Chapter 528: Breaking All Laws with One Force (Two in One)

As the battle was about to begin, the contestants in the lounge all focused their attention on Nagato and Sasori, who stood facing each other in the arena.

Sasori had effortlessly defeated his opponent in the first round of the elimination matches by simultaneously controlling four puppets, making his formidable nature apparent even to mere spectators.

Nagato, on the other hand, was even more unfathomable; from the preliminaries to the first two rounds of the elimination matches, he had dominated, easily defeating both unknown Ninja from minor villages and Konoha elites like Oily Girl Shibi.

Therefore, the battle between Nagato and Sasori garnered significant attention.

“What exactly was that Ninjutsu that ultimately led to Oily Girl Shibi’s defeat?” Kakashi still couldn’t comprehend what method Nagato had used at the time.

Kakashi hoped that Sand Crab still had some hidden techniques he hadn’t revealed, which might force Nagato to use that Ninjutsu again.

Of course, the most ideal outcome for him and Might Guy was for Nagato to lose and Sand Crab to enter the Four Finals.

Because they were quite effective against puppeteers whose main bodies were fragile.

Whether it was Kakashi or Might Guy, both possessed strong bursts of power; as long as the puppeteer showed even a slight opening, the two could directly take out the puppeteer’s main body.

“Nagato, come on!” Yahiko shouted loudly from the spectator stands.

He had lost in the first round of the elimination matches, Konan had lost in the second round of the elimination matches, and now the Shinobi Sect only had Nagato as its sole remaining hope.

Although due to distance and the noisy environment, Nagato hadn’t heard Yahiko’s voice, his excellent eyesight allowed him to see Yahiko standing up and waving, thus successfully receiving Yahiko’s encouragement.

Nagato refocused his gaze on Sasori; this was his first time battling a puppeteer.

However, Nagato wasn’t worried about losing; in the previous match, it was also his first time fighting a Ninja who used insect secret techniques, and he still easily won.

With Muzuki’s guidance, with the Rinnegan, and with the encouragement of his comrades, he would not lose.

“Begin the battle!” Seeing both of them ready, the referee shouted.

Sasori immediately threw out two scrolls; one summoned Hiruko, while the other revealed nine puppets with various appearances.

Facing Nagato, who could freely unleash various high-powered Ninjutsu, Sasori directly brought out all ten puppets he had prepared last night, which was the maximum number of puppets he could currently control.

Setting aside the Third Kazekage’s Human Puppet, Sasori was now in a serious, full-power state.

These ten puppets were specifically selected by Sasori from the hundreds of puppets he had created, based on the existing information he had on Nagato, to counter him.

At this moment, Sasori’s main objective had shifted from the reward to assassinating Kakashi, so he couldn’t risk exposure by using the Third Kazekage’s Human Puppet.

Once the assassination of the Third Kazekage got out, Sunagakure would certainly send Ninja to pursue him, and the Shinobi Sect might also expel him, which would greatly increase the difficulty of his assassination.

After summoning the puppets, Sasori’s ten fingers released Chakra threads, connecting to each of the ten puppets.

“So there are more than four.” Nagato was a little surprised to see ten puppets enter the arena together, but his hand movements for forming hand signs didn’t pause at all.

“Fire Release: Head Hardship!”

A large amount of Fire Release Chakra gathered in Nagato’s throat, forming a scorching fireball that smashed towards the ground in front of Sasori.

The fireball exploded upon impact, transforming into a raging sea of fire; the orange-red flames rapidly spread, as if to engulf everything.

Sasori slightly curled his fingers, and the abdomens of two Human Puppets opened, revealing blue scrolls within their bodies, followed by a large gush of water that extinguished the approaching flames.

He was prepared; it was impossible for Nagato to defeat him using ordinary Ninjutsu.

Sasori’s actions stunned Baki in the stands—no, all of Sunagakure was dumbfounded.

“Ten Puppet Manipulation!” Baki looked at Sasori in disbelief, never expecting that an unknown puppeteer would master the techniques of a top-tier puppeteer.

