The yellow powder spraying from the flower buds scattered through the cave like exploding fireworks.
Wherever the powder landed, a sour stench rose, and even the puppets' hardened joints began to creak.
"What kind of dirty trick is this now, hmm?"
The vines squeezed Deidara so tightly he could barely breathe. His face had turned purple, and his eyes were bloodshot.
He struggled desperately with his one remaining arm, but the vines seemed to have grown suction cups, tightening more and more.
"This is your Wood Release? You just scatter powder around to disgust people? Hmm?"
Sen Senju stood there with both hands in his pockets, wearing the same lethargic, deadpan expression.
"Disgust you?"
"If that pile of scrap metal of yours could put up a fight, I wouldn't have to bother with these little tricks."
"Watch closely. This is where the real show begins."
He stamped his foot, and the rumbling underground grew far louder than before.
Across the cave ceiling, all the enormous, tightly closed flower buds burst open at once.
It wasn't the sharp crackling of firecrackers, but the dull thud of ripe watermelons hitting the ground.
Masses of emerald-green vines erupted from the flowers' centers like wild beasts gone mad.
The vines carried a distinctive raw, vegetal smell. They were as thick as millstones, with sharp thorns growing at their tips.
They lashed wildly through the air, sweeping up every puppet that had still been attacking Kakashi.
Crack!
The first puppet was whipped clean in two and tumbled to the ground, its joints shattering with a clatter.
The second followed, then the third. They crashed into the vines in neat succession, only to turn into heaps of wooden splinters.
Inside his shell, Sasori stared so hard his eyes nearly popped out. His lips trembled.
"My hundred