"Hisss!"
A violent thunderclap erupted where Sakumo and Chiyo stood. Amid the intense flashes of lightning, four puppets exploded into pieces, scattering parts and mechanisms across the ground.
"Rustle!"
A short figure stepped out from the lightning — it was Chiyo.
"Not bad for Hatake Sakumo. You've destroyed all my puppets."
Though she emerged unscathed, Chiyo remarked calmly.
"But I didn't do it alone," Sakumo replied as the lightning faded, his gaze steady.
"It seems I underestimated Minato after all."
Chiyo's eyes darkened slightly as she glanced sideways. The sight that met her caused even her pupils to constrict.
In Minato's direction, his opponent — a Suna ninja — had been cleaved in half from the top of the head down to the neck.
A grayish-white liquid flowed from the wound, spreading across the Suna ninja's body before he finally collapsed.
Given her experience, such a scene wouldn't startle her; however, Chiyo hadn't expected this Konoha prodigy to kill with such ruthless efficiency.
What Chiyo didn't know was that Minato, once known as the Golden Flash, had terrified the entire ninja world, building his fearsome reputation through unimaginable slaughter.
Otherwise, the proud leaders of various nations wouldn't have so readily issued orders for immediate retreat at the sight of the Golden Flash.
"Damn it!"
Thus, Chiyo cursed angrily. Today's unexpected developments had already soured her mood, and now all ten of her puppets had been completely destroyed by Hatake Sakumo and Minato.
Though these weren't her most precious puppets, the loss was still significant.
Feeling Chiyo's rage, Sakumo tensed completely, more serious than ever before.
He knew truly intense battle was just beginning.
Chiyo withdrew her gaze from Minato and swept her sleeve, revealing a scroll in her hand.
She unfurled the scroll, revealing a pitch-black kanji symbol meaning "Seal."
Placing her palm on the scroll, smoke billowed out, enveloping Chiyo's form.
Sakumo's expression turned severe. Through the smoke, he saw ten additional shadows emerging.
Chakra threads extended from Chiyo's ten fingers, connecting separately to the ten shadows. A chakra fluctuation emerged that even caused Sakumo's heart to tremble.
As the smoke cleared, ten puppets clad in white clothes encircled Chiyo, coming into view before Sakumo.
His voice trembled slightly as he murmured, "The Chikamatsu Collection..."
Chiyo let out a light chuckle. "You do have quite some knowledge."
Sakumo remained silent. He naturally knew about the Chikamatsu Collection — these were masterpieces crafted by the First Puppet Master, Monzayemon, ten of the strongest puppets combined with Chiyo's peak-level puppet manipulation skills.
Commanding the Chikamatsu Collection, Chiyo could even directly rival the Kage of major nations!
Though Sakumo was powerful, he still fell short of that ultimate level of ninja.
[White Secret Jutsu: Chikamatsu Collection!]
With a flick of Chiyo's trembling fingers, the ten white-robed puppets soared into the air as if granted life. Several among them suddenly charged straight toward Sakumo!
Whoosh! Hiss!
Their speed was incomparable to the earlier ones—within a single breath, they circled behind him.
Of the two puppets now at his back, one suddenly brandished a chain connected to the other puppet. That second puppet transformed directly into a four-bladed chakra blade.
Sakumo glanced sideways and leapt up just as the puppet swung its weapon.
Swish! Swish!
At that moment, another puppet beside Chiyo had already launched forward, extending countless steel cords from its body, nearly sealing off Sakumo's path midair.
Once again, Sakumo raised his chakra blade before him. Just like before, raging lightning surged outward, scattering all the cords constricting toward him.
At the same time, he began to descend.
Yet before he could fully land, the earlier puppet formation had returned, spinning its four-bladed chakra sword at high speed, seemingly slicing through the very air itself.
Dang!
Sakumo barely blocked the strike by thrusting his blade upward, but the Lightning Release chakra wrapped around his short sword was completely shattered. He was also immediately sent reeling backward several meters.
A faint pain shot through his palms.
Just then, another puppet appeared before him, swinging dual broadswords in an attack.
Dang! Dang!
Sakumo clashed with it—though a puppet, its swordsmanship was flawless.
Still, lightning-infused chakra began to gather once more along his blade while his opponent withdrew. Pursuing quickly, Sakumo found the four-bladed chakra blade attacking yet again from the opposite side.
Earlier, mid-air left him helpless to evade. Now, even though the chakra blade was incredibly fast, he could still evade using his Shifting Body Technique.
Shwa!
His figure vanished, reappearing to the side.
However, at that very moment, a lengthened puppet arm extended toward him. As Sakumo prepared to raise his sword to block, spikes erupted from the joints of the arm, growing wildly as though attempting to trap him inside.
Chi chi!
With a single-handed twist of his chakra blade, he sliced through the surrounding spikes and suddenly leapt back several meters.
Heh... heh...
Even Sakumo was beginning to feel winded from all the fighting.
"These are some terrifying puppets..."
Sakumo slightly lifted his eyelids. Though each puppet seemed different in power, they were in fact linked tactically, seamlessly alternating attacks. Holding off two or three attacks was already extremely difficult.
Under their relentless assault, any powerful opponent would eventually reveal an opening, leading to complete subjugation.
Reaching such a level… I truly have to give you credit.
Chiyo said, surrounded by her ten puppets. She hadn't expected Sakumo Hatake—who was legendary across the Hidden Villages—to have this much power.
No wonder he had managed to kill Tsuchigawa of Iwagakure.
Sakumo didn't show the slightest hint of pleasure at Chiyo's compliment.
If she came at him with another attack like that, even he wouldn't walk away unscathed.
Chiyo's fingers trembled slightly as three of The Ten Puppets lurched forward, their mouths yawning open. Yet, contrary to Sakumo's cautious expectations, no hidden traps emerged.
Instead, within the mouths of these three puppets were three switches marked respectively with "'Buddha'", "'Dharma'", and "'Sangha'."
As soon as Sakumo saw them, a strong sense of danger welled up from deep within him.
[Three Treasures Suction Collapse!]
...
... (to be continued.)
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