Explosions roared, smoke filled the air.
The Akatsuki's camp built on the sloping highland, which moments before had been filled with joy and celebration after victory, had in the blink of an eye turned into a living hell.
The mechanical bird dropped payloads from high altitude. Even after exhausting its weapon reserves, it could still fight using its own body.
This massive steel frame, maintaining high-speed, low-altitude flight, the air currents it stirred up alone were enough to blow people away. If struck, they would definitely turn into mush.
The Iron Fortress was even more excessive.
It strode into the Akatsuki's camp on eight steel legs, rampaging sideways like a crab, trampling and crushing countless people along the way.
"Use heavy weapons or Explosive Tags to take it out."
In the distance, captain-level Shinobi organized a counterattack.
Seeing the enemy and being able to attack them, the Akatsuki's members, who had been scurrying around like headless flies, finally found something to do.
They picked up large shuriken, channeling the fear of being attacked by the enemy and the anger of being unable to fight back into their hands, unleashing the strongest throw of their Shinobi careers.
However, two kunai tied with nylon ropes shot out from the vehicle body of the Iron Fortress, flailing in the air like tentacles, effortlessly knocking down the incoming weapons.
The onlookers were stunned.
'This was clearly just a utility vehicle, yet it could respond flexibly.'
'Was someone inside controlling it?'
They didn't know, nor did they want to know; they just wanted to destroy this big thing.
"Again, everyone spread out, from multiple directions..." The remaining words couldn't be spoken.
The Iron Fortress didn't stand still, allowing them to attack. The kunai launcher racks mounted on the vehicle body fired kunai incessantly like machine guns.
The commander, no, the Shinobi in front of the Iron Fortress, were all shot into sieves.
"Kill it!"
Their comrades' deaths didn't make the other Akatsuki's members retreat; instead, it stirred their ferocity. One by one, they pulled out their trump cards... kunai, shuriken, Explosive Tags.
Well, perhaps saying it like that is a bit inappropriate.
But that's the fact.
For most Shinobi, shuriken, kunai, Explosive Tags, plus some basic Ninjutsu and Taijutsu constitute their entire arsenal.
This is also why puppeteers can fight against larger numbers.
After all, compared to Shinobi of this level, the power of puppet mechanisms is obviously stronger.
In terms of Chakra and stamina consumption, puppeteers also have the advantage, able to sustain combat for longer periods.
And the talent for multi-tasking, performing multi-faceted control, is good at handling situations with many opponents.
It's not because puppets are stronger within the same level, but the characteristics of this profession and the general level of Shinobi make them more adept at fighting outnumbered.
Just like now.
These Akatsuki's members charged forward with a determination to die, some even attaching Explosive Tags to their bodies, wanting to take the Iron Fortress down with them in a suicide attack.
But as the kunai launcher racks rotated direction, and it itself constantly moved to adjust its orientation, the direction of kunai fire also continuously shifted from the single front.
Even when kunai ran out, internally stored backup weapons would automatically reload via mechanisms.
The Akatsuki's members couldn't even close half the distance, falling in swathes like mown grass.
"Bastard!"
A man with paint on his face ran swiftly.
His speed was extremely fast, exceeding the rotation speed of the Iron Fortress.
After circling around to enter the Iron Fortress's firing blind spot, he charged forward with a raised sword. The distance of over ten meters was covered in an instant.
"Remember the name of the one who kills you! I am the great Kyusuke!" The man shouted his name while leaping for a slash.
But the moment he jumped, the giant scythe gate opened. A giant scythe three meters long fell and swept horizontally, cutting him in two at the waist.
The Iron Fortress didn't pause, striding forward on its steel legs, firing kunai non-stop along the way, harvesting numerous lives.
Even if an occasional expert broke through, they would be slain by the giant scythe.
And Shinobi particularly skilled in long-range sniping would be counter-sniped by the mounted crossbow.
This thing was well-rounded in close combat, long-range AOE, etc., with no weaknesses, and could only be destroyed head-on with sheer strength.
"Kill, kill, kill!!!"
Tsuchiya, Iwata, and others led the puppeteer force in a step late.
They had already released their puppets, mostly humanoid, floating beside them pulled by Chakra Threads.
Strangely, although these puppets varied in style, each puppet's hands were equipped with two mechanisms.
One was a ballista, installed on the right arm.
The ballista was of normal design, with a six-barrel turret on top, no bowstring.
The other was a sliding track-like ejection device, loaded with shuriken, installed on the left arm.
Though strange, the enemy only thought it was standard equipment for this unit and didn't think much of it.
Seeing these people charge in, they swarmed over like flies to dung.
We can't shoot down the mechanical bird, can't do anything to the Iron Fortress, but can't we handle people?
Many Akatsuki's members holding such thoughts charged over, and soon a large number of enemies surrounded them.
The puppeteer unit wasn't flustered at all.
"Use explosive shuriken!"
Tsuchiya commanded calmly, simultaneously using Chakra Threads to control the puppet, raising its left hand, aiming the sliding track on its left arm at the dense crowd.
