Puppet Technique Jutsu

"Your reaction was quick, kid. An ordinary person wouldn't have been able to dodge my surprise attack. Besides, I didn't even see your hand Hand Seals. Your hand seal speed was already at its peak, almost imperceptible to the naked eye..." Chiyo said, looking at the wooden stake that had been hit by her poison Senbon.

"Hehe, you flatter me. Your puppet is really amazing. Its speed is top-notch, and the timing of its throwing weapons is perfect. It was exactly when I couldn't react. If it were an ordinary hand ninja, they would probably have been at a disadvantage from your move. You're really impressive..." Issui clapped his hands and walked out from behind Chiyo, smiling broadly, as if he hadn't been the one who had just encountered danger.

"Hmph, didn't I not hurt you? Don't try to trick this old man with those words. I have a death wish for you..." Chiyo turned around and said indifferently, staring ahead.

"Really? A game of life and death? I'm getting a little excited. I wonder if you, auntie, can kill me? This is really troublesome. Maybe I'll kill you instead..." Issui said calmly. Tch, kill me? You're thinking too simply. Many people want to kill me, but I'm still alive and well...

"You brat, didn't your parents teach you to respect your elders? What an impolite fellow! Fine, I'll teach you a lesson and show you the true greatness of Puppet Technique..." Chiyo said angrily, gently pulling the puppet back with her hand that was close to it.

Controlled by Chakra, the humanoid puppet soared into the air, passing directly over Chiyo's body and Issui towards Ichisui behind her. Its hands, adorned with sharp claws, lengthened, and Senbon emerged from its fingers. With a gentle flick of its wrists, the puppet unleashed Senbon needles that hurtled towards Issui with lightning speed...

"Hmph, underestimate me. Watch me dodge them..." Issui shook his head disdainfully. The moment the flying needles came, his body twisted in an incredible way, dodging each and every one of the Senbon needles. The Senbon passed right past Issui and continued to shoot backward at an incredible speed.

"Don't underestimate a puppeteer's ninja tool attacks..." Chiyo thought to herself, a smug smile playing on her lips as her fingers flew across the keyboard...

The Senbon needles that Issui had dodged suddenly changed direction and continued to rush towards Issui. This time, the Senbon were even faster. At the same time, the humanoid puppet not far in front of Issui opened its mouth and spat out a large number of Shuriken, shooting towards Issui.

Simultaneously using both the * Senbon a type of Japanese sword) and the humanoid puppet, Chiyo's puppet Ninjutsu had reached its peak. Logically, the launched Senbon, having failed its attack, should have landed, but Senbon changed direction and accelerated again towards Issui's back. Keep in mind that Chiyo was still controlling the humanoid puppet at this time; in other words, she was Isshin, using the assault blade while simultaneously launching a series of senbon puppet attacks. These two attack states were operating concurrently, which is not something a simple attack could achieve...

"Ice Creation - Ice Armor!!" As Issui smiled, Chiyo noticed Senbon behind him. There was no way to dodge now; he could only stop Senbon's attack...

Instantly, the air around Issui's body froze rapidly, and a shield the size of a human solidified behind Issui...

"Crack... Crack... Crack..." The Senbon Needles struck one after another, creating a series of soft sounds as they collided against the Issui. All the Senbon Needles were intercepted by Issui's shield, falling to the ground and losing their effectiveness.

In the blink of an eye, just as Senbon was blocked by the ice crystal shield, the humanoid puppet's attack arrived as expected. A barrage of Shuriken, gleaming with light, pierced towards Issui's body. Closer, closer...

"Ha! Ice —Ice Spike Fist Explosion!!"

Without panicking at all, Issui raised his fist to strike the Shuriken. At the same time, a large amount of ice Chakra condensed in his hand, and his entire fist was surrounded by a hedgehog-like block of ice.

The instant the ice spike fist made contact with the Shuriken, the ice spike ball attached to Issui suddenly exploded, knocking away and shattering all the incoming Shuriken!

"Hmph, not bad, but it's not over yet... Secret Technique - Eight Righteousness Whirlwind Slash!!" Chiyo sneered. Although the strange Ice Release of the Issui had indeed disrupted her carefully laid out tactics, this was not her final move. The real battle had only just begun...

The charging humanoid puppet suddenly drew all the katana from its back, inserted the hilts into its joints, and then began to spin rapidly, hurtling towards Issui...

A hint of surprise finally appeared on Issui's face. This move was not simple. He could clearly see a large amount of wind power gradually condensing and compressing as the humanoid puppet continued to spin. When its wind power reached a peak, it would burst out and shatter the opponent. If he wanted to stop its rotation and disperse the condensed wind power, he would have to get close. However, once he attacked the spinning humanoid puppet, he would inevitably be injured by those high-speed spinning katana.

