The next day, the circular arena of the grand coliseum gleamed under the sunlight, dust floating slightly in the heat waves.
The ground destroyed by Setsuna yesterday had been restored to its original state after emergency repairs by Sunagakure's Ninja.
Ninjas and nobles from various countries sat in the spectator stands, whispering, their gazes all focused on the two young Ninja at the center of the arena.
After the two major battles yesterday, they had witnessed the unreasonable strength of these two, a level of power that completely crushed their peers.
"Chiaki Setsuna of Konoha, versus Hiruko of Sunagakure!" The referee's voice, amplified by a Jutsu, echoed throughout the venue, "The final match of the Chunin Exams, begin now!"
Sasori stood at one end of the arena, his tone calm as he asked: "Do you know what art is?"
Setsuna answered without hesitation: "Of course it's beam struggles."
"Eh?" Sasori was momentarily bewildered, 'What was a beam struggle?'
"It seems you don't understand this romance between men." Setsuna sighed. If he were the only one using energy blasts, it certainly couldn't be called a beam struggle.
"Art is eternity, preserving beautiful moments forever." Sasori steered the derailed conversation back on track. "To commemorate today's battle, I will freeze you in this moment forever."
Sasori took out a scroll and then tapped his chest: "Red Secret Technique: Hundred Puppets Operation!"
The next moment, over a hundred puppets surged forth from the scroll in Sasori's hand, covering half the sky like a swarm of locusts.
Each puppet held a different weapon: poisoned senbon, sharp sickles, chains burning with flames.
'He's already transformed himself into a human puppet, hasn't he?' There was no shock in Setsuna's eyes, only a sigh.
Puppet masters manipulate puppets using Chakra Threads emitted from their fingers. Normally, manipulating ten puppets simultaneously is the limit for a puppet master.
But Sasori was different. He transformed his heart into a 'Core', manipulating puppets through the Chakra Threads emitted by the 'Core', completely free from numerical limitations.
Setsuna was very calm, but the Ninjas present were all so shocked they stood up.
"Wasn't the limit for puppet masters manipulating ten puppets simultaneously? He has far surpassed that limit."
"How did he do it? Can his toes also manipulate Chakra Threads? But that would only be twenty puppets."
"Genius, he is a true genius."
Even Onoki, who had been watching calmly, had killing intent surfacing in his eyes.
After all, no matter how strong Chiaki Setsuna was, that was his own affair.
But if Hiruko improved Sunagakure's puppet techniques, the entire combat strength of Sunagakure would skyrocket.
Chiyo's eyes were full of pride: 'As expected of my grandson. His current strength might have completely surpassed mine already... Wait, doesn't that mean Sasori also has the ability to assassinate Kazekage-sama...'
Thinking of this, the smile on Chiyo's face suddenly froze.
Chiyo tried hard to suppress the unease in her heart: 'It can't be. There's no grudge between Sasori and Kazekage-sama. It definitely couldn't be him.'
Even so, whenever she thought of Sasori's displayed aloofness, the ominous feeling in her heart grew stronger.
"Pity, it's too flashy." Setsuna shook his head again. Manipulating over a hundred puppets simultaneously placed too great a burden on the mind.
This meant that although Sasori could manipulate over a hundred puppets, he was completely unable to control them precisely, and could only use the simplest commands to direct the puppets' attacks.
"Then come and try it." As soon as Sasori finished speaking, the hundred puppets simultaneously pounced towards Setsuna, poison needles shooting down like rain.
Setsuna stood still, not moving, merely closing his eyes lightly, as if enjoying the sensation of a light drizzle.
Clang clang clang clang-
The sound of metal impacts connected into a continuous stream. When the audience could clearly see the situation in the arena again, they all gasped in shock.
Thousands of poison needles lay scattered around Setsuna's feet, yet there wasn't even a scratch on his skin.
"What?" Even though Sasori had already completed the initial transformation of his body and theoretically shouldn't have too many human emotions left, his pupils still contracted upon seeing this scene.
'Was this guy's body forged from steel? These poison needles couldn't even pierce his skin?'
Setsuna opened his eyes and chuckled lightly: "Not bad massage technique. I'll give you a ten out of ten."
Sasori's expression didn't change, his fingers dancing rapidly. The puppet swarm changed formation, dozens of puppets spewing purplish-black poisonous smoke that instantly enveloped the entire center of the arena.
"This is too reckless." On the main platform, Rasa watched with trepidation. If a gust of wind came along, the nobility of the Land of Wind would be wiped out. "Quick, have the esteemed guests cover their noses and mouths!"
But at that moment, the poisonous smoke covering the arena above seemed to be suddenly sucked in by a vortex, all of it being absorbed into Setsuna's body.
"Tastes good. Got any more? I'm a bit hungry." Setsuna licked his dry lips, giving a satisfactory evaluation.
"Is this guy a Tailed Beast wearing human skin?" Chiyo couldn't help but curse.
'To treat poisonous smoke as food? What kind of physique did he have?'
Sasori's breath hitched. He had never encountered such a situation.
His greatest creation, the greatest miracle in the history of puppetry, the Hundred Puppets Operation, actually had no effect on the boy before him.
Sasori gritted his teeth, his fingers dancing even faster.
The puppet swarm changed formation again, this time a combined attack of flames and sharp blades.
Setsuna finally moved. His figure flickered within the puppet swarm, each movement precisely avoiding attacks, his casual punches shattering any puppet that got close.
"Wolf Fang Fist."
Setsuna felt this move created by Yamcha was quite useful in the Naruto World. Anyway, most of his damage overflowed, so he just needed to keep increasing his attack speed.
Setsuna's figure suddenly accelerated, transforming into a black lightning bolt weaving through the puppet swarm.
Like a fierce dragon crossing a river, each of his strikes accurately hit the core joints of the puppets. Over a hundred puppets were disassembled in just a few seconds, puppet remnants scattering all over the ground.
"Warm-up over?" Setsuna patted non-existent dust off his clothes, "Shall we start the real fight now?"
'What a miscalculation. For a Taijutsu specialist with powerful physique, is the number of puppets just a number?' Sasori's eyelids lowered slightly. A powerful Ninja like the Third Kazekage could only run for his life when surrounded by hundreds of puppets, yet it was almost useless against Setsuna.
Seeing this scene, the crowd in the spectator stands was nearly speechless.
When they first saw Hiruko controlling over a hundred puppets simultaneously, they were all shocked by his strength.
But they never expected that such a powerful puppet technique would be mere scrap metal in Setsuna's eyes, not even counting as a warm-up. It was truly somewhat ironic.
Sasori remained silent, as if contemplating a certain decision.
In the stands, Chiyo hurriedly made eye contact with Rasa.
Rasa nodded, took a deep breath, and suddenly stepped forward, shouting loudly: "Fellow villagers, guests, I must announce unfortunate news to you all. Our beloved Kazekage-sama went missing two months ago and has had no news since. It is highly likely he has already been killed."