"Sand Crab versus Stone Bear!"
Shadow Clone Kakashi stared intently at the battlefield.
This was the final round of the preliminaries. After the preliminaries ended, there would be a day of rest before the elimination rounds began.
As before, Sand Crab walked into the battlefield with an indifferent expression, not seeming nervous in the slightest.
His opponent, Stone Bear, looked as though he faced a formidable enemy.
Although Sand Crab had not opened with exaggerated large-scale Ninjutsu like Nagato, the way he effortlessly dealt with every opponent made Stone Bear wary of underestimating him.
"Earth Release: Rock Bullet Technique!"
Stone Bear rapidly formed hand seals and spat a stone pellet at Sand Crab. As it flew, the pellet quickly expanded in size, hurtling forward like a fired cannonball.
This was a military Ninjutsu of Iwagakure. When used collectively by Iwagakure ninja troops, it possessed tremendous power, but even in a one-on-one battle, it was a fairly solid offensive Ninjutsu.
Sand Crab's indifferent expression remained unchanged as he took out a scroll and dodged Iwagakure's attack.
The next moment, a hunched old man with an iron stinger resembling a scorpion's tail protruding from his back appeared on the battlefield and charged at Stone Bear.
A puppeteer. Kakashi narrowed his eyes.
There was no doubt that this was Puppet Technique, developed by the Second Kazekage.
Could this guy be a rogue ninja from Sunagakure? Kakashi could not help but suspect it.
Although Puppet Technique was no longer exclusive to Sunagakure after all these years, practically no puppeteers outside Sunagakure had ever risen to prominence. At least, Kakashi had never heard of any.
Yet Sand Crab's skill as a puppeteer was clearly extraordinary. The moment he released a single puppet, he swiftly suppressed Stone Bear.
Even an outsider like Kakashi could sense how