"Aaaaaah!!!"
A merciless iron hand grabbed Deidara by the throat and dragged him straight into the depths of the forest.
When the Tailed Beast Bomb came at them, Sasori had leaped in the opposite direction from Deidara. Once he steadied himself, he scanned his surroundings, intending to locate Deidara first, only to find him nowhere in sight.
"Hmm? Was he blown to bits?"
Sasori muttered without a trace of emotion, then turned back toward the enormous creature before him-Isobu.
Isobu: Two against one, huh? You think I'd be afraid of you one-on-one? I'm Isobu, the Three-Tails!!!
Isobu opened his mouth, preparing to form another Tailed Beast Bomb. With nowhere left to retreat, Sasori could only grit his teeth and fight.
"Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets."
Sasori took a scroll out of his body. With a cry of "Release," he summoned a full hundred humanoid puppets. Ordinary puppeteers controlled their puppets by manipulating Chakra Threads with their hands.
But Sasori was different. He was a genius, capable not only of controlling a hundred puppets, but of doing so without using his hands. He had once conquered an entire country with this ninjutsu.
The hundred puppets, together with Sasori himself, charged at Isobu-a total of one hundred and one units. Isobu launched a Tailed Beast Bomb at them without so much as raising an eyebrow.
Sasori: "Hiruko: Back Tail Stinger!"
Isobu: Tank it, then... Tailed Beast Bomb!
Sasori: "Hiruko: Needle Eight Waves!"
Isobu: Keep tanking it... Tailed Beast Bomb!
Sasori: "Thousand Hands Manipulation!"
Isobu: "Tailed Beast Bomb! Tailed Beast Bomb! Tailed Beast Bomb!"
Isobu resembled a turtle, and his tough outer shell was no mere decoration. Although Sasori's puppet manipulation was exquisitely precise, its power was clearly lacking.
Isobu became a merciless Tailed Beast Bomb launcher. Every tailed beast