Shock! An Elite Shinobi Has Become an Experience Piñata

In the desert of the Land of Wind, a group of people moved swiftly.

In pursuit of speed, Tahm unceremoniously placed Karin on top of his head, making her the third customer of Tahm's giant-head express service.

After traveling a long way, Tahm still looked full of energy. He joked to Kakashi, "Evenly Matched, it seems your illusion worked pretty well. No one has caught up with us even now."

"This mission should be fine now." Kakashi relaxed somewhat. They had secretly traveled this far, and with his and Tahm's strength, safely returning to the Land of Fire shouldn't be difficult.

However, perhaps someone's flag had taken effect. In the deserted desert, a weirdo suddenly appeared and blocked Tahm and the others' path.

Tahm and Kakashi were forced to stop. They immediately assumed battle stances and warily stared at the weirdo ahead.

Black robes with red clouds, a hunched body, and a dried-corpse-like appearance, combined with that familiar portrait on Tahm's minimap—before the man even spoke, Tahm recognized exactly who was blocking their way.

What the hell! The first time I, Tahm, make a move in the Shinobi World, I have to face Sasori of the Red Sands head-on?

Tahm felt deeply frustrated. He had originally imagined some reckless fool trying to rob them, allowing him to casually kill a couple of people and earn some experience and gold.

But now? My physical abilities aren't even as good as an ordinary elite jōnin's, and an elite shinobi has come to rob us? The cruel reality made Tahm feel as if he were still leveling up in the starter village, only for the main quest to send him dragon-slaying.

"May I ask why you have blocked our path?" Although he knew there was little hope, Kakashi still politely asked.

A sinister voice came from beneath that terrifying appearance. "I only need your corpses." He did not even mention money, directly pushing things to a life-or-death confrontation.

Kakashi's heart tightened. He knew there was no way to resolve this peacefully, but as a battle-hardened veteran, he felt no fear. Instead, he silently circulated chakra throughout his limbs and organs, ready to strike at any moment.

Tahm also silently set down the worried Karin and seriously instructed her, "No matter what happens later, don't approach the battlefield." Karin obediently nodded and hid far away. Having lived through war, she was not afraid. She was only worried about Tahm.

The atmosphere was already tense, but neither side made the first move.

Tahm thought for a moment before speaking directly to Kakashi. "Kakashi, prepare yourself mentally. This weirdo is an elite shinobi, Sasori of the Red Sands, an S-rank rogue ninja from Sunagakure. His father was killed by your father, so we're in serious trouble now."

"How do you know!?" Those words shocked Sasori as well. His current appearance was a human puppet he had only just finished making, and hardly any outsiders had seen it. How had this toad identified him with a single sentence?

Kakashi also looked at Tahm suspiciously, and the atmosphere instantly changed from a gladiatorial arena into a tea party.

Seeing that the two still had not attacked and were instead looking at him, Tahm immediately decided to reveal everything he could. Letting his teammate know the enemy's information was the greatest guarantee of victory.

Thus, Tahm continued speaking to Kakashi. "I not only know that he's Sasori of the Red Sands; I also know that his current appearance is the human puppet Hiruko, which he created himself. This puppet is coated in potent poison from head to toe. Its hands and head have poison-needle launchers, and its tail is extremely sharp. Without anti-poison measures, it's best not to engage it in close combat."

Seeing that even Sasori looked as if he had seen a ghost, Tahm hurriedly continued his explanation. "Besides this puppet, he has two more trump cards. One is the Red Secret Technique—Performance of a Hundred Puppets, which can control a hundred powerful puppets simultaneously and possesses enormous destructive power. The other is even more formidable: a human puppet made from the corpse of the Third Kazekage. It can perfectly use the abilities the Third Kazekage possessed in life, making it equivalent to another elite shinobi-level combatant."

Kakashi's heart chilled as he listened. If this were true, wouldn't he have to face an army of puppets and two elite shinobi?

"His true body is hidden inside that puppet. More importantly, he also turned himself into a human puppet. His entire body is indestructible, but his heart contains his core. Destroying that core will kill him."

Sasori's curiosity had already turned into fear. This guy even knew such a secret. That vital weakness was something even the members of Akatsuki did not know.

"Enough!" There was a hint of bravado masking fear in Sasori's voice. The enemy had exposed all his methods and weaknesses. He had no choice but to kill this toad!

