Chapter 156 - The Possibility of Deceiving the Byakugan
"Quick resolution?"
While Sasori of the Red Sand did have the strength to say such things, Mizuki wasn't too pleased at being underestimated like this.
Even without Sage Mode, Mizuki didn't believe himself to be someone who could be easily taken down.
He might not be invincible, but he certainly didn't think Sasori was one of the few who could kill him in a blink.
Now that Sasori had appeared, Mizuki no longer needed to act cautiously.
With Hiruko destroyed, any replacement puppet body Sasori used would have weaker defense.
Moreover, he likely hadn't had time to replace all of his puppets — meaning his Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets had lost most of its potency.
His remaining tricks were more than enough to overwhelm ordinary ninja, but against someone strong, only his Iron Sand techniques truly posed a threat.
Of course, Sasori still had other methods — techniques released via scrolls, and most troublesome of all: poison.
The former was standard fare — powerful but manageable.
The latter, however, was the real headache.
Poison required constant vigilance, and it could easily replace Sasori's puppets or Iron Sand as Mizuki's greatest danger.
Due to the damage to his own cells, Mizuki no longer dared to use any overdrawn methods — including the Omnipotent Elixirs.
Sage Mode didn't boost cell vitality, but it did improve the efficiency of what lifespan remained.
It granted Mizuki more time, but if he pushed his body again with reckless stimulants, not even Sage Mode could save him.
"Poison... truly one of humanity's oldest and most effective weapons. So many powerful figures have fallen to it."
Though Mizuki found it troublesome, he wasn't unprepared.
He had brought Shino Aburame not just for recon support.
The Aburame Clan's insect abilities were full of mysterious applications.
If Sasori released poison fog over a wide area, Shino's kikaichū might be the key to helping Mizuki deal damage or survive.
Insects had unrivaled adaptability.
While an individual insect was fragile, as a species they could survive in the harshest environments.
Their evolution and adaptability allowed them to rapidly mutate and thrive.
A true insect user didn't just command bugs to fight.
In the original story, Shino managed to adapt his bugs to Guren's Crystal Release — a rare Kekkei Genkai — by selecting and reproducing a few exceptional specimens, or passing their traits on.
Mizuki had even confirmed this with Shino beforehand.
If it came to breaking through a toxic smog to hit Sasori's real body, or finding a way to harm him from within the gas, insects might be more useful than even Sage Mode.
But at the moment, Mizuki still wanted to test Sage Mode's power solo.
His taijutsu was mediocre, and fighting someone as dangerous as Sasori without protection felt risky.
And while Botai the bear had massive strength, his huge body made him an easy target.
Against Sasori — whose puppet weapons were all poisoned — even Botai's size wouldn't save him.
A few cuts, and the poor bear would be poisoned to death.
So Mizuki summoned his Chakra Shield — empowered by natural energy.
What was once a translucent blue mist was now a shining, crystal-like barrier, shimmering with rainbow light under the noonday sun.
It formed a massive shield in front of Mizuki and Botai, clearly no ordinary defense.
"Two non-taijutsu users, now relying on brute force... quite unexpected."
Though Mizuki's ninjutsu was basic, Sasori wasn't much better.
But Sasori's talent and experience were superior.
In comparison, Mizuki felt a little outmatched in tactics.
With Botai charging like a battering ram, Mizuki could focus solely on maintaining Sage Mode.
Sasori tried to block with a few puppets, but the Chakra Shield easily deflected their attacks.
Normal weapons couldn't even scratch it.
Botai trampled forward like a bulldozer, smashing any puppet he could reach.
The tactic worked — Sasori, still not at full strength, was temporarily overwhelmed.
Mizuki sighed in relief.
"As expected, Sasori is a bit easier to deal with this time.
But... how can I damage his core?"
Sasori's puppet body might be weaker than Hiruko, but it was still much more durable than a human.
Even Mizuki's nature-enhanced Fire Release only burned his cloak — his core body remained unharmed.
