Yamanaka Kazumasa frowned as he surveyed the battlefield. The puppet fragments scattered everywhere and the wretched state of the Hyuga party were enough to show how fierce the battle had been.
But the problem was that the most crucial enemy was nowhere to be seen.
Since there were puppets, there had to be a Puppet Master controlling them.
That went without saying.
No matter how the Puppet Master hid himself, he had to stay within a certain range to control the puppets and attack the Hyuga party.
But these were ninja from the Hyuga Clan.
Leaving aside the ninja from the Hyuga Branch Family, Neji Hyuga was quite well known. At the very least, Yamanaka Kazumasa knew he was a rare genius.
Without exceptional talent, Neji Hyuga could never have become a jonin of Konoha before the Fourth Shinobi World War broke out.
Few people in all of Konoha had managed that promotion at his age.
So Neji Hyuga could not possibly have failed to discover the Puppet Master attacking them.
Not to mention that the group also included Hyuga Hiashi, a veteran jonin with extensive combat experience. As the Hyuga Clan's leader and someone who had served as a commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces, Hiashi was no ordinary man.
With both a genius ninja and a veteran jonin present, Yamanaka Kazumasa did not believe any Puppet Master in the shinobi world could evade their Byakugan.
Especially given the Byakugan's powerful perceptive abilities.
Yet there was simply no sign of a Puppet Master at the scene.
Strange!
"Captain, their injuries have been stabilized. We need to get back to the outpost immediately!" the medical ninja shouted, drenched in sweat.
Yamanaka Kazumasa immediately came back to his senses. "All right, let's move."
"You two, keep searching the surrounding area. See