"Is this the place?"
Tsuchiya peeked out from beneath a cliff, surveying the camp located on the high ground in the distance.
Sounds of laughter and discussion continuously drifted from there.
After observing for a while, a puppeteer behind him responded, "That should be it. If it were our village's camp, the atmosphere wouldn't be this cheerful."
Sunagakure had just suffered a defeat; even if morale wasn't completely lost, it shouldn't be in such a state.
Tsuchiya deeply agreed with his comrade's deduction, but then frowned.
Although they had confirmed the enemy's location, how to launch a surprise attack was another problem.
The Land of Rain experienced constant heavy rain. To prevent flooding, the Akatsuki's camp was established on a sloping highland.
The area was flat on all sides with no cover. Anyone trying to approach would be spotted from afar by patrols.
If a surprise attack couldn't be achieved, then even if puppeteers excelled at fighting outnumbered and had the weapons Ryuji gave them, it would be useless. The enemy would obliterate them from a distance with area-of-effect attacks.
"Let's first check what Ryuji-sama gave you before making a plan."
Iwata spoke up to suggest at this moment.
During the previous battle, having been targeted by the enraged Nagato, he clearly recognized the gap in strength between himself and Ryuji. Coupled with having his life saved, Iwata now felt both gratitude and admiration for Ryuji.
If he weren't still somewhat sharp-minded, he could be labeled a fanatic.
"That's right."
Tsuchiya also remembered the two scrolls Ryuji had given him before leaving.
Worried they might be large items that could alert the Akatsuki if released, he specifically walked further into the rock wall before taking out and opening the scrolls.
"Release!"
Accompanied by thick white smoke dispersing, a battle vehicle made of hard wood combined with steel and a mechanical bird appeared in the clearing.
"It's Ryuji-sama's mechanical bird!"
"With the mechanical bird, we can launch an attack from the sky, then launch a full-scale assault amidst the chaos."
"What is this battle vehicle?"
Ryuji often rode the mechanical bird in and out of Sunagakure, so almost everyone in the village knew about it, but not many knew about the Iron Fortress.
Although Ryuji used it during the Four-Village Allied Forces' attack on Sunagakure, only the thousand or so Sunagakure's Shinobi defending the village participated in that battle.
Combined with the terrain and the night's dark scene, only the few dozen near the enemy got a clear look at the Iron Fortress.
Others only knew Ryuji had a powerful weapon like this, but didn't know exactly what it looked like or its functions.
The team leaders of the puppeteer unit discussed tactics, with only a few remaining silent.
"Do you know how to operate these?"
With one team leader's question, those discussing tactics fell silent.
Puppets rely on mechanical power to launch attacks, requiring manual operation by the puppeteer throughout. The more complex the puppet, the harder it is to use.
In the original work, Sasori left three of his childhood creations in Sunagakure.
As a result, even after over twenty years, only Kankuro appeared in the entire village who could operate them proficiently.
The mechanical bird was the first puppet in puppeteer history to carry people using mechanical power for flight. They had no clue about its principles or operation, let alone how to control it.
And the Iron Fortress was even more outrageous; they didn't even know what it was for, much less how to operate it.
"Look at the scroll; there are words left on it!"
Iwata noticed something recorded on the scroll still in Tsuchiya's hand.
Everyone looked over and saw several hand seal gestures drawn on it.
"What does this mean?"
"Is it a Ninjutsu?"
"Doesn't look like it!"
After scrutinizing it for a while, everyone was somewhat puzzled.
After a moment of contemplation, Iwata said somewhat uncertainly, "It seems like a Ninjutsu to release a seal?"
"Release a seal?"
Seeing everyone's stunned looks, Iwata corrected, "Not exactly releasing a seal, but something like a key, used to activate something."
"Activate..."
Tsuchiya fell into thought, then suddenly understood. "I get it."
As he spoke, he performed the hand seals recorded on the scroll.
"Activate!"
With the last seal completed, the exhaust pipes on the battle vehicle emitted a puff of gas, and the mechanical bird's wings adjusted their angle with mechanical movements.
"Is this also an autonomous puppet?"
Everyone was astonished.
After it was revealed that Gin was a puppet created by Ryuji, autonomous puppets were no longer a little-known secret in Sunagakure.
But in everyone's impression, autonomous puppets were humanoid.
They never expected tool-type puppets like battle vehicles and mechanical birds to also possess autonomous consciousness.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!!!
Steam burst from the exhaust pipes.
To everyone's surprise, the battle vehicle began to transform.
The vehicle's armor shifted, extending eight steel support legs. Simultaneously, the tracks underneath retracted, turning it into an eight-legged walking fortress.
It moved its eight steel legs like a spider, climbing and walking vertically on the cliff face.
At the same time, the mechanical bird also took flight aided by airflow.
The puppeteer unit's members stared dumbfounded as the two puppets acted independently.
'What are we supposed to do now?'
'What should we do?'
This confusion found an answer as the Iron Fortress climbed to the top of the cliff.
With steam expelled, the Iron Fortress' eight legs anchored into the ground, firmly stabilizing the vehicle body. The steel cannon barrel mounted on the vehicle body, as thick as a large bowl, began to glow.
Someone in the distant camp noticed the light.
But because it was daytime and a heavy rainstorm, they could only see a glowing light in the rain.
They had no idea what the light represented.
Then, an orange beam cut across the sky, striking the camp and unleashing a shockwave hundreds of meters in diameter.
When the shockwave dissipated, only a crater hundreds of meters wide remained on the ground.
The ground, tents, people... everything within the impact zone vanished under the powerful kinetic collision. Scattered rocks and debris littered the area around the crater with corpses.
