"That's more like it."
Asuma smiled, his tone relaxing somewhat. "All right, don't overthink it. Let's clear the battlefield first.
Once we get back to Konoha and get some proper rest, there'll be even more important things waiting for us to do."
"Okay."
Aoba nodded, bent down to pick up the Chakra Blades from the ground, and began clearing the battlefield.
The Konoha ninjas nearby also sprang into action, gathering the puppet fragments and rubble scattered across the ground.
"Aoba, look over here." A Konoha ninja suddenly called out. Squatting on the ground, he pointed at a broken puppet fragment. "There seem to be strange patterns on this piece. They don't look like ordinary Iron Sand patterns."
Hearing him, Aoba hurried over, crouched down, and carefully examined the puppet fragment.
The patterns on the fragment were indeed strange—twisted and intertwined, like the markings of some special sealing technique. He frowned in puzzlement. "What kind of pattern is this? It looks like a sealing technique, but it's unlike any sealing technique I've ever seen."
Asuma also walked over and looked at the fragment, his expression grave. "I've never seen markings like these either.
Could this Elite Jonin from Sunagakure be more than just a puppeteer? Could he also know sealing techniques?"
"That's very possible."
Aoba nodded and carefully picked up the fragment, placing it in his palm. "The chakra fluctuations on it are very weak, but I can sense that it contains a special kind of power. It should be the power of a sealing technique.
It seems Zheng was even less simple than we imagined."
"What should we do, then?" the Konoha ninja asked, a trace of worry in his voice. "Could this strange sealing technique be dangerous?"
"It shouldn't be dangerous for now."
Aoba shook his head calmly. "The