Maki called out to Pakura for help, "Sensei!"
Maki felt as if her body no longer belonged to her; she kept trying to struggle, but as soon as Ryou's Chakra Threads entered their bodies, they disrupted their Chakra, and their bodies were no longer under their own control.
Pakura panted, "Damn it, Sasori, this is our fight. To involve my people is simply too despicable."
"That makes sense!"
Ryou thought it was true; he couldn't just control Pakura's people, he had to control Chiyo's and Rasa's people as well.
"Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets!"
Sasori cursed, "Bastard, you're going to control me again!"
Ryou first used Genjutsu to control Sasori, then injected a massive amount of Chakra into Sasori's regeneration core. Instantly, hundreds and thousands of Chakra Threads shot out from the body, rapidly spreading in all directions.
Sasori's regeneration core acted like a transformer, magnifying Ryou's Chakra control capability by dozens or even hundreds of times.
With Ryou's Chakra combined with the terrifying Chakra control of Sasori's regeneration core, there were nearly a thousand of these Chakra Threads.
Densely packed, the surrounding Ninjas whose stats weren't up to par couldn't dodge at all and were all controlled by Ryou.
The number of people Ryou controlled surpassed a hundred in the blink of an eye, and they all jumped into the battlefield, firmly shielded in front of him.
"Σ(ﾟДﾟ;≡;ﾟдﾟ)."
Everyone watched the sky full of Chakra Threads and the hundred-plus Ninjas controlled by Ryou in shock; this had already transcended the scope of Puppeteers and the Puppet Technique.
Even if the founder of the Sunagakure's Puppet Technique—the Second Kazekage Shamon—were here, he would have to stand at attention for Ryou.
Pakura, the Ninja still fighting Ryou, had now gone blank.
"This... what kind of Ninjutsu is this?"
Chiyo said in shock, "It's the Performance of a Hundred Puppets. Sasori has entered the ultimate realm of Puppeteers."
If human puppets are the ultimate taboo realm of the Puppet Technique, then the Performance of a Hundred Puppets is the ultimate realm deduced by current Puppeteers.
A Puppeteer's strength is measured by the number of puppets they can control simultaneously.
The top-tier Puppeteers can control ten puppets at once.
In the history of Sunagakure, those who could reach this realm were her, the Second Kazekage Shamon, and Sasori.
The Performance of a Hundred Puppets was just an idealized deduction; all Puppeteers knew it was impossible.
First was the amount of Chakra; controlling puppets requires transmitting Chakra.
Even with a massive amount of Chakra, it's impossible for one person to control more than a hundred puppets simultaneously.
Moreover, every Chakra Thread must be refined to the point of being able to control a puppet's free movement; what a terrifying level of Chakra control that would require.
Most importantly, it requires doing a hundred things at once.
A Puppeteer controlling multiple puppets must synchronize them to fight together and unleash the puppets' maximum power.
A top female Puppeteer can usually only handle five puppets at once: one in each hand, one in the mouth, and the remaining two have to move on their own.
The Performance of a Hundred Puppets requires one mind for a hundred uses; doing ten things at once is already a fantasy for conventional Puppeteers.
Let alone a hundred?
If someone could truly do it, that person would definitely not be human.
In the original work, Sasori was not human; he used his own regeneration core to release over several hundred Chakra Threads to control puppets.
He didn't use his fingers to control them, but his own regeneration core.
Though called a regeneration core, it was actually a super terminal processor, a unit capable of handling over a hundred threads simultaneously.
The regeneration core was a single-core, hundred-thread super processor.
Sasori had modified himself into a supercomputer.
From now on, Ryou would rely on Sasori to handle the information processing and transmission between spores.
What? If he doesn't agree, then he'll be disciplined harshly!
Those still standing were some Jonin, Chiyo, Ebizo, Rasa, Yashamaru, Baki... The Puppeteers of Sunagakure were willing to be controlled by Ryou; they were moved to tears with excitement, and at this moment, Sasori appeared like a descending god in their eyes.
"My god! It's the Performance of a Hundred Puppets, the ultimate realm of the Puppet Technique!"
"This is the most idealized deduction in the field of Puppeteers. No one has ever succeeded before. I never expected to see the Performance of a Hundred Puppets in my lifetime."
"I can die without regrets now. Even if Uchiha Madara destroys the world, I'll have no regrets!"
Some Puppeteers even began to grow fanatical.
"Lord Sasori is a fighter, a warrior, a great man. He has made the greatest historical contribution to the lineage of Puppeteers!"
"But Pakura, that big-breasted, brainless woman, doesn't understand him and even says Lord Sasori is the murderer who killed the Third Kazekage."
"Too shallow, too narrow-minded! Lord Sasori is absolutely an unprecedented Great Puppeteer, rare even in a hundred million years!"
"But I also understand those so-called Ninjutsu-style Ninjas. Those petty people are afraid, those despicable and shameless cowards, after seeing Lord Sasori's unprecedented talent."
"They only try every means to slander him! They are the real sinners hindering the rise of Puppeteers and the development of Sunagakure!"
"Lord Sasori is truly too outstanding, too powerful, too great!"
"If I could follow him, follow such a great figure, I... I really don't know what to say."
"Too incredible, my god!"
The Puppeteers grew more excited as they spoke, trembling all over, almost on the verge of dancing.
Ryou was surprised to find that he didn't even need to use his Sharingan to brainwash them; these people could brainwash themselves.
They were now Ryou's most fanatical followers.
Imagine, in a dark age, a hero holding up a guiding torch on the highest mountain peak.
Ryou, or Sasori, was the highest peak in the hearts of the Puppeteers, and also the torch guiding them forward.
Mere mortals like them could only prostrate and worship.
Even if Ryou were to take out the Third Kazekage now, they would act as if they hadn't seen it.
In the hearts of the Puppeteers, the Performance of a Hundred Puppets had already surpassed the status of the Kazekage.
A group of old men from the Elder Council were also controlled by Ryou; they felt somewhat ashamed, as they were also leaders in the Village.
How could they be controlled like commoners? Moreover, they were placed in the very front; Pakura's Scorch Release would hit them first.
This brat Sasori didn't understand the rules at all.
An elder shouted to Pakura, "Pakura, stop fighting Sasori, you can't beat him."
"Yes, Pakura, hurry up and surrender. So many of us have become Sasori's puppets, how can you beat him?"
"Damn it!"
Pakura stomped her foot hard.
She could still fight; if Pakura's Scorch Release unleashed a large-scale attack, Ryou's human puppets would turn into mummies on the spot.
But if she did that, she would become a rogue ninja.
Furthermore, Pakura's subordinates and disciple were among the controlled human puppets.
Pakura wasn't a lone wolf like Sasori who didn't care about anyone.
She shouted with all her might, "Sasori, you win! Let my subordinates go!"
Ryou chuckled coldly, "A mere Pakura, you dare to show off your meager skills before me, Sasori of the Red Sand? You overestimate yourself!"
Ryou retracted all the Chakra Threads and released everyone he had controlled.
The elders wanted to lecture Ryou, but seeing his cold gaze, all the lectures in their bellies were immediately swallowed back down.
This was a ruthless man who could even kill the Third Kazekage.
Rasa cleared his throat, stepped forward, and said, "Alright, Pakura, you've lost to Sasori. From now on, don't say anything that's detrimental to our unity."
Pakura held Maki's hand and only gave a cold snort.