Extreme Battle

Shuichi began to carefully recall every move the Puppeteer made after appearing. This Dual-Blade Puppet had never used ranged attacks, which should have been an excellent way to ambush people, a skill that every Puppeteer should have.

Kankuro's three puppets were Sasori's creations: one for offense, one for defense, and one for grabbing. The Crow was also much smaller than this Dual-Blade Puppet.

"I see." With Kankuro's fighting style as a reference, Shuichi suddenly understood. "This puppet basically has no ranged attack methods, or rather, it can only perform one powerful ranged attack. That's why it's completely covered in a cloak. I guess this is the opponent's trump card, which they'll only use to decide the outcome."

That's normal. A puppet can't be good at both ranged and melee combat. The puppet's arms have abandoned the function of storing Hidden Weapons and have been replaced with parts suitable for using dual swords.

The other parts of the body are all used to help maintain balance and increase speed, which is why this effect is achieved.

"Moreover, although its moves look powerful, they actually consist of only two basic attacks, and its agility is far inferior to that of the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu."

The opposing attack was a simple three-pronged assault: a flurry of slashes from the start. Due to its invulnerability to pain, Special Jonin swordsmanship were easily suppressed and wounded. The Turtle Puppet, with its strong defensive capabilities, also had an obvious weakness: it was too cumbersome. Therefore, it was used at close range and dared not stray too far from the main body.

"When facing an opponent who is also Jonin, if the initial attack doesn't go smoothly, the opponent's decisive move will likely be a one-time killing blow from their Dual-Blade Puppet."

After comparative analysis, the Puppeteer's true nature was almost completely exposed to Shuichi.

This is the advantage of a transmigrator having superior intelligence. If it were any other Jonin fighting this person, they would probably be constantly wary of attacks from who-knows-where, and fight hesitantly, thus giving the opponent an opportunity.

Despite extensive analysis, given Shuichi's thought process, it only took a few seconds for the opposing team to realize they were chasing a cheater.

"Let's decide the outcome in one fell swoop. First, lure them to see if they'll use their trump card, then find an opportunity to counterattack. Teacher Orochimaru's side should be dealt with soon. If I haven't killed them on my side, then I'll just drag it out."

After mentally rehearsing his tactics, Shuichi's speed suddenly increased, and a small amount of chakra was visibly leaking out from under his feet. In the eyes of a master, this was a sign of insufficient control.

The distance between the two began to slowly increase, and the Dual-Blade Puppet's charge and slash missed by just a hair's breadth. In Kawamasa's view, Shuichi's movements became even more frantic, as if he were unleashing his remaining chakra just to speed up his escape.

"This is a bit troublesome. I wonder how much chakra they still have." Kawamasa watched as the Konoha Ninja struggled to escape, slowly shaking them off. He hadn't yet decided whether to use the last resort within the puppet.

"Let's wait a bit longer. The enemy doesn't have much chakra left. As long as we don't leave any trace, he won't be able to escape."

Shuichi kept circling ahead, his direction was not fixed, his purpose was to gradually move closer to Orochimaru. Seeing that the Sunagakure Jonin him had not fallen for the trick, he knew that it was unrealistic to try to trick the other party directly into revealing his methods.

"As expected of Jonin, you're completely calm. But this distance is enough for me to launch a counterattack, although the risk is a bit high." Shuichi was more than several dozen meters away from the three opponents, and the terrain was also quite complex, so he still managed to create an opportunity.

As they were about to pass a large tree, Shuichi's speed seemed to suddenly slow down, and he took a moment longer to maneuver around the tree. The three people behind him did not feel any obvious change, but only saw that the Konoha Ninja in front of them had slowed down.

"He's almost out of chakra!" The three of Kawamasa felt victory was in their grasp, and they could easily take down this guy soon.

Shuichi's body stopped moving, then he turned and threw out several Shuriken and Kunai —all the ninja tools he possessed—"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Whoosh..." Countless ninja tools rushed towards the three Sunagakure members at lightning speed, the dense black dots in front of them like a sky-covering blotting out the sun.

