Kill Two Ninja in a Row!

BOOM!!!

The sudden, violent explosion ruined Indra's good mood.

Looking toward the center of the camp, he saw two elite Hidden Sand ninja, a man and a woman, each controlling three puppets as they fought evenly against the five jōnin left behind to defend the camp.

"Puppet Technique: Poison Scorpion!"

The mechanism in the abdomen of the Poison Scorpion puppet controlled by the male Hidden Sand ninja suddenly opened.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Ten miniature landmines flew out, landing precisely beneath the feet of the five Hidden Leaf jōnin.

Seizing the chance, the female Hidden Sand ninja tugged on her chakra threads. A Dancer puppet dressed like an elegant geisha immediately flung its long hair.

Its thick black hair burst outward like a hedgehog's quills. On closer inspection, it was all woven from highly resilient steel needles.

The Hidden Leaf jōnin did not dare take the attack head-on and scattered to evade it.

The next moment, they realized that the incoming hair-needle senbon were merely a feint!

A small number of the hair-needle senbon changed direction and precisely struck the ten miniature landmines thrown by the Poison Scorpion puppet.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of explosions rang out. Under the blast waves, thick poisonous mist rapidly spread, blanketing an area dozens of meters wide in an instant.

All five Hidden Leaf jōnin inadvertently inhaled the toxic mist. Their expressions shifted slightly as they hurriedly took antidote pills.

"Damn Tsunade-hime!!"

The male Hidden Sand ninja's anger flared at the sight.

The poison concocted by his mother, Chiyo, had been neutralized just like that.

Most puppet techniques relied on poisoned mechanisms. Once the poison was countered, more than half their methods were rendered useless.

"It's fine, Kui. Even without poison, these Hidden Leaf jōnin are no match for us!"

"Linglan, you're right. It seems we can do even better on this mission and secure more opportunities for the village."

The male Hidden Sand ninja, Kui, and the female Hidden Sand ninja, Linglan, wore confident smiles.

The Hidden Leaf jōnin defending the camp were simply no match for them.

Meanwhile, the expressions of Kunugi Mokume and the other four Hidden Leaf jōnin were extremely grim.

"Their puppet techniques are too refined. They're all elites among Sunagakure's puppet masters."

"The main force is at the front lines. We can't hold out for long."

"The message has already been sent. If we hold on a little longer, reinforcements will arrive. Don't lose heart!"

Kunugi Mokume solemnly encouraged his companions, bolstering the flagging morale on the field.

"Reinforcements? You won't last until then!"

Kui shouted as his ten fingers pulled on chakra threads.

Poison Scorpion, Earth Snake, and Sword Attendant—three puppets charged at the five men at once.

Linglan manipulated her chakra threads as well, controlling Falcon, Dancer, and Monk to support her husband from the side.

The six puppets controlled by the pair worked in perfect coordination, completely overwhelming Kunugi Mokume and his group.

If not for the antidote pills prepared by Tsunade, they would have been poisoned to death several times over.

As Kunugi Mokume and the others struggled to hold on, a faint footstep caught Linglan's attention.

"Who's there!?"

Every hair on her body stood on end. She hurriedly controlled Dancer to attack an empty patch of ground nearby.

The Dancer puppet immediately began to dance gracefully. As it spun at high speed, the retractable arm blades hidden in its sleeves suddenly sprang out.

Clang!

The spinning arm blades struck the air, producing a crisp collision.

Linglan focused her gaze and saw a vague humanoid outline emerging through the dim curtain of rain.

Having confirmed the target's location, Linglan did not hesitate. Several kunai shot from her palm as Dancer's hair-needle senbon fired rapidly.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In the next instant, the kunai and hair-needle senbon pierced through the rain and embedded themselves in the muddy ground.

Linglan's pupils contracted. Her five fingers twitched as she tried to control her other two puppets, but at that instant, an invisible chakra short sword cut through the air.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The short sword, extending white sword energy, instantly severed the chakra threads she used to control her puppets.

