"Sage Slug, everything that needs to be said is already written on this piece of paper. I need you to write down the information written here as soon as possible and send it back to Teacher Tsunade!"
"Ah? So it was Chiyo from Sunagakure? I understand, Lord Meikyō!"
The Katsuyu quickly scanned the contents of the note, memorized them, and then swiftly summoned itself back to Shikkotsu Forest. It then used Reverse Summoning Technique to deliver the information to Tsunade.
"Now, we retreat!"
Meikyō stood up, slit the throats of two Sand Ninja with a single stroke, and quickly retreated with Hizashi Hyuga and the others.
Almost immediately after Meikyō and the others left, Chiyo arrived at the base with a group of puppeteers from Sunagakure.
"So I really am a little late?"
Chiyo stared grimly at the decapitated corpses on the ground.
Upon seeing the Suna Jonin whose limbs had been severed and whose body was sealed away, he was even more enraged.
She rushed over immediately after receiving the intelligence from the Reverse Summoning Beast, but she did not expect that the enemy would break through in such a short time and kill all the garrison personnel.
This means that the enemy must have sent an extremely elite force!
Chiyo touched the corpse of the Suna Jonin.
"The blood is still fresh, and the body's temperature is close to that of a normal person, which means the enemy must have left recently and certainly didn't have time to cover their tracks. Everyone, follow me!"
Chiyo gave the order and they set off immediately from where they were.
"Elder Chiyo, I have sensed the location of the Konoha Ninja; they are not far ahead!"
A Sand Ninja couldn't help but shout.
"Bullshit! I don't need you to remind me. I've already seen them!"
At the edge of Chiyo's field of vision, she could clearly see the figures of Meikyō and her group.
"Damn it, if this continues, they might catch up with us soon. Someone has to stay behind to cover our retreat so the others can keep running and hold out until Lady Tsunade and the others arrive!"
Hizashi Hyuga opened his Byakugan, using its Byakugan field of vision to clearly see what was happening behind him.
"I'll handle it! With my strength, I should be able to hold off Chiyo, or at least escape unscathed."
To be honest, Meikyō felt that if they used the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan, their current lineup would be fully capable of fighting against the opponent.
However, even without the power of the Mangekyo, Meikyō was confident that he could escape unscathed from Chiyo's clutches.
Mirror Body Flicker Technique, barring ambushes, is probably one of the most life-saving Ninjutsu besides Flying Thunder God Technique.
"What a joke! Meikyō, Hizashi, you are both young people, the future of the village, how could I..."
"Alright, you two, stop arguing! There's a Suna Village patrol team ahead, we're surrounded! We have no choice but to fight now!"
Hizashi Hyuga.
To be honest, Hizashi Hyuga really felt unlucky. First, he encountered Chiyo, a top-tier ninja in the Ninja World, and then he ran into the Suna's training team during his escape. His bad luck was beyond words.
"Then I'll hold off Chiyo, you guys..."
Before Ise Niinami could finish speaking, Meikyō had already turned around decisively, drawn his sword, and charged towards Chiyo.
"Hmph, Uchiha, huh? As expected, you're arrogant and haughty. Since you're looking for death, I'll make sure you get your wish!"
Seeing Meikyō rushing towards her, Chiyo couldn't help but laugh. She took out two scrolls from behind her, held one end, and threw them forward. The two scrolls were immediately extended several meters.
"White Secret Technique: The Chikamatsu Ten Puppets!"
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
Several plumes of white smoke emerged, and ten humanoid puppets dressed in white appeared, quickly facing the Meikyō.
These are ten incredibly powerful puppets created by Monzaemon, the Monzaemon of the puppeteers in Sunagakure. If someone could simultaneously control these puppets and unleash the full power of the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets, their strength would undoubtedly reach the level of a Kage.
However, throughout the entire Sunagakure, there was only one puppeteer, Chiyo, who could perfectly control ten puppets with ten fingers.
"Uchiha Style: Mirror Body Flicker Technique!"
In an instant, Meikyō's figure also transformed into more than a dozen, wielding weapons and engaging in a fierce battle with Chiyo. Judging from the scene, he was not at a disadvantage.
"Each clone can quickly switch between physical and virtual forms? Is this the special clone technique that Kagami Uchiha used back then?"
