Chapter 155

Puppetry

Developed by the Second Kazekage, Shamen, it allows control of puppets and corpses in battle, and can also employ substitution tactics to deceive opponents, possessing immense destructive power.

It is precisely the ability possessed by Sa, and the puppet in his hands is the legendary strongest Kazekage, the Third!

"Aaaah!"

Sa's attack was swift—so swift that Natsu and Gray had no time to react before being blasted away by the black magnetic storm.

The immense force hurled them straight to the ground, smashing deep craters and unleashing a cry of agony.

The two struggled to their feet; Gray stared at Sa, stunned.

"What kind of technique is this! How did a puppet suddenly appear?!"

"... Wait... no! This aura—it's human!"

Natsu, face filled with shock as if witnessing something monstrous, fixed his eyes tightly on the Third Kazekage before Sa.

"Human? Are you joking? That's a puppet!"

Gray looked at Natsu.

Gray clearly lacked Natsu's acute sense of smell; to him,

hollow eyes, mechanical limbs—what else could this be but a grotesque puppet?

"He's right, and he's wrong."

Sa lifted his head and smiled eerily.

"More accurately, this is a puppet made from a human."

"What!"

"A puppet made from a human! This is the art I have created."

Sa's words were soft, calm—yet like a meteor from beyond the heavens, they crashed into the hearts of everyone present.

An unprecedented rage erupted instantly!

Even the usually rational Erusa's face turned utterly dark!

To turn a living being into a puppet—this was considered art!

This was no mere darkness—it was utter, unadulterated evil!

In their eyes, Akatsuki might have been merely a group akin to Anheigong Society, but they never imagined it could be this vile!

Even the former Blackbeard Ma Xieer paled in comparison.

Killing one's own kind to make puppets—just thinking of it induced suffocation.

It was unimaginable that such a person truly existed!

Boom—!

At that moment, before everyone's stunned gazes, Natsu could no longer endure—he struck out in fury.

Simultaneously, Sa activated the Third Kazekage puppet.

"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Great Needle!"

Iron sand compressed into hundreds of sharp spikes, lashing through the air with explosive force.

Facing the piercing spikes, Natsu threw a punch—terrible magical power erupted, causing some iron sand to lose its magnetism and fall as ordinary sand.

"Interesting. Did you discover this by chance? Or do you truly know?"

Sa looked at Natsu, calmly.

Most people know that iron sand loses its magnetism when heated to a certain temperature.

But even knowing this, not everyone can achieve it.

"Your flame seems unusual. I'm beginning to find your ability interesting. If turned into a puppet, it might become a superior work of art."

"But before that, I'll send you to die."

As he spoke, more iron sand erupted from the Third puppet's mouth, converging into one mass.

The next instant, it exploded into countless sand spikes!

Wherever they struck, boulders shattered, everything sliced clean through!

Magnet Release: Iron Sand Barrier Technique

Uses iron sand to form a large airborne barrier studded with long spikes for piercing attacks, possessing extreme penetration power and dense assault density.

Without exceptional reaction speed and agility, ordinary people cannot escape; common Fire Release techniques cannot block it.

But Natsu was different—the power of Dragon Flame far surpassed ordinary fire!

Using the flame's force, he relentlessly attacked, forcibly transforming the iron sand back into ordinary iron sand.

Yet over time, Natsu became trapped inside; just then, a dark shadow slipped soundlessly through the iron sand,

and that shadow was the Third puppet—he released a massive blade from his sleeve, striking toward Natsu.

"No! Natsu's in danger!"

Gray shouted in alarm.

Natsu finally reacted, but under the suppression of the iron sand barrier, he had no strength left to block the incoming attack.

As Natsu was about to be cut down, Makarov could no longer sit idle.

"Don't you dare hurt my child!"

In the crisis, terrifying magical power erupted—his once-slender body swelled and expanded beyond human limits, continuing to grow!

Boom—!

A massive fist, wreathed in terrifying golden wind pressure, descended and shattered the iron sand barrier, crushing the Third Kazekage to pieces!

"Sa, ranked B-Class Star Three, faces difficulty against a top-ranked Holy Ten member."

Lin Cheng spoke calmly, controlling two puppets.

The strength of the Scorpion lies in his powerful and precise puppetry; once he encounters a being far stronger than his puppets, the puppets lose their significance under direct force suppression.

The Scorpion himself lacks immensely powerful ninjutsu and chakra.

On the other side, Dirada also held no great advantage.

His aerial mobility allowed him to largely evade Kujira's attacks, but his ninjutsu could not easily breach Kujira's defenses.

For a time, the battle settled into a stalemate.

Nevertheless, that said.

Lin Cheng's inner state remained undisturbed, for the true spectacle had not yet begun—this was merely a warm-up.