"In Sunagakure, only someone with exceptional puppetry skills like Kouhi and Liufei could possess such capabilities."
After receiving intelligence about that defensive puppet from Hiashi Hyuga, Sakumo Hatake realized the master puppeteer coordinating over a dozen puppet masters must have an extremely high level of expertise in puppet techniques.
Currently in Sunagakure, besides Chiyo, only her son and daughter-in-law—Kouhi and Liufei—had reached such a level.
"The one who activated the defense earlier was clearly Liufei," explained Orochimaru. "It's said this couple specializes—one excels at offensive puppetry while the other focuses on defense. Together, their combined strength rivals even Chiyo using Chikamatsu Collection."
He frowned. The Chikamatsu Collection was the First Puppet Master Monzayemon's masterpiece—a perfect blend of attack and defense. But through teamwork, Kouhi and Liufei had somehow matched that same level of strength.
Each of them was just as strong as a team of four experienced ninja.
"Therefore, to prevent them from joining forces, we'll handle these two ourselves—Sakumo and I!"
Hiashi Hyuga smiled lightly before dashing straight into the ranks of the Sand Ninja formation.
An experienced Jonin saw him coming and raised his long blade threateningly.
*Boom!*
Without hesitation, Hiashi simply lifted his palm and struck forward. Space trembled violently, and the Jonin collapsed backward, coughing out blood as he was sent flying from the impact.
Even the long blade in his hand shattered from the force.
[Gentle Fist!]
Inside the Sand Ninja formation, Kouhi's eyes snapped wide open in alarm. Hiashi had just used the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm technique, precisely striking his opponent's weakness and instantly eliminating him!
"So you're trying to separate us?" Kouhi quickly figured out Hiashi's strategy. Immediately, he produced two scrolls from his sleeve.
*Poof!* *Poof!*
Four puppets emerged behind him. With a flick of his fingers, they sprang into action.
*Swish! Swish! Swish!*
Moving at astonishing speed, the four puppets surrounded Hiashi before he could fully react.
*Kacha! Kacha! Kacha!*
The puppets opened various compartments across their bodies. Steel cords and blades shot out, forming a net-like trap around him.
[Rotation!]
Standing firm, Hiashi spun rapidly in place. A whirl of chakra formed around him, deflecting all the steel cords and blades.
Meanwhile, Sakumo had already arrived in front of Liufei—but standing between them was now a towering metal puppet several meters tall.
This mechanical titan wasn't just as big as the Stone Giant Tsuchigawa once summoned—it was even bigger.
*Hiss! Hiss!*
Sakumo slashed his sword against the puppet. The lightning chakra surrounding his blade was entirely absorbed by the metal body, visibly spreading along its surface.
"This isn't ordinary steel!"
Sakumo gasped. This metal could channel lightning chakra—just like the special alloy in his Chakra Blade!
So the value of this metallic puppet became truly astonishing.
After all, materials capable of channeling chakra are extremely rare. For someone like him to craft it into a tanto was already something an ordinary ninja couldn't afford, let alone creating such a massive metallic puppet.
However, considering Liufei's status, it was indeed possible for him to obtain the resources required to build these puppets.
Compared to money, warriors of this level were far more difficult to cultivate.
As Hiashi Hyuga and Sakumo Hatake launched their attack against Kouhi and Liufei, Tsunade charged forward first and had already engaged Chiyo in battle.
This time, Chiyo still didn't immediately deploy her Chikamatsu Collection at the outset, since they had been destroyed previously by Sakumo. Even after repairing them, she was reluctant to use them recklessly.
Boom!
Yet when one of Chiyo's puppets came in contact with Tsunade, it shattered instantly, like twigs in a hurricane—obliterated by a single punch.
Instinctively, Chiyo glanced toward the nearly hundred-meter-long trench beside them, sweat involuntarily dripping from his aged, wrinkled face.
Even the strongest puppets couldn't withstand a single hit from someone like Tsunade, a brute-force powerhouse...
But Tsunade's direct assault on Chiyo's puppet came at the cost of completely abandoning her own defense, allowing Chiyo's other puppets to launch various ninja tools and shuriken at her.
Tsunade didn't even glance, her eyes locked solely onto Chiyo.
Sssss!
Suddenly, the sound of a snake flickering its tongue echoed out, and instantly Tsunade was covered by several "walls of snakes," appearing extremely intimidating.
Yet as the weapons continued piercing through the snakes, not one scratch landed on Tsunade.
Undoubtedly, it was Orochimaru's technique at work.
Hiashi Hyuga and Sakumo Hatake were both ninjas specializing in taijutsu, especially the former, who was the clan head of the Hyuga Clan.
Besides the Byakugan, what made the Hyuga Clan famous throughout the Ninja World was its unique Gentle Fist, one of the most renowned taijutsu styles in the entire ninja world.
Ninja proficient in taijutsu usually excelled in speed, while puppet masters were least suited for close-range combat against opponents.
Thus, breaking apart their tandem—Sakumo and Hiashi Hyuga—was the best strategy.
Meanwhile, the battlefield originally meant for war quickly forced surrounding ninja to reestablish the combat zone due to these rapid attacks.
The ninja stationed at the flanks and outer edges of the formation were naturally the first to clash.
Among Konoha's forces, besides Tsunade and others, the first to reach the enemy ranks was undoubtedly Minato.
"Yellow hair... and the Body Flicker Technique. So you're that brat from Konoha the elder spoke of?"
One enemy ninja remarked, causing Minato to hesitate slightly.
"Elder Chiyo actually told us to watch out for a brat like you? What a joke!"
The Suna ninja scoffed again, his face filled with disdain, clearly disregarding Chiyo's warning.
However, superficially, Minato currently seemed weak and fragile.
"Minato's speed is incredible!"
At that moment, Shurou and Mikoto hadn't yet clashed with enemy ninjas; right as the battle started, Minato had already vanished from their side.
Such speed left everyone stunned, barely able to keep up.
Mikoto glanced sideways—Yan Uchiha was charging forward too, surprising her since he usually kept to himself. What startled her most were his blood-red eyes.
[Sharingan!?] She never expected that in just a few months, Yan Uchiha had already awakened the [Sharingan].
...
Facing Minato, the Suna ninja showed extreme disdain. Forming two quick hand seals, he lunged at Minato with fists swirling with wind pressure.
"Brat, time to die!" he bellowed.
Minato didn't evade. Instead, he met the attack head-on with an open right palm. To his opponent, this move looked suicidal.
"You'd better fall back and obey orders!"
Just as their hands and fists closed to within thirty centimeters, Minato coldly spoke. In his palm, a deep blue chakra sphere abruptly appeared.
Minato struck with full force, colliding head-on.
[Rasengan!]
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