Chapter 223 : High Temperature Iron Sand
It was just as Riku remembered—this technique was incredibly powerful.
Sure enough, the moment the human puppet completed its hand signs, a roaring fire dragon erupted, hurtling toward Riku with overwhelming force and a massive range.
The blazing dragon filled the sky, causing Riku to frown. This combination technique might already reach S-rank in power. This guy really is strong... A puppet master able to unleash such high-level ninjutsu through a puppet—
"As a puppeteer, your skills far surpass Granny Chiyo’s," Riku muttered.
Granny Chiyo, standing tens of meters behind Riku with Sakura, stared blankly at the powerful jutsu, stunned into silence.
Even she had to admit, I couldn’t do something like that...
Sakura stood beside her with clenched fists, eyes glued to Riku’s calm back, anxiety radiating off her in waves.
Chiyo, sensing Sakura’s worry, gently reassured her. "Don’t worry, Sakura. Based on what we’ve seen from him so far, he should be able to handle it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so calm about letting us watch from here."
Still, Sakura remained tense, eyes never leaving Riku.
Chiyo glanced at her knowingly. "It seems what I said earlier was right."
"He really is remarkable. It’s only natural for a ninja to admire someone so strong."
Sakura’s tense expression faltered for a moment. She stood still, stunned by Chiyo’s words.
But before she could say anything, Riku made his move.
His hands blurred into afterimages.
"Water Style: Water Shockwave. Wind Style: Pressure Damage."
The combination of Water and Wind Style techniques produced a massive column of water, over ten meters thick, blasting forward from in front of Riku. Empowered by the Wind Style, the force of the attack increased dramatically.
It was incredibly fast.
The giant water column and the fire dragon clashed head-on.
BOOM—!
For a moment, the earth split and trembled beneath the impact. A wave of steam burst into the air, engulfing the battlefield in a thick fog that obscured everything for hundreds of meters.
Whooooosh—
Flames hissed and sputtered against the surge of water. Steam billowed endlessly as water and fire clashed, neither yielding.
The sheer force of their collision scarred the battlefield—deep fissures opened across the earth for hundreds of meters.
For three full seconds, the two techniques remained deadlocked before both dissipated into mist and silence.
A moment later, both Riku and Sasori moved at once.
Using the dense steam as cover, Riku charged.
BOOM—!
He and the puppet collided violently.
The resulting shockwave carved yet another massive crater into the ground, as if an earthquake had struck.
Chiyo and Sakura, unable to see through the mist, could only hear the explosive sounds of battle—violent, unrelenting crashes as Riku and Sasori clashed again and again.
The earth cracked beneath the force of their blows. Massive boulders several meters wide were sent flying out of the fog.
Eventually, the surrounding steam began to fade with the rising temperature, revealing the fight unfolding within.
Riku was locked in hand-to-hand combat with the human puppet.
Both fighters were relying solely on taijutsu.
But at this point, the puppet’s body had begun to crack. Even the immensely durable human puppet couldn’t withstand the sheer brute force Riku was unleashing.
Riku had never trained in Tsunade’s Strength of a Hundred technique—but his natural physical strength was monstrous.
Even stronger than Tsunade with her chakra-enhanced strength at full power.
Sasori was shaken.
He stared at Riku, his expression turning serious.
"This guy’s power really is terrifying... Looks like Uchiha Itachi wasn’t just exaggerating—he’s as strong as he said."
Sasori now understood—he couldn’t win this.
He had already used nearly all his tricks, and Riku had countered every one of them—be it taijutsu or ninjutsu.
All that was left was genjutsu, but unfortunately, Sasori wasn’t skilled in that field.
And after unleashing several powerful techniques in quick succession, his chakra reserves were dropping rapidly.
He was already down to eighty percent.
Still a sizable amount—but he knew even that might not be enough to defeat Riku.
Gritting his teeth, Sasori prepared for one final gambit.
"Magnet Style: Iron Sand Sea."
His hands flew through seals.
If speed couldn’t kill Riku, then he would restrain him using Magnet Release.
The moment the technique was complete, Sasori clapped his hands together and narrowed his eyes.
Countless grains of fine iron sand surged toward Riku like a black tide.
Tiny and fast, they were nearly impossible to block.
As Riku was enveloped by the flowing iron sand, the puppet once again began forming hand signs. "Fire Style: Flame Bomb Jutsu!"
The flames didn’t target Riku directly. Instead, they engulfed the iron sand surrounding him.
Instantly, the temperature of the iron began to spike.
This was Sasori’s final move.
He wasn’t done yet. He quickly formed more hand seals: "Wind Style: Gale Palm!"
The gusts of wind further fueled the flames, increasing their temperature drastically.
The iron sand turned a glowing red.
Inside the searing furnace, Riku could feel the heat rising sharply—but he remained eerily calm.
Suddenly, violent lightning erupted from his body.
But instead of forming a defensive lightning barrier, he manipulated the lightning into specific forms—hundreds of crackling thunder serpents that slithered through the air around him.
Sakura stood frozen, eyes locked on the red-hot sand encasing Riku, her heart pounding in her chest.
She had never felt this anxious for someone before.
Not even for Sasuke—those feelings had brought her sadness and pain.
But now, she was truly afraid—afraid that Riku might get hurt.
She desperately wanted him to win. She didn’t want him to be harmed.
If not for Chiyo holding her back, she might have charged in herself.
"Riku... please win. You’re so strong—you can beat him. You will beat him..."
Her eyes glistened with worry, locked on the crimson shell trapping Riku.
But the sight of those thunder snakes weaving around his body reassured her.
Yes... Someone as strong as Riku wouldn’t go down that easily.
And indeed, Riku had a countermeasure ready.
The countless thunder serpents slithered outward from his body, spreading quickly through the red-hot iron sand.
The heat around him continued to rise—but then, a powerful electromagnetic field erupted from his body.
The temperature within the iron sand plummeted.
Meanwhile, outside that field, the heat continued to build.
For two full minutes, Sasori maintained the attack.
He was certain Riku had already turned to ash.
That iron sand’s about to melt... There’s no way he could survive that...
But as the flames and wind finally dissipated, and the molten iron sand clumped and collapsed...
The smoke cleared.
Thunder serpents still crackled through the air.
And at the center of it all—Riku stood tall and unharmed, gazing at Sasori with cold, calm eyes.
Sasori’s breath caught.
"Impossible—!"
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