Three days later, Uchiha Mai had taken six Sunagakure camps in succession, killing nearly a thousand ninja and puppeteers. Through those devastating casualties, he announced his arrival to Sunagakure.
Sunagakure was shaken. Overnight, its forces pulled the front back three hundred kilometers, retreating beyond the Land of Fire and into the deserts of the Land of Wind.
Whether it was the Third Kazekage, a supreme powerhouse renowned throughout the Ninja World, or rising talents like Sasori of the Red Sands and Rasa, all of them avoided battle.
They did not dare fight.
Uchiha Mai's conquest of Kirigakure as a one-man army had left far too great an impact. Everyone agreed that they could not match him in a direct confrontation.
The Third Kazekage, Ōnoki, the Third Raikage, and others had studied every battle Uchiha Mai had fought since his debut.
Their analysis yielded a horrifying conclusion: almost every so often, Uchiha Mai's strength would improve noticeably.
He was stronger in every battle than he had been in the last. And his enemies were invariably misled by "the intelligence already available on Uchiha Mai."
The battle at Kirigakure was a particularly clear example.
Even though Yagura and Mizunashi Yukikaze had overestimated Uchiha Mai's strength and rate of improvement as much as they could, he had still cut them down.
Now that Uchiha Mai had returned after more than half a year of silence, his strength would inevitably have improved further if that pattern held.
Admittedly, the idea that someone at Uchiha Mai's level could keep improving after just six months sounded laughable and downright unbelievable.
But on the principle of assuming the worst about an enemy, Sunagakure had to believe it, whether they wanted to or not.
"Damn it."
Sasori of the Red Sands crushed the puppet component in his hand