aoba saw the shadow of Uzumaki Naruto in Master Shinku.

"Here we go!" With an excited roar, dozens of Shadow Clones began their charge.

Now he looked even more like him.

Twitching the corner of his mouth, Kawaki Aoba's own Shadow Clones followed closely behind.

At the same time, he was pondering a question: where exactly had things gone wrong? Why did every battle that required him to chug potions make him feel like he was fighting a boss in a video game?

As for the boss being pushed, Sasori of the Red Sand was still puzzled as to why his Magnet Release attacks had failed. Could it be that the Third Kazekage's Kekkei Genkai had weakened after being turned into a human puppet?

Very well, he would use these fellows to test it out once more.

Magnet Release: Iron Sand Triangular Pyramid.

Cheat Release: Neodymium Magnet Sky-Filling Flower Technique.

The facts proved that what had just occurred was no accident. Under the interference of the massive amount of neodymium magnets, the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release was severely compromised. No matter the attack, the moment it entered the range of the neodymium magnets, it instantly reverted into ordinary iron sand, and it was difficult to recycle thereafter.

With the help of external forces, Kawaki Aoba performed his role as support brilliantly, successfully covering Yuhi Shinku's approach toward Sasori of the Red Sand.

Sasori's expression was grim. He had not expected his newly completed masterpiece to be countered in its very first battle. He assumed his own technique was lacking, failing to fully preserve the Kekkei Genkai after turning the Third Kazekage into a human puppet.

At this moment, the Yuhi Shinkus successfully pushed forward to a distance where they could effectively cast genjutsu.

Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Clone.

Genjutsu: Mirage.

Genjutsu: Absolute Lotus.

Genjutsu: Triple Cherry Blossom.

Genjutsu: Tree Binding Death.

One genjutsu after another was unleashed by Yuhi Shinku's Shadow Clones.

This was equivalent to dozens of genjutsu-specialist Jonin casting illusions on the same target simultaneously. At such a scale, even if the opponent was Sasori of the Red Sand, it surely wouldn't be pleasant.

However, the expectation was beautiful, but reality was cruel.

Sasori of the Red Sand was not a corpse; he wouldn't just stand there like a target.

Having prepared for genjutsu in advance, Sasori of the Red Sand had no intention of engaging Yuhi Shinku in a direct confrontation. Instead, he waved his hand and released ten puppets from a scroll, each appearing distinct from common stock.

The ten puppets moved in unison the moment they appeared, popping out various weapons from their bodies and charging toward Yuhi Shinku's Shadow Clones.

Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets.

Controlling ten puppets in battle at once was the limit for Sasori while he was still human, and it was also the theoretical ceiling for a normal puppeteer.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang...

The moment the two sides clashed, seven or eight Shadow Clones exploded into white smoke and vanished.

Up ahead, Yuhi Shinku, who was carrying Asuma, stumbled, nearly face-planting into the sand.

He had lost face in front of his student, and the gap in strength between the two sides was simply too exaggerated. Although his Shadow Clones were fragile enough to shatter at a touch, the weapons on Sasori's puppets were surely coated in poison. Even if he replaced the clones with his own physical body, he likely wouldn't escape the fate of being poisoned.

Furthermore, the puppets controlled by Sasori were astonishing; each one possessed strength no less than that of an average Jonin.

This was what it meant to be a ninja with a reputation—a ninja capable of carrying the weight of the village on their own shoulders.

Though the fate of his Shadow Clones was a heavy blow to Yuhi Shinku, it also made his eyelids twitch uncontrollably. He knew Sasori was a genius of Sunagakure, but this genius was simply too absurd; to possess Kage-level strength at such a young age.

Looking at it this way, perhaps he had even taken down the Third Kazekage head-on?

While acknowledging the gap in strength, Yuhi Shinku also felt a sense of relief; fortunately, he had a student like Kawaki Aoba.

If he hadn't directly neutralized that Third Kazekage puppet, facing two Kage-level combatants at once would have truly put them in mortal danger today.

As Yuhi Shinku manifested more Shadow Clones, he didn't forget to glance toward Kawaki Aoba. At this moment, Kawaki Aoba had already downed another medium bottle of red and blue potions each.

It seemed the master and student were of one mind. Since they couldn't win a direct confrontation against Sasori of the Red Sand, they would simply use the Shadow Clones to drag him out.

With the speed they were currently exerting, it wouldn't take much time to escape into the endless desert.

As for the issue of their tracks being exposed? Were these Shadow Clones just for show? They could simply operate on multiple fronts.

However, just as Yuhi Shinku was about to look away, he noticed something amiss.

Wait, where was that brat putting his hands on his precious daughter? Is that how you carry someone while running?

If the situation hadn't been so dire, Yuhi Shinku would have loved to hang Kawaki Aoba up and give him a thrashing.

Looking at the battlefield between the Shadow Clones and the puppets, white smoke had been rising incessantly since the start of the engagement. It wasn't just Yuhi Shinku's clones that were rushing forward to their deaths.

Kawaki Aoba knew very well that if Master Shinku couldn't do it, his own Shadow Clones couldn't either, but that didn't stop him from trying.

They used the lives of one Shadow Clone Technique after another to create an opportunity for Teacher Shinku to truly get close to the real body of Sasori.

As a result, no matter how they attacked or how hard they tried, the effects were negligible, let alone getting anywhere near Sasori's true form.

Before his main body could escape completely, they had already exhausted every ounce of their strength just to keep Sasori trapped within this city.

Kawaki Aoba and Yuhi Shinku felt helpless against Sasori's terrifying strength; the powerful puppeteer was simply too effective at countering the two of them. Despite possessing vast amounts of chakra and clones, they had no way to put them to use.

Without the ability to land a decisive blow, they could only send their shadow clones to their deaths in vain.

While the two of them felt stifled, their opponent, Sasori, shared much the same sentiment.

He could not understand it; they were clearly just two weak small-fry, so why did they have so much chakra, and why were they able to split into so many shadow clones just to stall him?

The total amount of chakra consumed by the two of them to create so many shadow clones was, perhaps, equivalent to that of a Shukaku.