Chapter 254: The Terrifying Strength of Sasori of the Red Sand

Deidara's movements froze.

He glanced with some reluctance at his masterpiece, Number Eighteen, which was nearing completion in his hand, and then looked down at the group of youths below, who were battered but still spirited.

In the end, he pursed his lips, put away the C3 bomb, and steered the C2 dragon to descend slowly, retreating to the side.

He knew that when Sasori of the Red Sand said, "Let me handle it," it meant playtime was over. If he persisted, this impatient partner would likely vent his anger on him.

With Deidara's withdrawal, the violent explosions and roaring sounds on the battlefield ceased abruptly.

Replacing them was a suffocating silence.

All members of the new generation team stared intently at the slowly advancing, bizarre-looking Hiruko puppet.

They had just been baptized by high-intensity explosions; everyone's Chakra and stamina were heavily depleted, and Uchiha Isamu and another Uzumaki clan member were severely injured.

Yet they still maintained high vigilance, reforming their formation to protect the wounded in the center.

Sasori of the Red Sand said nothing unnecessary.

Combat was not an art performance, but a precise and efficient hunt.

The fingers hidden beneath the shell of Hiruko moved slightly, and the iron-forged scorpion tail behind the puppet, glinting with a cold metallic sheen, shot out suddenly like a long-dormant viper.

Swish!

The sound of the air being torn was sharp and piercing.

The speed of the scorpion tail was extreme; even with Uchiha Isamu's Three-Tomoe Sharingan, he could barely catch a fleeting afterimage.

Its target was not the team members, but the Water Style defensive barrier that the Uzumaki clan youth had laid down using his last bit of Chakra.

Squelch!

There was no suspense.

That water curtain, which could weaken Deidara's C1-level explosions, was as fragile as paper before the strike of the scorpion tail, which was condensed with extreme piercing power.

The barrier was instantly pierced through. The tip of the scorpion tail did not even pause; after leaving a huge hole in the barrier, it retracted like lightning.

The whole process was smooth and fluid, so fast that no one could react.

Uchiha Isamu's heart sank abruptly.

The attack pattern was completely different.

Deidara's attacks were wide and sweeping, pursuing range and destructive power, which could be dealt with by defense and evasion.

But this new enemy before him—his attacks were precise, lethal, and full of piercing power.

A cold chill climbed up his spine, far more intense than when facing the explosions just now. Deidara's art was full of fanaticism and the passion of destruction, while this puppet master before him—every move he made exuded the coldness and loneliness of death.

There was no emotion in his attacks, only the most efficient logic of slaughter.

"Watch out for poison! Everyone, keep your distance and use long-range attacks to contain him!"

Uchiha Isamu shouted at the top of his lungs immediately. In an instant, he judged that with this attack method, close-quarters combat was equivalent to suicide.

The two Uchiha members who had activated their Sharingan reacted immediately. Their hands flew, and dozens of Shuriken and Kunai coated with Fire Style Chakra turned into a dense storm of metal, shooting toward Hiruko from different angles.

The insight of the Sharingan allowed them to precisely calculate the flight trajectories of the Shuriken, attempting to attack seemingly weak spots like the joints and eyes of Hiruko.

Another member formed hand seals, and a whip made of water formed out of thin air, lashing flexibly toward the base of the scorpion tail in an attempt to restrict its movement.

This was a coordinated attack tactic they had practiced countless times at the Ninja Academy.

Clang! Clang! Ding! Ding!

The crisp sounds of impact merged into one.

Those Ninja tools, capable of cutting metal and stone, struck the dark red, hard shell of Hiruko, only sparking a series of tiny flashes before being deflected entirely, not even leaving a scratch.

The water whip did succeed in entangling the scorpion tail, but the next second, the tail just vibrated slightly, and a strong wave of Chakra erupted instantly, shattering the water whip directly into a mist of water.

"Useless struggle."

The cold voice of Sasori of the Red Sand came from within Hiruko.

He seemed to have grown tired of this cat-and-mouse game.

Suddenly, the demon-mask-like mouth of Hiruko opened, and an intricate firing mechanism protruded from it.

"Mechanism One: Thousand Needle Rain!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The next second, countless Senbon needles tempered with deadly poison sprayed out from Hiruko's mouth like a rainstorm, instantly covering the entire area where the new generation team was located.

These Senbon were not only numerous, but their flight trajectories had no pattern whatsoever; some shot out in straight lines, while others changed direction in mid-air, forming an attack network with no blind spots.

The Sharingan could see the trajectory of every needle, but the speed of their bodies could not keep up.

"Dodge!"

The team members' expressions changed drastically, and they dodged with all their might.

