CHAPTER 277: CHAPTER 277: MINATO, YOU REALLY ARE CURSED

"Sasori of the Red Sand... even Chiyo won’t be able to save you today—my word on it!"

"Kanda Kyoichi..."

Sasori’s lips parted, but in the end, he found nothing to say.

He understood now.

The fool Kakuzu had been stalling wasn’t even Kyoichi’s real body—he’d been playing a battle of wits against nothing more than a shadow clone all this time.

This pressure... it wasn’t even in the same league!

The man before him—this was the real body.

Sasori took a deep breath.

No doubt about it.

The intel and the plan that person had given them... both had been wrong.

But...

At this point, there was no road left to retreat to.

Sasori’s gaze hardened.

"You’re strong. If I could add you to my collection, my power would rise to an entirely new level. For that, I’ll fight you with everything I have."

"Using those puppets in your hands?"

"That’s right..."

The Sasori of the Red Sand threw aside his robe, revealing the machinery that unfolded from his body.

Rotating gears, refitted limbs—there was nothing human left in him, only the modifications of a puppet. In a way...

Sasori’s path wasn’t so different from Orochimaru’s.

Kyoichi didn’t waste words.

Casting a glance at the puppets in the air, he slowly drew his blade.

Different from the rapid draw of before—this time, the sword left the scabbard slowly. Yet Sasori could feel a crushing pressure, as if he stood at the eye of a storm.

One step too far, and the storm would tear him to shreds.

A terrifying sword style!

Shocked, Sasori had no time to linger on the feeling.

He controlled his puppets, summoning sand iron to form a dense forest of steel—the massive iron spikes spread around Kyoichi, attacking all life indiscriminately.

Iron Sand World Method!

And this time, the sand iron was laced with a deadly poison.

Even the slightest scratch... meant death was close.

However...

At that moment, the sword left its sheath.

The storm roared!

This was no ordinary Wind Release—the wind hid countless fine, razor-sharp invisible blades, a Sage Art sword technique Kyoichi had adapted from the Rasenshuriken.

With a single draw, all surrounding sand iron was shredded into fragments. The floating puppets crumbled instantly. Only Sasori, encased in a black sphere of iron sand, remained intact.

The wind blades tore at the sphere, destroying and reshaping it again and again, until at last it barely held.

What a terrifying sword!

Sasori had seen many powerful shinobi and fearsome sword arts, but this one...

He doubted he could block it.

Without the constant regeneration of his iron sand, his core would already have been obliterated.

Too strong!

The Sasori of the Red Sand began to consider... escape.

No way he could win this!

Shisui shielded Kurenai and Kakashi, his Sharingan watching the flow of chakra in awe.

That sword wasn’t ordinary kenjutsu—it carried the Sage Chakra their teacher had mastered.

A Sage Art, in the form of swordsmanship, unique to him.

"To think even kenjutsu can be turned into Sage Arts... Too bad I don’t have the talent for that."

Still, recalling the power of the Sharingan, Shisui was content. Fully mastered, it could rival even Sage Chakra.

Come to think of it...

He was now seeing his teacher’s sword technique far more clearly than before. Why?

No time to dwell.

Kyoichi moved again.

Body Flicker Technique!

In Sage Mode, his speed was even faster than throwing a kunai or using Flying Thunder God. In a blink, he was in front of Sasori.

Sasori had never faced taijutsu at this speed—his Iron Sand was only half-formed when...

Shing!

One sword stroke—and the chakra threads controlling the "Third Kazekage" puppet were severed!

Sasori immediately tried to recover.

But Kyoichi’s voice came, calm and cold:

"Without a true body, your core is fragile no matter how well you guard it. Against me, that protection means nothing."

The Kyoichi in front of him dissolved into foam.

"Kakuzu!" Sasori roared.

But Kakuzu had already realized the situation—he, too, had been fighting a wooden clone.

And to think he’d believed he had the real one pinned!

Played for a fool again.

And if even a clone was this strong... the real body was beyond imagining.

At this point, there was no thought of continuing the fight—only of running.

As for helping Sasori? Not a chance.

They were both rogue ninja, and at best that meant not killing each other. Self-sacrifice wasn’t part of the deal. Sasori had abandoned him without a second thought last time; he saw no reason to return the favor.

So hearing Sasori’s plea, Kakuzu only ran faster.

Kyoichi didn’t pursue.

Kakuzu was just a clown—he could be dealt with anytime. But Sasori was troublesome.

Without a fixed body, marking him with Flying Thunder God was meaningless unless the seal could be placed on his core.

And besides...

He’d said "Even Chiyo can’t save you". If he didn’t make good on that... where would his pride go?

Sasori’s sand iron blossomed in all directions—only for him to find, in despair, that Kyoichi didn’t even step back. The iron sand simply shattered against layer upon layer of defense.

How many defensive jutsu did this man have?

And the worst part—every single one was performed without hand seals.

Absolutely ridiculous!

Cursing inwardly, Sasori abandoned all thought of victory. But even escaping...

One stroke—an arm fell.

Mechanisms popped open on his body, iron chains lashing out from behind in a surprise strike—

Only for Kyoichi to catch them barehanded, without so much as a scratch.

A sharp tug—and Sasori’s body nearly collapsed.

He instantly shifted his core into the Third Kazekage puppet, expanding the iron sand to boost his escape with Magnet Release.

Fast as he was...

The moment his core embedded in the Kazekage puppet, the ground beneath its feet turned into countless sheets of paper.

The paper swirled up, encasing him. Kyoichi’s palm pressed a formula into the sheets, and...

They formed a paper prison, sealing formulae spreading from the paper’s surface.

Four Symbols Seal!

The jutsu suppressed his chakra—first he lost control of his puppets, then even his awareness of the outside world.

Now all that remained was the small, enclosed space around his core.

Such was the core’s weakness—it made swapping bodies easy and was powerful in its own right, but once sealed, there was nothing left. At least a normal shinobi could still move their limbs; Sasori could do nothing.

Kyoichi sealed the Sasori of the Red Sand.

At that moment, space rippled—and a figure finally arrived.

"What... uh, what happened?"

Was it over?

Namikaze Minato froze.

"Putting my hopes in you was my mistake, Minato—you really are cursed." Kyoichi couldn’t help but jab.

He’d thought Minato’s "late arrival curse" had faded... turned out he’d just been too proactive before to give it a chance to show.

Minato’s mouth twitched.

Was this really his fault? He’d run from Konoha to here without rest—just happened to arrive late.

Still...

His gaze landed on Kakashi lying nearby.

"Kakashi—he’s okay?"

"A little injured, but nothing fatal. We can still save him, no problem."

***************************

Read advanced Chapters ahead of everyone else on my P@treon.

P@treon/GodDragcell