For a puppeteer, being able to control more puppets in battle meant that the puppeteer’s puppet manipulation technique was stronger.

However, the prerequisite was that the number should not excessively affect the precision of control; if controlling multiple puppets resulted in them stumbling and being unable to fight, then this clearly couldn’t prove skill.

Because the essence of controlling more puppets was to enhance combat power; if precision dropped too severely, then multiple puppets might be inferior to a single puppet.

And Sasori, in battle, clearly had no issues with precision; his puppet manipulation technique was evident.

“To master Ten Puppet Manipulation at this age…” Baki overturned his previous suspicions.

Previously, because Sasori’s puppetry had traces of Hidden Sand Village, Baki suspected Sasori was a disciple of some Sunagakure rogue Ninja.

But with the abilities Sasori now displayed, an ordinary Sunagakure rogue Ninja clearly wasn’t worthy.

“Is it Sasori, that missing genius puppeteer?” Baki recalled a puppetry genius from his village around his age.

Baki didn’t know Sasori well, not because he was reclusive and had no friends, but because Sasori was very reclusive.

Baki’s knowledge of Sasori was limited to village legends, because not only him, but his friends and his friends’ friends, none of them knew Sasori.

“To be able to control ten puppets, he’s truly hidden his strength well.” Kakashi was also surprised, never expecting Sasori to have concealed so much of his power.

He had originally thought Sasori would at most bring out two more puppets, but Sasori released ten puppets at the start, and they even seemed specifically tailored to Nagato.

“In that case, the outcome is hard to say.”

Kakashi once again felt what it meant that there were always people stronger than you; the Youth Martial Arts Tournament hadn’t even gathered all the geniuses of the Ninja World, yet characters like Nagato and Sasori had appeared. The Ninja World was truly profound.

“Lightning Release: False Darkness!”

After a brief thought, Nagato chose to use the Lightning Release, which had stronger penetration, intending to use the high-efficiency single-target output of Lightning Release to deal with some puppets first.

But just as Nagato spat out the large lightning spear, a puppet with a special stinger moved, blocking the path of the Pseudo-Darkness, and then inserted its special stinger into the ground.

Zzzzzzz!

Dazzling lightning enveloped the puppet, but it failed to cause significant damage to it.

Sasori’s mouth curved slightly; a puppeteer with intelligence and one without were two different things. Immediately after, Sasori’s left hand moved all five fingers.

Whoosh, whoosh!

The mechanisms in the legs of five Human Puppets activated, and various large swords and long blades extended from their limbs, slashing rapidly towards Nagato under Sasori’s control.

“Wind Release: Pressure Damage!”

Nagato simultaneously burst forth with Chakra to dodge while continuing to form hand signs to use Ninjutsu.

Although two of his regular Ninjutsu were countered, he possessed many Ninjutsu, and he didn’t believe Sasori could counter all of them.

Whoosh, whoosh!

As the wind sphere was expelled, a fierce wind erupted in the arena.

Immediately following was a massive storm with terrifying destructive power; even the ground was torn apart by this storm, sending dirt and rocks flying and dust rising everywhere.

Nagato’s guess was correct; currently, Sasori indeed had no good way to counter Pressure Damage.

However, it just couldn’t be perfectly countered like the other two Ninjutsu; dealing with it was still not a problem.

Sasori moved all ten fingers, a powerful burst of Chakra erupted, and a defensive puppet blocked in front of his main body, while simultaneously controlling the other puppets to evade and form an encirclement around Nagato.

“This young puppeteer is extraordinary; to possess such puppetry at such a young age, he is sure to become a master puppeteer in the future.” Hanzo felt a surge of pleasure as he watched Nagato fall into a disadvantage.

Originally, Hanzo had placed his greatest hope of defeating Nagato on Might Guy.

He hadn’t expected Sasori to hide his strength so deeply, not even revealing half of his power throughout the matches.

Hanzo observed Muzuki out of the corner of his eye, only to find that Muzuki still maintained that calm and collected expression, as if it wasn’t a Shinobi Sect Ninja who was at a disadvantage in the arena, but Sasori.

