Malphegor
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HSU: Ch. 141
🕑 Added 2025-01-16 12:39:15 +0000 UTCRasa was running at full speed.
To be precise, the current Kazekage was leading the charge, followed by a group of jonin.
Among them were not only Suna's ninjas but also jonin from other villages.
Whether they were here to spectate or meddle, Suna had no choice but to let them tag along.
Especially considering the presence of Kitsuchi, and Mei—the precious assets of their respective villages were on-site.
The identity of Sasori was no longer a secret. It wasn't realistic to keep such a thing under wraps for long in front of so many jonin.
Finally, as the group crossed a sand dune, they arrived at the battlefield.
Three towering ice giants stood there, unmistakably identifying the person opposing Sasori.
Upon seeing this, both Kitsuchi and Mei let out a sigh of relief.
They were well aware of Masashi's strength.
With him here, the safety of their villages' prized ninjas was assured.
The Suna ninjas, however, were seeing the infamous Ice Release of the White Ghost—a technique that had already made a name for itself across the shinobi world—for the first time.
Looking at the three giants, a chill ran through their hearts.
If this technique were unleashed on the battlefield, how many lives would it claim?
"So this is the power of the White Ghost…" one Suna jonin murmured, unable to contain his awe.
It wasn't shameful; everyone witnessing Masashi in action for the first time thought the same.
Kitsuchi and Mei, however, remained composed.
Particularly Kitsuchi.
After all, Konoha's last war had been against Iwa, and back then, Masashi hadn't even used this technique to decimate an entire Iwa division.
Now that was terrifying.
He thought for a moment. If his father hadn't been present during that battle and Masashi had unleashed this technique to charge the main forces of Iwa...
Well, that would have been a headache.
Even now, he figured he could only stall one of those ice giants at best.
"Is that Sasori?" someone suddenly asked.
Everyone present was a jonin, their eyes sharp. Even if their eyesight wasn't sufficient, there were always jutsu to compensate.
With Hiruko destroyed, Sasori's true form was revealed, allowing them to see him clearly.
They were all shocked that the creator of the infamous human puppet technique—feared across the shinobi world—was such a strikingly handsome young man.
Truly, appearances could be deceiving. It seemed that these days, villains rarely looked the part.
Sasori was especially egregious in this regard. Not only did he not look like a villain, but with his looks, he could easily win hearts.
"Kazekage-sama, should we intervene?" a Suna jonin beside Rasa whispered hesitantly.
The group of ninjas from other villages had started discussing Sasori's appearance as if it were a casual gathering, which irritated him.
You were all panicking like mad dogs just a moment ago, worrying about your precious comrades going missing. And now you're so relaxed?
"Since the White Ghost is already taking action, let's observe the situation for now," Rasa replied. "Give the order to surround the area. Do not let Sasori escape."
"Understood, Kazekage-sama." The Suna jonin nodded and left to organize the encirclement.
Watching him leave, Rasa resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
Idiot! Can't you see how relaxed these outsiders are now?
Sometimes, playing dumb wasn't a bad idea.
"Kazekage-sama!" Suddenly, another Suna jonin shouted.
"What now?" Rasa turned his head, displeased with his subordinates' lack of composure compared to the outsiders.
Then he saw the expressions on his own jonin's faces—they looked as if they'd seen a ghost. Realizing something was amiss, he turned his gaze back to the battlefield.
What he saw almost made his eyes pop out of their sockets.
---
In the battlefield, Sasori, who had summoned the Third Kazekage puppet, wasn't in a great mood either.
This puppet was originally reserved for Rasa.
Now, he was forced to reveal it prematurely.
Of course, he noticed the Suna ninjas and other village ninjas who had arrived.
But he didn't care.
The so-called encirclement was laughable. Ever since he had transformed himself into a puppet, Sasori could use Reverse Summoning to escape as an object at any time.
The only reason he hadn't left yet was that he wanted the child and was also eager to test Masashi's Ice Release techniques.
With the sound of grinding, the Third Kazekage puppet leaned forward, as if shielding him.
Chakra threads firmly controlled the puppet while activating its bloodline traits. It began molding chakra to unleash the Magnetic Release: Iron Sand.
Unlike his original-timeline counterpart, who had fought in a confined space, this Third Kazekage puppet was now fighting in an open environment, allowing it to fully demonstrate the power of this jutsu.
