Human Puppet

"To be honest, I'm a little scared of the resistance going this far."

The scorpion's voice came from the hole in the rock wall.

"He's just a kid who grew up in a peaceful environment, so why does he have such power... Well, okay, eleven or twelve-year-old Jonin aren't uncommon. Geniuses always seem to pop up every three to five years. That blond kid over there is a genius too, his combat instincts are as sharp as a wild beast's. But even geniuses, without polishing, are just rough stones. And you—"

"Uzumaki Shuyuan, such extensive combat experience is not something a student should possess!"

"... I thought you were going to say something! You made me nervous for ages." Shuyuan's sneer echoed among the shadow Shadow Clone.

Is there anything funny about it?

The puppet hovered in mid-air, not in a hurry to attack.

"Combat experience... Haha! Sasori of the Red Sands, who do you think I am? Combat experience is meaningless to me." Many identical faces revealed mocking smiles, their eyes filled with undisguised admiration. "I've been fighting against the strongest Shinobi World since I was a child!"

The strongest Shinobi World today, Katsuki earned that title more than a decade ago.

"To be honest, you're very strong, but compared to my father, you're still... not good enough! There's no comparison at all."

A group of Shadow Clone burst into mocking laughter, their malicious expressions enough to infuriate anyone.

However, Scorpion did not get angry.

"...So that's how it is, no wonder! No wonder even a little brat is so troublesome..." Scorpion laughed, but his laughter was quite eerie. "Killing you this way will be even more worthwhile! Let that arrogant bastard taste the pain of losing a loved one!!!"

The previously floating puppets suddenly lost control and crashed to the ground with a thud.

"Boy, let me show you my true strength! Secret Red Technique, Thirty Round Dance."

The fiery flames scorched the broken rock walls, and a vast expanse of gray wind blades swept across the sky like a long dragon. Flashing lightning burst forth with blinding light, and torrents began to engulf the lower areas.

"...This is unbelievable! Do Puppet Master even have such abilities?"

Shuyuan's clones grabbed the three unconscious guys and started to flee, while leaving a group of clones behind to resist Scorpion's fierce attack.

Thirty brand-new puppets were summoned. Unlike the previous ten strange-looking creatures, these thirty were basically in human form, with only some limbs modified and equipped with some extremely fierce-looking weapons.

But the most surprising thing isn't that; it's that these puppets possess Chakra pathways and can even unleash Ninjutsu. Rather than puppets, they're more like humans...

"Puppets? These things are puppets? Damn... Water Release: Water Wall!"

A Shadow Clone turned around and unleashed a powerful, agile Water Wall, directly withstanding the massive fireball that was suddenly attacking.

These puppets are not strong individually, but under the control of Sasori, the central brain, they cooperate with each other and unleash astonishing power. The combination of wind and fire, water and lightning, and fire and earth, which are just ordinary C-rank Ninjutsu, are combined to achieve a power comparable to B-rank Ninjutsu, and even approaching A-rank Ninjutsu.

This is something even Shuyuan's Shadow Clone can't match.

Although the Shadow Clone possess the same intelligence, knowledge, and experience, their different positions cause their thoughts to expand in different directions. They can only coordinate by exchanging glances with each other, making them far less efficient than Scorpion's puppets.

"Son of Calamity! How about my Human Puppet technique? Even if it can't compare to your great father, it's enough to kill you, isn't it?"

The scorpion's voice, like the attacking puppets, spread outwards.

"Human Puppet?"

Shuyuan murmured the name, pondering it twice, vaguely understanding it, but not quite fully grasping it.

"Human Puppet, this is an outstanding creation that surpasses all the sages and predecessors I have made, a new world of Puppet Technique that I have personally opened up." Sasori's rather proud voice came over along with the bombardment of Ninjutsu. Because the sound of the explosion was somewhat muffled, Shuyuan still managed to catch Sasori's voice thanks to her excellent hearing.

"... Using a ninja's corpse... to preserve their Chakra pathways, and even retain what they possessed in life... and their Kekkei Genkai, is absolutely the highest level of Puppet Technique..."

The sound of the Ninjutsu bombardment obscured some of the words, but based on what was heard, it was possible to roughly deduce what kind of Human Puppet this was.

As expected of Sasori of the Red Sands, he is the strongest genius in Puppet Technique in the history of Sunagakure. In fact, some Sunagakure ninja consider him a talent comparable to Monzaemon, the founder of Puppet Technique, and the Second Kazekage, who improved Puppet Technique.

The ability to create Human Puppet using Ninjutsu is a truly terrifying technique beyond imagination.

Puppet Technique inherently avoids the danger of Puppet Master personally engaging in combat, but it has always lacked powerful and destructive means, making it difficult to be effective in siege warfare. Puppet Master can only focus on poisons and hidden weapons, which, although very ingenious, inevitably fall short of the fundamental principles.

However, Sasori's Human Puppet opened a new world for Puppet Technique. Puppets capable of using Ninjutsu compensated for the lack of wide-range destructive power in puppets, making them almost perfect. At least theoretically, there were no major problems to be found.

"Well! You're quite skilled at this, completely different from what I've learned about Puppet Master! But... I've already said, with your tricks, you'll never be able to compare to Father in this lifetime!"

"Bang!"

The puppet-like wheel-like auger sliced through the shouting Shadow Clone.

"Are you angry because you're embarrassed? Uncle, you're over thirty, why are you still so easily angered? Be careful you don't age prematurely!"

Shuyuan instinctively started spouting sarcastic remarks; his sharp tongue was always impossible to hide. Apart from his parents, the only people he dared not be sarcastic to were his aunt Kushina and uncle Minato. He often joked and played around with his uncle Otoha.

"You brat who loves to show off! Watch out, or you'll die and go to the tongue-pulling hell!"

Scorpion sneered, controlling his puppets to continue reaping the Shadow Clone of Shuyuan. In the park, the number of Shuyuan's Shadow Clone was rapidly decreasing.

"Shadow Clone Technique"

Seeing that the previous Shadow Clone were being gradually destroyed, Shuyuan summoned another large number of clones, a total of one hundred.

"When it comes to numbers, we, the Uzumaki Clan, are never afraid!" (To be continued)