Chapter 219: Fugaku: "I Feel Betrayed by My Family!"
Two bizarre-shaped puppets were released by Sasori from the scrolls. Lines of chakra puppet thread, barely visible to the naked eye, immediately emerged from the two puppets and connected to the Hiruko puppet that Sasori was controlling.
One puppet resembled a multi-legged spider, covered in spikes and holes. From each hole, a ninja blade extended, numbering more than a dozen.
The other puppet resembled an upright praying mantis, its arms replaced by giant steel scythes, and a long tail, tipped with a smaller scythe, trailed behind it.
The chakra threads, invisible to the naked eye and composed of highly condensed chakra, instantly shot out from Hiruko, precisely connecting to the key articulation points of the two puppets.
"Let me see why you make those few people in the organization so wary of you."
Sasori's voice was transmitted through Hiruko: "I suggest you use your full power immediately. I don't want to wait here for you to beat around the bush with me."
"I don't like waiting for others, nor do I like others waiting for me. This is one of my life principles, and one of my Ninja Ways."
As the confident words fell, the two bizarre-shaped puppets, under his skillful control, moved like evil, living killing machines.
The puppet joints made a "kaka" grinding sound as they charged with astonishing speed toward Ikeizumi Uchiha's Wood Clone and Juzo Biwa, respectively!
This sight made Juzo Biwa's eyelids twitch and his face turn extremely ugly.
Cold sweat instantly drenched his back.
"Damn it! Did that bastard 'Gyokun' completely regard me as a traitor to the Akatsuki organization? Didn't he see that I was already about to turn around and leave?"
"Sending out two puppets—is one meant to deal with Ikeizumi Uchiha, and the other to clean me up?!"
Juzo Biwa cursed inwardly.
He watched one multi-legged spider-like puppet scurry toward him with the speed of a real venomous spider.
The sharp leg-limbs striking the ground made a chilling "dada" sound.
Juzo Biwa didn't care whether this puppet was charging at Ikeizumi Uchiha or himself. He gritted his teeth, the muscles on his face twitching, and burst forth with the ferocity of a Mist Village missing-nin!
"Don't underestimate a ninja from the Bloody Mist, you bastard!!"
He let out a roar. The huge Kubikiribōchō was hoisted by both hands, carrying a heavy, air-tearing whistle.
It was brought down heavily towards the spider puppet with a force that could split mountains and shatter stones.
Clang—!!!
An ear-splitting clash of metal exploded! Sparks flew everywhere!
Juzo Biwa's heavy, powerful slash did indeed sever one of the dozen or so ninja blades extending from the spider puppet's body.
But the remaining dozen or so intact ninja blades held up the heavy Kubikiribōchō like a steel thicket.
"Hmph!"
Sasori, not far away, let out a disdainful cold snort. The voice, transmitted through Hiruko, was full of indifference: "It seems you're intent on interfering. Then you'll be treated as an enemy and eliminated as well!"
The next moment, a dense clatter of internal mechanisms suddenly sounded within the spider puppet's body.
The section struck by the Kubikiribōchō rapidly retracted, while the other parts of the puppet began to spin wildly like a high-speed wheel of blades.
The dozen or so sharp ninja blades transformed into a death storm, tearing the air with a piercing shriek and fiercely closing in on Juzo Biwa, who was only inches away.
Juzo Biwa's pupils instantly contracted to pinpoints.
A strong premonition of death caused his adrenaline to surge. He unhesitatingly abandoned the stalemate, stamped his feet firmly on the ground, and desperately retreated backward!
Shred!
Despite his lightning-fast reaction, the edge of the spinning blade narrowly grazed the fabric over his abdomen.
The sturdy ninja clothes were sliced open with a long slit as easily as thin paper.
The cold blade wind even caused a stinging sensation on his abdominal skin.
Juzo Biwa landed, shaken but unharmed, glancing down at his torn clothes, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
Damn it!
If he had retreated even a tenth of a second later, he would have been gutted on the spot!
This bastard is serious!
He tightly gripped the Kubikiribōchō, his eyes becoming more grave and fierce, locked onto the spider puppet that was readjusting its posture, coiled and ready to strike again like a venomous snake.
The other mantis-scythe puppet, controlled by Sasori, ignored Juzo Biwa and continued to dash at lightning speed towards Ikeizumi Uchiha's Wood Clone, which remained static in its original position.
The two gleaming, giant steel scythes on its arms dragged behind it.
Leaving two deep grooves in the sandy ground.
Swish!!!
Swish!!!
As it neared the Wood Clone, the mantis puppet's arms violently crossed, swinging out.
The two giant scythes carried a shriek that seemed to tear everything apart, drawing two fatal silver arcs in the air, intersecting as they slashed towards the Wood Clone's neck and waist.
The Wood Clone's expression remained serene.
The instant the scythes were about to strike, its feet pushed off the ground, and its body lightly leaped backward as if weightless.
It perfectly evaded the intersecting slash that was powerful enough to cleave boulders.
Simultaneously, the sleeve of its right arm bulged.
