"Cough!"
Chiyo spat out the sand in his mouth and knelt on one knee upon the soft ground. The chakra threads at his fingertips trembled slightly as they tugged at the defensive puppet, which had been badly damaged by the explosion.
The surrounding scenery, once that of a primeval forest, had been completely transformed by the Tailed Beast Bomb's explosion. The barren desert-like ground left him dazed, as though he had returned to Sunagakure.
"A puppet made from Meteorite Iron purchased with gold dust only barely managed to withstand the aftermath of the explosion?"
Ebizo steadied his headscarf. After seeing that his companions, buried beneath the earth, were unharmed, he gazed sorrowfully at the specially made shield-shaped puppet standing before them.
Chiyo moved his fingers, guiding the puppet to his side before sealing it back into a scroll. He replaced it with an identical scroll from his ninja tool pouch and analyzed, "A Tailed Beast Bomb of this level is nothing special. We've already tested its maximum power. Next time, we'll definitely block it."
"We can't keep fighting like this." Ebizo's gaze deepened as he stared at the tailed beasts slowly rising to prepare for another attack. "Even if we win here, how are we supposed to secure victory against attacks from the other hidden villages afterward with these broken puppets, their combat strength greatly reduced?"
Continue fighting, or make a strategic retreat?
That harsh reality lay before everyone from Sunagakure.
This was only the outer perimeter of the Heaven-Piercing Wooden Tower. The road ahead would bring attacks from tailed beasts in other states, as well as ambushes from every village along the way.
Seeing his sister hesitate, Ebizo cried anxiously, "The disturbance we caused here has probably already drawn the other hidden villages toward us. If we don't leave