Chapter 181: Scheming
"Huff… huff…"
It might sound easy, but the Hundred-Puppet Sasori was truly a Kage-level powerhouse. After one battle, even though he had long known the Hundred-Puppet Sasori's abilities and had used every method at his disposal, Li Jiexuan had only managed a narrow victory.
"As expected, every member of the Akatsuki possesses Kage-level power!"
However…
It was all worth it!
Li Jiexuan stored the Hundred-Puppet Sasori's heart core and the still-intact puppet body into the system space. Picking up a puppet blade, he slowly walked over to Haruno Sakura. A violent purple poison flowed along the edge of the blade as Li Jiexuan raised the dagger high…
"Am I going to die?"
Haruno Sakura stared wide-eyed in terror. Despair brewed within her heart, yet she couldn't even scream. All she could do was shout silently in her mind: Naruto, where are you?
Li Jiexuan gently twisted the knife handle, and the sharp blade came crashing down…
"Pfft!"
As blood splattered, Haruno Sakura stared in shock. She hadn't died. The blade coated with deadly poison had not pierced her—it had pierced Li Jiexuan himself!
Bright red blood mixed with purple poison flowed out. Yet even under such circumstances, Li Jiexuan still wore a calm smile…
Why?
She couldn't understand why Li Jiexuan would do such a thing. She had never seen someone so insane.
The more unknown something was, the more terrifying it became!
"Haruno Sakura, I hope you're important enough in the eyes of this world," Li Jiexuan said with a smile as he struck the back of Sakura's neck, knocking her unconscious. After finishing all this, Li Jiexuan leaned against a stone pillar beside Sakura and closed his eyes with a smile.
…
Time passed quietly, and finally someone returned to this place. The ones who appeared at the entrance of the cave were none other than Naruto and Kakashi, who had gone to pursue Deidara. As expected, they had failed to capture him.
"Sakura!?" Seeing the severely wounded Sakura on the verge of death, Naruto froze. His mind went blank as he stood there, swaying unsteadily…
"What happened here?" Kakashi supported Li Jiexuan and took out bandages to wrap his wound.
"Don't worry about me!" After waking up, Li Jiexuan crawled over to Sakura's side. "I didn't expect that Akatsuki member to be Sasori of the Red Sand from Sunagakure. His strength was extraordinary!"
"He turned himself into a puppet. With the Hundred-Puppet Performance, I couldn't protect the medical ninja." Li Jiexuan gritted his teeth emotionally as he lifted the unconscious Sakura. "She's lost a massive amount of blood. She needs a blood transfusion immediately!"
The moment he heard "blood transfusion," Kakashi extended his arm. "You can take my blood…"
"No!" Li Jiexuan shook his head. "Kakashi-senpai, your blood doesn't have recovery properties. The best option is Naruto's blood—only that can save Haruno Sakura!"
"My blood can save Sakura?" Hearing this, Naruto suddenly snapped back to his senses and eagerly stretched out his arm. "Take my blood—hurry, take my blood and save Sakura!"
Naruto-kun, you truly deserve the title of Konoha's number one simp.
Li Jiexuan nodded inwardly, while Kakashi frowned deeply. Of course he knew Naruto possessed remarkable recovery abilities, but would a blood transfusion really work?
However, when he turned to look at Li Jiexuan—the poison-coated blade had pierced a vital spot, a wound that should undoubtedly be fatal. Even though he had doubts, Kakashi couldn't say anything. Was there really any point in questioning a dying man…?
Seeing this, Li Jiexuan forced a smile and took out a Bloodline Extraction Syringe.
"Naruto, as long as we use your blood, we can definitely save Sakura."