Kuromaru stepped forward to stop her, but it was too late.
As soon as Tsume released her Super Olfactory Sense, she could smell scents from dozens of kilometers away.
Tsume first caught the strong smell of blood from the Sunagakure Kazekage Building. Her calm face instantly turned pale, and her lips trembled slightly.
"What happened? Why is there such a strong smell of blood in the Sunagakure Kazekage Building?"
Aside from the Kazekage Building, a domineering smell of yellow sand captured Tsume's sense of smell.
The Shukaku Altar was neither too close nor too far from the center of Sunagakure, and Tsume's Super Olfactory Sense detected it clearly.
"This smell, this, this is the One-Tail Shukaku. Sunagakure has released Shukaku."
"Wait, this smell, the smell of Uchiha Ryou, and his Shinobi Cats."
"Damn it, the worst has happened. Uchiha Madara still made a move on Sunagakure."
"Immediately send a message back to Konoha, tell Hokage-sama that Uchiha Ryou attacked Sunagakure and captured the One-Tail Shukaku."
In an instant, the entire Konoha embassy erupted into a commotion.
...
Shukaku Altar.
Rasa was currently battling the Third Kazekage, controlled by Sasori, in a Magnet Release Ninjutsu showdown.
Rasa's Magnet Release was inferior to the Third Kazekage's. In terms of hardness, iron sand was harder than Gold Dust, and there was more of it.
Gold's advantage over iron was its price.
Gold has high stability, is resistant to acids and bases, has good biocompatibility, excellent corrosion resistance, and hardly rusts or oxidizes.
Therefore, gold is generally a currency equivalent.
But in terms of power, gold cannot compare to iron.
No one has ever heard of using gold to make weapons to cut people; even if they were made, they would only display power and wealth.
Rasa's Gold Dust simply couldn't block the Third Kazekage's iron sand. Gold Dust's only advantage in combat was its excellent ductility.
One gram of gold can be drawn into a several-kilometer-long thin thread. Rasa could draw Gold Dust into thin threads, sheets, and chains.
It wouldn't shatter when attacked by iron sand; it would only dent and deform.
But this alone was not enough to contend with the Third Kazekage's iron sand.
Moreover, the Third Kazekage was a Human Puppet, with his entire body modified by Sasori into hidden weapon mechanisms, a killing machine without pain.
Sasori was now the terrifying Red Tail Scorpion, mixing his venom into the iron sand and the puppet's hidden weapons inside the Third Kazekage's body, attacking with a combination of poison and iron sand.
Rasa was a mortal flesh-and-blood being and had no Medical Ninjutsu; even a slight graze would mean his death.
He had no room for error.
In the original work, the reason Sakura and Chiyo could fight Sasori back and forth was that Sakura had deciphered Sasori's poison beforehand and created an antidote.
Rasa only had Gold Dust, which was suppressed by iron sand. How could he fight Sasori?
Rasa was beaten back steadily.
During a lull in their fight, they felt the rampage of the yellow sand and saw Shukaku's seal break.
Rasa looked back and saw Shukaku's massive figure crushing the altar, and the figures of Ryou and others were covered by the yellow sand.
Rasa's face was somewhat grim, because his wife and son were among them, and Shukaku attacked them all.
The Third Kazekage's Iron Sand Fine Needles rushed over.
Sasori sneered, "Rasa, do you still have time to care about others?"
Rasa hastily used Gold Dust to counter.
"Damn it, Sasori, why did you join Uchiha Madara's faction? Don't you know his goal is to plunge the entire Shinobi World into a world of genjutsu?"
Sasori's low chuckle escaped his nose, carrying undisguised mockery: "So what? The Shinobi World has been plagued by wars for years, and small countries are devastated."
"In these three years of traveling the Shinobi World, all I've seen is a living hell. People are sallow and emaciated, adults and children starved to skin and bones."
"Everyone's face is filled with numbness and fear! How can this cursed world be saved?"
"A world of genjutsu isn't so bad. Reality is too cruel; at least there can be a beautiful dream from which one never wakes."
Did Sasori agree with Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan?
Sasori recognized eternal art, believing that flesh was weak and one should ascend through machinery.
But his essence was that of a selfish person; otherwise, he wouldn't have killed the Third Kazekage, who had always given him help and comfort.
In the original work, Yura and another Sunagakure Jonin served as Sasori's spies in Sunagakure for so many years, doing so much dirty work for him.
Yet, they ultimately became sacrifices for Itachi and Kisame to use the Shapeshifting Jutsu.
And his Human Puppet collection, nearly three hundred of them, were all made from living beings.
These were still people who met Sasori's artistic eye; those who didn't were probably kicked to death like stray dogs on the side of the road.
Sasori was a great villain; killing him would be a golden act of merit.
Sasori was indifferent to the world; he was merely constantly pursuing his own perfection, pursuing his own world beyond flesh and blood, to become an eternal puppet.
Now, doing things for Ryou was forced upon him; his life was held in Ryou's hands; he was Ryou's puppet.
"Alright, Rasa, I won't waste any more words with you. Just become my collection!"
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand World!"
Sasori controlled the Third Kazekage to release the Iron Sand Barrier.
This time, Rasa had no energy to worry about Shukaku; he was scrambling to deal with the Third Kazekage's iron sand World Method.
This was the Third Kazekage's strongest attack.
"Roar!"
Shukaku let out a maniacal laugh, its eyes filled with wanton destruction and ecstasy.
How many years has it been? How many years?
It finally saw the sunlight of the outside world.
Shukaku was different from other Tailed Beasts; Shukaku was sealed in the Bunpuku Chagama by a monk from the Land of Wind during the Warring States Period.
Since then, it had been enshrined in the Wind Temple, listening to a group of monks chant scriptures every day.
Its difference from other Tailed Beasts was that it was not captured by Hashirama, but sealed by the people of the Land of Wind themselves.
During the first Five Kage Summit, the First Kazekage went begging; he didn't want Hashirama's Tailed Beasts, he just wanted fertile land.
Shukaku had been sealed for an even longer time than other Tailed Beasts.
Things got a little better in the Shinobi Village era; at this time, all major Shinobi Villages wanted to use Tailed Beasts on the battlefield.
Shukaku was also sealed inside Monk Bunpuku because of this.
But it wasn't much better!
Hundreds of years of endless confinement would drive even the most normal person insane.
So, as soon as Shukaku emerged, it attacked indiscriminately. Whether they were Uchiha or Sunagakure, they were all despicable humans, and it would kill them all.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Chiyo choked on the sand on Shukaku's shoulder and coughed a few times.
She looked at the surrounding mess with a grim expression. Because of Shukaku's yellow sand, many of Sunagakure's Anbu were directly buried under it.
The whereabouts of Ryou were unclear, and her brother Ebizo was probably also buried in the yellow sand, losing his life.
"Shukaku, what have you done? You've killed the Village's Shinobi; how can we contend with Uchiha Ryou?"