Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

Zongxian abruptly interrupted Sasori's speech, lightly waving his long sword. Then, a fierce wind arose, not an ordinary gale, but one with the power of a typhoon. Sasori, who was flying under the guidance of the puppet Third Kazekage, was severely affected.

The iron sand that had coalesced to form wings was blown so badly that it was difficult for it to maintain its current shape.

That is,

The Third Kazekage, the human puppet, is finding it difficult to fly!

[Chapter 232. What I value most is your talent]

Leaving doesn't seem to be as easy as it appears!

The raging wind, like the previous Earth Release technique, was beyond Sasori's comprehension. The howling wind changed shape unpredictably, with wind blades, wind swords, wind spears, and wind bullets—all sorts of attacks raining down on Sasori and the puppet Third Kazekage.

Scorpion was only grazed by a wind blade, leaving a visible gash on his leg, which was made of extremely precious and high-quality materials. He was alarmed and knew he could not be hit by such attacks repeatedly, otherwise even as a puppet, he would not be able to withstand them.

Even the wings made of iron sand were being blasted apart by wind guns and bullets.

As mentioned before,

Scorpion has only achieved immortality; he is still a very long way from being immortal. Once his weakness is found, or if he is simply crushed by absolute violence, he will die!

"We can't afford to be distracted and run away; we must concentrate on fighting."

Scorpion felt a little heavy-hearted.

He failed to escape successfully. His flight ability, which he had intended as one of his trump cards, did not work. It turned out that Uchiha Sogen also possessed the ability to fly. He had prepared to guard against the Susanoo's pursuit, but instead of seeing the Susanoo, he witnessed another of Uchiha Sogen's abilities!

However, the preparations made did come in handy, and the effort was not in vain.

[Magnetic Escape·Sand Iron Wall]

Iron sand rapidly gathered in the air against the fierce wind, forming a thick iron sand wall. Under Sasori's control, the third Kazekage, a human puppet, spat out even more iron sand, continuously adding it to the iron sand wall to strengthen its defenses and buy Sasori time to return to the ground.

His ability to fly relies on the puppet Third Kazekage; he cannot fly himself.

The sky was merely a path he used for retreat, not a suitable battlefield.

Like most ninjas, the land is their battlefield, and even fighting at sea is better than fighting in the sky where there is nowhere to stand. Because he has to carry Sasori himself and four other human puppets, the combat power of the puppet Third Kazekage will be greatly reduced. It is not a wise decision to engage in aerial combat with Uchiha Sogen.

Therefore,

He chose to return to the ground.

Only when he has a firm footing can he freely unleash the power of the human puppets.

When Sasori returned to the ground, because the Third Kazekage, the human puppet, had also lowered his flight altitude, it became extremely difficult to replenish the power of the Iron Sand Wall Technique. The moment Sasori landed, the Iron Sand Wall that had blocked the storm in the air exploded and turned into countless iron sands that rained down like a storm.

then,

The puppet Third Kazekage used Magnet Release to summon them back to his side, transforming them into an even thicker and more solid cloud of sand and iron that surrounded him. At the same time, the two puppets used Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall again, and the erected rock and earth wall withstood the storm that turned and attacked from the opposite direction.

Although the rock and earth wall was cut by the wind blades and wind swords, leaving hundreds of scars, and the wind bullets caused large chunks of rock and earth to collapse, it was ultimately unable to penetrate the rock and earth wall in one go.

"That was a quick reaction."

Having failed to achieve anything in two consecutive attempts, Zongxian looked down at the scorpion below and weighed the long sword in his hand.

As the saying goes, things shouldn't happen more than three times.

This third attempt cannot end in failure.

He lightly stomped his foot, and the black eagle beneath him immediately swooped down, rapidly closing the distance between the two. Zong Xian raised the long sword in his hand, and specks of crimson flames floated up from his palm, the crimson flames swirling around the blade.

Scorpion saw Zongxian charging towards him again, but this genius puppeteer was also extremely courageous. He nimbly took out a new scroll and was not shaken at all by Zongxian's rapid approach. He calmly summoned five more human puppets dressed in dark red robes.

Thus, the number of puppets under Scorpion's control became ten again.

