Do You Want a Human Puppet?

Chiyo looked at these young Konoha Ninja, growing angrier the longer she looked. She wished she could kill them all, but that was unrealistic.

Then she would pick out the young ones with special talents and kill them.

Like Konoha, Sunagakure had its own battlefield observers. While recording military achievements, they also compiled detailed intelligence on enemies who required special attention.

Chiyo had long since taken note of several particularly outstanding individuals on Konoha's side.

If she could not kill Minato Namikaze, could she not kill a few other third-rate nobodies?

Chiyo opened with her ultimate move.

"White Secret Technique: Ten Puppet Collection of Chikamatsu!"

Ten white-clad puppets attacked in all directions. Wherever they went, countless Konoha Ninja fell like wheat before a scythe.

Other Puppet Masters followed suit, controlling their own puppets as they joined the battlefield.

If Sasori saw this, he would probably feel comforted... But this place is too dangerous. Before killing Konoha's White Fang, I cannot let him enter White Fang's sight.

Some of the resentment in Chiyo's heart was eased as she thought of her six-year-old genius grandson.

Six was still a little too young to experience war, but the time would come soon enough.

Senju Nawaki of Konoha had only been twelve when he died, while thirteen-year-old Minato Namikaze had already killed multiple Iwa jonin.

But Chiyo feared that her grandson would also die at the hands of Konoha's White Fang. She would rather play it safe and instead use surprise attacks to hunt down more of Konoha's promising younger generation first.

And so Kaedeji was unlucky. He watched helplessly as a white-clad puppet charged over, followed by several puppets controlled by Puppet Masters. In an instant, they killed the ninja in front and forcibly tore open a gap.

"Medical Ninja, fall back! Leave this to us!!"

"Damn it, why is the enemy leader here?!"

"That's the White Secret Technique, the pinnacle of Sunagakure's puppet arts! Everyone, attack together! Do not get separated!"

Seven or eight Konoha Ninja immediately rushed over from all directions. The first two were instantly pierced full of holes by the massive barrage of ninja tools flung out by a Chikamatsu Puppet. Another ninja behind them was cut and poisoned; his death was only a matter of time.

The next three Konoha Ninja to charge forward only saw a white blur flash past before they were sliced in half at the waist.

And all of this destruction had been caused by just one puppet remotely controlled by a single finger of Chiyo's. The other nine puppets attacked in different directions, displaying the same shocking efficiency in slaughter.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

An endless stream of ninja tools fired from every puppet in the Chikamatsu Collection, each coated in lethal poison. Too many Konoha Ninja were caught off guard. Without specialized antidotes, they were utterly routed.

"A genin like me caught Chiyo's attention? What an honor."

Kaedeji took a deep breath. One careless mistake and he would die here. He immediately flung out a scroll, and as white smoke rose, two figures appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye.

Clang!

A metallic ring echoed out as the Amegakure jonin zombie blocked the puppet before it with a scythe.

That was not all. Kaedeji pressed his index and middle fingers together and gave them a slight flick. The Puppet Master jonin zombie suddenly spread both hands, extending ten chakra threads that connected to the Amegakure jonin zombie.

The Next Second, the Amegakure jonin zombie and the white-clad puppet began moving rapidly through the air, exchanging more than a dozen blows. They moved so quickly that even chunin with decent taijutsu could barely follow them, seeing only afterimages and hearing the distinctive, ear-piercing clash of metal weapons.

"With this, my life is a little more secure." Kaedeji retreated quickly, maintaining a hand sign as though he were truly controlling these zombies.

In reality, it was a disguise.

Unless he forcibly controlled the zombies to perform specific, highly difficult movements—such as using ninjutsu they had not mastered in life, which required Kaedeji's direct control to cast—his consumption would be extremely high. Otherwise, he did not need to Pay Attention To the zombies' actions at all. They would attack the enemies before them according to instinct.

At a time when Kaedeji's chakra was nearly exhausted and he had no choice but to find an opportunity to create more chakra, all he could do was convey instructions to the zombies, such as what ninjutsu to use or who to prioritize attacking.

That was what made zombies useful. They possessed the ability to act independently. They were not truly dead puppets, and they could use the ninjutsu they had learned in life.

Kaedeji breathed a sigh of relief at having saved his own life, but the people around him were stunned, scarcely daring to believe their eyes.

"Th-this... The two people that Medical Ninja summoned can actually contend with one of the Chikamatsu Collection?"