At the same time, a gentle breeze swept in, carrying an invisible blade that plunged straight into her chest.

Squelch!

With her heart pierced, Linglan swiftly thrust out her left hand toward the invisible enemy before her.

Poison-coated senbon suddenly fired from the mechanism in her palm, but they still passed through empty air and vanished into the rain.

"What's going on? He should be right here..."

Linglan stared at the air before her in disbelief, racking her brain but unable to understand why.

No matter how powerful the opponent's invisibility technique was, he could not possibly turn his body intangible and evade every attack!

With the Snake Talisman and Reverse Birth Triple Layer, Indra could indeed do exactly that!

Indra drew Demon Blade Hirumaru and felt the knowledge transmitted by the demon blade, immediately frowning.

"Sand Clone Technique, hemostasis... Other than puppet techniques and medical ninjutsu, he basically doesn't know any other ninjutsu."

"Puppet techniques also mostly rely on puppets. There are barely any ninjutsu I can use. How annoying."

As Indra muttered inwardly, Kui watched his wife collapse before him and stared fixedly at the vague outline visible through the rain.

"Earth Snake: Shedding Clone!"

Kui controlled Earth Snake to shed its outermost armor, leaving behind an empty shell to lure the enemy.

Several smoke bombs fell at the same time, concealing Kui's tracks.

Multitasking between three things, he rapidly retreated while his ten fingers pulled three puppets into motion.

The back of the Poison Scorpion puppet unfolded into a semicircular shield, blocking the ninjutsu attacks from Kunugi Mokume and the others.

Earth Snake, now smaller by a full size, burrowed underground. It wrapped around Linglan's corpse while the nozzle in its tail fired clay bullets.

"Earth Snake: Swamp Bullet!"

The instant the clay bullets hit the ground, the entire area became a swamp, restricting everyone's movements.

Kui's eyes flickered, yet he could not see a single trace on the swamp's surface.

"Could that invisible ninja be flying!?"

Slash!!!

An invisible sword edge swept toward him, and the overwhelming sense of danger made every hair on Kui's body stand up.

"Sword Attendant: Six-Blade Drill!"

The Sword Attendant puppet, carrying six tachi, swung them simultaneously, forming a blade formation.

Bang!!

Slashes descended from six directions at once. Though he did not know where the sword edge had come from, the attack was blocked.

This allowed Kui to pinpoint Indra's position. He immediately pulled on his chakra threads and activated Sword Attendant's mechanism.

"Sword Attendant: Breastplate Shuriken Box!"

Bang!

Sword Attendant's chest suddenly burst open, firing thirty-six shuriken in a fan-shaped spread that gave Indra no room to retreat.

But when the shuriken passed through the air, Kui revealed the same shocked expression Linglan had worn.

"No one!? How is that possible!!"

"Good thing I was more skilled."

Indra, transformed into qi, floated in the air while holding up his invisible shirt.

The outline visible beneath the rain curtain was merely the silhouette of his invisible clothing.

Unequal strength and unequal information had created this utterly one-sided battle.

Indra curled his fingertip, and a chakra thread instantly shot forth, piercing straight into Kui's waist and abdomen.

The next instant, Indra's presence vanished from where he stood in an eerie manner. No matter how sharp Kui's senses were, he could not detect even a trace of him.

"Pill Devourer!"

The invisible, colorless, odorless Pill Devourer traveled along the chakra thread and extended directly into Kui's body.

The instant the potent qi poison entered his body, Kui felt it.

He immediately tried to suppress it with chakra, only to find that he could not do so at all.

This violent poison affected the meridians and spread throughout his body through his blood. Its onset was so rapid that it was astonishing.

Kui, who had learned under his mother Chiyo, had practically been raised on medicine. His body had long adapted to many toxins.

Yet against this bizarre poison, he had no room to resist.

When the purple-black qi poison spread to his neck, Kui realized that unless he immediately cut off his entire lower abdomen, there was no way to stop the poison from spreading.

But in the end, whether he cut it off or not, he was doomed to die.