Waterproofing is relative, not absolute; in the end, it all comes down to Chakra.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" Ino's speed didn't falter as she formed a hand seal with one hand, unleashing a fire ball the size of a washbasin that struck the paper spear, then punched Konan in the face.
Her Face-Breaking Punch directly caved in the middle of Konan's face. The opponent, like a mud monster, reformed her face at her original shoulder position, letting out a soft hum. At the same time, she opened her left hand, sending countless sheets of paper flying towards Ino.
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
With Danzo losing his Mangekyo, she could now use any Flower Release or Takigakure Village Ninjutsu with peace of mind.
Her 9-point "Seal" allowed her to form hand seals extremely quickly. As Konan launched dozens of paper sheets as sharp as blades, Ino also condensed a translucent, high-pressure wind ball!
With a muffled "bang," numerous paper blades were shredded. Konan then turned her body into paper, allowing the wind ball to pass through the gaps in her body.
"You're quite annoying, Konoha Ninja," she warned.
Ino's face was expressionless as she quickly formed hand seals, using her most proficient Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet. This time, she rode on the dragon's head, spraying water around Konan's body!
She wanted to see just how waterproof these flimsy papers were.
She and Konan exchanged four or five blows in mid-air, neither able to gain the upper hand.
Assuming Shikamaru and the others had already run far away, Ino decided to retreat.
Unfortunately, while she held Konan back, Konan also held her back, and the Art Duo quickly caught up.
Sasori-sama, who usually took more than his share, fleece Akatsuki Organization, and claimed two sets of uniforms when others received one, was the fastest to charge.
Ino glanced from afar.
She couldn't understand why Hiruko, this puppet, was so short. No matter how much Sasori modified himself, he should at least be 1.60 meters tall, right? Did he usually lie prone inside Hiruko? And then, like pedaling a tricycle while lying down, made Hiruko move little by little?
Normally, Sasori-sama was like a disabled person, his speed comparable to a turtle, but today he was like he was in a wheelchair going eighty miles an hour, rushing out like a gust of wind.
"Your body will make an excellent collection!" he said sinisterly.
Deidara was extremely displeased: "Hey, hey! That's my opponent! You can't lay a hand on her, quickly hand her over to me!"
The two fought over Ino as an opponent. Sasori arrived first, and his first move was his Secret Red Technique: Puppet Mastery. Chakra threads, controlled by the regeneration core inside his body that resembled a masturbator, became dense and numerous, and over a hundred red-robed human puppets appeared.
"Konoha Ninja, I'm here to help you!" The samurai with the samurai sword returned. He lunged forward, drawing his samurai sword with lightning speed, and decapitated two human puppets with a draw-and-slash technique, then was surrounded by the dense human puppets.
"Hmph, a Konoha Ninja, you say? How disappointing. Become my ultimate art!" Deidara waved his hand, scattering another large area of Clay Bombs.
Sasori, Deidara, Konan—now Ino had to deal with three formidable enemies. The samurai with the samurai sword was not bad, but facing hundreds of human puppets spitting poison needles, he could only offer a slight diversion.
Even with Ino's impressive skills, her scalp tingled.
She didn't know why Kakashi and the others hadn't arrived yet, so she prepared to deal with the most threatening enemy first.
She had her Oil Transformation trump card and understood the secrets of explosive clay, so Konan and Deidara posed a relatively low threat to her.
Sasori's Puppet Mastery and his potent poison were the biggest threats.
She used Painful Sky Foot to kick at Konan's crotch. Taking advantage of the paper person's retreat, she formed hand seals to create an Earth Flow Wall, blocking Deidara's clay spiders. Then, she used a Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave against the dense army of human puppets.
The human puppets could fly, but Sasori's Hiruko could not.
Sasori-sama, who was lying prone and pedaling a tricycle inside Hiruko, was swept head over heels by the flood. Such a large-scale Water Release reminded him of Kisame.
Facing the flood-like torrent, his regeneration core issued a command. Five human puppets, like pilings, dug their feet into the ground, then extended their arms to stabilize Hiruko.
Ino was waiting for this opportunity.
"Big Ball Rasengan!" She surfed on the water, her feet on the current, moving among the many human puppets, dodging left and right, running to the side, her eyes fixed on Hiruko's front limb armpit.
A huge, light-blue Big Ball Rasengan slammed down.
Hiruko's turning wasn't very agile. Sasori manipulated Hiruko's scorpion tail to lash out, as if to take her down with him, ignoring the Big Ball Rasengan and spewing a rain-like torrent of pitch-black poison needles.
"Bang!" Ino was hit by countless poison needles, then vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Shadow Clone?" Sasori quickly looked to the other side, but it was too late!
The real Big Ball Rasengan slammed fiercely into the side of his head. The high-speed rotating Chakra vortex carved countless wounds into the surface of the steel-hard puppet, then, seemingly slow but actually fast, twisted inwards along the neck cavity.
"Damn it!" Deidara was genuinely concerned for Sasori. Seeing him in danger, he kicked Ino in the back.
At the same time, Konan's paper Shuriken flew in from three directions.
Ino cursed under her breath, forced to cancel the Big Ball Rasengan. She retreated, forming hand seals so fast they left afterimages. First, she used Water Severing Wave to force Deidara back, then used Water Formation Wall to block all the paper Shuriken.
Sasori's Hiruko had a large hole ripped in the side of its neck. He was now using Chakra threads to manipulate spare parts to repair the damage. Deidara and Konan were not surprised by this; the former often discussed art and had seen Sasori's true body, while Konan was Sasori's recruiter and had also seen his true face back then.
Shikamaru, Choji, and Naruto, after settling the princess of This Country and the prince of That Country, returned to the fray.
Choji used Human Bullet Tank to ram Deidara, who easily dodged him, but he didn't notice his feet and fell victim to Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique.
He quickly broke free of the Secret Technique. The samurai with the samurai sword, Shikamaru, and Choji teamed up against Deidara.
Naruto, meanwhile, was locked in battle with Sasori's Puppet Mastery. His Shadow Clones died incredibly quickly, unable to last long at all.
Most of the pressure was still on Ino. She continuously used various Water Release, Wind Release, and Earth Release Ninjutsu. Just as she was struggling to cope, Kakashi suddenly burst out from the side, parrying Sasori's scorpion tail with a Kunai.
The King of Lateness raised his right hand to Ino: "Yo! I'm late, but I remember our agreed meeting point was twenty miles south."
"Yo" your ghost! Ino was under immense pressure and had no time to retort. She just waved her hand: "Never mind all that, just pick an opponent! I can barely hold on!"
Naruto's side was the most dangerous. Kakashi went to deal with Sasori, while Naruto and Shikamaru's group ganged up on Deidara, allowing Ino to focus on the paper person.
After more than ten exchanges, Ino suddenly used her Oil Transformation Chakra, her hands covered in oil, and clamped Konan's shoulders like iron pincers. Konan tried to use her Paper Transformation to evade, but found her paper sheets covered in oil. Ino's grip was extremely tight, and as she retreated, her black-and-red cloud cloak was smoothly pulled off by someone.
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