"Heh, you caught on quickly enough," one of the Suna ninja standing among the distant forest treetops remarked with a slight smile. The woman was short and middle-aged.
"You're... Chiyo?" Chiyoha Sarutobi fixed his gaze on the woman, recognizing her after a pause.
"Recognized me already? Seems like you're not just any ordinary ninja," Chiyo murmured slightly surprisedly. Although she was well-known in the Ninja World, she hadn't yet achieved universal fame.
For someone to recognize her as an elite Konoha Jonin meant this man must have considerable experience and background.
Then narrowing her eyes, she noticed the emblem hanging from Chiyoha's chest and immediately understood: "No wonder you're from the Sarutobi Clan."
Chiyoha looked at Chiyo's face, shock flickering across his expression. This female Sand ninja had been a contemporary of the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi—Chiyoha had heard of her before.
Precisely because of this, his expression turned grim instantly.
Because Chiyo being here meant their force of hundreds would certainly be completely wiped out.
Without question.
Moreover, dozens among his subordinates had already fallen victim to the poison she deployed.
A formidable puppet master, her poisons were equally terrifying.
Faced with certain defeat, Chiyoha hadn't even drawn his blade—yet his body was trembling faintly.
He wasn't afraid of fighting—it was the certainty of losing that made resistance pointless.
"Attack!"
Chiyo issued the command. Two hundred figures perched atop the trees began forming hand seals.
Among the hundreds of Konoha Reinforcement Squad ninja, only a few recognized Chiyo as Chiyoha had.
Therefore, they weren't giving up the fight yet.
Numerically, they still held the advantage.
[Boom! Boom!]
Suddenly, loud explosions echoed through the mountains, spreading violently outward.
"This large-scale Ninjutsu clash... Hurry, something's wrong—get moving!" Sakumo stared toward the source of the thunderous noise and exclaimed urgently.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Like lightning, over thirty ninja shot toward the source of the explosion nearly a kilometer away.
Between two cliffs, what was originally a narrow battlefield gradually expanded under the impact of colliding jutsus.
Numerically, the Konoha reinforcements seemed to hold the advantage. However, the gap in strength between the two sides was immeasurable.
In addition, ten black-cloaked puppets darted across the battlefield, mercilessly cutting down Konoha ninja.
Chiyo's ten fingers each controlled a chakra thread, pulling ten puppets into motion.
Puppet masters formed a unique branch among ninja, their strength determined directly by the number of puppets they could control simultaneously.
Generally, experienced puppet masters could only manage around three or four puppets at most.
After all, puppets came in different types, and unleashing each puppet's distinct abilities required extremely precise manipulation. The difficulty multiplied significantly with every additional puppet involved.
Yet Chiyo, controlling ten puppets with her ten fingers, displayed mastery that had reached the pinnacle of the Puppet Master art.
Every puppet under Chiyo's control fought like a powerful ninja—and even worked together seamlessly.
In just a few minutes, Chiyo alone had taken down dozens of Konoha ninja.
She couldn't afford to let any Konoha ninja escape or allow tactical information to be leaked.
Whoosh!
Just as one of her puppets was about to deliver the killing blow to a Konoha ninja, a sharp blade flashing like lightning seemed to tear through the air at terrifying speed, slicing that puppet into pieces.
From within the forest, a figure swiftly shot forth and retrieved the Chakra Tanto he had thrown earlier. The blade's owner fixed Chiyo with eyes dark with intent.
"Sakumo Hatake?!" Chiyo's expression flinched, quickly overtaken by terror.
What is he doing here?!
Whoosh!
While she was still stunned, a golden blur also blasted from the same direction Sakumo had come.
He was heading straight toward one of Chiyo's puppets.
"What? Die already!"
Sakumo's attack caught Chiyo off guard, but this figure wasn't moving so fast that she couldn't track him. Immediately, she maneuvered another nearby puppet to intercept while forming a pincer movement.
At the same time, she gathered the remaining seven puppets, locking onto Sakumo Hatake.
Yet instead of helping Minato break free, Sakumo raised his Chakra Blade glowing with lightning and dashed directly into the circle formed by the seven puppets, aiming straight for Chiyo.
Minato's deep-blue eyes narrowed in focus between the two encroaching puppets. In his right hand, a glowing sphere of chakra instantly appeared.
[Rasengan!]
Without dodging, Minato slammed the Rasengan straight into the approaching puppet.
The blue chakra sphere shattered the puppet's descending weapon, continuing forward with unbroken force to destroy the puppet's main body.
Instantly disabling one puppet, Minato caused Chiyo to miscalculate.
Because ninjas needed time to form Hand Seals and gather chakra before launching techniques, but for the sealless technique Rasengan—none of those restrictions applied.
Moreover, its destructive power was second to none.
After destroying one puppet, Minato twisted his feet on the ground and activated Instant Flash, teleporting backward about a meter, narrowly dodging a heavy strike from another puppet behind him.
Then, he raised his special kunai, which was instantly coated in a thin layer of Wind Release Blades.
Weng.
Though thin, the Wind Release Blades made the kunai act like a deadly sword, slicing off one of the puppet's limbs.
The puppet naturally couldn't react fast enough against Minato. Before its other limb could land another strike, Minato severed it too.
Then, he swung his kunai horizontally, extending his arm fiercely.
Crack!
Before the kunai, a solid-like wind blade sword stretched outward, turning it into a sword of wind that sliced the now-double-limb-less puppet in half.
Minato knew cutting the Chakra Threads would stop her puppets cold—but he wanted them destroyed.
Shua!
At that moment, Junko Watanabe also shot out from the forest without hesitation and joined the battle.
The tide of battle, once unfavorable to Konoha, shifted instantly.
Sakumo Hatake may have brought only a handful of men, but they were all elite warriors. Among them was the most formidable — a Uchiha warrior with a three-tomoe Sharingan.
The moment their eyes locked, the enemy froze mid-motion — an easy kill.
When facing a Sharingan user in single combat, there's only one wise choice — run for your life!
Because simply locking eyes with them could trigger Genjutsu (illusionary techniques).
[Boom! Boom! Boom!]
As he advanced toward Chiyo, Sakumo swung his blade without hesitation, cutting down three puppets in quick succession.
Seeing this sudden change, Chiyo couldn't help but curse under her breath.
"Damn it! Weren't we told no reinforcements were coming from Konoha?"
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