With the arrow already on the bowstring, there was no choice but to release it. Issui had no intention of waiting for danger to strike. In this situation, the only option was to interrupt the humanoid puppet's rotation or disrupt the condensation of wind-attribute Chakra. Without the support of wind power, the puppet's rotation would just be ordinary Taijutsu, which would make it much easier to deal with.

"Wei-Wu-Si-Chen-Zi-Chou-Yin, Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet Technique!!"

With a flick of his fingers, he opened his mouth and spat out a huge ball of fire, which shot towards the rapidly spinning humanoid puppet.

"Boom..."

The moment the massive fireball made contact with the rapidly spinning humanoid puppet, it exploded with a deafening roar, and a huge cloud of dust and smoke blurred the entire battlefield.

"Is it over? No, not yet!" The Issui he'd just felt immediately returned. Through the billowing smoke, he vaguely saw a whirlwind hurtling towards him. What was going on? His B-rank Fire Release Ninjutsu hadn't worked! That was a high-rank Fire Style technique! How could this be?

"Hmph, you underestimate my puppet. This puppet was meticulously crafted by me, specifically designed to counter Fire Release Ninjutsu. The entire wooden part of the puppet has undergone a series of fireproofing treatments, and the metal on its limbs is made of Iron Sand, making it incredibly sharp. Enjoy the shock that Puppet Technique brings you..." Chiyo said with a cold laugh. Since she could present something presentable, it must be something that could pass muster. Although this humanoid puppet hadn't reached its peak, it was still quite good, one of her proudest creations.

"Hmph, I'm not so easily defeated. Watch this, Ice— the Ice-Breaking Flying Knives!!!"

Issui was unconcerned about the rapidly spinning tornado formed by the humanoid puppet rushing towards him. "Since ordinary Ninjutsu can't stop you, then try my Secret Technique."

With a clenched fist in his left hand, a massive bow materialized within Issui. His right hand rested lightly on the bowstring, and enormous ice arrows materialized, hurtling towards the tornado. Gradually, the speed at which the ice arrows materialized increased, unleashing a torrent of arrows towards the tornado!

"Ta... ta... ho..."

Numerous ice arrows struck the tornado formed by the humanoid puppets, but they were all shattered by the rapidly spinning puppets...

"Hmph, child's play, are you kidding me?" Chiyo smiled contemptuously. She was very confident in her puppetry Secret Technique. With these ice arrows, there was no way they could stop the rapidly spinning humanoid puppet.

"Hmph, you'd better watch carefully, I'm not someone to be trifled with..." Issui retorted. "Damn it, do you think I'm stupid? Using useless things isn't something a smart person like me would do."

If you look closely, you'll notice that every ice arrow that hits the humanoid puppet releases a chilling aura upon breaking through it. Gradually, the puppet's rotation slows down, its joints are covered in ice, and it becomes less agile.

"???" Chiyo a closer look and was also greatly surprised. He actually used ice-attribute Chakra to freeze the joints of his puppet. In this way, even if he had his own Chakra red aura, the puppet would lose its flexibility because its body could not move freely. This was equivalent to the puppet's combat power being reduced by half.

"Hehe, how about that? Nothing is omnipotent. Since your humanoid puppet isn't afraid of fire, I'll give you some ice instead. But don't be upset, I used up a lot of Chakra energy to stop your puppet from spinning so fast—more than double what you wasted. That means if I used the same amount of Chakra, it would definitely stop your puppet's movements quite a bit. A small amount of ice power won't have much of an effect..." Issui said with a faint smile.

"Hmph, I don't need your comfort. A loss is a loss, regardless of your methods. That's how the ninja world is—using any means necessary to achieve your goal. If you had truly used equal power, I would have laughed at you. Victory is the best outcome. Kid, I must say, your strength is quite impressive. There aren't many who can fight me without defeat..." Chiyo said with some admiration. This world always has some geniuses; their strength and talent far surpass those of us old folks...

"Oh, you flatter me. I'm not as good as you say. I'm just a little bit stronger than the average person. You're the real powerhouse. You beat me so badly I couldn't even fight back. Throughout the whole battle, you basically led me by the nose. Your combat experience is far richer than mine, a complete newbie on the battlefield," Issui said modestly.

"No, although I led the entire battle, you didn't seem to care at all. It's clear that you're confident in your own abilities and unafraid of any sudden crisis. Moreover, every time you're in a crisis, you can calmly find a way to deal with it. This is something that not everyone can do..." Chiyo exclaimed.