The crimson sand filling the sky seemed to strike an invisible wall, splitting around Chiyo and Kamizuki to form a broad space permeated by the stench of blood and the black oil of puppets.
Chiyo drew her hands from her sleeves. Nearly invisible Chakra threads extended from all ten fingers, controlling nine silent killing machines.
Her expression grew darker as her killing intent toward Kamizuki intensified.
Twenty minutes.
For a battle between shinobi, that was far too long. Such durations generally only occurred in clashes between evenly matched elite chunin or jonin.
Evenly matched...
Me and this brat?
What a joke!!
The nine puppets formed an attack net with no blind spots. Poison needles, senbon, savage giant blades—countless attacks poured down like a torrential rain!
Kamizuki was not in good condition either. His shirt had been torn to shreds in the fierce battle, and blood seeped from the wound on his right shoulder, running down his arm and onto the blade.
The blood covered the patterns on the Crimson Blade, its rippling sheen making the sword seem as though it were breathing.
Puppet masters were all experts at using poison, and Chiyo was naturally among the best of them.
Yet the poison that could kill even large Summoning Beasts only caused a slight numbness in Kamizuki.
His heart, beating faster after entering battle mode, rapidly pumped blood to dilute the toxin.
His Sharingan spun steadily, seeing the landing points of every weapon.
In an instant, Kamizuki calculated the optimal route of evasion.
Avoiding every attack was impossible, but he deliberately used nonlethal areas of his body to withstand the weaker strikes.
He performed a series of movements no human should have been capable of, twisting his waist more than ninety degrees to evade a puppet's giant axe.
Then,
He raised an arm and shattered a warhammer with his elbow, using the recoil to spring upward before fiercely driving a headbutt into a puppet that had closed in on him.
The skull was the hardest bone in the human body, protecting the most important organ: the brain.
And when used as a weapon, its effect was exceptional!
Bang—!!!
A dull impact echoed through the empty valley as the puppet's head was smashed apart by the blow!
--
Kamizuki landed with blood dripping from his forehead and several new wounds across his body.
But the ferocity in his gaze only grew stronger.
Rasa finally realized just how wise Chiyo's caution had been.
He was one of Sunagakure's rare geniuses. At a young age, he had mastered the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai and become the Third Kazekage's disciple.
He had once believed that, in the vast Shinobi World, there were only a handful among his peers who could be mentioned in the same breath as him.
But now...
He had to admit that, as he was now, let alone fighting this Uchiha, he did not even qualify to join the battle!
If I were exposed before him...
That scarlet blade would cut off my head in an instant!
The density of his muscle fibers defied all reason. Even piercing his flesh was difficult, while the density of the bones supporting that body was even more outrageous.
Chiyo thought, her brows tightly furrowed.
Even Desert Scorpion's poison had no effect on him. Just as he said, it was not some Strength Enhancement Jutsu—it was physical power that was formidable from the inside out.
Clack, clack—
With a flick of her fingertips, three puppets broke away from the main group and formed a triangular formation.
The mechanisms in the puppets' mouths opened, revealing the words "Buddha, Dharma, Sangha."
"Ninja Art—Three Treasures Suction Crush!"
Whoosh!!!!
A wind vortex with overwhelming suction suddenly formed. It was Chiyo's secret technique, capable of pulling everything before it into the formation and grinding it into dust!
The puppets entangled with Kamizuki scattered as enormous wind pressure descended.
The air was sucked away in an instant. Kamizuki's body was dragged forward by the tornado, his veins bulging beneath his skin in a terrifying sight.
"Get down!!"
Shikaku shouted. The black Earth Grudge Fear tissue enveloping him expanded several times over, blooming like a twisted black flower.
The mask's mouth opened wide as high temperatures gathered within.
Fire Style: Searing Migraine!!
At the instant the fireball expanded to its limit, it abruptly contracted, and then—
It surged forth!!
A raging sea of flames spread at high speed, then was drawn by the tornado and rushed even faster toward the Three Treasures Suction Crush formation!
Not good!
Chiyo's pupils contracted. Her hands flew as she pulled the three puppets apart, interrupting the technique.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—!!!!!
The tremendous explosions blasted a huge crater into the sandy ground and burned the dead trees to ash.
Kamizuki, who had taken defensive measures in time, was fine, aside from having even fewer clothes left on his body.
He coughed out smoke, thinking that he needed to find someone to make clothes that would not tear so easily. His fighting style made it far too easy for inappropriate scenes to occur.
"You all right?"
Shikaku moved closer, his voice emerging from the black tentacles.
"The core mechanism of that technique is a rare 'area seal.' You were already locked on, so I could only interrupt it with a large-scale offensive ninjutsu."
"The better solution would be to find terrain with plenty of obstacles before it formed and use rocks to drain its Chakra."
"After seeing it just once, you immediately came up with a way to counter it..."
"People from the Nara clan are still as annoying as ever."
Throughout this twenty-minute battle, Shikaku had played a crucial role. He had always been able to predict Chiyo's movements, preventing her from gaining any major advantage.
Chiyo lowered her eyelids and sneered. "Still... the proud Uchiha clan is actually taking orders from the Nara clan that clings to the Sarutobi."
"If Madara Uchiha found out, he would probably be very disappointed, wouldn't he?"
To people of her generation, Madara Uchiha was not a particularly distant name. The battle at the Valley of the End that had shaken the Shinobi World had happened only a little over twenty years ago.
"Kamizuki—"
Shikaku had just wanted to remind Kamizuki that the enemy was trying to get into his head and that he must not take the bait.
Kamizuki grinned. "If a useful tool isn't used, do you think I'm an idiot like you Sunagakure fools who wrap turbans around your heads?"
"Kamizuki..."
Shikaku grimaced.
It was one thing to insult Sunagakure, but he was an ally, not a tool...
Rasa gritted his teeth and had just opened his mouth to retort.
"You, the guy whose hair color tells everyone you're malnourished."
A mocking smile remained on Kamizuki's lips.
"What do you want to say? Shouldn't you be going back to help your poor relatives in the Land of Wind dig food out of the sand? What are you doing here, showing off your presence?"
From individuals, to the shinobi village, to the Land of Wind...
Even Shikaku felt that Kamizuki had gone a little too far.
Chiyo's attempt to drive a wedge between them had failed, and she could only feel fury rising in her chest.
"You sharp-tongued brat... let's see whether you can still laugh in a moment!"
Just as she was about to attack again,
A voice arrived before its owner from atop the cliff.
"Kamizuki!!"
"With such a huge commotion, I knew you were here!!"
Sakumo came to an abrupt stop at the cliff's edge. Before he could even see the situation below clearly, he shouted, "Two Sunagakure puppet masters are chasing me. They're difficult to deal with, so use your Earth Grudge Fear to give them a hard hit!"
After two seconds of silence, everyone met each other's eyes.
"Ah... your situation here... seems even harder to deal with..."
"That old lady looks a little familiar..."
"Did I come at the wrong time...?"
Before you continue