Of the five newly summoned puppets, three are Cloud Ninja and two are Rock Ninja. Interestingly, three of these puppets are skilled in Water Release techniques, and two are skilled in Wind Release techniques, rather than Lightning Release and Earth Release, which are the Cloud and Rock Ninja's most proficient techniques.

These five human puppets are also of the highest standard among Sasori's works.

Water Release: Water Chaos

Water Release: Water Chaos

[Water Escape·Water Formation Wall]

Under Sasori's control, the new puppets finally responded to the attacking Zongxian. Three puppets skilled in water-style techniques hastily stepped forward and used two different water-style techniques, one for defense and the other two for offense. Although Water Chaos Wave is a C-rank water-style technique used to build a foundation, its power is not fixed and varies depending on the user's skill.

As for the Water Wall, it goes without saying that it is a defensive ninjutsu similar in nature to the Earth Wall.

Even after achieving this, Sasori was still not satisfied. The destructive power of Sogen's two previous attacks was so strong that he could not relax. He used the two human puppets who were skilled in earth-escape techniques again, and the layers of armor were incredibly thick.

The moment the rock and earth wall rose,

Zongxian had already attacked.

"Show me your skills! My long-unused technique, Uchiha Style: Great Fire Sword!"

Zongxian looked at the two waves of water shooting towards him and swung down his blade, which had been charged for less than ten seconds. In that instant, the water waves were completely evaporated. Not only were the two offensive ninjutsu water waves evaporated, but the water array wall was also evaporated by the high temperature released from the blade in that instant. And that wasn't the end of it!

Before Sogen awakened his Mangekyou Sharingan, he relied on his talent for "Magic Release (Flame)" and combined it with the Uchiha clan's Fire Release techniques and swordsmanship to develop his ultimate killing move, the Great Fire Sword. Its destructive power once terrified the Mist Ninja and successfully earned Sogen the nickname "Flame Demon".

now,

Zongxian mastered the Bashō Fan and gained an extremely deep understanding and research into the five nature transformations of chakra. The Wind Release and Earth Release techniques he used before were the results of his research. He completely abandoned hand seals, blurred the boundaries of form transformations, and was no longer bound by the fixed forms. He mastered the essence of nature transformations, which is why he was able to use such powerful Wind Release and Earth Release techniques.

And it is Zongxian's strongest fire jutsu.

To be honest, Zongxian had already researched and developed it to an extremely high level. After obtaining the Banana Fan, his fire jutsu reached an even higher level, and the destructive power of the Great Fire Sword was even greater than before. However, he had not yet found an opportunity to test its exact power.

after all,

His improvements to the Great Fire Sword were completed after the war with the Cloud Ninja.

After instantly evaporating the water-escape techniques released by the puppets, the scorching fire surged forward rapidly, scorching the ground beneath their feet until it cracked and shattered. The upright earthen walls were also instantly destroyed by the fire, and the puppets that used earth-escape techniques, unable to dodge in time, were engulfed by the fire in the next second, burned to ashes.

Chakra threads missed.

The scorpion was taken aback.

How can he be so strong?

The destructive power of this move is simply too overwhelming and unreasonable! His layers of defense are like paper windows in the face of Uchiha Munen's attack. He doesn't even have time to think and can only desperately activate the puppet Third Kazekage. At this moment, he can only hope that the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand Technique is reliable!

[Magnetic Escape·Sand Iron Wall]

The jet-black iron sand re-aggregated and underwent high-density compression, maximizing the defensive capabilities of the iron sand wall.

The next second, the scorching fire that had engulfed Sasori's nine puppets crashed into the iron sand wall. The astonishing heat was conducted through the iron sand wall, and even Sasori in his puppet form could clearly feel the heat. His body was not completely puppetized. Although the human puppet retained its chakra meridians, it could not generate chakra on its own.

Sasori has a 'core' on his chest, which is the last part of his 'living' flesh and blood left in the world, and the source of his chakra.

Therefore,

At that moment, his remaining flesh and blood felt a burning sensation he had never experienced before.

This can't go on!

