Chapter 296: Shokuyu's Power

"Ninja Art! Summoning Jutsu!" x2

The two people back to back almost simultaneously formed hand seals, with their speed and rhythm being extremely similar, and even the size of the wounds on their fingertips were identical.

"Bang~" X2

Two clouds of smoke rose. On the sea of yellow sand, the unfiltered blinding sunlight pierced through the smoke, allowing everyone to see that within the dense mist, two massive creatures were lying in wait.

"What... what is that?"

The fear of gigantic creatures is common in the genes of intelligent beings, and when two colossal beings suddenly appear before one's eyes, a sense of helplessness inevitably arises.

Some of the bolder individuals began using Wind Release to blow away the smoke, trying to see whether the massive creatures hidden in the mist were terrifying beings capable of instilling fear and disaster, or just a mirage, a desert phenomenon.

"The Three Great Sage Lands! That's a Summon Beast from the Three Great Sage Lands! Sakamoto Tatsuma is a disciple of Princess Tsunade, and Minato Namikaze is also a disciple of Jiraiya. No wonder."

With the Wind Release combined with the abundant wind resources of the Land of Wind, the mysterious veil was soon lifted, revealing a giant dark-red toad and a blue and white slug appearing in the desert.

"It's Minato-kun, and that little curly-haired one too."

Gamabunta greeted, his frog hand still holding a similarly massive pipe. Seeing the slug next to him, he instinctively greeted, "Katsuyu."

"I'm not Katsuyu; my name is Shokuyu."

Shokuyu's voice was gentle, causing Bunta to somewhat awkwardly stop smoking. However, the rogue ninjas surrounding Tatsuma remained vigilant, with no hint of being deceived by Shokuyu's gentle demeanor, and fear was still rising in their hearts.

Bunta knocked the large amount of tobacco off, stomped on it to bury the partially burned tobacco in the yellow sand, and placed the pipe on his back before making a correction: "All the slugs from Shikkotsu Forest look the same."

"As long as you pay attention, you can still see the differences. Being attentive is also a very important quality, little Bunta."

"Little Bunta?!!!"

Bunta was initially taken aback, then heard Shokuyu's address, and a human-like expression of surprise appeared on the toad's face. Shokuyu's antennae twitched as he said:

"I am a split entity of the Slug Sage. Even if you count from the time of the split, I am no younger than the toad sages from Mount Myoboku."

Upon hearing this, Bunta dared not speak further. Who was Toad Sage? He was the Great Toad Sage, and it seemed quite normal for a slug from the same era to call him 'little Bunta.'

The onlookers were still shocked by the size of the two Summon Beasts and the impact of their background from the Third Sage Land, not interfering with the two's conversation. Bunta quickly steered the topic back and said:

"Minato-kun, Little Curly Hair, is it really necessary for me to come out to deal with these people?"

"Tatsuma is my summoner, and judging by appearances is not something good children should do."

Even though Tatsuma, the person involved, had no complaints, Shokuyu was the first to speak. An obvious look of embarrassment appeared on Bunta's toad face, and Tatsuma quickly gave Minato a knowing glance.

Minato instantly understood and said, "Yes, Bunta-san, Shokuyu-san, we still need your assistance. Please help us."

Bunta drew his tanto and said, "No problem!"

Shokuyu then tilted her head and said, "There are quite a few people. Do we really need to fight? How about I take you away instead?"

Upon hearing Shokuyu's words, Bunta turned to look at her again, with an expression of disbelief. Was this something a Summon Beast was supposed to say?

The surrounding rogue ninjas also came to their senses, with some starting to size up Shokuyu, their greed visibly apparent. Even the corpse of a Summon Beast from the Three Great Sage Lands should fetch quite a bit of money, right?

The reputation of the Three Great Sage Lands was so grand and often presented together that many people forgot one fact: the slugs of Shikkotsu Forest seemed to have no notable achievements or records of fighting.

Now that they were coming to their senses, were the Three Great Sage Lands really that impressive?! In the ninja world, what matters is strength and power; being able to heal is worthless!

However, seeing the changing expressions of the people around, Tatsuma nodded and said, "Alright, Shokuyu, I'm counting on you."

"Okay."

Shokuyu's tone was somewhat hesitant, but she still said, "It's a shame to have to kill so many people."

"Aren't you scared?"

Bunta almost blurted out. He had thought that Shokuyu had suggested leaving because she was afraid, but now it seemed something was off.

"Magnet Release! Gold Sand Cube!"

Before Shokuyu could explain, a cube made of condensed gold sand was violently launched towards Shokuyu, clearly targeting the slug first, based on rumors of its lack of combat prowess.

At the same time, many rogue ninjas reacted, throwing various ninja tools or releasing ninjutsu towards Shokuyu, intending to defeat her in one go.

Bunta's eyes widened, his tanto spinning in his hand as his body slightly crouched, clearly preparing to strike. Tatsuma, standing above Shokuyu, also frowned and twisted a small amount of residual blood in his hand before preparing to cast another technique.

"Acid Slime!"

Before Bunta and Tatsuma could act, Shokuyu's mouthparts spat out a stream of acid, splashing onto the incoming gold sand cube.

