This puppeteer is a bit... well...

Chapter 12 Allied Forces

Back inside, there were two corpses of Iwagakure ninja lying on the floor.

Long Er looked bewildered. "What happened?"

"Those two guys suddenly barged in and I killed them."

Hong stood beside the corpse and replied respectfully.

Her maid's skirt was half-stained with blood, and her forehead was also splattered with blood. Her gentle smile looked somewhat terrifying and eerie.

"I'm asking why guys from other villages were able to break into our village. Was the gate breached so quickly?"

"I just heard shouts for backup at the gate; it must be rats that have sneaked into the village."

"I see!"

Long Er breathed a sigh of relief.

The gates of Sunagakure are a formidable pass, impregnable by even a single man. If the enemy were to breach it so quickly, their strength must be far beyond imagination, and he would have to consider fleeing.

Thankfully, nothing happened.

After letting out a sigh of relief, Long Er pondered for a moment, "The village gate isn't that easy to breach. On the contrary, these rats are a hidden danger. If these guys are allowed to wreak havoc in the village, making it difficult for the defense system to cover both ends, and thus finding an opportunity to open the entrance from the inside, then we're finished."

"Do you want me to catch those rats?"

"No, you stay home, I'll go."

"Yes."

Long Er nodded and then rushed out of the house.

The howling of the wind and sand, the angry roar of men, the clash of weapons, the booming of explosions, the dazzling flames shooting into the sky, the dazzling flashes of lightning... all sorts of sounds and images come one after another, making one's adrenaline rise and one's expression unconsciously tense up.

This has nothing to do with strength or weakness; it's purely a physiological change that occurs when people respond to an environment of intense confrontation.

This is war.

Ryuji felt his hands trembling, unsure whether it was from excitement, fear, or both.

"Calm down, calm down, calm down. It's just a little bigger than the usual conflict during a mission, nothing serious."

Thinking this way, Ryuji's hot-blooded mind cooled down.

He jumped onto the roof of a house, looked around, and quickly assessed the situation based on the sounds and firelight.

The loudest noise came from the direction of the main gate.

The intense fighting and screams all came from there.

But explosions also occurred from time to time throughout the village, with flames shooting into the sky, illuminating the tragic figures of people falling to the ground.

Ryuji didn't rush to the rescue, but instead coldly observed everything until five minutes later when he began to act.

He took out a scroll, opened it, and formed a mudra with his hands.

"untie!"

boom!

As a plume of white smoke rose, swarms of scarabs appeared on the roof.

Long Er continued forming hand seals, issuing orders as he did so: "Five to the east, six to the southwest, three to the north, and six more heading towards the Wind Shadow Building. Kill all of these guys."

After he finished speaking, the last seal was also completed.

The scarab beetle's carapace glowed briefly before going out.

They waved their large forelegs, digging into the ground at a frequency imperceptible to the naked eye, and in the blink of an eye, they burrowed into the ground and disappeared into the street.

Looking at the empty street, Ryuji did not take any further action, but continued to ponder, considering whether there were any shortcomings in the previous arrangements.

"Because it's an infiltration, the enemy can't maintain a four-person squad formation."

Judging from the frequency and scale of the vandalism that occurred on the streets, the number of people involved was approximately twenty.

The locations of the incidents were random, suggesting it was simply sabotage to distract the village's defenses. Ideally, it would draw the gatekeepers away, relieving pressure on the attackers and creating an opportunity for those hiding in the shadows, preparing to coordinate with the main force outside to breach the Sunagakure gates.

Given the enemy's main objective is to destroy the village and the difficulty of the mission, those involved in the inside-outside collusion must be elites, so we need to be careful.

However, the Wind Shadow Building also contains a lot of classified information.

If I were the enemy commander, I wouldn't mind taking these important documents along the way.

Therefore, the six people who went to the Wind Shadow Building should also be an elite team.

But they're probably not as good as the ones attacking the goal.

Ryuji reviewed the intelligence and deductions again, adding to the plan he had just made: "Although the Kazekage Building should also be heavily guarded, considering the current situation of the village, it can't be that tight."

Moreover, one cannot place one's hopes on others.

"Then the scarab golems might not be able to handle the enemies at the Wind Shadow Building and will need reinforcements, so..."

Long Er took out a scroll, opened it, and formed hand seals.

"untie."

boom!

As a puff of white smoke rose, a beautiful girl with short silver hair appeared before them.

Ryuji formed hand seals, awakening the girl's consciousness, and said, "Gin, go to the Kazekage Building and guard it. Eliminate any enemies that try to invade."

"clear!"

Yin nodded and leaped from the rooftop toward the Wind Shadow Building. His agile figure was reassuring to anyone who saw him.

"Then, I'll personally deal with the enemies who want to open the village gate from the inside." Ryuji looked towards the gate, which was engulfed in flames, and couldn't help but sneer.

……

In the pitch-black night.

In an alleyway of Sunagakure, ten ninjas were crouching in ambush.

Suddenly, a ninja looked up and said, "Captain, twenty ninjas have been dispatched from the Sand Village gate to deal with the bait we've laid out."

"Tsk tsk, there are only a little over two hundred guards at the gate, yet they dare to send 20 of them to do other things." The man known as the captain stepped forward.

The firelight outside faintly illuminated the man's figure.

He had spiky hair, wore a single-sleeved vest, and a headband worn by Iwagakure ninjas.

--hunting.

This is his name, and he is also known as Explosion Release Hunter.

He is a member of the Iwagakure Demolition Squad.

"Hunter, give the order quickly!"

Another person stepped out from behind.

Hunt glanced behind him and recognized who it was.

He was a middle-aged man with an honest face, wearing a single-shoulder armor from the Hidden Cloud Village and a headband from the Hidden Cloud Village.

Hunt frowned slightly, annoyed, and said, "Troy, are you trying to teach me how to do things?"

"We, the various ninja villages, have formed an alliance for the same purpose, but that doesn't mean we are your subordinates. If you cannot lead the troops well, we will act on our own."

As Troy finished speaking, everyone hidden in the alley came out.

Two people wore Iwagakure headbands, two people wore Kumogakure headbands, two people wore Kusagakure headbands, and two people wore Amegakure headbands.

Including Kari and Troy, there are a total of ten people, but they come from four different ninja villages.

Each of them had piercing eyes and exuded a powerful aura, even the weakest of them was not much weaker than Shou.

If there were any seasoned veterans here, they would surely exclaim in surprise.

Because each of these ten people is a renowned figure in the ninja world, and almost every one of their experiences could be written into a legendary story.

(End of this chapter)