“Sōsuke, just you wait; let’s see if you can still be so calm when Nagato really loses.” Hanzo thought indignantly.

He had been so focused on the Shinobi Sect’s wins and losses, yet Sōsuke maintained this demeanor, making him feel like he was judging a gentleman with the heart of a villain.

“Indeed, he’s extraordinary; even among the talented top eight, he’s rare.” Kakuzu first nodded in agreement.

Then he continued, “I suppose Lord Hanzo must regret that Rain Ninja couldn’t face such an excellent genius, after all, there are no Rain Ninja in the top eight.”

“Oh, no, there are no Rain Ninja in the elimination matches at all.”

Hanzo didn’t respond to Kakuzu’s words, his eyes fixed on the arena, as if engrossed in the match and unable to hear Kakuzu’s remarks.

However, his stern face indicated that Hanzo was not in a pleasant mood.

Although Kakuzu’s attacks on him were always the same, they truly struck deep into his heart.

The next generation of Rain Ninja wasn’t even as good as Grass Ninja.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Various poisoned needles, poisoned barbs, and projectiles shot towards Nagato, blocked by the curved earth wall Nagato summoned.

Bang!

Boom!

Sasori continued to control the puppets in relentless pursuit; each puppet went all out, resembling an elite Ninja squad.

“This puppetry looks quite impressive.” Obito rubbed his chin and said.

He suddenly realized that puppeteers were formidable; if the puppets were strong enough, then the puppeteer’s opponent would essentially have to fight ten, and ten individuals with different abilities at that.

“Instead of dragging this out and revealing more information, it’s better to end it quickly.” Nagato suddenly stopped, deciding to change his battle plan.

Although he wanted to save Shinra Tensei for the Four Finals or even the finals, Sasori’s puppets were simply too annoying.

Sasori left only three puppets to guard himself, while the remaining seven puppets all surrounded and attacked Nagato from various directions.

Nagato took a deep breath and stood still, no longer dodging, rapidly condensing a large amount of Chakra to prepare for a Ninjutsu.

“Oh, giving up already?” Sasori felt something was off.

Nagato was still in good condition; logically, he shouldn’t give up so quickly, yet Nagato’s posture of abandoning defense had indeed appeared.

Sasori pondered for a moment but still controlled his puppets to continue the attack; no matter what, if there was an opportunity, he had to seize it. Anyway, he was controlling puppets, so he had a high margin for error.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Swish!

Under Sasori’s control, seven puppets attacked simultaneously.

Some puppets released poisoned needles at Nagato, some wielded blades and charged forward, and some spewed flames, their attacks covering every possible direction Nagato could dodge.

At this moment, even if Nagato wanted to use Body Flicker Technique to dodge, it would be almost impossible, unless it was a Space-Time Ninjutsu that allowed instant departure.

“Shinra Tensei!”

The large amount of Chakra Nagato condensed instantly erupted, and the surrounding air began to vibrate slightly, as if foreshadowing the coming storm.

The next moment, Nagato’s Rinnegan vibrated violently, and a massive repulsive force surged outwards from Nagato as its center, instantly engulfing the entire battle arena.

Whoosh!

Facing the powerful repulsive force, the poisoned needles were repelled in the opposite direction, striking the ground and walls.

Boom!

The incoming flames were pushed back onto the puppets themselves, and a roaring sound echoed.

Crack!

The blades slashing at Nagato instantly snapped under the repulsive force, as if broken by an invisible hand.

Bang, bang, bang!

All seven puppets were rapidly sent flying backward, deeply embedded within the walls of the arena.

This sudden reversal of the situation momentarily stunned Sasori; he hadn’t expected Nagato to resolve the encirclement in such a way, and he didn’t understand what Ninjutsu Nagato had just used.

“Bansho Tenin!”

Nagato didn’t miss this excellent opportunity; he raised his right hand, aimed it at Sasori, and a powerful gravitational force erupted, instantly pulling Sasori’s body into Nagato’s hand.

