"Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field!"
Seizing the moment, Umino Yoru formed hand seals and spewed a torrent of sticky syrup, drenching the remnants of the Suna forces' defensive formation.
"Watch out for the Water Release!"
Tetsusai, the elite puppeteer, immediately countered by manipulating his Salamander Puppet to unleash "Spinning Wheel of Chaos", attempting to scatter the incoming liquid.
But instead of dispersing the attack, the puppet found itself glued in place by the bizarre, syrup-like substance.
"Scatter!"
Realizing the trap, Tetsusai barked orders for his men to evade—but it was too late.
"Fox-Heart Mind Technique!"
Umino Yoru layered on a genjutsu. While the hardened Suna jonin resisted, the exhausted and panicked chūnin fell victim, their minds ensnared.
A few stragglers, completely isolated in the mist, were easy prey.
"Agh—!"
Screams erupted as shadow clones ambushed from the haze, cutting down three Suna chūnin in seconds. Though they were only mid-rank shinobi, every loss was a blow to the already dwindling forces.
One special jonin puppeteer frantically formed seals to summon a Wind Release technique and clear the fog—
THRUM!
A subsonic pulse disrupted his chakra flow.
Two shadow clones lunged from the mist.
The puppeteer tried to summon his puppet for defense—only to realize he had lost control of it.
Schlick! Schlick!
Two kunai found his kidneys.
With the puppeteer dead, the clones activated Transformation Technique, taking the fallen shinobi's appearances and seizing their puppets.
The "Trojan Puppet" tactic was devastatingly effective.
Most Suna nin, seeing familiar faces and their own village's puppets, never suspected betrayal. Ambush after ambush thinned their ranks—even two injured jonin puppeteers fell to the deception.
---
### Tetsusai's Desperation
Realizing his men couldn't break through the mist, Tetsusai knew they were sitting ducks.
He summoned a backup puppet—similar to the Black Ant model but with five colored scrolls embedded in its belly.
Unfurling the blue scroll, he unleashed:
"Scroll Art: Wind Prison Devastation!"
A hurricane-force gale erupted, shredding the mist and carving a path to retreat.
"Fall back! This way!"
Tetsusai led the survivors through the cleared path. A quick headcount showed twelve remained—losses were heavy, but not crippling.
"Either the Leaf doesn't have enough men… or they're too weak to finish us."
But Umino Yoru, still perched atop his hawk Shiro, pursued relentlessly.
The Shinano River forest stretched over a hundred miles. These Suna shinobi hadn't even crossed halfway.
He had all the time in the world to whittle them down.
---
### The Gauntlet Continues
Ten miles later—another river, another wall of mist.
Another ambush.
Tetsusai didn't gamble. This time, he triggered the red scroll in his puppet's belly.
"Scroll Art: Flame Prison Devastation!"
A firestorm incinerated the fog ahead.
They pressed on.
Ten more miles.
Again—a river. Again—mist.
This time, Tetsusai didn't waste a scroll. Instead, he glared skyward at Umino Yoru, then at the fog.
"If this continues… none of us will make it out alive."
---
### The Escape Gambit
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A giant lizard the size of a millstone appeared, swallowing the Black Ant Puppet (which concealed Ebizō) whole.
Tetsusai wiped blood from his lips and began scribbling a message—
"Not good!"
Umino Yoru, sensing the danger, hurled a Shadow Shuriken Clone barrage to interrupt.
Tetsusai hesitated—then smirked.
POOF!
The lizard—and Ebizō—vanished in a puff of reverse-summoning smoke.
"Damn it."
Umino Yoru clenched his teeth. If not for Tetsusai's skill, Ebizō would've been finished.
---
### Divide and Conquer
"We only have one Desert Falcon. Split up—get this intel back to Suna at all costs. Especially the details of that explosive forbidden jutsu!"
The twelve survivors fractured into three squads, each bolting in different directions—avoiding the mist, vanishing into the trees.
"Perfect. They took the bait."
Umino Yoru's shadow clone rendezvoused with the Leaf pursuit squad—Shirakumo Yama, Nagisa Raidō, Fūrai, and Raijin—tasking them with hunting Tetsusai's squad.
The remaining 64 Leaf ninja, led by Ebisu and Tatami Iwazō, split to chase the other two.
---
### The Final Trap
Now unburdened by slower genin, Shirakumo's team closed in fast.
From above, Umino Yoru hurled an explosive-tagged kunai, forcing Tetsusai's squad to dodge.
Then—
"Rain of Needles!"
The two Salamander Puppets flanking the group turned on their own masters, firing poisoned senbon in a lethal crossfire.
"Wha—?!"
The left-side Suna jonin was shredded instantly.
Tetsusai, however, reacted with elite reflexes—
"Mechanical Shield: Thousand-Fold Barrier!"
The needles pinged harmlessly off his puppet's defense.
But the truth was clear:
Two of his "teammates" had been shadow clones all along.
---