Numerical Advantage?

"He is an elite Jonin from the Sand Village, a puppeteer." In the haste of the moment, Nara Nagisa could only provide this brief introduction regarding the enemy's identity.

A puppeteer? Hanyu pondered in silence. In his memory, there were only three puppeteers from the Sand Village; the first two were a grandfather and grandson, and he couldn't quite recall the name of the third.

"Do the young people of Konoha these days always keep their cool like you? To think you weren't even slightly interested in the bait I threw out... Well, I understand. It might also have to do with that brat being too stupid." As Monzaemon spoke, he pulled a scroll from his robes and unfurled it.

Just as Nara had said, he was a puppeteer, and the puppets sealed within that scroll were the very ones he used.

Sure enough, judging by Monzaemon's words, the clumsy Sand ninja from earlier had been nothing more than bait. It was likely that even Monzaemon hadn't expected the fellow to carelessly step on an explosive tag.

In other words, Hanyu's judgment had been correct; it was fortunate they hadn't taken the bait.

There was really nothing to be said about such a callous disregard for one's own comrades. Not every ninja squad operated with mutual support, nor was every senior filled with concern for their juniors. People were different; perhaps in the eyes of the man before them, if it meant killing the enemy, the loss of his own men was a price worth paying.

One idiot dead on his side in exchange for four Konoha ninjas—was that not a profitable trade?

Chichiwa maintained a distance sufficient to launch an attack, while Hanyu and the remaining two formed a loose encirclement around Monzaemon. However, intimidated by Nara's extreme vigilance toward this enemy, Hanyu did not rush to initiate the assault.

Monzaemon unrolled his scroll, then formed hand seals, releasing the puppets sealed within.

"Chikamatsu... Ten Puppets." As the ten white-clad puppets were released, Hanyu recognized them immediately. Firstly, the number was unique, and secondly, the style of their attire was far too iconic to forget.

Hanyu might not have known who Monzaemon was, but there was no reason for him not to know the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets.

The Chikamatsu Ten Puppets—there were no puppets more famous than these. It was precisely because of the attire of these puppets that the method used to control them was known as the White Secret Technique.

In the history of puppetry—from its inception to its development into a mature and flourishing art—two ninjas were of paramount importance: the Second Kazekage, Monsha, and the man now standing before Hanyu, Monzaemon. In a sense, puppetry was a technique unique to the Sand Village, and puppeteers were a class of ninja exclusive to that land.

Initially, this technique of fighting with puppets was designed to minimize casualties among one's own ninjas while compensating for the Sand Village's lack of manpower. Therefore, a qualified puppeteer was often required to operate multiple puppets. However, a ninja like Monzaemon, capable of flexibly controlling ten extremely complex puppets simultaneously, could only be described as a heaven-sent genius.

Hearing Hanyu's whisper, Nara looked at his captain with some surprise. It was understandable that Hanyu, having just arrived at the front lines, might not know the situation in the Sand Village, but how could he know the name of the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets without knowing who Monzaemon was?

"Is this old man still alive?" Hanyu asked again. In his memory, the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets were weapons used by Chiyo, and the creator of these puppets should have been someone from a long-forgotten era.

Indeed, the Monzaemon before him looked quite aged, yet he was not dead, for this was precisely that "long-forgotten" era.

"Do you think it's possible for us to deal with him?" After realizing his previous question had been redundant, Hanyu whispered to Nara again.

In a four-on-one situation, Nara wanted to say they could try, but amidst the rhythmic clacking of the puppets moving all around them, he could only shake his head.

Even against an ordinary Jonin, such an attempt would be worth it, but Monzaemon was different. Despite his advanced age, he was as formidable as ever—rich in combat experience, powerful, and ruthless. More importantly, in front of him, the "numerical advantage" Hanyu had mentioned earlier was nothing but a joke.

The puppeteer was indeed only one person, but he had ten puppets.

Seeing Nara's negative response, Hanyu nodded and began signaling his team with secret codes: "Try to pin him down. If you can't, retreat immediately!"

At the same time, Hanyu spoke to Monzaemon with a hint of arrogance, "It's hard to believe I'd encounter such a great senior of the ninja world in a place like this. But... to think someone like you would skulk around like a rat, hunting the younger generation of Konoha—it really makes one lament that time spares no one."

His accusation held no water; it was pure provocation, a hundred-percent contrarian act. After all, wasn't a ninja supposed to hunt enemies from the shadows? What did that have to do with age?

"But it doesn't matter. Since you've fallen into our hands, it means today is your end. Let me, the Konoha fire-style prodigy known as the 'Flame of the Abyss,' finish you off. Dying on the battlefield—isn't that the proper destination for an old man like you?"

Hanyu tried to use his words to confuse the enemy as much as possible. He had used fire-style jutsu earlier, so claiming to be a fire-style ninja had a degree of credibility. However, to call himself the Flame of the Abyss, he really should have had a ninja scythe in his right hand and a kunai in his left. Besides... Abyss, oh Abyss, why was this name so filled with sorrow?

Facing this performance, Monzaemon let out a raspy laugh. It wasn't a matter of whether Hanyu's acting was professional or not; a ninja of Monzaemon's age had seen too many battles to be fooled by such petty tricks. He understood the intentions of these Konoha brats—since the emergency signal had already been sent, all they were doing was stalling for time, waiting for more Konoha ninjas to gather.

Failing to assassinate them silently as he had done previously was Monzaemon's mistake.

One had to praise the tactical arrangement Hanyu had made earlier; it was precisely because Chichiwa had been positioned at a distance, detached from the main squad, that she hadn't been discovered by the enemy, which in turn had saved Hanyu from the assassination attempt.

However, Monzaemon was now correcting that error. He brought out the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets for no other reason than to end the battle quickly and retreat before Konoha reinforcements arrived.

If he were surrounded by a large number of Konoha ninjas, an enemy of Monzaemon's caliber would certainly be dealt with by Konoha at any cost.

But what he didn't expect was that the moment Hanyu finished his last word, the Konoha ninja squad moved in unison, and quite abruptly at that!

Monzaemon hadn't expected them to have the nerve; could it be that his reputation held no deterrent power at all? And...

When was the signal agreed upon!?

There was no need to answer that question. Just as Monzaemon wouldn't believe Hanyu's performance, Hanyu knew he couldn't possibly stall for time with just a few words.

Although the goal was to stall, that didn't mean Hanyu feared the fight.

Facing a ninja like Monzaemon, turning to run would only lead to a faster death. Hanyu did the opposite and launched the first attack against the enemy... The confusion in his words wasn't meant to buy ten minutes, but merely to seize that one second of initiative.