"For the sake of fairness, I won't use Iron Sand," said Jinghang, tightening the guards on his forearms.
Iron Sand was practically the nemesis of all puppets. Once it jammed a puppet's critical components, even the most sophisticated puppet would be rendered useless. Honestly, Jinghang couldn't fathom how the Third Kazekage from the manga had been defeated by Sasori. It felt like a chicken somehow managing to take down a weasel.
"For the sake of fairness, I won't use poison," Sasori declared arrogantly.
At this moment, Sasori had just bathed and changed into a fresh set of clothes, looking every bit like an innocent little boy. However, his smug demeanor made him seem particularly punchable.
"Can we start now?" Jinghang asked, suppressing his irritation.
"Wait," Sasori interrupted.
"Hold on, Father. While I won't use poison, for the sake of simulating real combat, I've coated the areas where poison would normally be applied with purple paint. The venom of my Poison Mountain is incredibly potent—even a tiny bit would be lethal. Heh heh…"
Jinghang glanced helplessly at Chiyo, who was observing the match from the sidelines. However, Chiyo looked utterly nonchalant, as if she were admiring the scenery. In truth, there wasn't much to see in the barren training grounds.
"Fine, have it your way. If I get even a scratch, I'll count it as your win," Jinghang said, conceding with a sigh.
This kid sure has a strong competitive streak.
Jinghang carefully examined the puppet before him. The puppet had been painted and adorned, now resembling a fearsome figure. Named Shura Maiden, it wore a golden crown, a yellow robe, and bore a bluish complexion, reminiscent of the wrathful deities depicted in Tibetan Buddhist thangkas.
The puppet's arsenal was impressive: a bow for long-range attacks, a steel trident for mid-range combat, dual swords for close-quarters fighting, and a tail that could attack, defend, or even entangle an opponent. It was truly a tough adversary, like a hedgehog bristling with spikes.
After some thought, Jinghang picked up a steel whip from the weapon rack. Against such a puppet, armor-piercing capability was key.
"Begin!" Chiyo, acting as the referee, gave the signal, and the fated battle officially commenced.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Jinghang didn't launch a direct attack. Instead, he created three shadow clones to probe Sasori's defenses.
The four identical figures charged forward, constantly shifting positions, making it impossible to discern who was the real one.
At the same time, Shura Maiden sprang into action. Its head rotated, revealing a smiling face. Its mouth opened, firing a barrage of poison needles coated with purple paint at the "four Jinghangs."
One clone was struck immediately and dissipated into a puff of white smoke. The remaining three leaped into the air, dodging the attack, and approached from different directions to counterattack.
"Split!" Sasori shouted, and Shura Maiden instantly divided into three separate puppets.
The puppet wielding the bow remained by Sasori's side, firing a rapid succession of arrows. Meanwhile, the sword-wielding and trident-wielding puppets extended a single wheel from their lower halves, allowing them to glide swiftly across the ground to intercept their targets.
"Impressive!"
Chiyo's eyes lit up. As a veteran puppeteer, she could immediately recognize the brilliance of her grandson's design. The puppet could split and merge seamlessly, attack and defend with equal proficiency, and offered a variety of offensive strategies. It was truly a masterpiece of craftsmanship.
Jinghang was equally impressed but had no time to dwell on it. His two shadow clones engaged the two advancing puppets, while his true body used the steel whip to deflect incoming arrows as he charged straight at Sasori.
Seeing Jinghang deflect three arrows in quick succession and rapidly closing the distance, Sasori directed the bow-wielding puppet to counter. The puppet's steel tail lashed out like a striking serpent, aiming straight for Jinghang.
Jinghang swung his whip to intercept the tail, but it twisted and evaded the strike like a living creature. With a sharp turn in midair, the tail continued its trajectory toward Jinghang, its needle-like tip, coated with purple paint, now mere inches from him.
"Rasengan!"
Jinghang executed a cartwheel to evade the steel tail and slammed a powerful Rasengan into its side. The immense rotational force tangled the tail into a twisted mess and even dragged the puppet along with it!
Jinghang, now in an awkward backbend position to maintain his balance, used his steel whip as a support. However, he realized too late that the puppet's angry face was now directly in front of him.
Not good! Why did I pull it closer?!
