Seeing Akasuna and Chizuru's acceptance, the Third Kazekage nodded in satisfaction.
Akasuna's gaze swept over the Third Kazekage and he looked out the window. On a nearby rooftop, a raven, completely black, was preening its feathers with its beak. Its dark pupils met Akasuna's.
Akasuna curled his lips slightly, then calmly averted his gaze.
Konoha White Fang!
He sounds strong.
Akasuna touched the stitches on his head. Can he get a new body so soon? He quite liked the Kazekage's current body too.
"Pakura, Rasa."
The Third Kazekage quickly called out two more names from among the Jonin.
A male and a female ninja stepped out of the ranks and approached the Third Kazekage.
"Kazekage-sama!" The two respectfully called out.
The Third Kazekage looked at Pakura and Rasa before him. Both of them were elite ninjas of the village. Although young, both possessed powerful Kekkei Genkai.
"You two will lead two thousand ninjas and immediately head to the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain." The Third Kazekage commanded.
"Yes!" Pakura and Rasa said in unison.
The Third Kazekage nodded and continued, "Although Hanzo's poison is formidable, Elder Chiyo has already produced an antidote. Since Hanzo can no longer threaten you, taking down Amegakure within a short period shouldn't be a problem, right?"
His gaze was filled with pressure, sweeping back and forth between Pakura and Rasa.
"Yes." Pakura and Rasa immediately responded.
…
Amegakure Camp.
Miozawa was organizing the team and packing their gear when a figure appeared silently beside him.
Haruki watched the Amegakure ninjas pack explosive tags, poison mist, and poisoned senbon, and knew what they were going to do.
"Why are you here? Why aren't you resting properly?" Miozawa paused his steps, stood in front of Haruki, and stared at him, asking.
Haruki looked at Miozawa and said, "I've rested well, I can help now."
Miozawa frowned. "You're not needed here, go back and rest."
Haruki seemed not to hear him and continued to ask, "Brother Miozawa, are you going to set traps? Let me go with you."
"No."
Miozawa refused mercilessly, "You can't help the trap squad."
He walked towards an Amegakure ninja nearby, tallying the essential weapons and tools.
Haruki followed behind him. "I can help."
Miozawa turned around and asked, "What can you help with? Can you set traps?"
Setting traps did not mean there was no danger. Haruki had only recently woken up, and he needed enough rest.
"I can make puppets. I can also control puppets. Puppets can definitely help." Haruki immediately said.
His eyes were filled with light, looking at Miozawa expectantly.
Miozawa paused, and not only him, but all the ninjas in the trap squad looked at Haruki in surprise.
"Haruki, how can you know puppet jutsu?"
The Amegakure ninjas of the trap squad were unconvinced. There were only a handful of people in the entire Ninja World who knew puppet jutsu.
Aside from Chiyo of Sunagakure and her son and daughter-in-law, they had never heard of anyone in the Ninja World who could control puppets.
"I really know puppet jutsu." Haruki earnestly defended himself.
"Before, when I secretly followed brother Suzaku to the border of the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire to sign a contract, we encountered an attack from Akasuna, a puppeteer from Sunagakure, and I saw him use puppet jutsu." Haruki, seeing that they didn't believe him, anxiously explained.
Looking at Haruki's appearance, the Amegakure ninjas exchanged glances.
Why did it feel like Haruki wasn't lying?
But to learn the opponent's ninjutsu after only one encounter, such a thing was simply a fantasy. But Haruki was a genius to begin with.
Two different thoughts fought in the minds of the Amegakure ninjas.
"Haruki isn't lying." A firm voice came from behind Haruki.
He turned around and saw that it was Yuma. Yuma also brought Haruki's first puppet with him.
Haruki: "…"
Yuma strode to Haruki's side and explained, "You left Number One at my blacksmith shop before you left. I didn't know if you wanted to bring it to the battlefield, so I took the liberty of bringing it."
Number One walked to Haruki's side. Haruki looked at Number One in shock. He realized something was off.
Number One had its own consciousness. This thought flashed through Haruki's mind.
If Number One was just a puppet that only knew how to execute orders, it would be impossible for it to act with Yuma without his command.
Unless Number One itself wanted to come to the battlefield, thus, it followed Yuma.
What did this mean?
It meant that Number One could only not speak or make facial expressions, but it had its own consciousness and could make its own decisions.
Yuma said apologetically, "It also helped me a lot along the way."
Alright!
Now Haruki could confirm that Number One indeed had its own consciousness.
"This is the puppet I made, and of course, Brother Yuma also helped me a lot." Haruki said to Miozawa before him.
Yuma immediately explained, "I just provided some tools, this puppet was made by Haruki himself."
Miozawa's pupils constricted, staring intently at the puppet standing beside Haruki.
Number One actively stepped forward and extended its hand towards Miozawa.
Haruki: "…"
Miozawa stared at Number One's outstretched hand, his gaze falling on Haruki.
"This… this is a puppet?"
It wasn't that he hadn't seen the puppets of Sunagakure's puppeteers.
This puppet was completely different from the puppets of Sunagakure's puppeteers.
Haruki smiled at Miozawa and explained, "The puppets I make are a little different, they don't need to be controlled by Chakra threads to execute my commands."
Miozawa: "…"
He suspected he was dreaming. Or rather, he had been hit by a genjutsu.
"This… how is this possible?"
The Amegakure ninjas stared at the puppet before them in disbelief.
Haruki looked at Number One and said to it, "Say hello to everyone."
Number One walked towards the Amegakure ninjas. The Amegakure ninjsa uniformly retreated simultaneously.
Number One waved to them.
Amegakure ninjas: "…"
It must be their hallucination!
"I can make more puppets. Brother Miozawa, just let me go with you." Haruki pleaded.
Miozawa pursed his lips. If Haruki could truly create puppets that didn't require Chakra thread control, then the role these puppets could play in the war would be too significant.
"First, let's report to Hanzo-sama." Miozawa said, looking at Haruki.
"Okay."
Haruki waved to Number One and said, "Come with me."
Number One nimbly ran behind Haruki, shaking its head from side to side, greeting the Amegakure ninjas who were staring at it with uncertain eyes.
Master said to greet these people!
On the way to Hanzo's tent, Number One's greeting hand never came down.