"So many of our comrades died in an instant! Yet he can fight a single puppet?"

"Dead Soul Technique? Is this really the Dead Soul Technique? This technique has such enormous potential? Corpses can be used like this? Control one corpse and have it use chakra threads to control another corpse???"

"But just what are those two corpses he Summoned... Why does one of them feel like a Puppet Master? That method of using chakra threads is no different from Sunagakure's Puppet Masters. Can the Dead Soul Technique make corpses wield the power they had in life??"

Anyone with combat experience against Sunagakure Puppet Masters was shocked by the chakra threads extended by the Puppet Master zombie. They felt as though their worldview had been Subverted, their minds roaring blankly.

Corpses could be used this way? The Dead Soul Technique could actually reach such a level?

Was this really the Dead Soul Technique?!

As for where those two corpses had come from... as long as they were not the corpses of comrades, there was no problem. Being able to block one of Chiyo's puppets was already the best possible outcome. It meant many people would survive.

Chiyo noticed this side as well, and a shocked expression appeared on her face.

Several Sunagakure Puppet Masters controlled their puppets in an attempt to destroy the two zombies, but the surrounding Konoha Ninja could not possibly stand by and watch. They continued charging into the melee, plunging this section of the battlefield into a stalemate.

More and more Konoha Ninja came to their senses. The jonin took the lead in dealing with the Chikamatsu Collection, but compared to the upheaval taking place on Kaedeji's side, it ultimately lacked some visual impact.

All of this happened within a few dozen seconds.

"That brat over there seems to be using the corpses of our village to fight us. How utterly evil!"

Anger appeared on Chiyo's face. She hated every outstanding thing related to Konoha. The more she hated it, the more she had to seize every opportunity to destroy it!

However, this method of controlling corpses and seemingly allowing them to wield part of their former strength was practically identical to the absolute forbidden ninjutsu of Sunagakure's Puppet Master lineage—Human Puppet!

In any case, Chiyo refused to believe that a brat Kaedeji's age possessed outstanding mastery of puppet arts. Konoha had no ninja skilled in puppet arts.

"This person must be taken down. It would be best to capture him alive. I want to force him to explain exactly how his technique works!"

A fierce light burst from Chiyo's eyes. The other puppets in the Chikamatsu Collection began moving, dazzling the eye. Meanwhile, the puppets of other Puppet Masters hurled massive amounts of ninja tools, disrupting the Konoha Ninja's movements.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"Those ninja tools are poisoned! Use ninjutsu against them, and do not get hurt!"

Another wave of chaos erupted.

Outstanding Puppet Masters generally prepared a turret puppet specifically for launching ninja tools, and their firing frequency was astonishing, making them exceptionally troublesome.

Kaedeji swallowed a Military Rations Pill, stimulating his body as stabbing pain exploded through his blood vessels and restored some of his chakra.

He casually glanced around. The many corpses lying on the ground, their eyes filled with a mixture of resolve and fear, now overlapped with the cloudy pupils of the zombies. Perhaps in the vast corpse pit that was war, the boundary between the living and the dead had always been blurred.

If he had any choice, he did not want to become a corpse.

"Die, brat! Every Konoha person deserves to die!"

The Chikamatsu Puppet pierced a zombie through the chest with a sharp sword. Then, using that momentum, it drove the zombie forward and stabbed toward the other zombie, ultimately skewering both zombies together.

Of course, that could not kill zombies. The implanted poison was even more laughable, at most damaging some neural structures. Unless their brains were directly destroyed, it could not make already dead zombies die again.

But the two zombies could finally no longer hold out. Their chakra had been consumed at high intensity, their decaying bodies excessively worn down, and they were ultimately torn to pieces under the joint assault of the puppets.

The stench of rotten flesh filled his nostrils, but it was Enough To buy two seconds to escape. While continuously retreating, Kaedeji Summoned another zombie and made it self-destruct the instant the Chikamatsu Puppet approached.

This series of actions was completed in an extremely short span of time. Even Chiyo could not anticipate it in advance. That brief delay was Enough for Kaedeji to wait for a turning point.

Swish!

A flash of blade light cleaved the approaching Chikamatsu Puppet in two.

"Good work."

Hatake Sakumo stood in front of Kaedeji, his voice carrying rare gentleness. "That old woman always likes using such crude, underhanded tricks. You did very well. You have changed my opinion of the Dead Soul Technique. Leave the rest to me."