Sasori’s face instantly changed color as he realized his body was out of control; he wanted to control the remaining three puppets to intercept his body.

But he was a step too slow; by the time Sasori’s puppets approached him, Nagato’s Kunai was already aimed at Sasori.

“Nagato wins!” the referee announced the result of the battle.

Seeing the battle conclude, Nagato released Sasori and said with a slight hint of apology, “My apologies, it seems I damaged your puppets.”

After all, it was just a competition; if conditions allowed, Nagato would minimize the opponent’s losses.

Sasori shook his head, not speaking. At this moment, Sasori was still astonished by Nagato’s strange power.

“Even with the Third Kazekage’s Human Puppet, I might not necessarily be able to defeat him.” After careful thought, Sasori discovered something very absurd.

In a head-on battle, it was basically impossible for him to defeat Nagato, unless he had time to make full preparations.

“This Martial Arts Tournament actually has such a genius.” Sasori put away his pride.

When he first entered the Martial Arts Tournament, Sasori equally looked down on all the contestants. After all, he had killed a Kage, so how could Ninja of a similar age be stronger than him?

But now, Sasori had to admit that even if he went all out, there were existences he couldn’t defeat in a head-on battle.

Before leaving the arena, Sasori looked back at Nagato, as if to engrave the figure named Nagato firmly in his memory.

“Although this puppeteer has some skill, it seems our Shinobi Sect Ninja are superior.” Kakuzu said with a chuckle, his eyes intentionally or unintentionally glancing at the silent Hanzō.

Hanzō remained silent, not speaking. In the battle to Encirclement and killing the Shinobi Sect, Nagato had only briefly unleashed his strength, so Hanzō actually didn’t know much about Nagato’s current power.

After this battle, Hanzō finally realized that Nagato had grown to this extent.

“I can only see if Might Guy has anything hidden.” Hanzō thought to himself.

Now, the only one who could stop Nagato’s advance was Might Guy. Even Might Guy’s previous performance was still a bit lacking.

At this time, the lounge once again fell into an eerie silence.

Obito’s mouth was wide open, his mind replaying the scene of Nagato instantly killing seven puppets with Shinra Tensei.

If Muzuki were by his side, Obito would definitely say, “Teacher Muzuki, I want to learn this.”

Compared to spitting fireballs, Nagato’s Shinra Tensei was both cool and powerful.

“The puppets are pushed away, and the body is like iron attracted by a magnet.” Kakashi was deeply pondering Nagato’s abilities, and a faint idea was forming in his mind.

“Kakashi, his Ninjutsu might be controlling gravity and repulsion.” Shisui said softly.

“I think so too.” Kakashi nodded, his expression somewhat solemn.

The more he thought, the more he felt that Nagato’s strength was incredibly abnormal.

Repulsion and gravity, what powerful abilities! Yet Nagato didn’t even need to make hand signs, releasing them without any warning.

“Could this be the ability of that Sage’s eye?” Kakashi thought of Nagato’s Rinnegan.

If it was the Six Paths Sage’s eyes, Kakashi felt it made sense, after all, this was the Six Paths Sage who had left countless legends.

“Mm-hmm, me too.” Obito followed, not wanting to be left behind.

Kakashi looked at Obito suspiciously, doubting that Obito was just repeating him.

“He’s a truly terrifyingly strong Guy, but it has nothing to do with me.” Asuma said with a smile, his Mindset still good.

With his strength, reaching the Eight Finals was already due to a good draw, so Asuma didn’t dream of a fierce final battle with Nagato.

In the Eight-to-Four battle, his opponent was Shisui. Asuma was very unsure because he had fought Shisui very few times, but he had never won.

“There are over two hundred participating Ninja, and all Five Great Ninja Villages have Ninja participating. It’s not bad to reach the top eight in such a Martial Arts Tournament, right?” Asuma felt this was already an honor worth boasting about.

He was already prepared to go to the stands to find Muzuki after his defeat. Muzuki would definitely comfort and praise him, unlike a certain person who was unreasonably harsh.