Chiyo was slightly surprised, not expecting that the young Uchiha in front of her had actually learned the ultimate technique of an opponent she had fought in the past.
It seems that it will take a bit more effort to take down this Uchiha.
It just takes a little more effort.
As Chiyo thought this, she slightly twitched her finger and activated the mechanism on the puppet.
"Puppet Technique: Assault Blade!"
Countless Kunai and shuriken shot out from the puppet, overwhelming Meikyō.
Chiyo couldn't discern the true form of the Meikyō, she simply decided to use wide-range attacks to strike it all.
With the Meikyō 'Sharingan vision, one could clearly see that the blades of these Kunai shuriken were slightly green, indicating that they had been treated with a potent poison.
Moreover, behind these ninja tools are connected Chakra Threads that are invisible to the naked eye.
"Showing off your ninja tools in front of the Uchiha?"
Meikyō curled her lip in disdain.
Chiyo, that old woman, is underestimating him a bit.
With his left hand, he reached into his Ninja Tool Pouch and pulled out a Sealing Scroll with the characteristics of the Uzumaki Clan's secret technique, which Kushina and Minato had given him before. Meikyō also summoned a large number of steel wire shuriken from it as a return gift to Chiyo.
This Sealing Scroll was made by Kushina, Sealing Jutsu Master. Not only is it much smaller than other Sealing Scroll, making it easy to put into Ninja Tool Pouch, but its capacity to hold items is also larger than that of other regular Sealing Scroll.
"Uchiha Style: Controlled Shuriken!"
Similarly, countless shuriken flew out in all directions. With the Sharingan's extremely abnormal perception and dynamic vision, as well as the shuriken skills of the higher-ups in the Meikyō, most of Chiyo's puppet's attacks were deflected, and the remaining ones could not pose an effective threat.
The first round of probing between the two sides has ended.
Next came the real, hard-fought battle.
"Boom!"
An ugly, bald puppet descended from the sky, slamming its fists heavily into the ground, creating a large crater.
Just as Meikyō was about to retaliate after dodging the attack, she keenly sensed a puppet attacking from behind. She decisively Setting Sun Transformation, sending it flying. She then quickly switched the location of her main body.
"Sun Breathing, Tenth Form, Shining Light!"
A spiral of sun-like flames coiled around the blade as Meikyō slashed the Ama-no-Ohabari from top to bottom, clashing with a female puppet wielding two swords in front of her.
The immense force sent the puppet flying with a single blow.
But the next moment, two more puppets came running in, trying to entangle Meikyō.
With Mirror Body Flicker Technique created a clone that would crumble at the slightest touch. Meikyō then switched positions and continued its attack towards Chiyo's location.
As is well known, a puppeteer's weakness lies in his own body.
Chiyo's Taijutsu are actually not weak, but she would definitely be no match for someone with extremely strong close combat abilities like Meikyō, White Fang, or Tsunade.
However, since she knows her weakness, a powerful ninja like Chiyo, who has been famous in the Ninja World for a long time, must have a way to deal with her weakness, or at least, to avoid it as much as possible in battle.
Chiyo has two options: one is to place a puppet with the strongest defensive capabilities around her to protect herself, and the other is to increase her speed.
Chiyo's speed is actually among the top of all the strong opponents that Meikyō has encountered so far.
While she can't compare to a speed-type ninja like Minato Namikaze, Chiyo isn't far behind Hanzo or Hiruzen Sarutobi.
In the future, when facing Sasori, Chiyo was still able to unleash a speed that surprised even Sakura. At this time, like Hiruzen Sarutobi, she was still at the end of her peak age, and her speed was no slower than that of the future.
"Laugh..."
A few Mars floated from the corner of Meikyō's mouth, and the surface of the Ama-no-Ohabari in his hand ignited with extremely strong flames, gradually forming a dragon head of flames.
Meikyō turned to the side, raised the knife, and braced his feet against the ground, preparing to exert force.
"Sun Breathing - Eleventh Form: Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance!"
In Setsuna, a dazzling red light, like the sun, flashed by, and Meikyō's figure moved swiftly across the battlefield like a dragon.
Raising his sword, he slashed diagonally, instantly cleaving the bald puppet in two. Then, he bent over and turned, dodging the Kunai flying from afar. He swung the Ama-no-Ohabari in his hand in a perfect circle below, and then cleaved a three-eyed puppet in two with another upward slash. Finally, he spun around, leaned forward, and cut a long-haired puppet in half at the waist.
