Hatake Sakumo stood on the ground, gripping his blade as he surveyed the surrounding puppets.
The next moment.
Countless ninja tools shot toward him from the puppets.
Hatake Sakumo's figure vanished from his original position, and the shuriken struck the ground, covering the entire area.
Instead of targeting the puppets, Sakumo charged straight toward the puppet masters.
Just as he closed in on them, the puppets moved first, forming a massive wall in front of their controllers.
It blocked Sakumo's advance.
If he continued his assault, he would be overwhelmed by the puppets.
He halted, but the puppets surged toward him instead.
Sakumo swiftly retreated.
Even he couldn't withstand such numbers.
Yet another group of puppets appeared behind him, forcing him to stop.
Left, right, and above—every direction was sealed off by puppets.
A black dome enveloped the space around him, leaving no room for escape.
At this scale, the puppets possessed the power to annihilate an entire nation.
Another volley of ninja tools rained down, burying Sakumo.
The weapons kicked up a cloud of dust, obscuring everything.
In response, several puppets unleashed powerful gusts of wind, dispersing the dust.
This revealed Sakumo, now dangerously close to the puppets.
Before he could advance, the puppets lunged at him.
Yet when they clashed, it was the puppets that shattered under his blade.
In an instant, Sakumo plunged into the puppet horde, his sword carving white crescents that severed the chakra threads controlling them.
Puppets blocking his path were sliced apart in the blink of an eye.
The shattered puppets reassembled, filling the gaps and continuing their assault.
As Sakumo wreaked havoc among them, thin wires coiled around his legs.
His pupils contracted as his arms and legs were seized by puppets. Before he could struggle, more puppets piled onto him, burying him completely.
The red-haired man's expression darkened.
From what he knew, Hatake Sakumo wasn't someone so easily defeated.
"Fall back!"
At his command, all puppet masters began recalling their puppets.
The pile of puppets collapsed, revealing no trace of Sakumo—only lingering smoke.
Shadow Clone Technique.
Meanwhile, far across the battlefield, Sakumo emerged from the ground, less than a hundred meters from the puppet masters.
A hundred meters.
To Hatake Sakumo, it might as well have been nothing.
He moved.
A white crescent flashed across the distance in an instant. The puppets had no time to react before Sakumo was among the puppet masters.
The crescent sliced through lives with terrifying efficiency.
"Don't underestimate us!"
The red-haired man roared, and several puppet masters unleashed their ninjutsu in unison.
"Combination Ninjutsu: Great Fire Explosion!"
A massive fireball materialized before Sakumo and detonated violently, unleashing scorching heat and a shockwave that consumed everything in flames and wind.
Sakumo couldn't evade in time and was swallowed by the inferno.
The blast bought the puppet masters enough time to retreat, their puppets regrouping around them.
But the battle was far from over.
One of the puppet masters suddenly lunged at a comrade, cleaving them in two before they could react.
As smoke dissipated, the attacker reverted to Sakumo's form.
No one had noticed when he'd infiltrated their ranks.
Before they could process the danger, it was already upon them.
To a speedster like Sakumo, puppet masters reliant on their creations were little more than ideal targets.
He cut them down with ruthless efficiency.
It was utter domination.
"White Fang!!"
The red-haired man bellowed, his hands flying through seals.
'Puppet Technique: Demon Cage!'
Two grotesque, mask-like faces erupted from the ground, their massive forms slamming together. Several puppet masters were too slow to escape and were trapped inside.
The masks merged into a colossal demonic prison.
The puppet masters inside were now locked in with Sakumo.
Sakumo flicked his blade, blood splattering the ground.
He lunged, a streak of white light carving through the puppet masters.
The Sand's puppet masters weren't about to die without a fight.
They rallied their puppets in a desperate counterattack.
But against the White Fang's blade, their puppets were no match, reduced to scrap in moments.
Outside the cage, the red-haired man's face twisted with hatred.
But this was the only way to kill him.
The White Fang of Konoha—Hatake Sakumo!
His hands formed another seal.
"White Fang! Die!"
"Fire Release: Steam Furnace Burn!"
The cage's interior heated rapidly, its bars glowing red. Flames erupted inside, and scorching steam filled the space.
Screams echoed from within.
Sakumo's blade bisected a puppet master before him.
His gaze locked onto the red-haired man through the bars.
At the same moment, the woman beside the red-haired man completed her seals.
"Fire Release: Mountain Fire!"
The ground bulged, a small mountain forming as molten lava spewed forth.
Sakumo's figure was swallowed by the searing fumes, the lava consuming everything inside the cage.
The red-haired man extended his hands, chakra threads shimmering.
A demonic puppet emerged from the cage floor, venturing into the inferno to confirm Sakumo's death.
The red-haired man hadn't expected such a formidable foe.
Puppet masters were supposed to counter taijutsu specialists—that was why they'd set this trap.
Yet they were the ones being countered.
He guided the heat-resistant puppet through the blaze, but after a full sweep, Sakumo was nowhere to be found.
A bad feeling gripped him.
Then—
A hand seized his ankle.
"Earth Release: Heart Decapitation Technique!"
The red-haired man was yanked underground.
The woman sprinted toward Sakumo, who had somehow escaped.
Sakumo raised his blade, his breathing turning eerie. The world seemed to slow around him.
The woman's charge became a crawl, her face contorted in fury.
"Thunder Breathing."
Electricity crackled in Sakumo's breath.
The next instant—
A white crescent laced with lightning arced through the red-haired man's neck and the woman's torso.
Sakumo's figure materialized behind her.
With a flick of his wrist, blood droplets rolled off his blade, vaporizing in the intense heat.
The woman collapsed. The man's head tumbled skyward.
"White Fang!!"
Ten white figures descended from above, one of them sprinting toward the scene.
At the sight of the fallen woman and the severed head, his eyes burned with rage.
"I'll kill you!"
...
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(End of Chapter)