Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 279 Iron Sand Shukaku

Even without the prerequisite of "sensing natural energy," which is something that 99.999% of the ninja world cannot achieve, the creation of a puppet heart is impossible.

The difficulty of etching the Puppet Heart Seal onto the hexagonal cuboid blocks with light, and then assembling them like restoring a white cube, especially since each of the six faces of the cuboid blocks must correspond to each other in a three-dimensional cube, is simply incredible.

If Li Yao's Wind Release clones hadn't possessed a deep understanding of sealing techniques and a powerful chakra perception ability, allowing him to detect whether the connection between the Puppet Heart seals was feasible, it would have been like answering a question with the final answer in hand.

Even if you gave him several years, let alone three hours, he still couldn't create a puppet heart.

Li Yaofeng needs to use cheat codes to create clones.

It's even more difficult for others.

Only someone like Scorpion, who created the Puppet Heart Seal, could guarantee a certain success rate.

In short, there aren't many people in the ninja world who can create a puppet heart. In the entire Sunagakure, it's estimated that only Granny Chiyo has a slight chance of doing so, so its applicability is limited.

However, individual ability is a trump card that can widen the gap in strength.

"Next, we need to keep an eye on whether Jiraiya has learned Sage Mode."

"Orochimaru's subordinate who can absorb natural energy is named Jugo, I think. I wonder if he's been born yet. We could arrange for the Anbu to investigate him."

Soon, Li Yaofeng made a decision: he needed to master the perception of natural energy as soon as possible.

"My lord, I want to go to the battlefield."

Just as Li Yaofeng was about to leave using his clone, Scorpion suddenly spoke.

Looking at the cold glint in the eyes of Sasori's puppet face, Li Yaofeng's clone smiled and instantly understood. He said, "Alright, go to the Land of Rivers. We are preparing to attack the Land of Fire, and Konoha should send Konoha's White Fang over."

That's fine. Once the Lightning Release clone develops a Lightning Release technique comparable to Kekkei Tota, let him test Sasori's current strength.

Li Yaofeng escaped into the body and mind path.

"I'll go in a few days," Scorpion replied.

He needs to install puppet hearts on several important puppets, especially the Third Kazekage's human puppet. He needs to modify its appearance before he can use it.

"Anytime is fine, just come and get my signature then."

Like Konoha, Sunagakure requires its ninjas to sign off on missions, including war.

the next day.

Li Yaofeng created a secret room in his home to study the incantation combinations in the Soul Replication Seal.

Scorpion's current soul state is very special.

It is no longer in human form, but in the form of a spark, somewhat like a robot from Transformers.

The Soul Replication Seal... no, it should be the Soul Replication Array, which reassembled and fused the scorpion's physical body, spirit, and soul into the form of a fire seed.

In a sense, the scorpion is no longer human, including its soul.

However, his thinking is still human thinking.

Li Yaofeng's research into the Soul Replication Array wasn't about exploring Scorpion's soul state; he was researching the array's ability to absorb, recombine, and transform a person's spirit, flesh, and soul.

"If this transformative power could be materialized into a ninjutsu like a black hole space, it would definitely be a powerful offensive ninjutsu!"

This is what Li Yaofeng's clones wanted to research and achieve.

However, it is clear that to study the attack application of the soul replication array, a large number of living people are needed for human experiments.

His current identity as the Kazekage makes it difficult for him to conduct these experiments.

The other clones were too busy to deal with the situation, so only the water-style clone had the time, but that would have to wait until he developed a water-style clone that was no longer viable.

For now, Li Yaofeng should use his clone to study the application of various incantations on the magic array.

three days later.

Scorpion, having equipped his puppets with puppet hearts, set off for the Land of Rivers.

half a month later.

The capital of the land of rivers.

The daimyo residence.

"Boom!"

"Bang... Boom!"

With a series of loud explosions, the Daming Mansion, which covered dozens of acres, was reduced to ruins.

All of this was caused by a fat, black raccoon monster, fifty meters tall, with a tail and limbs as large as a high-speed train carriage. Every swing of its arms left a mark on the ground that shattered everything in its path.

Aside from the different color, this is a Shukaku.

"Quickly, stop this monster!"

"Don't let him near here!"