Sasori suddenly attacked. He raised Hiruko's hands, and two iron tubes resembling Gatling guns popped out. Poison needles rained toward the two like a violent storm.

Although Kakashi had been overwhelmed by the flood of information, he had carefully memorized it all and was already prepared. The moment the puppet raised its hands, he used the Body Flicker Technique to dodge swiftly.

Tahm, however, lacked the experience of a ninja in battle. When he saw the attack, he instinctively tried to turn sideways and evade it, but his limited physical abilities caused several poison needles to slam into him.

The moment the poison needles pierced his body, they caused no actual damage. Instead, they inflicted a terrifying poisoned status on Tahm. He could see his health bar rapidly decreasing at a rate of more than a hundred points per second.

Tahm hurriedly used Cure for Scurvy. Orange light flashed across his body, removing the negative status and restoring the health he had just lost.

Seeing that Tahm was completely fine despite being struck by poison needles gave Sasori, who had always been confident in his mastery of poison, the strange feeling that he had coated them with fake poison. Kakashi's calm, prepared appearance as he easily dodged the attack made Sasori even more furious.

"Since you know so much, then witness my eternal art!" Sasori no longer intended to play around with Hiruko. He immediately brought out his trump card: the Third Kazekage!

When that strange humanoid figure covered in iron sand appeared on the battlefield, the entire ground trembled! Countless grains of iron sand surged from underground, gathering behind the figure like lively spirits and condensing into a pair of enormous black wings. Protected by the Iron Sand Wings, the Third Kazekage stood in midair. Black clouds of iron sand constantly gathered and scattered around him, making him look like a demon god.

"Ha ha ha! Come witness my proudest masterpiece!" Sasori wantonly reveled in the unique pleasure of a murderer.

Under Sasori's control, the Third Kazekage moved at once. The iron sand accelerated like raindrops, covering the entire battlefield and leaving nowhere to hide.

In the blink of an eye, Kakashi rapidly formed hand seals and slapped the ground. Earth Style—Multiple Earth-Flow Walls! Several enormous stone barriers thrust out of the earth and blocked the path in front of Kakashi and Tahm. Yet the iron sand's penetrating power was terrifying. It pierced through several layers of thick stone walls before finally losing its momentum.

The Third Kazekage gave them no time to catch their breath. The Iron Sand Wings behind him flapped, propelling his entire body like lightning to the front of the stone walls. Iron sand condensed into a gigantic drill in his right hand, and with one swing, the thick walls were torn apart like tofu. Rocks exploded everywhere, and Kakashi could no longer spare any attention for Tahm. He could only use the Body Flicker Technique to dodge.

Seeing the shattered stone walls and the iron-sand drill drawing closer, Tahm entered battle mode. He remained calm and did not panic, silently thinking, Alpha Strike!

Tahm's body vanished from its original position in an instant. The Third Kazekage's attack struck empty air, while several streaks of light enveloped him instead. The light streaks swept across him with dull booming impacts, but only scattered several layers of iron sand and failed to cause the Third Kazekage any substantial harm.

"An interesting move, but its power is rather lacking." Seeing his opponent beaten into such a sorry state, Sasori could not help commenting with amusement.

Those words made Tahm's heart turn cold. Only now did he realize that although he had many skills, he lacked any effective means of attacking a true powerhouse. All of his current offensive skills relied mainly on the physical strikes of his tongue. Against an elite shinobi's powerful body and various strange defensive techniques, they were completely useless.

No choice. I can only use Devour! Tahm did not want to use this move. Devouring a worthless elite jōnin earlier had consumed so much of his resources. This time, he was swallowing a former Kazekage. Wouldn't it drain all his chakra? Without chakra, Tahm would be unable to use his skills and would truly be no different from an ordinary toad.

But the battle left Tahm no time to think. The Third Kazekage was gathering another iron-sand storm. Under such a large-scale attack, even using Riftwalk to dodge would only prolong his inevitable defeat.

I have to take the initiative! Tahm hardened his resolve. Looking at the sinister red fish mark on the Third Kazekage's body, he activated Devour!

Space twisted. The iron sand that had obscured half the sky seemed to lose its master and helplessly fell to the ground. The Third Kazekage, who had been invincible only moments ago, vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye!

Kakashi knew about Tahm's special ability to swallow people, so he did not relax at all because the enemy had disappeared. Based on what he had seen before, Tahm seemed unable to hold an opponent for very long.