Under the influence of the Third Kazekage's unique chakra, black iron sand rose from the desert.
Masashi watched intently.
After the Five Great Shinobi Villages entered the Second Hokage era, each of the second-generation Kage—aside from Tobirama, who specialized in sharing jutsu—had their unique contributions to jutsu development.
The Magnetic Release of Suna was one of the most remarkable new jutsu of the post-Hashirama era.
Combining offensive, defensive, and sealing capabilities, its overall utility surpassed even Iwa's Dust Release and Kumo's Lightning Chakra Mode.
It was also one of the foreign jutsu Masashi most wanted to obtain.
Whether it involved iron sand or gold dust was irrelevant—they were merely applications of the same core Magnetic Release ability.
Ahead, Sasori and the Third Kazekage puppet were engulfed by a massive wave of black iron sand.
The scale of this attack wasn't as vast as Gaara's future Sand Tsunami, but it was far from the minor skirmishes of the original timeline.
Unlike the Sand Tsunami, which relied on crushing and grinding to cause damage, the Iron Sand was composed of countless tiny iron sand bullets.
Its method of destruction was far more direct.
The next moment, countless iron sand bullets were fired from the black wave.
The densely packed projectiles blotted out the sky, accompanied by sharp whistling sounds.
On the outskirts of the battlefield, both the Suna ninjas setting up the encirclement and the observing ninjas from other villages were awestruck by the spectacular sight.
Even those who had never seen the Third Kazekage in action now understood why he was once hailed as the strongest Kazekage due to his Iron Sand techniques.
"Truly remarkable," Masashi remarked as he watched the iron sand bullets cascade down like a storm.
Under his control, the three ice giants raised their massive shields.
Thick layers of ice armor quickly enveloped their bodies.
The preparation was just in time. The iron sand bullets rained down like a torrential downpour.
It was like sitting inside a house when a sudden, violent rainstorm erupted outside.
Even within the protective layers of the giants, Masashi could feel the intense vibrations transmitted from the impact.
To those outside, the three giants had been swallowed by the black cloud of iron sand, leaving no trace of their white forms.
The iron sand that fell into the desert stirred up a storm of sand, gradually staining it black.
Eventually, everything seemed connected by the iron sand cloud, making it impossible to discern the sky from the ground. The tremors beneath their feet never ceased.
Suddenly, three brilliant flashes of light pierced through the abyss-like black cloud.
---
The iron sand scattered.
The three lights flashed for just an instant, and then an unimaginably massive, blazing sword of flame slashed through the seemingly bottomless darkness. Sunlight poured down onto the earth once more.
What appeared before everyone was a fearsome humanoid chakra construct.
It towered even higher than the previous ice giants. It had wings on its back, a massive shield on its left hand, from which extended a segmented whip. In its right hand, it held that terrifyingly large flaming sword.
The sight of this enormous creation left everyone in stunned silence.
This was nothing like the ice giant they had seen earlier. Its construction was intricate, its terrifying design exuding raw power. At its feet lay shattered blocks of ice, melting rapidly under the intense heat radiating from the flaming sword—it was far too hot.
Inside a crystal-like structure on the giant's forehead stood Masashi, along with Kimimaro and Deidara, the two children.
From their perspective, Sasori and his puppet of the Third Kazekage appeared minuscule, insignificant like grains of sand.
Unfortunately, this wasn't yet the fully perfected version of Susanoo, as it still couldn't use ninjutsu or fly.
But it was already the most powerful form of Susanoo that he could currently wield.
He had also discovered something interesting—Susanoo's appearance could be customized according to the user's preferences. As long as the structure was envisioned beforehand, there was no need for unnecessary transformations during use.
As expected of the most potent ocular technique, the Eye of Reflection.
This also meant Masashi could save a considerable amount of chakra.
The two children were very curious about their current state.
In fact, when they were first drawn inside, they nearly started fighting—mainly because Kimimaro suspected Deidara of being a traitor. After all, how could anyone chat so enthusiastically with Sasori and not be on his side?
Fortunately, with Masashi acting as the adult mediator, a fight was avoided. Unable to bicker further, the two quickly reconciled.
Then, just like children on Earth, they discovered the charm of a giant mecha.