At a street intersection in the capital, the daimyo of the Land of Rivers watched the terrifying monster raging ahead and quickly ordered the surrounding soldiers and hired ninjas to stop it.

He then ran away with his family, along with the daimyo of the land of rivers.

But where can they run to?

After destroying the Daimyo's mansion, the black Shukaku continued towards the Daimyo's group. Despite its large size, it was also quite fast.

Whoosh... The hired ninjas responsible for blocking the way threw out kunai and shuriken.

Clang, clang... The kunai and shuriken that struck the black Shukaku were like shooting at hard steel, having no effect other than producing a crisp metallic clanging sound.

The black Shukaku continued its advance.

"Fire Release..."

"Water Release..."

Several hired ninjas used ninjutsu attacks, but none of them could stop the black Shukaku from advancing.

The black monster was about to catch up.

The daimyo of the land of rivers is in a panic!

"Damn it, why haven't the Konoha ninjas arrived yet?"

When the Sand Village attacked the Land of Rivers, the Land of Rivers sent a letter to Konoha requesting assistance.

However, compared to the well-prepared Sand Ninja, Konoha needed time to mobilize troops from all sides, so they could only send small teams to harass the Sand Ninja and delay their advance on the Land of Fire.

Based on memories of World War I and World War II, the Sand Ninja would only fight Konoha within the Land of Rivers and would not attack the Daimyo's residence.

Who would have thought that someone from the Sand Village would actually attack the Daimyo's residence this time?

Now, no one in Daimyo Prefecture can stop the Black Shukaku's attack.

"A distress signal has been sent out; Konoha ninjas should arrive soon."

While protecting the daimyo, the general pretended to be calm and said, while constantly ordering the guards around him to block the black Shukaku.

Outside the capital city.

Two Sand Ninja squads stood on the branches of a large tree, gazing at the black Shukaku raging in the distance with expressions of reverence.

"Is that the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand Manipulation?"

"I never thought I would see him again in my lifetime. Lord Sasori is amazing. He has learned the Third Kazekage's adult ninjutsu without me even realizing it."

To conceal the fact that the Third Kazekage was a puppet, Sasori directly created the Third Kazekage into a sphere containing the puppet's heart. He then used the sphere to manipulate iron sand, condensing it into the shape of Shukaku, and used it to perform various sand and iron manipulation ninjutsu.

At this time, the black Shukaku in the capital was formed by Sasori controlling the condensation of iron sand.

His true form is also inside Shukaku, and he controls Shukaku's actions through a pair of eyes formed by the manipulation of the sand.

"Scorpion was once the Third Kazekage's bodyguard, so it's not surprising that he learned to control iron sand, but I didn't expect him to have such a huge amount of chakra."

"It is said that Sasori developed an energy device called Puppet Heart, which can restore chakra by absorbing natural energy from nature, which is why he has a terrifying amount of chakra that is even larger than that of a Kage-level powerhouse."

"It's a pity I don't have the talent of a puppeteer, otherwise, with the help of the Puppet Heart, I might be able to enter the ranks of Kage-level powerhouses."

"It's said that using the Puppet Heart requires the prerequisite of sensing natural energy. What is natural energy? Do you know?"

"Uh... don't look at me, I don't know either."

The six spectators looked at each other, none of them knowing what natural energy was, let alone being able to sense it.

In fact, very few people in the ninja world know about natural energy.

After all, there are very few people who can sense natural energy without the help of the three holy lands; there may only be one or two in the entire ninja world.

Therefore, there are virtually no records of knowledge about natural energy in the ninja world.

Among the five great ninja villages, perhaps only the major clans of Konoha have some understanding of natural energy, followed by the high-ranking members of the Uzumaki clan.

The higher-ups in Sunagakure might know a little, but very little; the lower-ranking ninjas basically had no idea what natural energy was.

After arriving in the Land of Rivers, Sasori did not have the ability to hide his puppet heart and interacted with many Sand Ninja, though he didn't tell them everything.

Anyone who wants the manufacturing technology of the Puppet Heart must follow the rules. Raising enough money to buy it is only the beginning; one must also have sufficient talent as a puppeteer.

Scorpion would not easily teach the puppet heart he had painstakingly developed to others.

(End of this chapter)