Puppet

The man in black robes looked up in Yichen 'Yichen direction but didn't immediately spot him. However, perhaps it was the ninja's sense of danger warning him, so he didn't hesitate and launched a probing attack.

However, Yichen quickly discovered the identity of the newcomer: Sasori of the Red Sands.

"An old friend."

Having once captured Sasori of the Red Sands, Yichen knew him quite well. Although the weather was bad Sasori of the Red Sands had put on some simple disguise, the red hair under the black robe and hood still firmly attracted Yichen's attention.

At this moment, Sasori of the Red Sands swiftly took out three puppets, and then dozens of poisoned steel needles shot towards Yichen's direction.

Because Yichen was on guard and was far away, and because the Sasori of the Red Sands couldn't pinpoint Yichen's exact location, he easily dodged the attack. However, it was precisely because of Yichen's movement that the Sasori of the Red Sands below discovered the flaw in the Camouflage Jutsu.

Then Yichen heard a voice from below. "You can fly and become invisible, but the invisibility effect isn't very good. You're Yichen from Iwa ninja!"

Hearing this, Yichen was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected that Scorpion could so easily determine his identity.

On the contrary, Yichen wasn't too surprised that his two pieces of information had been leaked. He had used these two abilities countless times, and he guessed that these two Ninjutsu would be listed first in any information related to him.

Because both of these Ninjutsu are convenient for surprise Ninjutsu, what ninjas fear most is dying without ever having used their skills.

Few can ignore Yichen's Ninjutsu, which allows him to approach his opponent silently.

"I didn't expect Sasori of the Red Sands to remember me," Yichen said, dispelling the Camouflage Jutsu.

"Hmph, thanks to you, I was captured by your Iwa ninja back then. Today, I must repay this humiliation." With that, Sasori of the Red Sands took out a scroll.

Gently stroking the scroll, Sasori of the Red Sands said, "Let me show you my most perfect collection. Then you too will become part of my collection."

"It must be the Third Kazekage," Yichen thought to himself.

Sure enough, the Third Kazekage Puppet appeared in front of Yichen the next moment. Then, the Third Kazekage Puppet manipulated the Iron Sand to carry itself quickly towards Yichen.

Upon recognizing Sasori of the Red Sands, Yichen knew that this First Shinobi War was unavoidable; there was no other reason than that the Third Kazekage could also fly.

Before Yichen could ascertain the speed of the Third Kazekage Puppet, he dared not be certain whether he could escape the pursuit.

However, Yichen was not without First Shinobi War chance against the Third Kazekage Puppet.

Before the Third Kazekage could get close, Yichen retreated while storing all his iron-related weapons into Sealing Scroll.

Then, while flying, Yichen formed hand Hand Seals and used Porcelain Release. A large amount of mud blasted towards the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand.

In the first round of exchanges, Yichen did not come out on the defensive, because Xie had not expected Yichen to have this trick up his sleeve.

However, the second attack from the Third Kazekage Puppet was enough to overwhelm Yichen.

It turned out that the Third Kazekage had controlled the Iron Sand, turning it into Kunai, which rained down on Yichen.

This density is worlds apart from the previous wave of Senbon.

"So that's how it can be used. How come I didn't think of that?" Yichen cursed himself for being stupid. Although his Porcelain Release wasn't as sharp as Iron Sand, if he used it to form Kunai to attack the enemy, the effect would definitely be better than turning into rocks to surround the enemy.

But now is not the time to dwell on these things. Yichen controlled the mud to form a thick layer of rock in front of him.

As soon as the rock layer formed, Yichen heard a series of muffled thuds. Clearly, a large number of Iron Sand Kunai embedded themselves into the rock layer.

At the same time, from directions unobstructed by the rock layer around Yichen, a large number of Iron Sand Kunai rapidly passed by Yichen's vicinity and shot towards Yichen rear.

Knowing that he could control his mud at will, Yichen paid close attention to the Kunai that shot at him from behind.

Sure enough, after flying a distance, the Kunai slowed down quickly, then turned and shot towards Yichen again.

Fortunately, neither the Third Kazekage Sasori of the Red Sands possessed the Uchiha Clan's Kunai-Throwing Technique. These rapidly launched Kunai couldn't nimbly change direction while flying at high speeds. Otherwise, Yichen would have been in serious trouble today.

While controlling the mud to block the attacks of the Kunai time and time again, Yichen continued to fly higher into the sky.

At first, the Third Kazekage Puppet also flew up as Yichen ascended. But Sasori quickly understood Yichen's intentions, sneered, manipulated the Third Kazekage Puppet to form a patch of Iron Sand beneath his feet, and then Sasori stood on the Iron Sand and flew up.

This was, of course, within Yichen's expectations. He wasn't foolish enough to think that such a small amount of cleverness would be enough to escape the scorpion's pursuit. Yichen's goal was to get the scorpion off the ground.

Although the Third Kazekage Puppet can fly, Sasori himself cannot; Sasori's primary fighting methods are still on the ground. Being further away from the ground is advantageous for Yichen.

The two pursued each other, quickly reaching an altitude of a thousand meters. After the previous attempt, Yichen realized that his speed was similar to that of the Third Kazekage, and it would be quite difficult to escape Sasori of the Red Sands by relying on his speed advantage.

