The black sword light flashed wildly as Kimimaro pushed his speed to the limit.
He moved like a killing machine, ruthlessly charging into the hundred puppets surrounding him.
With every swing of his sword, a red puppet fell apart.
Shards flew everywhere!
Kimimaro's eyes remained emotionless.
**Starburst Stream!**
A series of sixteen rapid strikes left sixteen red puppets in ruins.
But this was just the beginning.
It was impossible to take down a hundred puppets with just one move.
"What incredible swordsmanship," Deidara marveled.
He hadn't seen Kimimaro perform such an astonishing sword technique before.
Sasori of the Red Sand only frowned slightly, remaining calm and collected.
His regeneration core, located in his chest, controlled the remaining puppets, boosting their attack power.
After a ruthless assault, Kimimaro broke into the core of the puppet army, surrounded on all sides.
"How foolish. Does he not even watch where he's going when attacking?" Sasori sneered, showing disdain for Kimimaro's seemingly reckless approach.
Being trapped in the midst of Sasori's red-secret technique made it nearly impossible to escape.
At that moment, the remaining red puppets swarmed in.
A net shot toward Kimimaro, aiming to bind him like a helpless fish.
Spears, swords, staffs—no weapon was left unused.
Sasori had packed in every possible tool.
Faced with such an overwhelming onslaught, Kimimaro merely smiled calmly.
"All the puppets are already within my domain."
The next moment, his eyes flashed pure white.
Suddenly, aside from the sword in his hands, sharp bone spikes emerged from various parts of his body.
This was the opening stance of the **Dance of the Camellia**, but Kimimaro had no intention of using that move.
**Dance of the Heavenly Spin!**
In an instant, Kimimaro started spinning!
The white bone spikes turned black.
**Sword of the Clow Card!**
His footwork followed the spinning pattern of the Heavenly Spin, while his body attacked like the Dance of the Camellia.
The two techniques merged into one!
The iconic defense-and-offense technique of the Hyuga Clan, **Heavenly Spin**, transformed in Kimimaro's hands into a blade storm!
A whirlwind rose!
Blades cut through the puppets!
In no time, the Dance of the Heavenly Spin, with a five-meter radius, shredded all the red puppets around him like a hurricane through a forest.
Kimimaro had turned into a grinding machine—no, a puppet grinder.
The fragments of puppets scattered across the ground.
Deidara and Sasori stood in shock at the incredible sight.
"Wait… is Sasori the one being overpowered?" Deidara noticed something alarming.
He had assumed Kimimaro would lose.
But now it seemed Sasori was the one being suppressed.
Every move Sasori made was countered by Kimimaro.
When Kimimaro finished his **Dance of the Heavenly Spin**, he stopped spinning and glanced at the puppet fragments all over the ground.
"As expected, they're just toys."
That comment enraged Sasori.
"You dare insult eternal art?! You'll pay the price for that! **Inferno Blast Formation!**"
Columns of searing flames shot from Sasori's palms.
Kimimaro quickly dodged.
The flame columns struck the ground, leaving blackened, scorched pits.
The heat was so intense that even the earth couldn't withstand it.
"This level of fire release… how much chakra did he have to compress for that?" Kimimaro praised.
The power of fire release was directly tied to chakra quality.
Sasori's fire release at this level was truly rare.
But the aim was lacking.
Such a powerful, deadly fire release was being used like a regular attack—a waste.
If the aim had been better, it could've been a one-hit kill.
But unfortunately, Sasori seemed to lack skill in that regard.
After the Dance of the Heavenly Spin, Sasori's **Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets** was completely destroyed. He now only had the techniques in his three remaining scrolls.
One of them was the fire release technique.
However, Kimimaro no longer planned to continue fighting Sasori.
He had gauged the strength of the puppets and saw no further purpose in dragging out the battle.
What he really wanted now was to remove Sasori's regeneration core for study.
From the perspective of his **Byakugan**, Sasori's ability to control hundreds of red puppets simultaneously came from that core.
Not only did it contain incredible vitality, but it also seemed to control the red puppets as though Sasori had a hundred extra hands.
There was so much to learn from it.
Simply observing with the Byakugan wasn't enough.
He needed to put the core on the operating table and study it thoroughly.