"Don't worry, this is his last counterattack!" Kawamasa smiled confidently, as this kind of ninja tool attack was perfectly countered by his puppet.

"Crack!" With a flick of the Chakra Threads in his hand, the Turtle Puppet on his back flew in front of him, and then the steel turtle shell stood up again, with a large number of ninja tools hitting it and making a crisp sound. The three people behind him, including Kawamasa, were unharmed.

"This isn't over yet, you foolish Konoha Ninja." A sinister smile crept across his face. "The Puppeteer's Chakra Threads are a top-tier secret technique, and I can roughly see the puppet's vision. There's no way you're going to escape. Die in despair!"

While defending, Kawamasa did not stop controlling the Dual-Blade Puppet with his other hand. It didn't matter that his vision was blocked. He could clearly see through the puppet that Shuichi had just released his Ninjutsu, was about to turn around and run away. He immediately controlled the Dual-Blade Puppet to rush forward again.

"Azure Secret Technique: Double Slash of Machines!"

Two flashes of silver light streaked through the air. Shuichi barely dodged the first strike, and the second was about to land on him.

"Earth Release · Yellow Springs Swamp!"

Just then, the three Sunagakure members found themselves in a large swamp, losing control of their bodies. The giant Turtle Puppet in front of them sank in rapidly due to its weight.

"What? What happened? Who used this Ninjutsu?" Kawamasa was shocked, but his hands didn't panic. The second strike of the Dual-Blade Puppet directly cleaved Shuichi's body in two.

"BOOM!" Shuichi, who had been slashed, burst out of smoke and disappeared.

"How is this possible? He still has so much chakra to release such a Shadow Clone?" Kawamasa panicked a little upon seeing this.

With that amount of chakra, the opponent could easily escape, but instead, they used Shadow Clone to lure him into a counterattack, and the two sides are about to face off in a life-or-death struggle.

"Zi-Si-Wu-Xu, Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"

Shuichi form, which had been hidden to the side, frantically squeezed out the remaining chakra, his chest and mouth bulging to their maximum size, and then he spat out three Wind Blades in succession.

The current meridians' ability to withstand the force is far from enough to unleash the power of Danzo, but after a brief delay, three Wind Blades, each nearly ten meters long, slashed towards the three Sunagakure members like flying knives.

"Ah! Ah..."

Two Chunin were cleaved Chunin two by the Wind Blade. Kawamasa reacted quickly and dismantled the Turtle Puppet. A Wind Blade grazed past his feet and sliced off his right foot. The scene was extremely bloody.

He used Chakra Threads to pull up half a steel plate and blocked it in front of him. The remaining two Wind Blade deformed the steel plate, which then hit Kawamasa's body and sent him flying far away, landing outside the Yellow Springs Swamp.

After unleashing his Ninjutsu, Shuichi was pale and panting heavily. This was the first time he had fought to such an extent in a life-or-death battle.

"Damn it! Die!" Kawamasa roared, having lost a leg. He propped himself up with one hand and used the other to control the Dual-Blade Puppet as it charged toward Shuichi. "Crack, crack..." The puppet made a sound as it moved at high speed.

Upon hearing the puppet's voice, Shuichi immediately rolled backward with all his might. Seeing that his slash was about to miss again, Kawamasa's eyes widened, his anger almost overwhelming Shuichi.

"Azure Secret Technique: Hundred Consecutive Strikes of the Mad Blade!"

"Crack, whoosh whoosh whoosh..." The Dual-Blade Puppet's body suddenly expanded, and its cloak was blasted to shreds by the internal changes.

Countless blades burst forth from the center of the puppet's body like a shower of flowers, covering an area of several tens of meters in radius.

Shuichi had nowhere to hide and was about to be riddled with bullets. This promising young man was about to perish together with the Sunagakure Puppeteer.

"Whoosh!" At the critical moment, a huge python appeared like lightning, circled him several times, and completely enveloped him. The blade hitting the python was practically painless.

Shuichi's vision went completely black. He knew he was safe and couldn't help but give a wry smile, "What kind of twisted sense of humor is this? They came early just to see me make a fool of myself."