The chakra construct was undeniably captivating and fit perfectly with the current level of Masashi's Susanoo.
The giant resembled his previous Prometheus, but with sleek, angular armor reminiscent of Iron Man, a glowing core at its chest, and massive wings that looked like molten iron brought to life.
Sasori looked at the giant before him, finding it troublesome.
As a craftsman, he lived by a simple principle—shoddy work equaled poor performance, and the reverse was equally true. This chakra construct was no exception.
Despite being made of a single material, its design was unnecessarily complex. Did it even have an internal skeleton?
Sasori decided to retract his earlier evaluation—the White Ghost wasn't someone who just stacked powerful secret techniques on junk.
"Is this your art?" he asked, tilting his head upward.
Whether or not the White Ghost could hear him was unclear, but as fellow artists, he doubted Masashi would neglect such a basic functionality for communication.
"That's right. This is my unique secret technique—Iron Prometheus," Masashi said with a grin, his explanation bordering on nonsense. "Its power? You'll see soon enough."
Historically, most Uchiha used Susanoo in a similar fashion. But he had decided to break that tradition starting today.
If mechs could operate like this, so could he. This was the collective wisdom of fans of human ingenuity.
And Sasori? He was the perfect test subject.
"I'm coming, Sasori."
The Iron Prometheus moved.
The crowd gasped in shock at its agility—it was nothing like the clumsy ice giant they had just seen.
Behind Sasori, the black curtain of iron sand rose again.
It collided with the flaming sword forged from Kagutsuchi.
But the moment the two clashed, the iron curtain was effortlessly sliced apart, the iron sand raining down like black raindrops.
With a few quick swipes, the Iron Prometheus cleared away the iron sand that attempted to bind it. Even the occasional iron sand attack that landed on its body was blocked by the protective layer of Armament Form.
"Mmy art surpasses yours," Masashi declared smugly. "It's time to switch puppets."
Using Susanoo was truly exhilarating—aside from the chakra drain, it had no real weaknesses.
Still, using it to fight small fry felt like overkill.
The Iron Prometheus raised its left hand, and its segmented whip began glowing red.
The combination of Scorch Release and Susanoo had turned out even better than Masashi had expected.
Fully charged, the chakra whip, infused with intense heat, lashed toward Sasori's location.
The desert's terrain, while durable, was no match for the attack.
The whip tore through sand dunes, shattering them into crystalline fragments from the heat, sending sand soaring into the air. A reddish haze filled the sky as the landscape was devastated.
The chakra whip obliterated everything in its path.
The observing ninja were silent, watching the terrifying chakra giant wreak pure destruction across the desert.
As for Sasori...
Everyone assumed there would be little left to bury.
Even the Third Kazekage puppet wouldn't make a difference. Everyone knew that a human puppet's ninjutsu couldn't rival the original's. With the Iron Sand proving useless, what else could he possibly pull out?
So far, there was no sign of new iron sand being created.
"Is he dead?" someone whispered.
No one answered. No one could confirm.
After hammering the battlefield for a while, Masashi paused.
Sasori and the Third Kazekage's chakra had not vanished.
From the beginning, Masashi had simply been targeting areas with chakra signatures. It was too tiring to aim visually.
As the Iron Prometheus came to a halt, the sand began to settle, restoring visibility.
What lay before them was a desert riddled with scars, almost no part of it untouched. Directly beneath the giant's attacks, some of the sand had even fused into glass due to the intense heat.
And there was Sasori.
He stood atop a relatively intact sand dune, with two large, conical iron sand constructs floating in the air.
They were aimed at the Iron Prometheus.
"How did he get all the way over there?" Kimimaro asked, confused.
"Sasori turned himself into a human puppet long ago," Masashi explained casually. "His movements aren't limited by normal physical functions. The only limit is the material he's made of."
But no material could compare to pure chakra.
Susanoo was, after all, a cheat-level secret technique.
That said, it was draining his chakra rapidly. He needed to conserve energy—this experiment wasn't over yet.
Masashi formed hand seals.
The Iron Prometheus's flaming sword vanished, and the chakra whip cooled, dispersing its heat.
Then, with a powerful leap, the construct launched into the sky.
Earth Release: Super-Lightened Boulder Jutsu!
Its wings spread, and the Iron Prometheus soared into the air.
