When more than a dozen puppets appeared at the mouth of the cave, Kawadera Uchiha immediately sensed that things were going badly.
A full squad!
It would take at least a full squad of Sand Ninja to field more than a dozen puppets.
Aside from a handful of elite puppet masters, puppet masters could only control one puppet in battle at a time. In other words, there were at least a dozen puppet masters among the Sand Ninja outside the cave.
There was no time to worry about capturing Sand Ninja alive. Escaping was the priority.
Kawadera Uchiha threw a kunai, cutting the ropes binding the Konoha ninja from the outpost.
The kunai embedded itself in front of the outpost ninja. When he picked it up, his heart was filled with hesitation.
By all rights, he should have killed himself. His injuries were too severe, and forcing himself to follow the Konoha comrades who had come to rescue him would only make him a burden. Yet his powerful desire to live kept him from taking his own life.
He looked up at the Uchiha ninja. He did not know whether it was an illusion, but he seemed to see a flicker of disappointment in the Uchiha's Sharingan.
Was he disappointed in me? But... I really don't want to die...
Kawadera Uchiha formed a hand seal and unleashed the Great Fireball Technique.
He could no longer afford to hide his strength.
The enormous fireball nearly filled the entire cave as it charged straight at the dozen or so puppets.
"Follow me!"
The puppets were made of steel and wood, and they feared fire, so they scattered aside.
The fireball forced back the puppets, and Kawadera Uchiha, Kureya Inuzuka, the injured ninja, and one dog charged out after it.
The outpost ninja's