Some used the Body Flicker Technique, others used the terrain, scrambling through the gaps between the Senbon.

However, the attack was simply too dense.

While dodging, one member tripped over a piece of rubble, and his body stiffened for a split second.

It was this split-second opening that Sasori of the Red Sand captured with precision.

Several Senbon instantly changed their trajectory, slashing toward his arm.

Swish!

The member only felt a chill on his arm; several tiny bloodstains appeared at the gap in his arm guard.

"I..."

Just as he was about to say he was fine, a piercing numbness spread from the wound, creeping upward at an alarming speed.

In just a few seconds, his entire arm turned from its normal skin tone to an eerie black-purple, completely lost sensation, and hung limp.

Immediately after, the numbness surged through his whole body; his vision went black, his legs gave way, and he collapsed straight to the ground, completely losing the ability to fight.

This scene caused everyone's hearts to sink to the bottom.

Sasori of the Red Sand's poison was far more terrifying than Deidara's explosions.

With explosions, as long as one could endure, there was a chance to catch one's breath.

But with this poison, being grazed even slightly meant being out.

"The scales of battle have already tilted."

The voice of Sasori of the Red Sand carried no emotion, as if stating a settled fact.

He seemed to think that using just Hiruko was not enough to satisfy him, or perhaps he wanted to completely destroy the resistance of these youths.

He took a scroll from behind Hiruko and unfolded it with one hand.

"Puppet Technique: Sinister Summoning!"

Bang!

A puff of white smoke dissipated, and several puppets of various forms, exuding an ominous aura, appeared around Sasori of the Red Sand.

Some of these puppets were modified from the corpses of Ninjas who had possessed special abilities during their lifetime, while others were killing machines meticulously crafted by Sasori of the Red Sand.

One puppet had six arms, each holding a different sharp blade. Another was bloated, with the sound of gears turning coming from its abdomen from time to time, seemingly hiding some kind of firing mechanism. There was also one that maintained the form of a human female, but its limbs had been transformed into sharp blades.

As soon as they appeared, they dispersed, completely surrounding the remaining members of the new generation team from all sides.

The team's pride—their coordinated tactics—were completely dismantled in the face of Sasori of the Red Sand's three-dimensional attack mode, which was omnidirectional, blind-spot-free, and combined point-and-area attacks.

They fell into a desperate situation of fighting alone.

Everyone had to face the siege of one or even several puppets alone, while also constantly guarding against the lethal poison needles that the main body of Sasori of the Red Sand might launch from any angle.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A Uchiha member spat out a fireball, attempting to force back the six-armed puppet in front of him.

But the puppet simply used two of its arms to cross and protect its front, forcibly withstanding the impact of the fireball. The other four arms emerged from the flames like ghosts, with four blades aiming straight for his vital points.

On the other side, the Uzumaki clan Water Style Ninja was closed in on by the female-form puppet.

He kept lashing out with water whips, trying to create distance, but the opponent's movements were exceptionally agile; the blades on its limbs slashed continuously like a storm, forcing him to retreat step by step, without even the time to form hand seals.

An unprecedented sense of powerlessness enveloped Uchiha Isamu.

Looking at the two teammates who had already fallen, looking at the puppet army closing in step by step, looking at Deidara in the sky with a gloating expression, and at Sasori of the Red Sand, who was controlling everything like a Shinigami.

He knew that the battle was already meaningless.

Theory, tactics, coordination... in the face of an absolute, incomprehensible gap in strength, all lost their meaning.

They deeply realized the cruel reality spoken of by Chief of Staff Qi.

The mock battles at the Ninja Academy and those meticulously designed training missions were simply child's play compared to this real life-and-death struggle before them.

If they continued to fight, there was only one outcome: total annihilation.

Retreat.

Must retreat.

A flash of determination and pain crossed Uchiha Isamu's eyes.

As captain, issuing the order to retreat was undoubtedly an admission of his own incompetence and failure. For someone who had always been seen as a role model of the new generation, this was a huge humiliation.

But as captain, a more important duty was to bring his team members back alive.

"Come back alive. This is the highest, and only, indicator of this mission."

Chief of Staff Qi's calm words rang in his ears once again.

He finally understood the weight of these words.

This was not a simple order, but a choice. A lesson that between glory and life, one must make the right choice.

The future of the Land of Whirlpools did not need heroes who sacrificed themselves in vain; it needed warriors who could learn from failure, grow constantly, and eventually shoulder heavy responsibilities.

Without any more hesitation, his trembling hand reached into his bosom for the black metal cube that Qi had personally handed to him, which was regarded as their last hope.

This was a humiliation, but it was the only, correct choice.