“Even if you are my best friend, I will not give such a strong enemy to you.” Might Guy looked at Kakashi, full of fighting spirit.

It was almost time for their battle. The winner would not only advance to the next round, but their next opponent would also be Nagato.

“I actually don’t really want to snatch this.” Kakashi said honestly.

He wasn’t a battle maniac. Kakashi was only slightly interested in battles between disciples; he wouldn’t have the desire to fight just by seeing someone strong.

“But I’ll still try my best to win.”

Although not a battle maniac, Kakashi also didn’t like to hold back in battle, especially against other Muzuki disciples.

After all, they also bore the important responsibility of changing history, and strength was very important to them.

“Hahaha.” Might Guy laughed loudly. He was just waiting for Kakashi to say that.

“Kakashi, I will also fight with all my might. Let’s have a battle full of youth and passion!”

Just then, Nagato walked back into the lounge.

“Teacher Muzuki’s disciples are truly good.” Nagato nodded slightly inwardly at the sight, and at the same time, there was a hint of regret in his heart.

Although he was also a disciple of Muzuki, he couldn’t acknowledge Kakashi and the others, because once Muzuki’s identity was exposed, it would not only affect the situation in the Land of Rain, but possibly even the entire Ninja World.

Nagato knew that Muzuki only came to the Land of Rain to help it restore peace because he wished for peace in the Ninja World, but other people and other forces might not think so.

The Rain Country Daimyo and Hanzō might think that Muzuki wanted to overthrow the Land of Rain.

Ninja not from Konoha would believe that Konoha had extraordinary ambitions and sent Muzuki to establish the Shinobi Sect in an attempt to replace the Amegakure to strengthen Konoha’s power.

Konoha Ninja might think that Muzuki’s actions were a betrayal of the village, not fulfilling his duties as a Konoha Ninja by going to the Land of Rain to create the Shinobi Sect, and even helping to train Iwagakure Ninja.

For the sake of the bigger picture, Nagato could only suppress his curiosity about the other disciples and maintain an aloof demeanor.

“Number eleven, Might Guy versus number fifteen, Kakashi Hatake!” The referee’s voice once again echoed into the lounge.

Might Guy and Kakashi exchanged glances and walked side by side towards the battle arena.

“Guy, come on, I believe you can win!”

Obito immediately offered encouragement to Might Guy, hoping that Might Guy would transform into a Taijutsu God of War, as he usually did in their internal battles, and give Kakashi a good beating.

“How should I defeat Uchiha Obito later?” Mei Terumī was already distracted from watching the Martial Arts Tournament, fully concentrating on her upcoming battle, which would happen soon.

She had also drawn a good lot; her opponent in the Eight Finals was Obito, who was weak against her Water Release.

If she advanced to the Four Finals, her opponent would probably be Shisui, who was also weak against her.

However, Mei Terumī faced a problem: her past record against Obito in the Chunin Exams was one loss and one win. Mei Terumī had won against Obito in the Death Forest, but then lost to Obito in the third stage of the arena battle.

Even with the Chakra nature advantage, Mei Terumī was not very confident in defeating Obito.

So Mei Terumī directly gave up watching other contestants’ battles, trying to analyze Obito’s weaknesses to increase her chances of winning in the Eight Finals.

“Might Guy, do you still have unrevealed strength?” Hanzō on the high platform focused his attention on the battle arena.

At this moment, he no longer commented on the contestants, to avoid Kakuzu’s snide remarks.

Might Guy looked around and didn’t see that green figure, shaking his head with a slight regret. “What a pity, if only Father were here.”

If his father saw him performing well in such a big Martial Arts Tournament, he would definitely be very happy.

Hearing Might Guy’s words, Kakashi felt a slight loneliness. Might Duy just couldn’t make it, but his father, well, he truly couldn’t come anymore.

“You can go back and take the reward and tell him about it again.” Kakashi said after composing himself.

Although both his parents had passed away, he now possessed many precious things: a teacher who cared for him deeply, and friends to whom he could entrust his life and death.