"Unless I hit him directly or use a special technique, it won't be enough."
Sasori's real body was agile and small.
Trying to tag him with Fire Jutsu was asking too much — even in the original series, few people ever got hit by basic Fire Release.
Without bloodline limits or large-scale techniques, Mizuki's boosted jutsu still lacked precision.
As Mizuki closed in, Botai's paw smacked Sasori and sent him flying.
Mizuki immediately followed up with a Great Fireball Jutsu.
The enormous fireball, infused with natural energy, scorched everything in its path and swallowed Sasori whole.
After ten seconds, the flames finally died down, revealing a charred Sasori in a crater.
"Was it really that easy?"
But Mizuki frowned.
"No... it's not the real body."
The burned figure was just another puppet.
There was a core-like object inside — but it was a fake.
"Damn it… If my senses hadn't been dulled, I'd have seen through this."
Sage Mode boosted everything — power, speed, chakra, healing, and sensory perception.
Mizuki even felt like he might soon see natural energy with his eyes.
Though the effect would fade after deactivating Sage Mode, the benefits were real.
But the downsides had emerged.
Mizuki's chakra was an unstable mix: tailed beast energy, spirit constructs from his summoning beasts, and wild natural energy.
Keeping it all in balance consumed too much attention — dulling his ability to sense enemies.
"This world really doesn't allow for perfection..."
Tricked by Sasori right at the start, Mizuki knew now wasn't the time to get arrogant.
When it came to combat IQ, he was still no match for these prodigies.
Losing track of Sasori's real body was dangerous.
A puppeteer in the shadows was far more lethal than one charging directly.
Now that he'd lost Hiruko, Sasori wasn't about to brawl.
He returned to the traditional puppet master style — unseen, deadly.
As Mizuki tensed and scanned his surroundings, Neji's voice shouted out:
"Captain Mizuki! Above you!"
"Above?"
Mizuki looked up but was momentarily blinded by the noon sun.
Shielding his eyes, he saw it — a tiny black dot rapidly growing larger.
A slender, prism-shaped iron spike hurtled toward him.
"Iron Sand Drizzle…? He used the sun as cover?
Wait — the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand can be used from that far away?"
He didn't waste time marveling.
Mizuki adjusted his Chakra Shield's angle, intercepting the iron spike.
Though he couldn't fully block it in time, the shield still slowed its momentum significantly.
The shield shattered — but Mizuki wasn't alarmed.
He punched the weakened iron pillar mid-air.
The front end shattered into flying metal shards, the rest crashing to the ground nearby.
"Damn, I forgot about that…"
The attack had been deflected, but Mizuki wasn't on the ground —
he was standing on Botai's back.
The bear — hit by the shockwave — collapsed, limbs trembling.
Several bones had likely broken.
A common summon, even one as powerful as Botai, couldn't withstand this level of combat.
"Typical beast summon... still too fragile."
Botai had performed well before, but against Sasori's Iron Sand, he fell quickly.
Mizuki had no choice but to cancel the summoning.
Botai vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Neji, can you locate the real Sasori?"
"I'm not sure, Captain," Neji replied.
"I don't see him."
"What? How is that possible?"
Mizuki couldn't believe Sasori had a way to evade the Byakugan.
Passed down from Ōtsutsuki Hamura himself, the Byakugan was hailed as one of the greatest eyes in the world.
It wasn't something you could just "counter."
"It's not that he's hidden. There are multiple suspicious targets — and I can't tell which one is real."
"...So that's it."
Mizuki understood now.
Since Sasori couldn't avoid being seen, he had created decoys.
The Byakugan saw differences in chakra pathways and flow —
normally enough to spot fakes.
But Sasori was different.
His entire body was a puppet.
Creating a few duplicates with fake chakra cores and mimicked circuits was easy for him.
"So this is genius-level battle instinct...
Just one fight against Hiashi, and he already developed a countermeasure.
Are all future enemies going to be this terrifying?"
Mizuki sighed.
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