The searing flames continued to shoot at him, turning Kimimaro into a constant target as he dodged.
With his **Shunpo** technique, the flames couldn't even graze his clothes.
At that moment, Pikachu, who had been inactive, climbed onto his shoulder.
"I'm counting on you, little guy."
"Pika!"
Understanding the command, Pikachu leaped from his shoulder.
**Quick Attack!**
At Kimimaro's signal, Pikachu's speed instantly increased.
Not only that, but golden lightning erupted from its body.
Thunder intensified!
Pikachu's speed soared even higher.
Sasori blinked in surprise as Kimimaro and Pikachu attacked from opposite sides, their speeds perfectly in sync.
He had no choice but to split his focus, sending fire columns toward both of them.
But neither Kimimaro nor Pikachu could be caught.
In the blink of an eye, Pikachu was already in front of Sasori.
**Headbutt!**
Pikachu jumped high, aiming straight for Sasori's regeneration core.
Sasori scrambled to block.
A metal chain shot from his abdomen like a snake, aiming to intercept Pikachu's attack.
But Pikachu's gaze remained steady, unwavering.
It seemed certain that the chain wouldn't harm it.
Because Kimimaro was making his move!
With his left hand extended, white lightning had already formed at his fingertip.
**One-Finger White Lightning!**
The white bolt, carrying the power of Kimimaro's finger bone, shot out at high speed.
*Zing!*
A spark flew as the lightning bolt struck the chain.
A sharp, crisp sound rang out as the chain was knocked off course.
Pikachu darted through the gap!
**Quick Attack!**
Its large head slammed directly into the regeneration core.
Sasori's expression froze.
The regeneration core was knocked loose, and his puppet body lost its soul.
The light in his eyes faded instantly.
The regeneration core flew out, targeting a nearby red puppet to possess and revive itself.
But with a quick movement, Kimimaro caught it securely!
It trembled, trying to escape his grip, but couldn't break free.
The battle was over!
Pikachu landed steadily on the ground, wearing a proud expression.
"Well done, little guy."
Satisfied with Kimimaro's praise, Pikachu happily wagged its tail.
"Sasori! Sasori!"
Deidara rushed forward, staring in shock at the lifeless shell of Sasori.
"You... you killed Sasori?"
After confirming that Sasori had no sign of life left, Deidara looked at Kimimaro, stunned.
"No, he's not dead yet. He turned himself into a human puppet. His life force is inside this regeneration core. As long as the core is intact, he won't die. Just find another puppet to put the core in, and he can be revived."
Kimimaro displayed the regeneration core in his hand and spoke slowly.
"It can work like that?"
Deidara was even more surprised.
Although he was close to Sasori, the latter never told him about this secret.
"Then let's quickly put the core back into him."
"Not just yet."
"You don't really intend to kill him, do you? Sasori may have a bad temper, but he's not that bad. For my sake, just let him go."
Deidara tried to persuade Kimimaro diplomatically.
He hadn't expected Kimimaro to push Sasori to such a point.
This was completely different from what he'd anticipated.
But whether it was Kimimaro or Sasori, Deidara didn't want anything bad to happen.
After all, both were his friends in the art world.
"Of course, I'll honor your request, and I never planned to kill him. But I'm really interested in this regeneration core. Let me study it for seven or eight days, then I'll return it."
"This... fine. Seven or eight days it is, but you have to put that core back into Sasori afterward."
Hearing this, Deidara didn't stop Kimimaro.
After all, it was Sasori who made the first move, so Kimimaro teaching him a lesson seemed fair.
To put it simply, the regeneration core was Kimimaro's spoils of war, and he had the right to do as he pleased with it.
Deidara had no grounds to interfere unless he wanted to fall out with Kimimaro.
Seeing that both sides could come to an agreement, Deidara breathed a sigh of relief.
Still, poor Sasori was about to be subjected to Kimimaro's experiments.
"Of course. After all, we're in the same organization. I'm not going to go too far. You can relax."
Kimimaro flashed a cryptic smile.
Let Sasori go?
No problem.
But not before adding something to that regeneration core.
With the battle over, Kimimaro took over Sasori's cave.
And naturally, Deidara was left waiting outside.
Kimimaro had to study the core, so Deidara couldn't be around.