"What happened!?"
Survivors stared blankly at this scene, their minds empty.
At that moment, the mechanical bird swept across the sky, dropping explosive mines one after another.
Explosions and flames continuously rose, mingled with people's screams and wails, constructing a scene of battlefield hell.
"Enemy attack!"
The continuous roars of explosions awakened the people in the camp, who grabbed their weapons to fight back.
But on one side were attacks launched from an unknown location; on the other was a surprise attack launched from hundreds of meters in the air. They simply didn't know how to counterattack. Adding to that, key figures like Yahiko, Nagato, and Daibutsu were all absent. With no one in command, the entire camp's people scurried around like headless flies.
Even if someone tried to organize people, the mechanical bird would focus on them.
Five different elemental machine cannons fired continuously, quickly taking out the organizers and disrupting any barely organized actions again.
To avoid flooding and sneak attacks, Akatsuki specifically set up their camp on a flat highland.
But now, facing air raids and long-range attacks, there were no shelters for protection. They could only serve as targets, continuously being struck.
Whoosh!
A shrill whistle pierced the air. Another orange beam shot across the sky, like a signal of the grim reaper's harvest, clearing a circular area hundreds of meters in diameter.
Whoosh!
Another whistling sound rang out.
Something resembling a closed long-handled umbrella was dropped by the mechanical bird into a densely packed crowd.
As the tip embedded into the ground, the steel-made canopy automatically opened. The ribs spun rapidly, shooting out a dense hail of kunai and shuriken. The dense crowd was instantly cleared.
...
From under the distant cliff, the members of the elite puppeteer unit watched dumbfounded.
Though at a lower vantage point and unable to see exactly what was happening over there, from the continuous explosions and the sounds of people's wails, screams, and angry roars, they knew how brutal the battle situation was.
Especially the Railgun fired by the Iron Fortress. The explosion caused by its immense kinetic energy caused earth-shaking tremors even from this far away.
"So powerful!"
Iwata couldn't help but exclaim.
Such firepower was terrifying. If there were a few more puppets like this, they wouldn't even need these puppeteers to fight; they could just flatten the enemy with bombardment.
"The enemy is now in complete disarray, each for themselves. It's the perfect time to attack."
Tsuchiya didn't forget his duty as temporary leader. While the others were still shocked by the powerful firepower of the Iron Fortress and the mechanical bird, he issued an order.
But someone raised a question.
"Are you sure if we charge up there, we won't become a burden hindering the mechanical bird and the Iron Fortress?"
Hearing this, Tsuchiya fell silent.
Such long-range firepower naturally couldn't achieve precise strikes. If they mixed into the enemy ranks for melee, the mechanical bird and Iron Fortress would either bombard them along with the enemy or hold fire out of concern.
Neither scenario was good.
But if they didn't go, did they come all this way just to be spectators?
Wouldn't that disgrace the reputation of Sunagakure's elite force?
Just then, the Iron Fortress' exhaust pipes expelled large amounts of steam. The eight steel legs pulled out from the rocky ground, stepping down from the cliff one by one, then continued advancing toward the Akatsuki's camp.
"What is this?"
Everyone was puzzled.
After a moment of thought, Iwata deduced, "It's Chakra. An attack this powerful must consume a tremendous amount of Chakra. The Iron Fortress likely doesn't have enough Chakra left to continue firing such high-powered cannon shots."
"Hearing you say that, the explosion sounds over there seem to be gradually slowing down too."
"After all, the mechanical bird is only so big; the weapons it can carry are limited."
"It looks like it's time for us to show our skills."
A smile appeared on Tsuchiya's face. "Everyone, bring out your gear. We can't let Ryuji-sama's puppets steal all the credit."
"Oh~"
…
In a remote canyon.
Yahiko and Rasa had just finished discussing the details of troop withdrawal when they suddenly heard the tremendous explosion from afar. They instinctively turned to look in the direction of the sound.
"That's the camp's location!"
Yahiko's face changed drastically, immediately suspecting Sunagakure of treachery.
But when he turned back, ready to question, he saw Rasa also wearing a look of astonishment.
"...It wasn't you?"
Rasa came back to his senses, looked at the anxious Yahiko, and shrugged. "I don't know anything about it."
"Damn it!"
Yahiko turned and ran toward the Akatsuki's camp.
Suddenly, the sound of rushing air came from behind.
Yahiko's expression changed; he jumped to the side. Golden sand crashed into the spot where Yahiko had just been, smashing a crater into the ground.
Yahiko glared at Rasa with a grim expression, demanding, "Rasa-dono, what is the meaning of this?"
Rasa gave a light laugh. "Although I don't know what happened, the accident at the Akatsuki camp is an opportunity for me. How could I let you return so easily to take charge?"
As he spoke, he instructed a guard behind him, "Go back and investigate the situation. If there's a chance, gather our people and launch a full-scale attack."
"Yes!"
"Don't even think about succeeding!"
Yahiko, holding a greatsword, charged forward to attack.
Rasa waved his right hand. A sea of golden sand surged like a tidal wave, crashing toward him.
Facing this natural disaster-like attack, Yahiko couldn't resist at all. He could only curse inwardly about Rasa before fleeing.
"You're not going anywhere. Stay here and keep me company!" Rasa spread his hands, focusing entirely on controlling the golden sand to assault Yahiko.
'Just how strong is Nagato to fight evenly with this monster!?'
While inwardly shocked, Yahiko channeled Chakra into his legs, swiftly dashing and dodging.
Simultaneously, he also sought opportunities for a counterattack.