Chapter 30: Revealing Two More Trump Cards

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This red-haired young man was named Sasori. He was a rising star who had emerged in Sunagakure after the Second Great Ninja War. Sasori of the Red Sand—that was the name he had carved out for himself.

But none of that was the point. What truly mattered was the chakra core in his hands. If he succeeded in creating it, it would bear a new name: the Regeneration Core.

This was the key to transforming a living person into a puppet while preserving their original consciousness and allowing them to control the body.

It was also Sasori’s next objective after completing the Third Kazekage puppet. He intended to turn himself into a living puppet—a supreme masterpiece created by his own hands, an eternal work of art.

Yet it was obvious that Sasori’s progress was not going smoothly. He had become stuck at the most crucial and important step: the Regeneration Core.

Unfortunately, when it rains, it pours. After struggling and failing for half a month, Sasori had just suffered another devastating blow. He had been on the verge of glimpsing success; only moments ago, he had felt that he was about to seize the crucial inspiration he needed.

Then, as if fate had deliberately chosen the worst possible moment, a tremendous crash suddenly came from above.

Not only did it make his body jolt and damage the chakra core in his hands, it also shattered the inspiration that had been about to burst forth.

Sasori was now consumed by extreme fury.

He glanced at the strongest human puppet he had built half a month earlier, then rose to his feet.

He was going up there to find out who had caused that disturbance. Whoever it was had actually dared interrupt his most important research.

Above the underground chamber where Sasori was working—

“I really must thank you,” the elite Sunagakure jounin sneered. “A bunch of ignorant brats who have no idea how high the heavens are or how deep the earth is.”

Closer. Closer still.

“Hell Stab: One-Finger Assault!”

A short figure came hurtling forward at blinding speed. The sudden turn of events left the elite Sunagakure jounin aghast.

It was one of the three brats. But how could he possibly move that fast?

Caught off guard and ambushed without warning, the jounin found it difficult to evade the attack.

And that technique the brat had shouted—

Was he serious?

He was absolutely certain that a Konoha brat could not possibly know the Raikage’s secret taijutsu. Yet the boy’s explosive speed, combined with the single finger he had raised, still made the Sunagakure ninja’s eyelids twitch violently.

He hurriedly adjusted his body, attempting to dodge Aoba Kawaki’s attack.

But Aoba Kawaki had lain in wait for a long time and paid an enormous price to prepare this strike with meticulous care. How could he allow his opponent to escape so easily?

A string of afterimages remained in his wake. The power gathered in his index finger erupted the instant it struck the Sunagakure shinobi.

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The force tore through the ninja’s flak jacket and slammed directly into his waist.

Blood blossomed. The sensation at his fingertip told Aoba Kawaki that he had apparently crushed one of the man’s internal organs. That location…

The kidney. No doubt about it.

“Hngh!”

The Sunagakure ninja let out a muffled groan of pain.

It was unbelievable, but he had truly been wounded by a mere child—and not lightly, either.

With a deft twist of his hand, he drew a kunai and slashed it toward Aoba Kawaki’s neck.

Damn brat. Die!

Aoba Kawaki read the meaning in his eyes.

The man had just lost a kidney, after all. Aoba sympathized with him and could readily understand the deep hatred that made him want to tear Aoba apart with his bare hands.

But understanding was one thing. Allowing the man to take revenge was another entirely.

Aoba Kawaki stamped both feet against the ground and once again unleashed the extreme speed he had displayed earlier, vanishing from the Sunagakure ninja’s sight.

One of the Six Powers of the Marines from the world of pirates, Shave was a technique that produced explosive speed over short distances. It demanded extraordinary physical strength from its user.

This reckless gamble had forced Aoba Kawaki to reveal yet another trump card.

The technique he had used in the ambush was another trump card he had previously kept hidden.

Of course, it was not the Lightning Release taijutsu of those brutes from Kumogakure. It was Finger Pistol, another of the Six Powers of the Marines.

After striking once, he fled immediately. Aoba Kawaki was already far away from the elite Sunagakure jounin.

He glanced back.

Good. The man had not come after him.

“Urgh!”

Suddenly, a mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips without warning.

Aoba Kawaki had been injured.

Using Shave, one of the Six Powers of the Marines, placed tremendous demands on the body. In the world of pirates, where nearly everyone possessed monstrous vitality, even an ordinary flag officer could use it without the slightest difficulty.

But this was the shinobi world, where nearly everyone was fragile by comparison. And Aoba Kawaki was no Uzumaki, Senju, or Kaguya.

After forcibly unleashing Shave’s super-high-speed burst, it would have been stranger if he had not been injured.

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Finger Pistol was no different. Without the physical strength to match it, forcing its use came at the price of broken bones.

Fortunately, Aoba Kawaki possessed the miraculous energy known as chakra. Otherwise, after using the Six Powers three times in succession despite his inadequate physique, he would probably already be lying flat on his back.

Even with chakra, however, Aoba Kawaki was hardly in good shape. The muscle strains throughout his body and the fracture in his right index finger were not worth mentioning for the moment. The most serious injuries were to his internal organs; otherwise, he would never have vomited blood.

That was precisely why Aoba Kawaki treated these two techniques as trump cards. A trump card, by definition, was something that could not be used lightly.

If a technique could be unleashed effortlessly without paying any price, how could it be called a trump card? It would merely be something for dealing with minor underlings.

White Lightning: Was that necessary?

Fortunately, these injuries were nothing serious to him. A little damage to his internal organs hardly counted as a life-threatening wound.

Two vials appeared in his hands, one red and one blue. Without hesitation, Aoba Kawaki drank them both.

Of course, there was another problem besides his injuries: his chakra was also completely depleted.

At barely ten years old, the amount of chakra he could refine was pitifully limited. He probably did not even have half a unit. The moment he unleashed a single burst, his chakra bar was emptied completely.

How miserable could things get?

Oh, right. He had chakra potions.

Then there was no problem.

Still, chakra truly was a wondrous energy. If he used it only for traveling, he could spend an entire day and night without exhausting it. But if he used ninjutsu, just a few techniques were enough to drain it completely.

On Aoba Kawaki’s side, downing one red potion and one blue potion was enough to restore him almost completely.

The Sunagakure ninja, by contrast, was in a far worse state.

With his kidney gravely injured, he naturally hated Aoba Kawaki to the bone. Yet the boy’s speed and that earlier One-Finger Assault had been so bizarre that he abandoned the idea of pursuing him and instead set his sights on the other two brats.

“Run! I’ll hold him off!”

Aoba Kawaki immediately turned sideways and blocked the route the Sunagakure ninja would have to take.

But the moment he turned around, he discovered that his two companions had already left him far behind and run off.

Damn it!

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