"Dang!"
The chakra-infused short sword wrapped in lightning fiercely struck the steel puppet. The lightning from the sword spread over the entire body of the puppet like a spider web. Sakumo's blow left only a shallow scratch on the puppet's surface before the steel fist of the puppet came crashing down at him with a sharp sound of breaking wind.
Swish!
With Sakumo's speed, he naturally dodged, leaving a huge crater where the fist struck the ground.
"It's incredibly tough!" Sakumo thought, still shaken. Despite its massive size, the puppet moved with surprising speed. Additionally, its entire body was made of materials that could conduct chakra, which meant that any chakra Sakumo infused into his blade would be redirected across the puppet's body, rendering his attacks less effective.
Sunae's steel puppet was faster and stronger than the rock giant of Tsuchiguki that they had faced before, and it was made of special materials. The only way to defeat it was through sheer physical force—something only a handful of individuals in the ninja world could muster.
Even Sakumo couldn't find a way to defeat Sunae at the moment.
Elsewhere, the battle between Hyuga Tenki and Saburo was at a stalemate. Saburo's puppets employed a variety of attack methods that were difficult to defend against. Even with the Byakugan, Hyuga Tenki found it challenging to keep up with Saburo's complex techniques.
It wasn't that they were completely helpless against their opponents, but they noticed that in the current large-scale battle, Konoha's ninjas were falling rapidly. The issue wasn't that Konoha's ninjas were weaker than the Sand Ninjas—it was that the puppets controlled by the Sand Ninja puppet troops were too strange and deadly.
"Tsunade, we should retreat temporarily. The current situation isn't favorable for us," Orochimaru suggested as he fought alongside Tsunade against Chiyo. He had been observing the battle and noticed that the tide was turning against them.
"Bang!"
Tsunade smashed one of Chiyo's puppets with a powerful punch. Chiyo still hadn't used the Ten Chikamatsu puppets, likely because they had been damaged by Sakumo in their last encounter. Even though they were repaired, Chiyo was reluctant to use them recklessly.
Chiyo's old, wrinkled face gradually relaxed. While losing even one member of the Sand Ninja puppet unit was a significant blow for them, the continuous loss of Konoha ninjas was even more devastating.
"Youngster, let's see how long you can hold on!" Chiyo sneered. Each member of the puppet master unit was an elite selected from the village, and their strength wasn't much weaker than that of Konoha ninjas. Additionally, they controlled more than a hundred puppets, all equipped with hidden weapons and laced with poisons that Chiyo herself had prepared.
Unlike the poison used in the Land of Rain last time, this poison could make a person lose control of their body within seconds, leaving them vulnerable to being slaughtered. Without such potent poisons, even with hundreds of puppets, they wouldn't have been able to inflict such heavy casualties on the Konoha troops in such a short time.
Tsunade's face was filled with rage, but she couldn't bear to watch the continued loss of Konoha lives.
"Retreat!" she finally shouted, gritting her teeth.
Upon hearing this, the Konoha ninjas were filled with reluctance. Their companions were falling beside them, and they longed to annihilate the enemies before them. But it was clear that if they continued to fight, they would undoubtedly be the ones defeated.
However, the Sand Ninjas weren't about to let the Konoha ninjas retreat so easily and pursued them relentlessly.
Swish!
Amidst the chaos, a flash of yellow light appeared as Minato darted through the battlefield. He completely abandoned direct confrontation with the Sand Ninjas, instead targeting the puppeteers. Using the Body Flicker Jutsu repeatedly, his chakra rapidly decreased.
But Minato had no intention of stopping. Just then, a Sand Ninja appeared in front of him, blocking his path.
Instead of engaging, Minato closed his eyes.
"Lend me your power!" he called out within his soul, and in his heart, a figure seemed to respond.
The dormant power within him suddenly surged, filling every cell in his body.
"It's too dangerous to do this in battle," the inner voice cautioned as it granted him strength.
Even though the time required to communicate with his inner self was short, it would still leave him vulnerable for a brief moment. In battle, revealing even the smallest flaw could be fatal.
"I know, but if we don't do this, our losses will be even greater!" Minato replied, suddenly opening his eyes. His pupils had turned blood-red and took on the shape of fox eyes.
The Sand Ninja, who thought he had caught Minato off guard, felt a chilling terror when their eyes met. The icy feeling gripped his entire being.
"Puff!"
In that moment of hesitation, Minato's kunai pierced the Sand Ninja's chest, blood spurting out immediately.
"Boom!"
After delivering the fatal blow, Minato's arm smashed into the Sand Ninja's chest, sending him flying.
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!"
Countless hidden weapons struck the lifeless body, splattering blood. The corpse blocked the view of the Sand Ninja puppeteer, and in his moment of hesitation, Minato bypassed the obstacle. The blue chakra ball in Minato's hand collided with the black puppet, shattering it instantly. Without stopping, Minato's figure vanished.
Swish!
His speed was even more terrifying than before.
"Puff!"
Minato's kunai, enhanced with wind blades, severed one of the Sand Ninja puppeteer's arms, interrupting his hand seals. With a swift motion, Minato slashed horizontally, slicing off half of the puppeteer's head, killing him before he could even scream.
Minato's decisive and brutal method of killing sent shivers through the surrounding Sand Ninjas, making them more cautious and defensive against him.
But Minato paid them no mind. He used the Body Flicker Jutsu again, disappearing from sight. His only targets now were the puppeteers of the Sand Village.
Within a few minutes, despite the continued loss of Konoha ninjas to the insidious attacks of the Sand Puppet Unit, Minato had killed four puppeteers on his own.
This shift made Chiyo and the high-ranking Sand Ninja officials, who had been smug earlier, look grim. Chiyo, in particular, glared at the figure who was relentlessly hunting down puppeteers, her eyes burning with fury.
"It's that damn kid again!"
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