Temari furrowed her beautiful eyebrows, the girlish innocence in her eyes vanished, replaced by the allure of a newlywed wife.
This irresistible charm and Temari's heroic spirit complement each other perfectly. If Temari could only be rated eight points before, she can now be rated at least nine points!
" Naoki-kun, have you decided to take action against them?"
After a whole night of in-depth conversation, Temari had taken the liberty of calling him " Naoki-kun," but Naoki Senju didn't object at all, letting Temari indulge her charming nature.
"Of course, letting those guys live too long would be a real hassle, Konan. How about you help me get rid of those troubles?"
"Hmph, their location." Konan accepted the mission with an icy expression, but was determined to leave Sunagakure immediately after completing it, not wanting to stay a second longer.
"The elders' council of Sunagakure seems to be discussing how to deal with me. Konan, you mustn't let anyone escape!"
Naoki Senju handed a scroll to Konan, which contained 30,000 Explosive Tag. These were enough for Konan to deal with the trash in Sunagakure. If there were any more, Naoki Senju was afraid that Konan would blow the entire Sunagakure to smithereens.
"Don't worry, the missions that Akatsuki accepts will not fail."
Although she didn't really want to talk to Naoki Senju, Konan was willing to say a few more words when it came to the reputation of the Akatsuki.
Taking the scroll from Naoki Senju, Konan unfurled it, and one after another, extremely dangerous Explosive Tag 'obediently' turned into white paper, gathering around Konan.
"Then I wish you all the best," Naoki Senju said with a smile.
But Konan felt that there was a deeper meaning to this blessing... However, time was of the essence, and she had to rush back to Amegakure to search for Nagato's whereabouts, so there was no extra time to waste.
As light as a sheet of paper, Konan rose with the wind and, following the direction pointed out by Naoki Senju, discovered the most conspicuous white building, which should be the Elders' Council of Sunagakure.
The next moment, a deafening explosion descended upon Sunagakure. Konan, dressed in the Akatsuki's Akatsuki robe, was like a divine messenger descending to punish the gods. In an instant, she leveled a century-old building and buried many of Sunagakure's high-ranking officials.
However, a few exceptionally strong individuals withstood the explosion and avoided being buried alive, glaring angrily at Konan in the sky.
"A red auspicious cloud robe? You're a member of the Akatsuki!" Ebizo somewhat awkwardly manipulated his puppet, deflecting the debris from the explosion.
Regarding the Akatsuki, the Five Great Shinobi Villages actually knew something about it to varying degrees, but not many people took it seriously. It was just a group of missing-nin and small ninja villages banding together for mutual support; what kind of trouble could they possibly cause?
But a recent incident has thoroughly awakened the Five Great Shinobi Villages: two missing-nin dressed in Akatsuki brazenly attacked Kumogakure!
Moreover, Kumogakure has failed to capture the two invaders, and the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, who was acting as the Raikage, was seriously injured. If the Raikage's guards hadn't arrived in time, Kumogakure might not even have an acting Raikage now.
If nothing unexpected happens, Ōnoki of Iwagakure is probably already itching to tear a piece of flesh from Kumogakure. After all, Akatsuki has even scouted out Kumogakure's strengths and weaknesses for him, so how could he miss this opportunity?
There's even a possibility that they might completely annex Kumogakure!
But I never expected that the Akatsuki, which was at the height of its power, would appear in Sunagakure!
" Akatsuki!"
After Ebizo's reminder, the other survivors suddenly realized what had happened; they had thought someone dared to attack Sunagakure...
Oh, it was the Akatsuki! That's alright then.
If they dared to launch a direct attack on Kumogakure, what wouldn't they dare to do?
" Ebizo, can you handle her?"
"I can only try my best to stall him and notify my sister to come as soon as possible." Although Ebizo's ambition far exceeds his strength, he still possesses basic observation skills, can fly, and can control a large number of Explosive Tag. These two abilities alone are enough to make him troublesome.
Moreover, the enemy is a member of the Akatsuki, who knows which missing-nin from which village, and it's hard to say whether they have other abilities.
Ebizo unleashed all the puppets he could control at once—a total of seven humanoid puppets, each with different forms and abilities. Although they couldn't compare to Chiyo's Chikamatsu Ten Puppets of Chiyo, they were still Ebizo's greatest masterpiece.
The Seven Puppets of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist of the Mist!
Of course, it only imitates the fighting style of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist; trying to replicate those seven Ninja Blade would be overestimating Ebizo's abilities.
"Azure Secret Technique: Seven Puppets!"
Despite his advanced age, Ebizo was multitasking, manipulating seven puppets to attack Konan. He attempted to use his numerical advantage to surround Konan and, with the help of the others' Ninjutsu, at least drag the battle to the ground!
But with her full power and divine wings fully extended, Konan could send countless Shuriken -like pieces of white paper grazing past her with just a flap of her wings. What was even more deadly was that a large number of Explosive Tag were mixed in with them.
The second explosion sent plumes of smoke into the air, and this time, many puppet fragments could be vaguely seen being blown out. Clearly, Ebizo's puppets were of poor quality and were simply not strong enough to withstand the power of the Explosive Tag.
Chiyo, who had just been alerted by the explosion and rushed over, stared in horror at Ebizo, who was being engulfed by the Explosive Tag. Just then, a piece of puppet grazed Chiyo's body and was blown away. Chiyo, who knew puppet making very well, recognized it at a glance as one of Ebizo's puppet parts!
" Ebizo!"
Although she is usually very strict with her younger brother, who is very ambitious but hides it well, it is precisely because she cares about him that she is strict.
Aside from Scorpion, whose fate is unknown, Ebizo is her last remaining family member!
"Damn it, who dares to attack Sunagakure!"
Chiyo took out a scroll during her journey. Ebizo was in danger, and now she could only wait until the battle was over to investigate the enemy's identity.
But Chiyo's intuition told her that this matter was inextricably linked to Naoki Senju and Konoha!
" White Secret Technique: The Chikamatsu Ten Puppets!"
In terms of Puppet Technique proficiency, Chiyo surpasses Ebizo. For Chiyo, puppets can be used not only with hidden weapons, poison, traps, and explosions...
Ninjutsu used by puppet duos will become the main development direction for puppeteers in the future; even the Human Puppet Technique was born from this foundation...
Puppet Technique: Three Treasures Suction Crush!
The puppets, arranged in a triangular shape, were the first to approach the exploding battlefield. The three mechanisms—'Buddha,' 'Dharma,' and 'Sangha'—activated simultaneously, unleashing a powerful suction force like a tornado.
The Kakkō from the exploding Explosive Tag, the scattered debris from the buildings and fragments of the puppets, and even the unexploded Explosive Tag themselves, were all drawn to the center of the three puppets.