r18novel Chapter 39 Scorpion of the Red Sand
Chapter 39 Scorpion of the Red Sand
The person approaching was moving extremely fast, and the distance between them was gradually decreasing.
"That person's chakra level is more than double that of an ordinary Jonin; he's a master."
While running, Ayako Hinata continuously relayed information about the other party to the two of them.
"Stop!"
Mo Jingxian gave up on continuing her escape.
"The enemy has their eyes on us; there's no escape."
The unfamiliar ninja had a clear objective, relentlessly targeting several people, and their hostility was quite obvious.
With no hope of escape, the three decided to take a gamble.
After a brief discussion of tactics, the newcomer came into view.
He was fifteen or sixteen years old, with red hair, and dressed in the standard Sand Village uniform.
He wasn't wearing a Sand Ninja headband, and he was accompanied by two puppets.
His Body Flicker Technique is highly proficient, so his taijutsu must be quite good as well. In addition, his chakra reserves are higher than those of a typical Jonin, making him a very troublesome opponent.
Based on the information revealed by the enemy, their strength should be at the level of an elite Jonin.
"Red Sand Scorpion!"
Mo Jingxian exclaimed in surprise, having already recognized the identity of the person who had appeared.
The battle between the Sand Village and Konoha has been raging for over three months, so Sasori's appearance here is not surprising.
Judging from Scorpion's appearance, he has clearly not yet transformed himself into a puppet, and his puppetry skills have not yet reached their peak.
This is the only good news.
"Who is Sasori of the Red Sand? Do you know him?"
There was no time to explain. Scorpion had already arrived near the group and was controlling a puppet to spit out dozens of senbon needles to shoot at them.
"Be careful, this guy is a master."
Before he finished speaking, Immortal Mo Jing had already vanished from the spot.
The moment the two met, without any unnecessary words, Scorpion immediately went into hunting mode.
Sasori's parents died at the hands of Konoha's White Fang during World War II.
There is absolutely no possibility of reconciliation between the two sides; Sasori's hatred for Konoha is etched into his very bones.
Mo Jingxian knew about this past, so she understood that this encounter had become a fight to the death.
He mobilized the wind element within his body, transforming into a gentle breeze, and swiftly attacked the scorpion's true form.
"Clang! Clang!"
A puppet blocked the only way, its twin swords flashing afterimages as it exchanged two blows with Mo Jingxian in an instant.
A shout came from behind, and a Death Sandworm puppet suddenly burst out from underground, pushing through the sand to appear in front of Hinata Ayako and her companion.
Within its enormous mouth, rows of steel teeth gleamed with sharp edge, and its claws resembled silver hooks, exuding a ferocious aura.
Riding on its invincible momentum, it pounced down.
"Get out of the way!"
Mo Jingxian shouted loudly.
In the instant he was distracted, the dual-sword puppet sprouted two arms from its ribs.
"Pfft pfft pfft!"
A large number of needles were spat out from his palm, their tips gleaming with a ghostly blue light.
With twin blades blocking his retreat and a thousand poisonous sticks reaping his life, Mo Jingxian was instantly trapped in a deadly predicament.
Upon his first appearance, Sasori of the Red Sand displayed formidable puppetry skills, setting him apart from ordinary puppeteers.
He single-handedly suppressed the three-man team, and judging from the situation on the field, victory was only a matter of time.
Behind Sasori of the Red Sand, in an unnoticed place.
One patch of sand stood out slightly from its surroundings, as if it were shrouded in a layer of misty water vapor.
A figure gradually emerged, none other than Mo Jingxian, who had achieved a brief invisibility effect by using the principle of refraction.
Sasori controlled two puppets; one was chasing after Ayako and Hinata, while the other had already pierced their bodies with poison needles.
It's now!
The moment Scorpion saw victory, a silent Vacuum Slash slashed towards his neck.
When?
By the time Scorpion realized the ambush, it was too late.
The sharp edge of the vacuum blade slashed down fiercely.
"puff!"