So Yichen decided to take a risk.

In the previous exchange, although Yichen seemed to be in control, Yichen was actually the weaker party. First of all, given Sasori's strength, he could definitely control more than just this one puppet at the same time. The reason he didn't bring out the other puppets was simply because he felt that the Third Kazekage Puppet was enough.

More importantly, the Third Kazekage Puppet are very agile in controlling Iron Sand, while Yichen control, although instantaneous, requires his hands to maintain Hand Seals.

In other words, when Yichen is controlling the mud, many other methods are not feasible.

So when they reached an altitude of 1,000 meters, Yichen changed tactics. At this point, Yichen was at the highest point in the sky, the Third Kazekage Puppet was below and to the side of Yichen, while Sasori's main body was very cautiously hiding below the Third Kazekage Puppet.

Suddenly, Yichen stopped its upward momentum and began to fall.

Seeing Yichen change tactics, Sasori did not panic. He promptly controlled the Third Kazekage to create more Iron Sand to intercept Yichen. At the same time, the Iron Sand beneath his feet moved horizontally, heading away from Yichen.

However, Yichen had anticipated this. He first controlled the mud to form a layer of rock below, and then controlled the rock layer to forcefully break through the Iron Sand's interception.

Although the Iron Sand failed to completely stop Yichen's blatant intention to approach the scorpion's main body to attack was seen through by the opponent.

Although Yi Yichen had reached the area below the Third Kazekage Puppet and was at the same height as Sasori, there was still a considerable distance between them.

Above and between the two, the Third Kazekage Puppet was also weaving its way between them.

Even if Yichen wanted to use some Ninjutsu at this point, there wouldn't be enough time. Unless it was Ninjutsu that could be cast instantly without hand seals, by the time Yichen finished forming the hand seals, the Third Kazekage Puppet would definitely already be standing between the two of them.

Even if Yichen unleashed some kind of Seal-less Ninjutsu on Sasori in the distance, Sasori could still summon a new puppet to defend against the attack.

Under normal circumstances, Yichen would have no way to deal with the scorpion at this point.

However, Yichen is not a normal person; he has a cheat code. This cheat code is S-rank Ninjutsu. In fact, this is the first time Yichen has truly used S-rank Ninjutsu in battle since learning it.

Yichen's S-rank Ninjutsu, Banshō Ten'in, has a major flaw: it doesn't require Hand Seals and can be cast simply by reaching out.

However, this Ninjutsu is not very effective in actual combat. In the original work, Pain Shinra Tensei to attack enemies, and Banshō Ten'in is mainly used to cooperate with Shinra Tensei.

But it was just right for Yichen to use at that moment.

To Scorpion's bewilderment, Yichen stretched out a hand towards him, and then Scorpion was surprised to find his body being drawn towards him by an unknown, immense force.

This was quite a shock. Scorpion only realized what was happening after his body had left the Iron Sand, but by then it was too late, as Yichen was already rapidly descending. As Yichen descended, he also pulled Scorpion down with him.

The descent was very rapid, after all, Yichen used the Light-Weight Rock Technique, in addition to the effect of gravity itself.

Scorpion's body was also falling at an alarming speed along with Yichen. Although he had now completed his physical transformation, he couldn't guarantee that his body could withstand falling from such a height.

However, Sasori remained calm. As he rapidly descended, he controlled the Third Kazekage Puppet to keep up while continuously pulling out more puppets. These puppets varied in shape, but most were humanoid, clearly demonstrating that Sasori's Human Puppet skills were already quite advanced.

Each time a puppet is retrieved, Scorpion uses it to slow its descent. At this rate, Yichen's plan to throw Scorpion from a thousand meters in the air is bound to fail.

But Yichen's plan was clearly not over yet. After the two descended about two hundred meters, Scorpion suddenly felt the gravitational pull that Yichen had exerted on him disappear.

Yichen not only stopped the Banshō Ten'in he was using on the scorpion, halting its accelerated descent, but he himself also stopped his descent.

After finishing the Banshō Ten'in, Yichen reversed direction again, passing by Sasori, and then used all his strength to unleash Porcelain Release, creating a large area of mud that directly blocked the path of the Third Kazekage Puppet above.

Only then did Sasori understand Yichen's true intention. It turned out that Yichen wanted to sever the connection between Sasori and the Third Kazekage Puppet through this method.

The Puppet Master manipulates the puppet using Chakra Threads. Yichen doesn't have the Sharingan or Byakugan, so he can't see the Chakra Threads. Therefore, Yichen created a large area of mud, which directly sealed off the area between Sasori and the Third Kazekage Puppet.

Even so, Yichen was still not at ease. After all, Sasori was the most powerful Puppet Master in the entire Ninja World, and who knew if he had other methods to control puppets?

Therefore, Yichen had not used this method before, but instead carried it out when the scorpion lost its ability to fly.

Although Scorpion is constantly slowing down with the help of other puppets, its initial descent speed was still very high, so it is now widening the distance between itself and Yichen at a breathtaking speed.

Therefore, as long as Yichen tries his best to hold off the Third Kazekage Puppet for a while, the distance between Sasori and the puppet will quickly increase to the limit of controlling the puppet.

Yichen didn't believe that Sasori could control the Third Kazekage Puppet so skillfully from hundreds of meters away.