Inside the cave, puppet parts were scattered all over, along with a variety of herbs.
Kimimaro's eyes lit up at the sight.
"Sasori sure had quite the collection. These herbs are incredibly rare. Using them just for poison-making is such a waste."
Kimimaro shook his head slightly, disapproving of Sasori's wasteful habits.
Then he gathered all the herbs into his own scroll and stowed it away with satisfaction.
Kimimaro suddenly felt like he had just looted someone.
The ninja world really is brutal.
After taking care of these small tasks, Kimimaro cleared a table, placing the regeneration core on it, and then pulled out his equipment from his space scroll.
Preparations complete.
Byakugan, activate!
Kimimaro's eyes transformed into the most intricate of microscopes. Combining his advanced tools, he began disassembling the regeneration core piece by piece.
The research had begun.
And it went on for several days.
Outside the cave, Deidara passed the time molding clay.
Soon, under his deft hands and playful bites, a small clay Pikachu emerged in his palm.
"Hehe, does it look like you?"
Deidara placed the clay figure in front of Pikachu and asked softly.
"Pika!"
Pikachu chirped excitedly, fully appreciating Deidara's craftsmanship.
"It's yours."
"Pika!"
Overjoyed by the gift, Pikachu gladly accepted it.
"So, can I go in now? It's been seven days, and Kimimaro hasn't come out yet. He hasn't forgotten to release Sasori, has he?"
"Pika!"
Pikachu shook its head repeatedly, rejecting Deidara's request to enter the cave.
"Don't be so stingy. I just want to take a look. I promise I won't disturb Kimimaro's research."
"Pika!"
Pikachu firmly refused once again.
"You little rascal, you're being unreasonable. If you don't let me in, I might just force my way through. I'm not afraid of your electric moves anymore. If it comes down to a fight, I've got a pretty good chance of winning."
Deidara wore a proud expression.
Overcoming electric-type attacks had been his greatest accomplishment recently.
The Pikachu he once feared had become less intimidating, leaving only its cuteness.
"Pika!"
Seeing Deidara gearing up to barge in, Pikachu's expression turned fierce.
But paired with its adorable face, it only looked cutely menacing.
"Heh... you really don't give me any face, huh? After all, I've fed you for several days."
Seeing Pikachu so determined, Deidara could only give up.
It wasn't that he was afraid of beating Pikachu, but he didn't want to hurt it.
For one, Pikachu was Kimimaro's summoning beast, and injuring it would be hard to explain.
For another, the yellow creature was just too cute.
After spending time together, Deidara found he couldn't bear to hurt it.
"When is Kimimaro coming out?"
Meanwhile, inside the cave, Kimimaro had completely unraveled the secrets of the regeneration core.
"I didn't expect Sasori to reach this level. He's no ordinary puppet master, that's for sure."
After finishing his research on the core, Kimimaro couldn't help but admire Sasori a little more.
The regeneration core was truly a genius concept.
It gathered all of one's spiritual power into a single point.
And not just spiritual power, but all physical strength as well.
However, unlike the perfect preservation of spiritual power, the method Sasori used to store his physical strength was a bit gruesome.
He condensed his spiritual power into the core's center and then melted his body's strength, his flesh, into the core's outer shell.
The regeneration core, which looked like a lump of flesh, was, in fact, exactly that—a condensed piece of flesh.
Compared to Orochimaru's body-swapping technique, Sasori's regeneration core preserved his full strength even more completely.
But in doing so, he became even less human.
The bodies he could take over were limited to the human puppets he had prepared beforehand.
Nothing else would work.
And this technique, without a doubt, was deeply disturbing.
At least, Kimimaro felt uneasy while researching the core.
"Despite that, there's still plenty to learn from it. I've already uncovered the secret to preserving spiritual energy for long periods."
If I combine this with certain aspects of the soul-separation technique, developing a method to make spiritual power—essentially the soul—immortal shouldn't be too difficult.
At this point, Kimimaro's research had gradually unveiled the mysteries behind various powers: bones represented by Shikotsumyaku, immortality tied to Hashirama's cells, blood vessels and meridians from Kakuzu's techniques, and now spiritual energy and the soul from Sasori's regeneration core.
(End of chapter)