Like a hot knife cutting into butter, the hand wrapped in wind blades smoothly severed the opponent's head.
The head flew several meters into the air and tumbled repeatedly.
You can even see the look of terror still on his face.
Despite succeeding in her attack, Mo Jingxian showed no joy.
The next moment, he suddenly turned around!
The vacuum blade detached from the palm and shot out like a flying knife.
The vacuum blade was blocked by the sand lizard puppet that remained to guard the scorpion, and the real scorpion slowly emerged from behind it.
The figure with its head severed was merely a sand clone.
Attack, sneak attack, counter-sneak attack – all unfolded in just a few seconds.
This is a battle between ninjas.
Hinata Ayako and Ishikawa Shinki came to Mo Jingxian's side and stood guard on either side.
Sasori's gaze swept over the three of them.
A glint flashed in his eyes when he saw Ayako Hinata's Byakugan.
Pure appreciation, like a child seeing an interesting toy.
"You two be careful in a bit. The Third Kazekage died at his hands."
He could tell that Sasori had his eye on Hyuga Ayako and wouldn't let her leave easily.
When Mo Jingxian uttered the words "Third Generation Wind Shadow," Scorpion was clearly stunned for a moment.
Scorpion carried out the assassination of Kazekage very cleanly.
He was quite certain that there was no one else present at the time except himself.
Mo Jingxian leaped forward, seizing the opportunity to launch a close-range attack.
Ayako Hyuga and the other girl reacted a little slowly, mainly because this secret was too horrifying.
When she came to her senses, Mo Jingxian was already locked in battle with the Crimson Sand Scorpion.
The two immediately joined the battle, holding back one of Scorpion's puppets and distracting him.
"Pfft pfft pfft..."
Scorpion unsealed seven puppets in succession, bringing the total to ten when he had them.
Sasori of the Red Sand is serious!
Scorpion was already very strong in physical combat, but his puppetry skills overshadowed his abilities.
Once you face him, it's like being kicked around by ten people.
Mo Jingxian was in a very awkward situation, as attacks came from all directions, sealing off all her room to maneuver.
Eight water dragons extended from his back, winding and twisting, as if they had eight extra living arms.
He hadn't used this technique in a long time, but it was perfect for dealing with the siege right now.
Nine puppets were blocked in the outer circle, and his several close-range attacks on Scorpion failed.
The battle has reached a stalemate.
As the fight progressed, Mo Jingxian began to analyze her opponent's intelligence.
He didn't use any ninjutsu; all his skills were focused on puppet control.
The puppet consumes very little chakra, while one's own chakra is consumed excessively.
Sasori of the Red Sands must have realized this too, so he adopted a strategy of attrition.
The only way to turn the tide is through close-quarters combat.
Scorpion is very skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and it is difficult to achieve any effect even in close combat for a short period of time. Once they fall into the enemy's combat rhythm, the fate of the three of them is predictable.
Sasori truly lives up to his S-rank rogue ninja reputation; his insight is exceptionally sharp.
After suffering a minor loss once, he never gave the three of them another chance.
Like a seasoned hunter, he gradually trapped his opponent under the siege of the puppets.
suddenly!
Something unexpected happened.
Ayako Hyuga risked injury to sever the chakra threads of the puppet in front of her.
This was because Scorpion had focused most of his attention on Mo Jingxian, which allowed her to seize the opportunity.
A puppet with severed chakra threads is no different from an inanimate object.
The three worked together seamlessly, and Ishikawa Araki immediately stood guard in front of Ayako.
At the same time, he shot out a kunai, heading straight for the scorpion's body.
As the fuse of the detonation tag was about to burn out, Hinata Ayako sealed the puppet into a storage scroll.
All the movements were completed in an instant.
Mo Jingxian seized the opportunity and shouted, "Explode!"
Eight water dragons exploded behind him, covering a distance of twenty meters.
A snowy realm appeared in the desert, freezing all nine puppets in place.
Mo Jingxian's mastery of wind element was upgraded to intermediate level, causing the temperature of her ice escape technique to drop even further, breaking through the zero-hundred-degree mark.
