"Thump~"
Somewhere in the unseen, something seemed to beat once—like a heart.
The next instant, more than a hundred shadow ninjas appeared behind the many Suna Ninja, the kunai in their hands resting lightly against the backs of their heads.
"Checkmate!"
The moment Shikaki's words fell, a white figure wielding twin blades suddenly shot out from behind the Suna Ninja and charged straight at Shikaki!
"Is that... the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets?" With the support of the External Brain, Shikaki reacted extremely quickly, and even had attention to spare to observe the puppet launching the surprise attack. While controlling his shadow to stop the puppet, he bowed toward the front.
"This junior is Nara Shikaki. Greetings, Senior Chiyo."
"Hmph! You strike so ruthlessly, yet put on such proper manners. You're exactly like that teammate of yours." Chiyo walked out slowly with a cold expression.
Her aura... has grown stronger. Watching Chiyo approach, Shikaki's heart tightened. Although infiltrating the various nations and guiding their research direction was mainly handled by their Research Department, he truly had not known that the Suna Ninja had already been able to improve Impure World Reincarnation—and without using Wood Release Cells, at that.
However, Shikaki was not overly afraid. Since he dared to come here alone, he naturally had confidence. Aside from secret techniques whose development level was close to a Kekkei Genkai, he also held control over a whole host of Konoha Research Department achievements. If nothing else, taking on a Sunagakure that did not dare use its full strength was more than enough.
"What exactly are you plotting?" Chiyo slowly withdrew the puppet in front of Shikaki. At the same time, nine puppets gradually floated out behind her!
They were, astonishingly, the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets who had died alongside her back then!
"Oh~ Looks like