Chapter 230: The Forced Retreat of the Duo
In this area, the opponent was completely unable to use puppets, while he could move freely.
However, once outside this zone, the opponent would be able to use chakra threads again.
This was because his own strength wasn't sufficient. If he were strong enough, he could move while carrying this entire zone with him!
This was a technique given to him by Boss Ishihara before he left—something similar to a ghostly domain.
"It looks like I'll have to avoid close combat with you," Sasori said with a smile, raising his left hand.
In an instant, raging flames erupted from his palm.
Haku was momentarily stunned. After all, there had been no hand seals, no jutsu name—just flames shooting straight from his palm.
This was the first time he had seen such a thing.
Fortunately, Haku's reaction was quick. The moment he saw the flames, he gripped his Zanpakutō and slowly slashed forward.
A wall of ice instantly formed in front of him, blocking his path.
The flames were intense, but melting the ice wall was clearly impossible.
At that moment, another puppet appeared from another direction!
This puppet did not step into Haku's zone but instead hurled kunai and shuriken from the outside!
Each kunai and shuriken was coated in deadly poison.
However—clang, clang, clang!
A layer of ice instantly covered Haku's body, blocking every attack!
This made Sasori feel incredibly troubled.
If he couldn't shatter that ice, killing Haku might be impossible.
It seemed like his battle preparations were still insufficient.
Sasori shook his head, clearing away unnecessary thoughts.
No matter what, he had to deal with Haku now.
At the very least, he needed to drive him away—otherwise, they wouldn't be able to capture the One-Tail, and their entire plan would be ruined!
Since he couldn't win alone, he had no choice but to call for reinforcements!
With that in mind, Sasori took a quick glance at Deidara.
And that glance nearly shocked him.
Deidara—was already heavily injured by Suigetsu!
Was their mission about to fail?
Seeing Suigetsu swinging his Zanpakutō, about to finish Deidara off, Sasori acted without hesitation.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
A puppet rushed in front of Deidara to shield him, but Suigetsu's blade cut it into pieces!
"Retreat, Deidara!"
Sasori shouted, immediately falling back.
The proud Deidara still wanted to fight, but when he saw Haku charging toward him, he quickly gave up on that idea.
Forget it—he couldn't take on both of them alone.
With that thought, Deidara followed Sasori and retreated, though he couldn't help but complain.
"Sasori, man, you actually lost to that brat?"
"We need to retreat and wait for reinforcements. Those two are stronger than we expected," Sasori replied, glancing at Deidara.
The real problem was that Haku's abilities countered him too well.
He had to find a way to break that domain and the ice armor.
Otherwise, there was no way to kill him.
"Hmph! Didn't think even you would have a tough opponent," Deidara snorted.
Sasori shot him a glare but didn't bother arguing—he needed to contact the organization instead.
Meanwhile, Haku and Suigetsu hadn't expected their enemies to retreat so decisively.
"What do we do now? Boss Ishihara just told us to put up a fight and then withdraw, but they ran away first," Haku said awkwardly.
Suigetsu picked his nose and shrugged.
"Nothing we can do. If they want to retreat, we can't stop them.
Maybe they figured out they couldn't beat us."
Suigetsu spoke casually.
"But don't worry, they'll definitely be back.
Even if they don't come, someone else will—there's no way people will just let us keep the One-Tail."
Suigetsu tried to reassure him, but in truth, he wasn't so sure himself.
Hopefully, those guys wouldn't back off just because they were from the Immortal Organization.
As long as it wasn't a ghost, anyone was welcome to try.
—
Elsewhere, in a remote village...
In just a few days, every villager had collapsed, unable to get out of bed.
They were all sick, and severely so, as if they could die at any moment.
The elderly and weak children had already passed away.
But the village was in such a dire state that there was no one left to bury them.
And all of this...
Was caused by an unseen ghost.
Raen.
"I finally recovered a little.
Didn't expect the people in this village to be so weak.
Even wiping them all out only restored this much of my strength," Raen muttered in dissatisfaction, glancing at the remaining villagers writhing in agony.
"What a pity.
This is the price of weakness.
Let me grant you release."
Raen smiled, then rose into the air.
In the next moment, every person in the village perished instantly.
Their souls were drawn away by Raen…