Shinki Ishikawa's kunai flew to the vicinity of Sasori.
"boom!"
Such an obvious attack couldn't hurt Scorpion, but it did disrupt his attack rhythm.
Mo Jingxian seized the opportunity and rushed to his side in one breath.
The puppet was sealed in ice magic; normally, it would take some time to break free.
But in battle, every second determines life or death.
Mo Jingxian's palm strike was as sharp as a blade, and Scorpion decisively abandoned the puppets.
As a skilled puppeteer, one must never allow an opponent to get close, no matter the circumstances.
Scorpion immediately retreated, while simultaneously reaching for a scroll hidden behind his back with his right hand.
He kept a close eye on his opponent's movement path, determined not to give them another chance to get close.
When Mo Jingxian met the emotionless eyes of the Crimson Sand Scorpion.
"Illusion Technique: Magical Shackles!"
Scorpion's vision changed; the howling wind, the frozen puppet, and the rushing opponent all disappeared.
He was pinned to the frame by a giant wedge, making it difficult to even move a finger.
He immediately realized that he had been under an illusion.
Sasori had seen a description of this technique in the village records; it originated from the powerful genjutsu of the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan.
A fatal intelligence loophole plunged him into a huge crisis.
Sasori was very decisive; the moment he was caught in the genjutsu, he immediately detonated the chakra within his body.
He risked serious injury to regain consciousness, just to save that one second.
The vacuum slash was already imminent.
He twisted his body with all his might, risking further injury, to unleash his strongest puppet.
The Third Kazekage!
Mo Jingxian's Vacuum Blade Hand Chop sliced through the Crimson Sand Scorpion's puppet armor, leaving a hole in its chest.
Unfortunately, at the last moment, Scorpion avoided his vital points, and he failed to kill his enemy with a single blow.
Scorpion survived at the cost of severe injuries and successfully summoned the strongest puppet.
Mo Jingxian did not choose to continue the pursuit, but instead rapidly formed hand seals.
"Ice Shield - Ice Dragon Sealing Technique!"
Everything was within his calculations; just as he severely injured the enemy, he left a spell mark inside the enemy's body.
Sasori's teleportation speed is incredibly fast, far surpassing that of over 90% of Jonin.
As his feet touched the sand, a giant mouth suddenly shot out from beneath his feet.
The ice dragon swallowed the scorpion and the puppet, and continued to rise from the ground until it finally stopped at a height of ten meters above the ground.
The dark sealing runes moved within the ice dragon, gradually approaching him.
Mo Jingxian channeled a large amount of chakra into her at once, determined to leave no future trouble.
Ayako Hyuga and Araki Ishikawa were busy sealing the nine puppets left behind by Sasori, a task the team had learned from numerous encounters with enemy Sand Ninja.
Once a puppeteer loses his puppet, he is like a toothless tiger, and his danger level drops drastically.
"Get out of here! I can't hold on much longer!"
Mo Jingxian screamed in terror, veins bulging on her neck.
"Click click click!"
Cracks spread downwards from the dragon's head, and at an increasingly rapid pace.
Ayako Hyuga and her companion were startled. They glanced at him and resolutely fled towards the Land of Stone.
The sealing runes stopped on an iron shield, unable to break through the final link to form a perfect seal.
Sasori of the Red Sand released the Third Kazekage puppet at the last moment, which inadvertently saved his life.
The puppet was far from the ground, sealed inside a giant block of ice.
Even if the puppet retains the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai, it's to no avail.
It can only release the iron sand stored in its body to defend itself, and the explosion of energy just now also caused Sasori to waste a lot of his chakra.
Neither side expected the battle to become so fierce, almost exhausting their last drop of chakra.
Unfortunately, the ice dragon shattered first.
Mo Jingxian's foundation is too shallow; her talent has not yet been fully transformed into strength.
The moment the sealing technique failed, Mo Jingxian showed no intention of fighting to the death.
He stuffed a handful of military rations into his mouth and took off running...