"Nicely done, Captain Ran!"
A nearby Konoha Chunin was greatly encouraged.
However, Uchiha Ran did not dare relax in the slightest. The A-rank Great Fire Dragon was tremendously powerful, but its consumption was equally astonishing. The chakra in his body had already dropped by a noticeable amount.
Moreover, the chaos and casualties he had caused immediately drew an even fiercer counterattack from the Hidden Sand ninja!
"Bastard! It's the Sharingan, that evil Uchiha brat!"
An enraged roar rang out.
"Puppet unit! Take down that Uchiha brat!"
"Don't let him use that Fire Style again! The rest of you, come with me!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several black shadows shot out of the smoke and fire like ghosts! They were puppets belonging to Hidden Sand puppet masters!
They controlled puppets of all kinds, their joints clicking and clacking.
Some wielded poison-coated blades, some spat venomous needles, and some had spinning blades spring from their joints. Gleaming with deadly cold light, they closed in on Uchiha Ran from every direction!
The reason these puppets had been sent to deal with the Uchiha was simple: puppets could not be caught in genjutsu.
"Watch out for those puppets! If you're poisoned, take an antidote immediately!"
Several Chunin who had fought in the Second Shinobi War shouted their warnings.
Amid the chaotic battlefield, the puppets madly fired countless poisoned needles and kunai, ignoring the flames and thick smoke. Their target was clear—Uchiha Ran!
"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"
A Konoha Chunin skilled in defensive Earth Style reacted instantly beside Uchiha Ran, slamming both hands against the ground!
A thick earthen wall instantly rose from the ground, blocking the area diagonally in front of Uchiha Ran!
Thud, thud, thud! Poison needles and blades embedded themselves deeply into the earthen wall!
"Cover the captain!"
The other Chunin responded one after another, hurling Fireball, wind blade, and water bullet ninjutsu at the pursuing puppets as though they cost nothing, while also trying to strike the puppet masters hiding in the shadows.
Uchiha Ran reached both hands into his ninja tool pouch, his fingers already filled with specially made kunai and shuriken. As he blew on them, he infused them with Wind Style chakra.
He had learned this move from Shimura Danzō in the anime. Unfortunately, his development of it had yet to reach the level of the Pot Kage.
His Sharingan remained locked onto the nearly transparent chakra threads connecting the puppets and their masters.
"Wind Style: Manipulated Shuriken Technique: Windmill!"
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Dozens of shuriken became windmills seemingly granted life, slicing through the air with piercing shrieks. They traced all manner of inconceivable arcs, flying with unerring accuracy at the joints of the charging puppets and the areas where the delicate chakra threads were most densely concentrated!
Clang, clang, clang! Snap!
The sounds of metal colliding and threads snapping mingled together! The joints of the two puppets charging in front were instantly destroyed. Their movements stalled, and they staggered to the ground.
Several crucial chakra threads on another puppet were precisely severed, causing it to lose control and crash into a burning tent nearby.
"What?! How is that possible?!"
"Shut up, you idiot!"
A startled cry came from underground. Though the voice was faint, Uchiha Ran still caught it.
Just as he was about to give them an underground Thousand Years of Death, those puppet masters seemed to realize that they had been exposed.
A massive Scorpion Puppet suddenly burst out from beneath the ground. Its entire body was covered in dull armor that looked as though it had been steeped in venom. Its sinister tail hook glimmered with an icy blue light, and the hook, soaked in poison for seven times seven days, stabbed straight at Uchiha Ran's back.
Whoosh—!!
The sharp whistle of tearing air carried a foul wind.
Uchiha Ran's Sharingan spun wildly! His dynamic vision caught the trajectory of the tail hook ripping through the air, but the scorpion tail was too fast and its angle too tricky. There was no way to dodge it.
He could only form the two simplest hand seals with the speed of someone who had been single for years!
Squelch—!!
The poisoned hook plunged in viciously!
A thread of dark blue venom seeped into the wound like a living thing! A scorching pain instantly spread through his body!
"Hmph!"
Uchiha Ran grunted, his face immediately turning pale. The numbness spreading through half his body made his movements falter.
"Got him!" A puppet master's suppressed cry of excitement came from underground.
"Captain!"
The two Konoha Chunin beside him cried out in alarm.
[Seriously? That's it? Wasn't he supposed to have Jonin-level strength? He's still too young. Better watch out in his next life—don't become a ninja again!]
Though they were wildly snarking inwardly, several kunai bearing Explosive Tags still shot toward the hole from which the Scorpion Puppet had emerged, as well as the puppet itself.
Boom! The explosion sent sand and dirt flying!
The Scorpion Puppet was blasted into a sway, but its shell was exceptionally sturdy and suffered no serious damage. Instead, it lashed its tail hook around even more furiously, pressing toward the gathered Chunin.
Just as it passed Uchiha Ran's stiff body, that paralyzed body directly transformed into a burst of fiery sparks.
There was no spray of blood and flesh—only a searing, brilliantly orange-red blaze erupting from thin air!
A violent shockwave and scorching blast of air slammed viciously into the Scorpion Puppet at point-blank range!
"What?! The Fire Substitution Technique?!"
The Hidden Sand ninja controlling the Scorpion Puppet underground let out a terrified scream!
He had not sensed anything abnormal with the chakra threads at all. When had the other party completed the substitution?! That poisoned hook had clearly struck him!
The close-range explosion threw the Scorpion Puppet's movements completely out of control. Its sturdy shell sizzled under the close-range fiery impact, and the intricate mechanisms inside seemed to have been disrupted as well. Its huge body shook violently and spun in place.
Meanwhile, the real Uchiha Ran had already taken advantage of the instant his opponent let his guard down and silently slipped underground with Earth Style!
In the darkness, his Sharingan was like a crimson searchlight, precisely catching the locations of several Hidden Sand puppet masters scattered and concealed like groundhogs several meters underground, controlling their puppets through chakra threads!
The threads connected to the puppets, emitting their distinctive chakra fluctuations, were as clear as fireflies in the darkness within the Sharingan's vision, directly exposing their hiding places!
"Lightning Style: Chidori!"
A low voice brimming with killing intent rang out in the sealed underground space, but the layers of earth kept anyone above from hearing it.
Crackle, crackle, crackle—!!!
A terrifying, piercing sound, like a thousand birds shrieking at once, suddenly erupted!
Violent blue lightning instantly burst from Uchiha Ran's right palm, bathing the dim underground space in a bleak blue light!
Uchiha Ran shot forward underground like a ghost!
His physical speed reached its limit under the stimulation of Lightning Style chakra!
Ignoring the loose soil and shattered rocks, he headed straight for the nearest puppet master, who was frantically trying to stabilize the Scorpion Puppet again!
"Wha...?!"
That puppet master only had time to sense deadly lightning rushing toward him. He looked up in terror, his eyes reflecting the violent blue electric light and a crimson eye!
Squelch—!!!
Chidori's incomparably sharp lightning blade pierced through his heart as easily as a hot knife through butter!
The violent Lightning Style chakra instantly scorched and carbonized his internal organs!
Before you continue