A scroll emerged from its forearm as if alive.
The Wood Clone firmly grasped it.
Then, under the slightly shocked gaze of Sasori through Hiruko, this "Ikeizumi Uchiha" completely ignored the puppet behind it, which was raising its scythes again, preparing a second attack.
The clone then made an extremely daring, even reckless, move—it exposed its entire back to the powerful scythe puppet, completely undefended.
It dashed towards the direction of Sasori's main body in a life-or-death charge, uncaring of the consequences!
"Ignoring my artwork and trying to capture the king first? Naive!"
Sasori let out a cold snort, feeling that the opponent's strategy was an insult to his puppet artistry.
At the same time, the mantis puppet behind the Wood Clone immediately pursued like a wraith.
Its giant scythes were raised again, carrying terrifying kinetic energy, and fiercely slashed down in a cross pattern towards the Wood Clone's back and lower waist!
Pugh!
Pugh!
This time, the Wood Clone did not dodge.
The two massive scythes cut deep into its body with almost no resistance, carving two grotesque, terrifying wounds on its back that nearly cleaved it in half.
If it were a normal person's flesh and blood body, such injuries would be instantly fatal, with the spine and internal organs completely destroyed!
However...—
"Hm?!"
Sasori immediately sensed something was wrong!
The feedback through the chakra threads felt nothing like the resistance of cutting through flesh and bone; instead, it felt like cutting into a tough, wooden structure!
And no blood spurted out!
"No blood? Another puppet?"
Sasori instantly became alert but immediately rejected the idea: "No—this feeling—it's more like a special Kekkei Genkai clone! To withstand such a heavy blow without dissipating, it's definitely not a normal clone jutsu!"
Sasori immediately realized that the "Ikeizumi Uchiha" in front of him was not the main body at all!
He had been completely distracted by a clone!
He's been had!
And in the flash of realization, the Wood Clone, almost severed into three pieces, used its last momentum to charge into a range of less than twenty meters from Sasori!
It fiercely unfurled the scroll it had been tightly holding.
It was a Sealing Scroll for the Sealing Fire Suppression Technique!
Sealed inside was the Dōjutsu of Itachi Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan!
Amaterasu's Black Flames!
This terrifying flame had been sealed by Ikeizumi Uchiha into two scrolls.
One was given to Ikeizumi Uchiha (the female), and the other was carried by the Wood Clone.
"Amaterasu!!!"
The Wood Clone used its last ounce of strength to utter the cold declaration.
Simultaneously, the mantis puppet behind it caught up again, and mercilessly slashed down twice more!
Poof!
The Wood Clone could no longer maintain its form and instantly burst into a thick cloud of white smoke, vanishing.
In the very instant the Wood Clone disappeared!
The black cursed pattern at the center of the fully unfurled Sealing Scroll lit up as if ignited.
A ball of pitch-black flame, only the size of a fist but emitting an aura of ultimate malevolence and destruction, shot out towards the Hiruko puppet not far in front, like a demon struggling free from the depths of hell.
"Hmph, a petty trick."
Sasori let out a disdainful, cold chuckle through Hiruko.
Although he was surprised that it was only a clone and by the bizarre attack method.
He had absolute confidence in his own defense and puppets.
He didn't even move the Hiruko body. With a thought, he controlled Hiruko's giant, scorpion-like steel tail to violently lash forward!
The chain-like tail instantly extended, stabbing precisely towards the ball of black flame flying towards it!
In Sasori's view, this inconspicuous black flame would be easily scattered or blocked by the sturdy puppet tail.
Pugh!
The black flame made contact with Hiruko's metal tail.
There was no explosion, no violent clash of energy.
The ball of black flame, like living, viscous tar, firmly adhered to the metal surface of Hiruko's tail!
"Huh?"
Sasori was slightly taken aback, attempting to control the tail to shake, hoping to flick off the bizarre flame.
However, no matter how hard he swung or twitched Hiruko's tail, or even slammed it violently against the nearby rocks, the black flame clung to it like a maggot on bone.
It showed no sign of extinguishing or even weakening!
Instead, it began to slowly spread along the tail toward the main body of Hiruko.
The metal tail, under the scorching heat of the flame, actually began to turn slightly red and deform!
"Lord Sasori! Ikeizumi Uchiha seemed to have released this flame using the Sealing Fire Suppression Technique! We can use the Sealing Fire Suppression Technique to seal it again!"
Kabuto Yakushi suggested rapidly.
"—" The already somewhat gloomy face of the Hiruko puppet suddenly grew even uglier.
Sasori ignored Kabuto Yakushi.
In the nick of time, just as the black flame was about to scorch Hiruko's main torso.
Click!
A faint mechanical sound echoed from within Hiruko's chest.
A scroll instantly shot out from Hiruko's torso and automatically unfurled mid-air with a "poof!"
Bang!
A puff of white smoke exploded. A bizarrely shaped puppet, holding a huge, broken blade, appeared out of thin air.
