Clang, clang, clang!
The clashes of ninja blades rang out one after another, sparks flying with each strike.
"Think I'm young, so you can all bully me with your physical advantage, huh?"
After dodging two swift downward strikes, Sen Chisato had a good idea of the Sand Ninja's strength. As the Sand Ninja swung again, he raised his blade to block, then leaped up and kicked him.
Clang!
Thud!
The Sand Ninja was sent flying and slammed hard into a partially collapsed earthen wall, bringing it down completely.
Before the Sand Ninja could hit the ground, the short blade in Sen Chisato's hand was already flying through the air, piercing the neck of the man who was struggling to get up.
Splurt!
The Sand Ninja's eyes widened as he slowly fell.
"What's the point of fighting so hard?"
Sen Chisato landed, muttering to himself. In that instant, two hands suddenly emerged from the ground, grabbed his feet, and dragged him down.
Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!
Sen Chisato was buried in the earth, leaving only his head exposed. Under the influence of chakra, the surrounding soil tightened around him. The more he struggled, the tighter it held him.
"It's over, brat!"
Having waited for his moment and successfully landed his attack, Kawatani Mori emerged from the earth, grinning fiercely as he held his blade.
"By the way, this jutsu is really great. I've always wanted it, and now I've actually run into you."
Sen Chisato showed no fear. As he spoke, he twisted his head from side to side, as if testing how tightly the jutsu held him.
"Stop struggling. Blame your bad luck!"
Kawatani Mori raised his ninja blade. He hadn't figured out what the brat was talking about—probably expressing his admiration and fear of him—but all he wanted now was to kill the kid and escape.
"You think you can kill me?" Sen Chisato sneered, his face full of scorn.
"Don't get cocky!" Kawatani Mori snarled, bringing his ninja blade down in a swift slash.
Splurt!
Poof!
A cloud of smoke rose. Kawatani Mori's pupils contracted, and a bead of cold sweat trickled down from his temple.
"Shadow Clone!"
"Correct."
Before he could retreat, Sen Chisato appeared silently behind him and drove his blade through him.
Feeling the tearing pain in his chest, Kawatani Mori slowly lowered his head. "When...?"
"When you were hiding behind the Earth Wall. By the way, using your comrade as bait—now that's a real 'ninja' move."
As he pulled the blade from Kawatani Mori's body, Sen Chisato kept right on mocking him.
After his enemy fell, Sen Chisato suddenly thought of something. "Come to think of it, I'm a 'ninja' too, so never mind."
He didn't seem to have any right to mock him. After all, he'd been thinking about how to arrange funeral services for his "comrades" this whole time.
He flicked the blood off his short blade and was just about to put it away when an explosion suddenly sounded behind him.
Boom!
The ground shook slightly, and then Sarutobi Hakuba's voice rang out.
"Sen Chisato, watch out!"
The whistle of something cutting through the air came with a surge of danger that made Sen Chisato's hair stand on end.
Without a moment's hesitation, Sen Chisato leaped into the air and turned around as he swiftly formed Hand Seals. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A gale swept out of his mouth in a fan-shaped blast, its powerful pressure stopping every attack.
It was a C-rank ninjutsu, but in Sen Chisato's hands, its power far surpassed the norm.
Taking advantage of the opening, Sen Chisato quickly put some distance between himself and the attack. The moment he landed, he kept retreating.
Only then did he see what the sudden attack had been—
A puppet!
Rukawa Oguri, who was controlling the puppet, glanced at the bodies nearby, his expression grim.
He'd only just managed to shake off that Konoha Jonin. He'd thought Kawatani Mori and the others would be able to escape—or at least help break through the encirclement and give him a chance to get away. He hadn't expected a Jonin and a Chunin to both die.
Even if the kid was only a brat, Kawatani Mori was a full-fledged Jonin. Sure, he'd been promoted thanks to his Perception Technique and wasn't much of a fighter, but this was still ridiculous.
Hearing footsteps behind him, Rukawa Oguri didn't have time to think. He sent the puppet charging at Sen Chisato.
Seeing it, Sen Chisato drew his blade again and complained with an exasperated look, "Hey, hey, I already took out your comrades. Why do you keep coming after me? You're going too far!"
"Don't get cocky, brat. I'm nothing like them!" Rukawa Oguri's fingers twitched again and again. Accompanied by a steady clattering, the puppet rapidly closed in on Sen Chisato.
"Fast!"
Sen Chisato exclaimed, swinging his short blade hard at the puppet's head.
Clang!
The puppet was knocked back, but Sen Chisato furrowed his brow.
Not only was it fast, it was hard, too!
His slash hadn't left so much as a mark on it.
As the puppet charged again, Sen Chisato retreated and shouted to Sarutobi Hakuba, who was hurrying over from a distance, "You can't even handle one guy! How'd you become the captain, Uncle Hakuba?"
"Sorry, sorry. But this guy really is hard to deal with. Don't let your guard down." Sarutobi Hakuba looked embarrassed, too.
Meanwhile, Maruboshi Kosuke and Hyuga Hihi arrived as well.
Rukawa Oguri's expression grew even grimmer.
This was bad!
There was no way he could escape from four of them.
"I have to take a hostage!" His eyes remained fixed on Sen Chisato.
The brat was a handful. He was too fast, and the puppet couldn't catch up.
Realizing this, Rukawa Oguri decisively changed tactics.
Hyuga Hihi had activated his Byakugan and was paying close attention. He was the first to notice the puppet's change.
"Sen Chisato, watch out for the puppet! Run!"
Click!
The mechanism inside the puppet clattered, and its mouth suddenly opened. Countless senbon shot toward Sen Chisato like raindrops.
Sen Chisato had no intention of trying to block them with his short blade—that might look cool, but it was an easy way to die. He quickly formed Hand Seals and slapped the ground. "Earth Release: Earth Wall!"
Thunk, thunk, thunk!
The senbon struck the earthen wall, some of them sinking into it up to their full length. A dark sheen glinted on the needles; they'd clearly been coated in poison. Just one needle striking someone would be enough for the poison to take effect instantly and kill them.
Earth and stone flew everywhere, and a whole layer was stripped from the wall. But its thickness exceeded Rukawa Oguri's expectations. "It didn't even break through?"
Looking at the wall, which was twice as thick as a normal Earth Wall, Rukawa Oguri grew sweatier by the second.
His fingers shifted, and the puppet's four limbs detached from its body and stretched out. Their connecting cords swung around either side of the earthen wall, intending to bind Sen Chisato.
No, not just bind him.
Whirr!
The puppet's limbs underwent a series of mechanical transformations. Steel saws and great blades emerged one after another, gleaming with a chilling light.
Clearly, the guy intended to tear Sen Chisato apart along with the earthen wall!
Out of the corner of his eye, Sen Chisato saw weapons hurtling toward him from both sides. There wasn't time to form Hand Seals, and his short blade wouldn't be enough to stop them. Jumping over the wall would be too dangerous, too.
"Tch. I still know too little about puppeteers."
He knew how to deal with ordinary ninjas and had plenty of experience fighting them, but this was his first time facing a puppeteer.
Still, it wasn't like he had no way of dealing with this. He still had one trick up his sleeve.
He brought his hands together, ready to call out the jutsu he needed, but someone else acted faster.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!"
Before you continue