Chapter 12 - Chapter 12: Uchiha Sasuke vs. Sasori of the Red Sand!

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CLANG!

Kusanagi met the crimson puppet's tail barb. Sparks showered.

The barb retracted slightly, then recoiled with immense force!

CLANG—!

Sasuke flipped backward with the momentum, landing on the bridge's rope railing. One hand flashed through a seal.

Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu!

BOOM!

A roaring dragon of flame erupted across the bridge floor beneath the puppet, Hiruko.

Sasuke's hand signs changed instantly.

Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!

HOWL!

A gale swept through, fanning the inferno and blasting the Hiruko within.

As the flames died, the bridge lay scorched. Through the torn crimson cloak, Sasuke saw the puppet's mechanical construction. His eyes narrowed.

"So… the real body is hidden inside a puppet shell."

Kabuto said Orochimaru would be at Tenchi Bridge. But waiting here is Uchiha Sasuke, who attacked without a word…

Sasori reached his conclusion. "I see. This was your trap, using Kabuto as bait to lure me here. Where is Orochimaru!?"

Sasuke dropped from the rope, his voice firm. "Your opponent is me."

"Insolent fool!"

Scorpion Barrage!

CLICK!

Hiruko's jaw dropped open. A mechanism inside—a 'seal'—launched a dense storm of poisoned needles and darts forward!

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG—!

Sasuke's Kusanagi became a silver blur, deflecting the incoming barrage.

His Sharingan analyzed everything. Poisoned. Just like the tail. A puppet master's classic move. I didn't get any toxin resistance from Orochimaru this time. Can't get hit…

CRACKLE! He parried the first wave. Instantly, he channeled Lightning-natured chakra into his shins, dodging with a burst of speed.

Hiruko pursued, adjusting its aim. The poisoned rain followed him.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG—!!

Sasuke kept parrying mid-sprint. But the barrage was too dense, too fast. Still swinging his sword, his free hand formed a single seal. His foot slammed down on the bridge.

Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!

RUMBLE—!

A thick earthen wall erupted from the wide bridge floor, swallowing the needle storm whole.

"Mm!?"

Inside Hiruko, Sasori's expression finally shifted.

This boy… was nothing like he'd assumed.

"Lightning, fire, wind… now earth. Four elemental natures in a brief exchange. At his age? More impressive is his agility, his timing… a cool-headed precision that doesn't belong to someone so young. So. Itachi's little brother."

Behind the wall, Sasuke's mind raced. That puppet armor is too hard. Normal ninjutsu won't break it. But he's fast for something carrying that shell, and it's full of traps. Hard to pin down. Time for that move…

Sasori attacked again.

CRUNCH!

Hiruko raised its left arm. From a launcher on its wrist, a cloud of poison gas shot out, propelling a cylindrical cannon upward in a high arc. It halted directly above the earth wall, right over Sasuke's head!!

Hiruko: Poisonous Thousand-Arms Shot!

SCHRICK-SCHRICK-SCHRICK-SCHRICK—!!

The cannon split, scattering dozens of smaller cylinders in all directions. Each cylinder then split again, firing its payload of needles in a 360-degree rain. It seemed slow, but from launch to the downpour… less than a second.

Unlike the linear Scorpion Barrage, which offered a path to dodge, this attack spread from a single point into an unavoidable sphere. Predicting each needle's path was impossible.

This was the unique, brutal advantage of Poisonous Thousand-Arms. Theoretically, only instant defensive ninjutsu or space-time techniques could counter it.

Sasuke had no intel on Sasori. How could he anticipate a puppet hiding such a vicious trick?

CRACKLE-CRACKLE…!

In an instant… the space behind the wall became a forest of needles.

SWOOSH!

Hiruko leaped onto the earth wall, looking down, expecting to see Sasuke lying motionless, turned into a pincushion.

Sasori sneered. "Hmph. Not even the Sharingan can evade that. Blame Orochimaru's recklessness for sending you first… in hell."

POOF!

The "Sasuke" on the ground dissolved into white smoke.

"A clone?"

Right. Against an unknown enemy, you can't predict every move. But you can prepare for the worst.

ZZZT— As Sasori registered the trick, the earth wall he stood on lit up with hidden seals!

His eyes widened. "A triggered water-prison trap? He can use high-level Water ninjutsu too—!?"

KABOOM—!

The earth wall crumbled. The bridge floor opened into a hole. River water surged up from below, solidifying into a dense, spherical water prison, trapping Hiruko inside.

"He played me… that brat anticipated I'd jump up to confirm the kill."

SWISH!

Sasuke burst from the water's surface below, leaping onto the bridge deck. Lightning chakra gathered in his right palm, screeching like a thousand birds. He charged at full speed, aiming for the trapped puppet.

Sasori's voice hissed. "Don't underestimate me. This prison holds Hiruko, not me—!!"

Secret Technique: Release from Shackles!

CRASH—!!

The water prison exploded a heartbeat before Sasuke struck.

Hiruko shot backward.

Sasori: "A shame. Your plan failed…"

But Sasuke's left hand, already poised, shot forward.

Wood Style: Great Forest Jutsu!

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—!!!

"GET BACK HERE!!"

A tangle of thick, snaking branches shot out, wrapped around the retreating Hiruko, and yanked it violently forward.

Sasori's face paled. "Wood Style… Are you joking!?"

In desperation, he drove Hiruko's venom-dripping tail barb straight for Sasuke's chest.

The Sharingan granted Sasuke the reflex to evade danger even at full sprint.

He twisted aside from the barb. His right hand thrust forward.

CHIDORI!!!

CRUNCH—!!!

Lightning pierced through Hiruko's chest plate.

SWOOSH! Almost simultaneously, a dark figure ejected from a hatch that opened in the puppet's back.

"…"

CRICK. Sasuke pulled his hand free. The branches from his left arm hurled the ruined Hiruko into the river below before retracting.

Watching from the forest, Orochimaru smiled. "It seems… both of them have finished their warm-up."

Kabuto adjusted his glasses, tense. "What comes next… will be the real fight to the death."

"Hah…"

Sasuke exhaled softly, his gaze locking onto the figure that had landed further down the bridge.

"I get it now. Orochimaru really did send you to kill me."

A voice, soft and cold—utterly different from the one inside the puppet—answered. The figure pulled back his red cloud robe's hood, revealing crimson hair and delicate, almost pretty features.

Sasuke studied him. So that's Sasori of the Red Sand. Different than I pictured…

"That lightning thrust… taught to you by the White Fang's son, Kakashi Hatake."

Sasori's voice dripped with venom. Unhurried, he produced a scroll.

"Then I'll send you off with my finest work…"

SNAP.

The scroll unfurled. A single character was stamped on it: 'Three'.

He formed a seal with two fingers before his chest.

Human Puppet: The Third Kazekage!

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