The other puppeteers did the same.
Then...
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!!
Dozens of shuriken shot out from the sliding tracks.
But their speed wasn't faster than a person's throw, nor did they have the penetrative power of the bamboo-copter-like things used earlier to chase Nagato and others.
The Akatsuki's members either dodged or blocked with weapons, no one taking it seriously.
However,
When they touched the shuriken or the shuriken missed and fell to the ground, they exploded one after another.
Their power was almost comparable to explosive tags.
This was one of the weapons Ryuji gave them last night… explosive shuriken.
Namely, shrinking and engraving Fire Release Ninjutsu seals onto them... although due to the shrunken seals, the power was correspondingly reduced, close-range explosions still had considerable potency.
Most importantly, these things detonated on impact, unlike Explosive Tags which had a delayed explosion, allowing more effective enemy casualties.
This was something Ryuji thought of creating as soon as he developed Ninjutsu Seals.
If not for being too costly in steel, prone to accidental discharge, and too troublesome for ordinary lathe processing, mass-producing and equipping the army with them would be a definite game-changer.
One volley from the puppeteer unit instantly cleared several patches of the dense crowd.
Survivors were dazed by the explosions. Before they could recover, they were killed by charging puppets.
They operated in pairs of two, protecting each other's backs, then advanced following behind the Iron Fortress.
With the cover of the Iron Fortress's firepower, almost no one could mount effective resistance.
Even if experts charged, explosive shuriken awaited them.
Still not dead?
Gatling rotary ballista served.
Using electromagnets for power, small-sized senbon as ammunition, with just a bit of Chakra input, the Gatling rotary ballista would continuously fire senbon at a rate of ten per second.
No one in this camp could stop it.
Even if occasionally a Shinobi countered this weapon, the puppeteers' own skills weren't for show.
A force of less than a hundred people launching a surprise attack on a camp of three thousand, advancing irresistibly!
…
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!!!
Aka flew forward, engaging Madara in close combat.
Monstrous strength, no weaker than, no, stronger than Tsunade's, continuously blasted forth, shattering mountains and splitting earth, shaking everything.
The stone pillar forest she had erected with Ninjutsu was long destroyed by the aftershocks of battle.
If it were just monstrous strength, Madara wouldn't find it remarkable.
But Aka also displayed Taijutsu skill no weaker than his, using monstrous strength at just the right moments, never leaving openings.
And the most annoying one was Ryuji.
He flew in the sky wearing his armor, both hands spraying high-speed water cutters.
The two were in perfect sync, cooperating seamlessly.
Even with Madara's rich experience and unparalleled Taijutsu, he was forced into constant peril by the two, unable to even counterattack.
Continuing like this meant certain defeat.
Madara had this feeling, tapping his feet to retreat continuously, instantly creating distance.
He formed hand seals, his chest swelling. The spiral pattern on his face bloomed like a flower, revealing that withered, wrinkled visage.
[Fire Release: Dragon Flame Song Technique!]
Four fireballs shaped like dragon heads shot from his mouth, firing at Ryuji and Aka in sequence.
The two, as if sharing a mind, extended their hands and directly absorbed the fireballs.
The Armor had been upgraded with Chakra Absorption Devices after returning from Roran, capable of absorbing nature-transformed Ninjutsu.
"To actually absorb Ninjutsu Chakra!"
Madara fell silent, then immediately turned to flee.
"Come as you please, leave as you please, have you asked me?" Aka turned into an afterimage, instantly giving chase.
Madara looked at Aka closing in on him instantly, showing surprise. "First Dark Release, now Swift Release, how many Kekkei Genkai do you have?"
"You guess!"
Aka gave him a smile, then suddenly stomped the ground, causing the earth to shatter.
Madara lost his footing, leaping among the shattered rocks in mid-air, still trying to escape.
"Since you'll die anyway, what's the difference if you're killed by me here?" The propulsion devices on the armor's legs sprayed flames. Ryuji turned into a streak of light, arriving above Madara, kicking him down.
The immense force caused the already shattered ground to shatter once more.
"Let this place be your burial ground!"
Aka smiled, crouching on the ground, pressing both hands on the surface. "Sandstorm Burial!"
An invisible wave spread out. The ground instantly turned gravel into sand, surging like a tsunami, engulfing and squeezing Madara. Crimson blood seeped out as if squeezing tomato juice, dyeing the central sand red.
Aka and Ryuji exchanged a glance, nodded, and dispersed the sand.
The corpse, squeezed into a tattered cloth, was exposed.
Then, gradually faded, disappeared.
The two were stunned.
Then, as if realizing something, Ryuji looked at Aka's position.
Behind Aka, a black-robed figure silently and slowly stood up, a kunai in hand stabbing toward her neck.
"Watch out behind!"
Hearing the warning, Aka's gaze sharpened. She lowered her body, dodging the stab from behind.
Simultaneously, Aka grabbed the stabbing arm, executing a shoulder throw, slamming Madara down in front of her. The ground once again shattered amidst the tremor.