Before Iwagakure's forces could react, dozens of puppets surged toward them like shadows in the night.
"Everyone, stay sharp! The enemy's puppets are attacking!" Kitsuchi shouted, his voice commanding but laced with tension.
The humanoid puppets wielded standard kunai—cost-effective and perfect for combat use. Shinki had no intention of equipping these expendable tools with anything more costly. They were, after all, just a means to an end.
"Die!" yelled one Iwagakure ninja as he clashed head-on with a puppet. The kunai collided, sending a jolt through the ninja's arm. The sheer force surprised him, causing him to stumble backward. Meanwhile, the puppet, unaffected, moved in with mechanical precision and plunged its kunai into his chest.
The lifeless puppet didn't pause, advancing to its next target with lethal focus.
"Stay alert! They're relentless!" Chaos erupted on the battlefield as the puppets stormed the camp, cutting down anyone in their path with unwavering determination. Severing a puppet's head or limbs did little to stop it; it would continue its assault until utterly destroyed, often delivering a final deadly strike before falling.
Kitsuchi's eyes widened as he prepared a seal, frustration mounting as he saw his forces struggling. The sheer ferocity of the puppet attack was unexpected. With a snarl, he drew his kunai and joined the fray.
Meanwhile, Shinki's giant eagle descended onto a small boulder. A rock shifted, and Orochimaru emerged, carrying Jiraiya and supporting the exhausted Hatake Sakumo.
"Am I on time?" Shinki called out as he landed.
"Perfectly," Orochimaru replied, tossing Jiraiya onto the eagle's back with a relieved smile. "I tried contacting you through the puppet on a whim and didn't think it would work. Can you really control them from this distance?"
"Only because of your ingenuity, Orochimaru," Shinki said, giving him a thumbs-up. The admiration was genuine—Orochimaru's knack for experimentation was unparalleled.
Orochimaru chuckled, pride glinting in his eyes.
"Enough joking; they're closing in," Shinki said as he flung out another batch of puppets. These units were disposable, crafted for chaos rather than durability. Even so, the sight of reinforcements rattled the Iwagakure forces, who redoubled their efforts to eliminate the advancing threats.
Kitsuchi's jaw clenched as he realized what he was up against. He barked orders: "Don't let them escape! Surround them!"
Jiraiya, barely conscious, yelled, "Shinki, unleash more puppets! Don't let them get away!"
Shinki glanced back at him, sighed, and ignored the plea. Instead, he raised his right hand, thumb and middle finger poised. He locked eyes with Kitsuchi and smirked. "I hope you like surprises."
"Surprises?" Kitsuchi echoed, baffled.
The enemy was surrounded; why was this boy so confident? Did he truly think they could escape on a bird?
"Bang!" Shinki snapped his fingers, the sound resonating through the rain-soaked battlefield.
The puppets, even those already reduced to parts, glowed with a soft blue light.
A chill swept down Kitsuchi's spine. "No…!"
In a heartbeat, the battlefield lit up as puppet after puppet detonated in a chain reaction. The time from the glowing blue light to the explosion was no more than two seconds—too short for the Iwagakure ninjas to react.
"Boom!!!"
The night erupted in a series of explosions, screams tearing through the air. Some of the Iwagakure shinobi were thrown far, their cries echoing into the distance. Others weren't so fortunate, their bodies obliterated by the force. The concussive blasts left nothing behind but scorched earth and silence.
Kitsuchi stood frozen, mind blank as the horrific scene unfolded. He had never imagined that these puppets were rigged for self-destruction, nor that their explosive power would surpass even that of explosive tags.
Realization dawned on him: the puppets had been autonomous. That boy on the eagle hadn't moved a muscle, yet they fought as if commanded by an unseen force. The implications were terrifying.
Amidst the carnage, Shinki directed the giant eagle upward, carrying Orochimaru, Sakumo, and Jiraiya away from the battle.
"They explode too?" Orochimaru's eyes widened, his voice betraying a rare trace of shock. He'd dismantled Shinki's puppets before, dissected their mechanisms, and never found a hint of such a capability. Were these a different kind?
The idea unsettled him. If Shinki's puppets could explode, what would happen if one detonated during a close examination? The thought made Orochimaru shiver.
"Gulp." Hatake Sakumo swallowed hard, glancing at the devastation below. "Shinki, can you teach me how to make those puppets?"
With such weapons, no one would need to rush into battle again. Just send in the puppets and let them do the fighting—and exploding.
Jiraiya, despite the pain and blood trickling from his mouth, managed a strained grin. "Count me in too."
"Forget it," Shinki said flatly. "This is a unique secret technique, not something I'm willing to share."
Many clans guarded their techniques closely, and Shinki's puppets were no different. Even if he did share, few could master it.
Jiraiya grunted in disappointment, still fascinated by Shinki's work. "Orochimaru said you have hundreds of puppets at Jonin level—is that true?"
Shinki cast a glance at Orochimaru, who met it without flinching. "It's an exaggeration," Shinki said. "They're not truly Jonin level unless I'm directly controlling them. Any decent Jonin can take down one of my puppets in a fair fight."
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