"Ahhh!"
Amid Raiga's furious roars, the Thunder Dragon clashed violently with a Golden Dragon once again.
This time, however, the Thunder Dragon, directly controlled by Raiga, was far superior in both agility and power compared to its previous iteration.
Sōmi frowned slightly, clearly finding this lightning-style expert a challenging opponent.
At that moment, Sōmi turned his attention to Scorpion's side of the battlefield.
Scorpion's two puppets were locked in a fierce battle against Fuguki Suikazan and Jūzō Biwa.
To Sōmi's surprise, the puppets appeared as if forged from solid steel. Jūzō Biwa's Executioner's Blade struck them repeatedly, but instead of cutting through, it produced a series of metallic clangs.
"This must be the Earth Release: Earth Spear Technique..." Sōmi muttered. After all, Scorpion had previously mentioned using the corpses of several Jōnin from Iwagakure to create these puppets. With the Earth Spear Technique embedded in their design, the puppets were unstoppable, charging forward without fear of death.
This left both Jūzō Biwa and Fuguki Suikazan at a loss.
Jūzō even attempted to use the Hidden Mist Technique to obscure his movements, intending to leverage his expertise in assassination techniques. However, Scorpion easily dispelled the mist with a powerful gust from Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.
After several exchanges with the puppets, Fuguki Suikazan seized an opportunity to strike one from behind with Samehada. He knew that puppet masters controlled their creations using Chakra threads.
Ordinary individuals might struggle to deal with these threads, but Samehada's ability to absorb Chakra made it a natural counter to puppet masters. As long as the threads were severed, the puppets would instantly become useless heaps of scrap metal.
Fuguki Suikazan's strike was indeed successful. After severing the Chakra threads, the puppet before him fell lifelessly to the ground, as if it had suddenly shut down.
But before he could savor his victory, a new threat emerged.
From beneath Fuguki's feet, another puppet—shaped like a massive ant—suddenly burst forth. This Black Ant puppet had devilish red horns, six arms, and a wide-open abdomen that gleamed with a cold metallic sheen. It lunged toward Fuguki, attempting to engulf him within its body.
Reacting swiftly, Fuguki gripped Samehada tightly, his muscles bulging with raw power. Sensing its master's fury, the spines on Samehada bristled like sharp metal thorns. With a mighty swing, Fuguki smashed the Black Ant puppet.
Boom!
The puppet was sent flying several meters away, its body riddled with holes as it crashed to the ground in a cloud of dust.
Regaining his composure, Fuguki planted Samehada into the ground and quickly formed hand seals.
Water Release: Water Shockwave!
Before him, a massive torrent of water spiraled upward like a whirlwind, then cascaded down like a waterfall, surging toward Scorpion with the force of a raging river.
Fortunately, Scorpion had another puppet proficient in Earth Release techniques. His expression remained calm and detached as he manipulated his Chakra threads, which suddenly thickened as he poured more Chakra into the puppet.
Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!
Faced with such a large-scale Water Release ninjutsu, Scorpion made the same decision that Sōmi had previously made.
Boom!
A wide, conical earth wall rose abruptly, shielding both Scorpion and his puppet. The raging torrent battered the wall relentlessly but failed to penetrate, instead flowing harmlessly around its sides.
Upon closer inspection, Scorpion's fingers continued to move subtly.
The seemingly disabled puppet that lay before Fuguki suddenly sprang to life like a dormant viper, baring its sharp fangs.
Fuguki's expression changed drastically. He couldn't comprehend how a puppet with severed Chakra threads could still move.
He quickly sidestepped, abandoning Samehada, which was still embedded in the ground.
Swish!
The puppet's gleaming blade slashed through the air, leaving a sharp arc of light. Although Fuguki narrowly avoided the attack, he was caught off guard by what happened next.
The humanoid puppet emitted a creaking sound as its wooden face split open. The mouth extended upward to its eyes and downward to its neck, revealing a metallic tube inside.
From the tube, a dense, sickly green liquid sprayed out.
Caught off guard, Fuguki's orange hair bristled and formed a dense protective sphere around his body.
"Ahhh!"
A blood-curdling scream escaped Fuguki's lips.
Green smoke rose from his chest as the corrosive liquid hissed and sizzled. The lower half of his protective hair sphere had completely disintegrated, leaving only his upper torso intact.
The exposed flesh beneath the dissolved hair melted like snow under a blazing sun, revealing stark white ribs.
His still-beating organs were faintly visible within, but even these began to take on a pale green hue as the poison spread.
As the earth wall crumbled, Scorpion stepped onto the flowing water, his lips curling into a barely perceptible smirk. It seemed he was impressed by how resilient Fuguki's fat reserves were. Otherwise, the poison would have killed him outright.
"Gah... gah..."
Fuguki's bloodshot eyes were filled with pain as he gasped for breath. Despite the excruciating agony, his extraordinary physique kept him alive.
Raising his hand, he summoned Samehada from several meters away. The sword, as if imbued with life, slithered through the air like a fish, arriving at Fuguki's side.
Grasping Samehada, Fuguki underwent a startling transformation. The sword seemed to liquefy, merging seamlessly with his body.
His head elongated and broadened, his features morphing into those of a humanoid shark.
As Samehada fused with him, the horrific wound on his chest began to emit faint white smoke and healed at an astonishing rate. Within moments, the area was covered by a layer of shimmering blue fish scales.
Touching his healed chest, Fuguki's eyes burned with unrestrained killing intent.
"You brat!" he roared.
Scorpion, with his delicate features and slender frame, looked every bit the part of a refined young man.
Fuguki rapidly formed hand seals, his fingers a blur.
Scorpion, of course, wouldn't give him the chance to complete his technique. Just as he directed his puppets to launch another attack—
Clang!
Jūzō Biwa intervened, blocking the puppet's strike with his Executioner's Blade.
Seeing that Fuguki was preparing to unleash his trump card, Jūzō naturally stepped in to assist.
Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!