Thinking and acting simultaneously, he raised his right hand, from which a specially made black jet nozzle extended. A soft "click" came from behind him, and the scroll on his back was in place. Without needing to form hand seals, he simply turned the jet nozzle in his palm, and a torrent of water gushed out, splashing onto the already scorched red sand iron wall.

The hissing noise echoed across the fields.

A thick cloud of white steam rose into the sky like smoke from a wolf's beacon.

The iron sand wall reached its limit in less than two seconds after being scorched by the blazing fire. Then, a splash of cold water from behind caused the iron sand wall to collapse instantly due to the clash between hot and cold. The fire and water then clashed head-on.

As for the outcome of the confrontation—

"Bastard!"

Scorpion cursed loudly.

Scorpion, lying on the ground, had lost the right half of his body and half of his face. If it weren't for the fact that he had transformed himself into a puppet, and if it weren't for the fact that he desperately turned his body to preserve the 'regeneration core,' he would probably have already crossed the gates of hell and gone to rest in the underworld.

"Still has the energy to curse? Looks like the puppet's body really has a lot of advantages!"

Zongxian used the Instantaneous Movement Technique to arrive next to Sasori, looking down at the genius puppeteer who maintained the appearance of a young boy.

Seeing Zongxian approach, a ruthless glint flashed in Sasori's eyes. He suddenly opened his mouth and spat out dozens of poisoned, hair-thin steel needles, shooting straight towards Zongxian's face. At the same time, his intact left hand twitched, trying to continue controlling the puppet Third Kazekage, who had not been hit by the attack of the Great Fire Sword.

This tenacious spirit of fighting to the very end, even if it meant having only one breath left, truly impressed Zongxian!

but--

These little tricks won't work!

"call!"

The poisoned steel needles that flew towards him were blown away and deflected by Zongxian's open mouth. The fierce wind blew them all away and prevented them from getting close to Zongxian. As for the small movements of his left hand, they could not escape the observation of the Sharingan. The long sword in his hand was wrapped with wind blades and stabbed down towards Sasori's left wrist, directly dislocating Sasori's left hand.

The channels for chakra circulation were severed.

The third Kazekage, the human puppet who had just taken flight, collapsed to the ground with a thud.

however,

Scorpion has no intention of giving up yet.

He doesn't necessarily need to use his hands to manipulate the puppets. His [Red Secret Technique: Hundred Puppet Manipulation], which is still under development, requires two hands to manipulate one hundred puppets at the same time, and Sasori doesn't want to add eight more hands to his body. Therefore, he has developed a technique to use regeneration cores to emit chakra threads to manipulate the puppets.

Once he has gathered one hundred human puppets, his 'Crimson Secret Technique: Hundred Machine Manipulation' will be complete.

Unfortunately, he didn't have a hundred puppets at all. Of the ten puppets he summoned, apart from the human puppet Third Kazekage, the other nine human puppets were burned to ashes by the Great Fire Sword. As for the puppet in the scroll, the right half of its body was burned away, and most of the scroll was destroyed. The remaining scroll was now too powerful to open.

"That's really tough."

The Sharingan clearly saw the chakra thread that shot out from Sasori's left chest. Sasori's tenacity in never giving up was admirable, but Sogen didn't intend to give Sasori any more time to perform. He looked into Sasori's eyes and projected his eye power into them in a brutal and ruthless manner.

Although the rest of Scorpion's body, except for the flesh on his chest, had been transformed into a puppet state.

But that's where the brilliance of puppetry lies.

Not only were the chakra pathways preserved, but the body organs, including the eyes and ears, were also able to function, and were not merely decorative. This is precisely why Sogen's eye techniques did not become ineffective in front of Sasori.

【Magic - The Art of Shackles】

This is one of Zongxian's favorite illusion techniques.

It can not only restrict the enemy's mobility, but also communicate with the target in the realm of mind and consciousness.

"Uchiha Munen, what do you want to do?"

Trapped in the illusion, Sasori's spirit body, unlike in reality, appeared to have all four limbs intact, but was completely immobilized by huge metal wedges embedded in his body. He could only stare wide-eyed at Uchiha Sogen standing in front of him, voicing the deep doubts in his heart.

"Are you planning to arrest me and execute me in public?"