Chiyo was immediately alarmed and quickly used Chakra Threads to recall the two puppets, and together with the puppet next to her, she set up a defense from three directions.
"Puppet Technique: Machine Light Shield Seal!"
A deep blue Chakra light condensed from the puppet, protecting Chiyo from all sides.
"Sun Breathing, Twelfth Form: Flame Dance!"
Meikyō's last two slashes were easily blocked by Chiyo, who was prepared. Chiyo even controlled the puppet to activate the mechanism on its arm, which fired countless flying needles at Meikyō.
Seeing that the attack had failed, Meikyō had no choice but to use Mirror Body Flicker Technique to send himself away in Reverse Summoning.
Regardless, this charge severely injured three of Chiyo's Chikamatsu Ten Puppets, which was quite an achievement. These puppets were lifeless, and even though they were cut in two by Meikyō's sword, Chiyo could still control them with Chakra Threads and activate their mechanisms to fight. However, their combat abilities would definitely be greatly reduced compared to before.
"This kid... is a ninja of the same type as White Fang. He has superb swordsmanship, superb movement speed, and even the Sharingan that can detect the Chakra Threads of puppeteers. His ability to counter puppeteers is even stronger than White Fang's!"
Chiyo frowned slightly as she watched the battle unfold.
Meikyō's current combat prowess has truly exceeded her expectations.
Although she hasn't reached the level of Kage Level yet, her fighting style is very effective against puppeteers and she can still pose a threat to Chiyo.
Just like Sasuke, who hadn't yet awakened the Mangekyo, was still able to defeat Deidara through a relationship of mutual restraint.
Meikyō had clearly noticed this as well.
Even without using the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan, if the battle continued like this, he wouldn't be able to defeat Chiyo, but he could definitely keep her occupied.
He had already notified Katsuyu using his summoning beast, the Tsunade, so he should be able to hold out until reinforcements arrive.
However, although Chiyo was unaware that Meikyō had already sent a message, she knew that she needed to eliminate her opponent as soon as possible to avoid any unforeseen events along the way.
She decided to unleash her full power to defeat this Uchiha brat.
"Uchiha brat, I admit I underestimated you just now, but this time, I'm going to get serious!"
While controlling the puppets to continue entangled with Meikyō, Chiyo arranged the three puppets beside her into a triangular formation, like a human pyramid.
The three puppets activated the mechanisms on their bodies one by one, revealing the three large characters "Buddha", "Dharma", and "Sangha" written on them.
"Puppet Technique - Three Treasures Absorption Collapse!"
A fierce wind howled, and a violent Tatsumaki was released from between the three puppets, churning and absorbing all the surrounding matter.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Meikyō used Mirror Body Flicker Technique to switch himself to the position furthest from the center of the Three Treasures Absorption Collapse at an extremely fast speed, and quickly withdrew. Meanwhile, the clones within the range of the Three Treasures Absorption Collapse were shattered one after another.
But the remaining puppets continued to relentlessly pester Meikyō. If they could just keep Meikyō occupied, they could make the Three Treasures Absorption Collapse and turn around, targeting Meikyō's main body.
"This is extremely troublesome!"
Meikyō frowned slightly.
The Three Treasures Absorption Collapse. Once struck by this Tatsumaki, one will be swept into its center and ultimately sealed away by Chiyo Tatsumaki.
The only way to break the seal is to use a destructive attack with extremely high attack power to break the mechanism that releases the seal in the direction that the Three Treasures Absorption Collapse.
It's best to use a ranged attack for this purpose, and avoid letting your main body get close, otherwise the danger will increase exponentially.
This was probably a design intentionally made by Chiyo.
If the enemy were a ninja with exceptional mobility and close-combat skills like Meikyō or Hatake Sakumo, they probably wouldn't dare to risk it.
If the enemy is skilled in long-range combat, it will be difficult for them to get Chiyo and pose a threat to her, and it will probably be difficult to force Chiyo to use her Chiyo Three Treasures Absorption Collapse.
Unless the opponent is a ninja Hiruzen Sarutobi, whose close-combat and long-range Ninjutsu abilities are both extremely high, Chiyo could not be reliably suppressed.
But how many ninjas in the Ninja World are at the level of Hiruzen Sarutobi?