“Haha, as expected of my best friend, that makes sense.” Might Guy gave Kakashi a thumbs up.

For the next minute, the two did not speak further, each adjusting their state in preparation for battle.

“Battle start!”

“Eight Gates, Gate of Opening, open… Gate of Limit, open!”

The moment the referee shouted “Start,” Might Guy roared lowly and immediately opened the Eight Gates to the fifth gate.

With the opening of the first five gates, Might Guy’s Chakra surged continuously, becoming wild and difficult to control. A strong Chakra fluctuation suddenly rippled through the air, making the atmosphere solemn.

Facing his perceived rival, even in the probing stage, Might Guy dared not be careless in the slightest. All the disciples had witnessed Kakashi’s explosive power.

“Thunder Breathing, Full Concentration!”

Kakashi also didn’t waste any time, directly concentrating his breathing and entering the Transparent World state.

Might Guy had consecutively won many internal disciple battles, and Rock Breathing combined with Eight Gates let all the disciples know what simple strength was.

Might Guy didn’t have too many flashy moves. His opening moves were usually various whirlwind kicks, and after probing and feeling confident, he would directly unleash powerful Taijutsu techniques like Morning Tiger and Golden Skyline.

But it was this unchanging routine that left Kakashi and the others helpless until now.

Because this was simply strong—simple, yet very strong.

If not for the Transparent World effect, Kakashi wouldn’t dare to stay within ten meters of Might Guy, as it would be very easy to be drawn into Might Guy’s Taijutsu rhythm and then be taken out in one go.

“Leaf Hand Blade · Consecutive Strikes!”

This time, Might Guy didn’t choose to charge directly. Instead, he condensed a large amount of Chakra in his palms and chopped out several transparent energy blasts towards Kakashi.

Kakashi saw Might Guy’s muscle movements through the Transparent World and successfully predicted Might Guy’s attack direction, thus not wasting Chakra to use Body Flicker Technique, merely turning his body and tilting his head.

Bang bang!!

The missed energy blasts hit the ground, leaving behind numerous craters.

Whoosh whoosh!!

Then Kakashi started running and threw several Shuriken towards Might Guy.

Might Guy, while deflecting the Shuriken attacks with his fist winds, retreated backward.

“What the hell, Guy, why are you being so polite to Kakashi? Use Body Flicker Technique and kick him in the face!” Obito was puzzled.

Usually, they were the ones being chased and beaten by Might Guy, so why was it the other way around today, with Might Guy being forced back by Kakashi’s ordinary Shuriken?

“He’s probably guarding against Kakashi’s one slash.” Shisui thought for a moment and said.

Although Might Guy didn’t go on the Grass Ninja mission, Kakashi usually practiced No Thought Strike in the South Border Forest, so Might Guy also knew that Kakashi had mastered a powerful Lightning Release sword technique.

Might Guy usually appeared rough and careless, but in battle, he wasn’t just blindly charging forward.

“Ah, that’s right.” Obito recalled the slash Kakashi unleashed in the Grass Ninja Village and nodded.

Although Might Guy’s Golden Skyline was equally strong, Golden Skyline was performed with fingers, while Kakashi’s No Thought Strike used a weapon, a sharp Chakra Blade.

In a head-on clash, Might Guy, using his flesh and blood, would definitely be at a disadvantage. There was also a limit to the defensive enhancement of Rock Breathing.

“As expected, I’m still not used to this.”

After dodging for a while, Might Guy laughed loudly and concentrated his breathing to the extreme, entering the Rock Breathing Chakra Mode. His already powerful body was further enhanced with the change in his breathing.

At this moment, Might Guy’s aura had reached its peak. The powerful aura created air currents that caused the surrounding sand to stir, and even ordinary people in the stands could feel an inexplicable pressure.

Kakashi took a deep breath, entering a state of extreme vigilance, ready to enter Lightning Release Chakra Mode to strengthen his body at any moment.

PS: This chapter is a two-in-one 7k chapter.