BOOM!!!
A violent explosion shattered Indra's good mood.
At the center of the camp, two elite Hidden Sand ninja, a man and a woman, each controlled three puppets as they traded blows with the five Jonin guarding the camp.
"Puppet Technique: Poison Scorpion!"
The mechanism in the belly of the male ninja's Poison Scorpion puppet snapped open.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Ten miniature mines flew out, landing precisely at the feet of the five Hidden Leaf Jonin.
The female ninja seized the opening and tugged her chakra threads. A graceful Dancer puppet dressed as a geisha immediately whipped its long hair.
Its thick black hair bristled like a hedgehog's spines. A closer look revealed that it was woven entirely from highly flexible steel needles.
The Hidden Leaf Jonin dared not take the attack head-on and scattered to dodge.
A moment later, they realized with a start that the flying hair senbon were only a feint!
A few of the hair senbon changed direction, striking the ten miniature mines launched by the Poison Scorpion puppet with pinpoint accuracy.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A chain of explosions erupted. Driven by the blasts, thick poisonous mist spread rapidly, engulfing an area dozens of meters across in an instant.
All five Hidden Leaf Jonin inadvertently inhaled the mist. Their expressions shifted slightly as they pulled out antidote pills and swallowed them.
"Damn that Princess Tsunade!!"
The male Hidden Sand ninja seethed at the sight.
The poison concocted by his mother, Chiyo, had been neutralized just like that.
Puppet techniques relied largely on poisoned mechanisms. With their toxins neutralized, more than half their arsenal was rendered useless.
"It's all right, Kui. Even without poison, these Hidden Leaf Jonin are no match for us!"
"You're right, Linglan. Looks like we can do even better on this mission and secure more opportunities for the village."
Confident smiles spread across the faces of the male Hidden Sand ninja, Kui, and the female ninja, Linglan.
The Hidden Leaf Jonin left to guard this camp were no match for them.
Meanwhile, the five Hidden Leaf Jonin led by Kunugi Mokume wore grim expressions.
"Their puppet techniques are incredibly refined. They're elite puppeteers from Sunagakure."
"Our main force is at the front. We can't hold out much longer."
"We've already sent word. Reinforcements will arrive if we hold on a little longer. Don't lose heart!"
Kunugi Mokume earnestly encouraged his companions, lifting their flagging morale.
"Reinforcements? You won't live that long!"
Kui barked, tugging the chakra threads with all ten fingers.
Poison Scorpion, Earth Snake, and Sword Attendant charged at the five of them together.
Linglan manipulated her chakra threads as well, controlling Falcon, Dancer, and Monk to support her husband from the flank.
With their seamless coordination, the pair's six puppets completely overwhelmed Kunugi Mokume and his companions.
If not for the antidote pills Tsunade had prepared, they would have died from poisoning several times over already.
While Kunugi Mokume and the others struggled to hold out, a faint footstep caught Linglan's attention.
"Who's there!?"
Every hair on her body stood on end. She hurriedly sent Dancer charging toward an empty patch of ground nearby.
The Dancer puppet began its graceful dance, spinning at high speed as the retractable arm blades concealed in its sleeves sprang out.
Clang!
The rapidly spinning arm blades struck empty air, producing a crisp clash.
Linglan focused her gaze and made out the faint outline of a human figure in the gray curtain of rain.
Having pinpointed her target, Linglan did not hesitate. Several kunai shot from her palm as Dancer unleashed a rapid volley of hair senbon.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
An instant later, the kunai and hair senbon pierced the curtain of rain and embedded themselves in the muddy ground.
Linglan's pupils contracted. She curled her fingers, trying to control her other two puppets, but at that instant, an invisible chakra short sword sliced through the air.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
White sword energy extended from the short sword, severing her puppet-controlling chakra threads in an instant.
At the same time, a light breeze swept toward her, carrying an invisible blade straight into her heart.
Schlk!
