As anticipated, there were others involved!

  Tatsuya's appearance didn't elicit much shock from Shamon. He hadn't assumed Konoha would dispatch only Jiraiya. However, what unsettled Shamon was Tatsuya's recent statement?

  Revenge for the Hokage's son?

  Hokage's son... That should pertain to the individual who, together with the White Fang, had plotted his assassination in the past. Ultimately, his attempt had been thwarted by Shamon himself, and the White Fang had abandoned their mission to rescue him, right?

  Hadn't that person been saved by the White Fang?

  Then why was the person standing before him now ciming to seek vengeance for that failure?

  "What are you insinuating?"

  Shamon's curiosity got the best of him.

  "You needn't grasp the full picture, Master Kazekage; one detail suffices."

  As the words left Tatsuya's lips, he blurred into motion, materializing before his adversary. In a swift action, his bde descended, accompanied by the words, "That is, I require your head for my purpose."

  Puff-boom!

  The csh's reverberations shook the office's walls, causing them to crumble under intense turbulence.

  Tatsuya scrutinized the sand particles trapped between the bde and Shamon's form, his lips curling with amusement. He remarked, "I seem to have encountered opponents quite fond of sand tely. It's becoming rather mundane..."

  "Hmm!"

  Shamon grunted, maniputing the quicksand into action. A massive wave of sand surged forth, ensnaring Tatsuya within its embrace.

  "Sandfall Funeral!"

  In the following instant, as the sands closed in around him, Shamon clenched his fist with determination.

  Yet, Tatsuya proved a step ahead!

  Puff-

  The bde's tip punctured through the quicksand, executing a swift backhand motion.

  In the blink of an eye, the sand bore a gaping hole.

  "Sand manipution doesn't compare to the Banpaku. It appears your human head is far easier to cut than imagined."

  Tatsuya's ughter was light as he instantly reappeared before Kazekage.

  The second bde descended relentlessly. Sparks ignited upon impact.

  This time, a puppet, half-human, half-beast in form, intervened to staunchly resist Tatsuya's assault. It was then that Tatsuya recalled.

  The figure before him, the Second Kazekage, wasn't solely a pioneer of Magnet Style; he also possessed a profound understanding of puppetry.

  However, the puppets maniputed by Shamon cked the intricate design of Chiyo's puppets or Akasuna no Sasori's creations.

  Not to mention Red Sand Sasori utilizes living individuals to craft puppets that emute a rudimentary version of Impure World Reincarnation.

  Magnet Style fell short compared to Gaara. Puppetry gged behind Chiyo and Sasori's craft. In each domain, Shamon's proficiency existed, yet none had reached its zenith.

  Tatsuya's grin widened; the bde in his hand morphed into pure bck, and he surged forward.

  Click!

  The puppet's raised arm emitted a cracking sound as the joint gave way.

  Subsequently, Shamon, controlling the puppet, sensed the force he exerted to manipute the puppet amplifying it at an exaggerated pace.

  Bang-

  Two seconds ter, a figure burst through the window of the Kazekage's office, hurtling into the wall of a neighboring structure.

  The sound of movement drew the attention of many Sand Shinobi gathered there, causing them to lift their gazes toward the figure embedded in the wall, their excmations filling the air:

  "Master Kazekage!?"

  As Tatsuya caught up, he gnced at the increasing number of approaching Sand Shinobi and remarked, "Indeed, more arrivals. If they interfere, things could get complicated."

  Booming-

  The bde of Tatsuya's sword resonated with the shrill sound of fmes, but these fmes weren't accompanied by the searing heat typical of fire.

  Eternal Fme: Amaterasu!

  "Yeah~"

  With a swing of his sword, Tatsuya unleashed Amaterasu's fmes, conjuring a towering wall of fire, ten meters high, across the path leading outside.

  "Uh-ahhhhh."

  A portion of the rushing Sand Shinobis was caught unprepared but before they started smming the Sand barrier.

  But in an instant, they were engulfed by Amaterasu.

  Rolling on the ground, they desperately sought to quell the fmes, yet the sinister bck bze showed no signs of relenting.

  Short of reducing its target to ash, the fmes raged on ceaselessly.

  "Wind Style: Sand Bullets!"

  At that moment, Shamon sprang into action.

  He condensed boundless sand into bullet-sized projectiles, firing them in rapid succession akin to a machine gun's burst.

  Was Wind Style being employed in conjunction with Magnet Style for a composite technique?

  Tatsuya's eyes narrowed slightly, his bck bde poised defensively before him.

  Under these onyx pupils, the dense barrage of sand bullets seemed almost stationary. In the blink of an eye, Tatsuya surged forward, his movements abrupt.

  The bck bde in his grip pivoted subtly.

  As the sand bullets grazed the bde's edge, they seemed to rebound like springs, diverting in a different direction.

  None of the projectiles connected with Tatsuya.

  "Why? What's happening!? Bouncing off the bullets with a bde?"

  Shamon couldn't fathom it. Was that bde crafted of metal or cotton? How could it effortlessly deflect the loose sand bombs that effortlessly pierced rocks?

  Cutting through was reasonable; after all, the White Fang had managed it previously.

  But deflecting them was astounding!

  "A rigid sword can never attain true strength."

  Tatsuya elucidated a martial insight from the master swordsman.

  This applied not only to swordsmanship but to life as well. Excess rigidity makes one brittle.

  "Don't assume my defeat so easily!"

  As a Kage-level warrior, Shamon swiftly recuperated from astonishment, raising his hands.

  The sand under Tatsuya's feet surged upward as if imbued with life.

  In the next heartbeat, it plummeted, hurtling toward its target like a tidal wave. The ndscape's advantage was apparent.

  This factor also contributed to Sunagakure's perceived military weakness, discouraging Shinobi from daring to assail it.

  Leveraging the terrain, these adept sand maniputors could inundate invaders with a sea of sand.

  Such a tactic could decimate over half the enemy's forces outright.

  However, Tatsuya remained unperturbed by the cascading sand. Instead, he lowered the tip of his bck bde, gliding his left hand along its edge.

  "Are you determined to surpass everyone?"

  Shamon disregarded Tatsuya's nguid question, his hand a fierce blur.

  The colossal quicksand tsunami, capable of engulfing half the vilge, surged downward, akin to a ravenous sea beast on the hunt.

  In an instant, Tatsuya vanished.

  When he reappeared, he stood behind Shamon.

  The bde's tip, initially hanging low, now angled towards the back of Shamon's neck, reminiscent of a hawk's talon poised for a decisive strike.

  The torrent of sand descending all around them halted abruptly, frozen in pce.

  Puff-puff!

  As Tatsuya's sword reverted to its normal shade, a horizontal bloodstain marred Shamen's neck.

  Uncontrolled, a stream of crimson welled forth.

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