On the sand dune.
Yamato and the others were discussing their action strategy, while Qian stared around in utter boredom.
There were just too many people present, so he couldn't very well activate the Byakugan to observe the surroundings, nor could he release his Spiritual Power for large-scale sensing.
Otherwise, a mere Amatsuji Pass was something he could scan from top to bottom in minutes.
And just as his thoughts were wandering, a faint chakra fluctuation suddenly came from underground, as if something was approaching.
Without the slightest hesitation, Qian immediately shouted, "Watch your feet! Something's coming!"
As he spoke, he had already left where he stood.
When the others heard his warning, although they had not discovered anything, they still reacted at once, each using their own methods to leave the spots where they had just been standing.
Almost in the very next instant, several puppets burrowed out of the sand, and a large number of poisoned needles shot in every direction, attacking Qian and the others.
"Puppets?"
"Not good—it's the Puppet Masters of Sunagakure!"
One of them saw what was attacking them and cried out in alarm.
Qian swung the longsword in his hand, and with a series of clangs, blocked every poisoned needle shooting toward him. Then, with a "Body Flicker Technique," he left his original position again.
Bang—
Another puppet burst out of the ground and pounced straight at Qian, but it struck empty air.
Qian raised his left hand and completed the hand seals in an instant, then used a ninjutsu on the puppet—Wind Style: Wind Blade!
Whoosh—
A Wind Blade several meters long shot out, passing straight through the puppet's body and cutting it in half at the waist.
However, that was not enough to make the puppet completely lose its combat ability. After