With her heart pierced, Linglan swiftly thrust out her left hand, aiming at the invisible enemy before her.
Poisoned senbon suddenly shot from the mechanism in her palm, but they once again passed through empty air and vanished into the rain.
"What's going on? They should be right here..."
Linglan stared at the empty air before her in disbelief. She racked her brains but could not understand why.
No matter how powerful the enemy's concealment ninjutsu was, surely it could not turn their body into nothingness and evade every attack!
With the Snake Talisman and Reverse Birth Triple Layer, Indra could indeed do exactly that!
Indra withdrew the Demon Blade Hirumaru, then frowned as he felt the knowledge it transmitted to him.
Sand Clone Technique, a bleeding-staunching technique... Aside from Puppet Technique and Medical Ninjutsu, she barely knew any other ninjutsu.
And Puppet Technique mostly relies on puppets. There are hardly any techniques I can use. How irritating.
As Indra grumbled inwardly, Kui watched his wife collapse before his eyes and fixed a fierce stare on the figure faintly outlined in the rain.
"Earth Snake: Shedding Clone!"
Kui made Earth Snake shed its outermost armor, leaving an empty shell behind as a decoy.
Several smoke bombs dropped at once, concealing Kui's movements.
Splitting his attention three ways, he rapidly retreated while his ten fingers tugged at the three puppets.
Poison Scorpion's back unfolded into a semicircular shield, blocking the ninjutsu attacks from Kunugi Mokume and his companions.
Now a size smaller, Earth Snake burrowed underground. As he coiled around Linglan's body, the launcher in his tail fired clay bullets.
"Earth Snake: Swamp Bullet!"
The instant the clay bullets struck the ground, the area turned into a swamp, restricting everyone's movement.
Kui's eyes flickered. He could see no trace whatsoever on the swamp's surface.
Could that invisible ninja be flying!?
Whoosh!!!
An invisible blade slashed toward him. An overwhelming sense of danger made Kui's hair stand on end.
"Sword Attendant: Six-Blade Drill!"
The Sword Attendant puppet, carrying six swords, swung them all at once, forming a web of slashes.
Clang!!
Strikes descended from six directions simultaneously. Even without knowing where the blade was coming from, they blocked the attack.
That allowed Kui to pinpoint Indra's location. He immediately tugged his chakra threads, activating Sword Attendant's mechanism.
"Sword Attendant: Breastplate Shuriken Box!"
Bang!
Sword Attendant's chest burst open. Thirty-six shuriken shot out in a fan, leaving Indra no room to retreat.
But the moment the shuriken passed through empty air, Kui wore the same shocked expression Linglan had.
"No one's there!? How is that possible!!"
"Good thing I'm a cut above you."
Having transformed into qi, Indra floated in the air, keeping his invisible shirt aloft.
The outline visible beneath the curtain of rain came only from his invisible clothing.
The disparity in power and information had made this an utterly one-sided battle.
Indra curled a fingertip. A chakra thread instantly shot out, piercing straight into Kui's abdomen.
The next moment, Indra's presence eerily vanished from that spot. No matter how keen Kui's senses were, he could not detect the slightest trace of him.
"Pill Devourer!"
Invisible, colorless, and odorless, Pill Devourer traveled along the chakra thread and into Kui's body.
Kui felt the potent qi poison the instant it entered him.
He immediately tried to suppress it with chakra, only to discover that he could not.
The fierce toxin attacked his meridians and traveled throughout his body through his blood, taking effect with astonishing speed.
Trained by his mother, Chiyo, Kui had practically grown up steeped in medicines. His body had long since adapted to many toxins.
Yet against this bizarre poison, he had no means of resisting at all.
As the purplish-black qi poison spread to his neck, Kui realized that unless he had cut away his entire lower abdomen immediately, there was no way to stop it from spreading.
But the outcome would have been the same. Whether he cut it away or not, he was doomed.
Before you continue