Sasori, however, completely lost his composure. He roared like a madman, "What did you do? Where did you put my artwork?"

Tahm was shocked by the effect of his own move!

The instant he swallowed it, Tahm immediately felt that this was different from swallowing a person earlier. Instead, it was like swallowing something inanimate, such as a mealbox. It had not consumed any of his chakra.

Immediately afterward, he heard the system notification: "Kill achieved. Experience gained: 1,120. Gold gained: 530."

The generous reward dazzled Tahm. The huge amount of experience directly raised him from level 5 to level 7. His physical abilities were strengthened twice in succession, and he also unlocked Tahm's ultimate skill, Abyssal Dive: Begin channeling for up to six seconds. During those six seconds, one teammate may choose to join the dive. Reactivate the skill or have a teammate join, and Tahm will dive toward the target area. Any damage will interrupt the channeling.

What's going on?

Tahm immediately understood. Although the Third Kazekage truly possessed the strength of an elite shinobi, he was actually just a lifeless human puppet. All his attacks and movements depended on Sasori's control. When Tahm swallowed him into the alternate space inside his body, the connection between the Third Kazekage and Sasori was severed instantly, turning him into a completely inanimate object.

Unlike the "teammate space" that could store things, any lifeless object that entered this dark space would be corroded until nothing remained—not even dust.

On the other hand, in the system's view, Tahm had indeed "killed" an elite shinobi, so it did not skimp on the experience and gold rewards.

That meant Tahm was looking at Sasori, whose mentality had already collapsed, as if he were a walking experience piñata.

Hiruko... seems to be a puppet too. Seeing that ugly design, Tahm's eyes filled with ravenous longing. Sasori felt a chill run through him under that gaze.

Tahm suddenly accelerated and charged straight at Sasori with the warrior's attack skill commonly known as a boar rush.

How did this guy get so much faster all of a sudden? Sasori's heart tightened, and he faintly sensed that something was wrong. He controlled Hiruko to open its hands and mouth, spraying out a metallic storm composed of poison needles.

Time Warp, reducing cooldown! Alpha Strike!

The dense metallic storm struck empty air. Tahm's enormous body bizarrely transformed into a streak of light that passed through the gaps, landing solid blows on Sasori.

After reaching level 7, Tahm's physical abilities had risen dramatically, and the power of his tongue lashes was no longer what it had been. These attacks instantly left several dents in the sturdy Hiruko. However, directly striking Sasori with his tongue inevitably exposed Tahm to the potent poison. To Tahm, though, the poison was merely a minor problem that one skill could solve.

Devour!

If the Third Kazekage puppet's disappearance had merely left Sasori angry and confused, this time's situation was enough to fill him with terror.

He was clearly hiding inside Hiruko, yet the tightly connected chakra threads were severed in an instant. His "clothing" had vanished into thin air without warning! In the blink of an eye, he was exposed, revealing the true body he had crafted to resemble his fifteen-year-old self.

Just as Tahm said, he really did turn himself into an ageless human puppet? Kakashi stared at that youthful face in silent shock. Is Tahm truly some kind of iron-mouthed prophet?

"How could this happen!?" Sasori could not help roaring.

Tahm was so happy that he completely lost himself. Although the reward was not as generous as what he had received for devouring the Third Kazekage, Hiruko was still Sasori's proudest creation. Swallowing it earned Tahm more than eighty gold, far more than he had made hunting monsters in the Forest of Death.

Tahm leisurely mocked him. "Your art doesn't look quite so eternal after all."

"Damn it! Damn it!" Sasori's delicate face twisted into a vicious expression as he frantically roared, "I'll kill you! I'll turn you into a puppet!" He now wanted nothing more than to smash Tahm's mocking, fat face. Kakashi, his original target, was completely ignored.

Sasori pulled out another scroll. After violently tearing it open, figures appeared out of thin air one after another.

Red Secret Technique—Performance of a Hundred Puppets! Countless chakra threads extended from Sasori's ten fingers to the hundred figures. In an instant, a hundred puppets carrying all kinds of sinister weapons occupied the entire sky.

Seeing this scene, which should have been immensely intimidating, Tahm instead revealed the expression of a lustful ghoul.

Experience piñatas, line up nicely!

Please provide the Chinese text you would like me to translate. I am ready to process it according to your instructions.

By the way, I somehow ended up posting five updates in one day without realizing it. My poor word count.