The first thing this newly appeared puppet did, under Sasori's control, was not to attack the distant enemy, but to unhesitatingly wield the massive, broken blade.
The broken blade, carrying a mournful shriek as it cut through the air, fiercely slashed down at the connection point of Hiruko's tail, which was currently burning with the black flame!
Clang—!!!
Crack!!!
An ear-splitting sound of metal snapping echoed! The giant, broken blade fractured upon impact with Hiruko's sturdy body.
But it successfully severed the burning tail of Hiruko, along with the black, parasitic flame, right at the root!
The severed tail, burning with black flames, fell onto the sand, silently continuing to burn, scorching the surrounding sand until it melted and crystallized.
Sasori quickly manipulated the remaining part of the Hiruko body, retreating a dozen meters in some distress.
He then watched the ball of black flame still burning on the sand with suspicion and uncertainty.
Only when the flame completely vanished did he finally look away.
He then said coldly to Kabuto Yakushi: "Next time you offer such a meaningless suggestion, I will kill you first."
Kabuto Yakushi: "???"
Seriously—
Is this guy insane? I kindly offered a suggestion to wait. Could it be that he never learned the Sealing Fire Suppression Technique?
Kabuto Yakushi's mouth twitched subtly.
These Akatsuki guys, every single one of them, had extremely strange personalities.
If you don't know it, why not just say so?
Lord Orochimaru's spying mission is really difficult!
Just then, Kabuto Yakushi's peripheral vision seemed to catch something. He noticed that the puppet attacking Juzo Biwa had been destroyed at some point, and Juzo Biwa's figure had already vanished without a trace.
Presumably, when Sasori was desperately dealing with the bizarre black flame, he was too preoccupied to control that puppet.
This allowed Juzo Biwa to seize the opportunity to destroy the puppet.
And then the latter directly ran away.
Kabuto Yakushi thought about it but decided not to say: "It looks like we messed up the hunt."
Otherwise...—
This extremely proud guy might actually kill him.
"Hmph!"
Sasori watched the black flame completely incinerate half of the Hiruko body into ashes before finally disappearing.
He coldly threw out one last sentence.
"Let's go back!"
"The puppeteer really was Sasori of the Red Sand from Sunagakure. I didn't expect this guy to be one of the core executives of the Akatsuki organization. I, a ninja skilled in Taijutsu, hate these secretive puppeteers the most. It was smart not to get entangled with him."
In the distance, the already fled Juzo Biwa found a decent reason for his escape.
He had no choice.
Ikeizumi Uchiha's Wood Clone had already been cut down. If he continued fighting, he would truly be facing the entire Akatsuki organization alone.
Juzo Biwa currently had no suicidal tendencies. He felt his life was quite important sometimes.
Especially after seeing that the ninja world might actually be changed by Absolute Justice one day.
Juzo Biwa really wanted to witness that day.
He even sometimes wanted to be a part of it himself.
"It seems I have nowhere to go! I definitely can't stay in the Akatsuki organization. And there's no need to return to the current Bloody Mist Village."
Juzo Biwa carried the Kubikiribōchō and looked around.
He headed straight in one direction.
That direction...
Is the direction of the Land of Fire!
Given the situation, did he have any other choice but to seek refuge with that man, Ikeizumi Uchiha?
The next day.
Konoha.
Fugaku Uchiha woke up early as usual.
He followed his routine of washing, dressing, eating breakfast, and leaving the house.
But halfway there, Fugaku suddenly froze, his footsteps stopping. He stood rooted to the spot like a block of wood, drawing confused sideways glances from several Uchiha clan members.
The reason for Fugaku's strange behavior was that he suddenly remembered that he had been forced out of his position by his clan members yesterday.
He was neither the Clan Head of the Uchiha Clan nor the Commander of the Konoha Military Police Force anymore.
So why did he wake up so early?
Where was he supposed to go now?
Fugaku, suddenly lost, found it awkward to return home. He could only walk out of the Uchiha Clan compound with an expressionless face, bought a bouquet of flowers at the Yamanaka Clan's flower shop, and then went to the Konoha cemetery, arriving at Itachi Uchiha's memorial grave.
Gently setting down the white flowers, Fugaku slowly straightened up. His face was stern as he said expressionlessly to the gravestone: "Itachi, it seems both of us failed."
"You chose that extreme path for the future of Konoha; I endured everything for the future of the Uchiha. But in the end, both of us were defeated."
"The one who defeated us, father and son, is Ikeizumi Uchiha's Absolute Justice. His justice has even extended into our home, affecting our family."
"Your brother, your mother. One is a believer in Absolute Justice, and the other holds a favorable opinion of Absolute Justice. They have betrayed everything you and I believed in."
"The two of them have gone against both you and me. If you were still alive, perhaps things wouldn't have come to this."
"Hah..."
Fugaku Uchiha let out a heavy breath. In that brief moment, some terrifying thoughts had crossed his mind, making Fugaku realize that the Uchiha Clan's extreme mentality was at play.
On the other side.
Ikeizumi Uchiha and the three Uchiha Jonin had returned to Konoha.
.............
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