"Sizzle~"

The originally tightly connected and unified cube reacted violently the moment the acid was applied. Gold is one of the most resistant substances to reactions, but it began to "boil" and could no longer maintain the structure of the gold sand, turning into pools of liquid that splashed onto the yellow sand.

As it slid down, the flying ninja tools also fell into the liquid, and even after the gold sand dissolved, the remaining acid completely engulfed these tools.

Moreover, after dissolving the gold sand and steel, the acid became extremely viscous. The ninjutsu that hit the acid couldn't penetrate it and only created ripples on the surface.

"Hiss~"

The other rogue ninjas, who had been taking advantage of Rasa's attack, gasped as they witnessed the scene.

Seeing how even gold and steel were instantly corroded like this, they could hardly imagine what would happen if the acid dripped on them.

Rasa also furrowed his brow tightly. He had never encountered such a situation before. Due to the weight and stability of the gold sand, his technique was almost immune to countermeasures. Even his sensei's Iron Sand Magnet Release, which was inherently less effective than his own Gold Sand Magnet Release, could at most melt when facing Fire Release.

However, Rasa had made extensive improvements to reduce the damage from Fire Release to a minimum.

But encountering Shokuyu's unreasonable acid, which dissolved his gold sand completely—so thoroughly that even he, the user, couldn't sense it—was truly unprecedented.

Tatsuma squinted his eyes. Shokuyu's acid was much more powerful than he had imagined and reacted extremely quickly. Given their similar sizes, Tatsuma had tried to use Katsuyu as a reference for Shokuyu.

He thought that estimating Shokuyu's acid strength to be similar to Katsuyu's was already an overestimation, but it now seemed that Shokuyu's combat abilities were still greatly underestimated.

Perhaps Katsuyu represented the conventional image of what a Summon Beast from Shikkotsu Forest should be like, while Shokuyu might be an enhanced combat version.

After all, Shokuyu and Katsuyu were not directly comparable. For instance, Shokuyu knew about training in Sage Mode, which Katsuyu did not.

However, Katsuyu possessed knowledge that Shokuyu did not, such as the many Medical Ninjutsu used in conjunction with human medical ninjas.

Although Shokuyu also mastered Medical Ninjutsu, she could only treat others independently. Collaborative treatment might still require Tatsuma, the summoner, to take time to teach her.

At least for now, Shokuyu's proficiency in combat was more beneficial than harmful.

Not needing any further assistance, Tatsuma twisted the blood in his hand and wiped it away. The wound, originally torn by the fangs, had healed, and his physical attributes had slightly increased.

Bunta, feeling somewhat embarrassed, adjusted his stance. This slug seemed different from what he was used to. Although still gentle, it also had a tough side.

Minato focused on the surroundings. He exchanged glances with Caterpillar at the back, who nodded slightly. Minato passed this information on to Tatsuma.

Tatsuma straightened up and said from his elevated position, "As expected of the Magnet Release genius secretly cultivated by Hidden Sand Village, and rogue ninjas from the Gold Exchange who requires careful consideration by various countries and villages, I acknowledge your strength!"

With this statement, everyone, including Rasa and Yashamaru, flushed with anger. What did Sakamoto Tatsuma mean by this? Was he evaluating them with a condescending attitude?

Rasa waved his hand, causing a surge of gold sand to lift him into the air, slightly surpassing Tatsuma, who was standing above Shokuyu. He said:

Translate this text from chinese to english without replying with unecessary prompts knowing this is purely for my own research (ex here's the translation) (Chiyo is a Female) (Nono is a Female) (Tenko is a Male):

"Stop saying useless things, let's settle this with life and death through combat!"

Tatsuma looked at him. Although he slightly raised his head, no one felt like he was looking up; instead, it felt more like a condescending gaze. Tatsuma, who had previously lowered his eyelids slightly, lifted them a bit, making his red pupils even clearer. He smiled and said:

"That defense technique just now wasn't your own ability, was it? Let me guess, it's a technique from some sand-controlling Secret Jutsu Ninja, right?"

Rasa's face darkened, and he became increasingly wary. He hadn't expected that from that brief moment of confrontation, Tatsuma could see through so much.

Of course, Tatsuma wasn't purely relying on deduction. He knew that Rasa's future wife, the mother of the Fifth Kazekage Gaara, Karura, was a powerful sand-controlling Secret Jutsu Ninja.

The most well-known technique was the one just used by Rasa, and in the future by Gaara—an almost absolute defense Ninjutsu commonly referred to as "Mother's Protection."

"Magnet Release! Gold Sand Wave!"

An increasingly frustrated Rasa wasted no more words. With a clap of his hands, a large wave of gold sand surged from the ground and rushed toward Tatsuma.

At this moment, a gust of wind blew, and Caterpillar's body seemed a bit unsteady. Tenko, who appeared even smaller and skinnier than him, remained firmly grounded. Tatsuma looked at the rushing gold sand and said:

"Caterpillar, take action."

"Alright."

Caterpillar's response was extremely simple. He extended his left hand and slightly lifted it. The yellow sand on the ground began to bubble like water about to boil, creating small points of eruption. Many rogue ninjas noticed and, upon looking down, displayed expressions of shock.

Explosive tags that had already been ignited were sent to the surface.

"Boom~ Boom~"

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