Before he could react, Shura Maiden's angry face spewed a torrent of flames straight at him.
At such close range—less than a meter—dodging was nearly impossible.
In a split second, Jinghang extended his left hand and grabbed the puppet by its neck. With a powerful twist, he redirected the flames away from his body. While the flames missed him directly, some of the fire oil splattered onto his chest, igniting into a blaze.
Jinghang immediately dropped to the ground and rolled, extinguishing the flames.
"Phew! Phew!"
He patted out the remaining embers on his chest. His armor was now charred black, leaving him looking utterly disheveled.
"Hahaha! Father, you managed to dodge even that? Truly impressive! Hahaha!"
Sasori's arrogant laughter echoed across the training grounds. At some point, the three Shura Maidens had recombined into one, and Jinghang's shadow clones had been completely wiped out.
"Good job, kid!"
Jinghang was now genuinely fired up. You little brat, if you're going to play dirty, don't blame me for fighting fire with fire.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Again with this move? Father, can't you come up with something new?"
As the white smoke cleared, this time, an overwhelming army of shadow clones appeared, their sheer numbers forming a dense crowd.
"Who cares if it's new as long as it works? Attack!"
The massive "Jinghang Army" surged forward like a tidal wave, charging straight at Sasori.
"Quantity means nothing! Split!"
Shura Maiden once again divided into three, forming a small triangular formation in front of Sasori. One puppet spewed flames, another fired poison needles, and the third sprayed acid, all while arrows rained down from the bow-wielding puppet. The trident, dual swords, and steel tail slashed and stabbed relentlessly. The battlefield was filled with the sound of explosions and puffs of smoke as countless shadow clones were destroyed.
"Such dishonorable tactics…" Chiyo muttered under her breath as she watched the chaos unfold.
At first, Sasori was exhilarated by the carnage. However, he soon realized something was wrong. No matter how many clones he destroyed, Jinghang's shadow clones seemed endless, while his own resources—fire oil, acid, and poison needles—were gradually depleting.
"Now you're starting to feel it, huh? Too late!"
Seeing that Sasori's puppets were running out of ammunition, Jinghang leaped high into the air. Using the smoke as cover, he drove his steel whip into Shura Maiden's steel tail, pinning it to the ground. With the puppet immobilized, Jinghang dashed straight for Sasori, unarmed.
Sasori quickly maneuvered the remaining two puppets to block Jinghang's path. The trident-wielding puppet charged first, thrusting its weapon at Jinghang. He sidestepped the attack and grabbed the trident's handle. Just then, Shura Maiden's smiling face fired another poison needle at him.
Well played, kid! You still had a trick up your sleeve!
Jinghang tilted his head and caught the needle in his mouth.
With a sharp tug, he wrenched the trident free and delivered a powerful kick, sending the puppet flying.
"Ptooey!"
Jinghang spat out the needle and, without pausing, hurled the trident like a javelin at the sword-wielding puppet. The puppet crossed its swords to block the attack but was still pushed back several meters by the force.
Those few meters were all Jinghang needed.
In a flash, he appeared in front of Sasori, his fingers forming a blade as he pressed them against Sasori's throat.
Sasori froze, his expression turning despondent. After a long pause, he finally said, "I… lost."
"No, it's a draw. Look closely."
Jinghang tilted his head and spat out a glob of saliva. Sasori stared at it—it was purple.
His eyes lit up with renewed excitement.
"If that had been real poison, I'd only have enough time to take you down with me before succumbing. Well done, Sasori!"
Hearing Jinghang's praise, Sasori scratched his head sheepishly.
"I've been holding my hand out for ages. Aren't we going to reconcile?"
Sasori extended two fingers, and Jinghang met them with his own, forming the seal of reconciliation.
"Marvelous, simply marvelous! It's been so long since I've seen such an exciting match. My dear grandson, you've done wonderfully!"
Chiyo clapped her hands in approval, a look of pride on her face. She knew Jinghang had held back—he hadn't used Iron Sand or activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode. But Sasori was only seven years old, and he had managed to push Jinghang this far. His talent was undeniable.
The art of puppetry has a worthy successor.
"As for puppetry, I'm no expert," Jinghang said. "But I do have some insights from our fight."
"Please, Father, teach me," Sasori replied, bowing respectfully.