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

The number of chapters in Chapter 15 is meaningless to me.

"He's very strong, don't try to fight him head-on!"

Saying this, Shou threw a punch straight at him.

"boom!"

A dazzling light burst forth from the fist, the terrifying heat caused the air to explode, and the violent shockwave blasted away the scrap metal cannonballs.

Narita waited for his opportunity, then slashed horizontally with his crescent-shaped blade, drawing a beautiful arc.

Long Er stretched out his left hand, as if to grab it.

"idiot!"

Narita sneered inwardly, and wind-attribute chakra erupted from the blade, so that one could feel its sharpness even from a distance.

Faced with this unexpected situation, Ryuji remained smiling and calmly reached for the blade.

"Clang!"

His hand gripped the blade, producing a metallic clanging sound.

and many more?

Why does it make a metallic clanging sound when you grip a knife blade?

No, that's not the problem.

The question is, why was he able to ignore the sharpness of the wind-style chakra and grab the blade with his bare hand?

Shouldn't his hand have been cut off?

Narita's eyes widened, his mind filled with questions.

"Retreat now!"

Hunt roared behind him, but it was too late.

The moment Narita came to his senses, Ryuji snapped the crescent blade in two and stabbed the shard into his heart.

"Thanks for the kill, bro."

Seeing the Kusagakure ninja's pupils contract, Ryuji smiled, released his left hand, and kicked him away.

Just as Kari was about to rush up and launch a sneak attack, he was hit by Narita's body and sent flying, crashing into the ruins hundreds of meters away.

Quiet, quiet, quiet!

Although the sounds of fighting could be heard throughout Sunagakure, this place was eerily quiet.

Of the ten ninjas who had made a name for themselves in the ninja world, only three remained after just two encounters.

They were impressed by their opponent's strength and dared not make any further rash moves.

No, there should be four.

Even though he was kicked hundreds of meters away, the Explosion Release Hunter still didn't die.

He pushed Narita off him and tried to stand up.

But he was interrupted by the surge of blood and qi in his chest, and began to vomit uncontrollably, staining the surrounding area red.

This condition is no longer suitable for fighting.

Let's count three.

Troy, a Magnet Release ninja from Kumogakure; a Kumogakure ninja who wields a sword and uses Lightning Release; and an Iwagakure ninja who initially charged forward, weighing over 300 kilograms and using Earth Release.

Despite still having the numerical advantage, their eyes were filled with fear as they looked at Ryuji, and they dared not launch another attack.

"Are you just going to stand by and watch?"

Long Er asked with a light laugh.

Troy stared nervously at Ryuji, involuntarily swallowing hard.

The two people on the other side had similar expressions, their faces covered in sweat.

The sky began to lighten with the first hint of dawn, finally illuminating the pitch-black night.

They finally saw clearly the enemy they were facing.

A tracked armored vehicle was blocking the way to the gate.

It is the size of a house, made of a combination of metal and special wood, and is covered with many weapons.

The area was filled with kunai launchers, giant ballistae, hook-and-sickle launchers, and many thin tubes of unknown purpose.

In the very center of the tank, a cannon barrel more than three meters long and as thick as a large bowl gleamed coldly, sending chills down one's spine.

A boy stood in front of the chariot.

Judging from his face and build, he was about fifteen years old, with short reddish-brown hair, wearing a black ninja outfit, armored gloves, and over them... armor?

The reason for the question is that the armor is a bit strange.

It doesn't have much armor, not even covering vital areas like the chest, so it can't provide any protection.

Only on key areas such as the shoulders and knees are there armor plates of just the right size, connected by soft tubes about the thickness of an index finger, which eventually converge at a circular device the size of an egg on the chest.

"So young!"

Troy stared at the young man, momentarily lost in thought.

The other two ninjas couldn't help but smile wryly.

"Although I know there's a saying that the new wave pushes the old wave forward, I'm not old enough to become the old wave yet."

"I should have listened to the commander's advice and sent more people."

"No, it's not about sending more people, but about sending stronger people," Ryuji corrected. "For me, numbers below a certain scale are meaningless; only sending people stronger than me will suffice."

Although Sunagakure is one of the five great ninja villages, it is a small ninja village in terms of both village size and population.

It is listed as one of the five great ninja villages because ninjas born in such a harsh environment as the desert are generally stronger than those from other ninja villages.

At the end of the Warring States period, Konoha established various prominent ninja clans to emulate.

Retsudo rescued the surviving ninjas in the desert and united them to form the Sand Village.

These ninjas who survived in the desert were all elites, and their leader, Retsuto, was revered by the world and given the title of Kazekage.

The next generation—the second Kazekage, Shamon—was a prodigy.

He developed puppetry to compensate for the shortage of manpower.

They also used the tailed beasts that had been sealed in the temple for military and research purposes, and developed "Magnetic Release" which can extract magnetic chakra, resulting in many more skilled fighters in Sunagakure.

It was the Second Kazekage's series of actions that truly brought Sunagakure's overall strength to the level of the Five Great Ninja Villages.

So, here's the question.

Puppet masters are a rare profession, so why do they still serve to make up for the shortage of manpower?

This brings us to the puppeteer's talent.

A puppeteer is a profession that involves manipulating puppets to fight enemies. To become a puppeteer, one must have the talent to multitask.

Otherwise, while you're focused on controlling the puppet in battle, someone can easily flank you with a clone and chop you up.

To improve their strength, puppeteers must either create more powerful puppets or enhance their talent for multitasking, enabling them to control multiple puppets simultaneously in battle.

With such talent, a puppeteer can easily take on multiple opponents.

Against a puppeteer, unless you are stronger than him, don't expect to gain an advantage through numbers (the number of puppeteers is directly proportional to their strength).

Ryuji's talent is quite average. Although he has become a Jonin, he can only multitask and at most control two puppets at the same time.

But he developed autonomous puppets, so he no longer needed to control them personally; he was an army all by himself.

Ten elite Jonin would likely win against two Kage, but for Ryuji, it would be better to send just one Kage.

Although he didn't have that many autonomous puppets at the moment, it didn't stop him from bragging and bluffing.

"Perhaps you're right, but..."

Halfway through his sentence, lightning erupted from the sword-wielding Cloud Ninja, and he vanished in a flash.

He left a trail of afterimages, bypassing Long Er and running towards the gate, at which point the rest of his words were heard.

"We don't necessarily have to fight you!"

Long Er looked astonished, then couldn't help but shake his head.

"How foolish!"

As soon as the words were spoken, a tremendous explosion occurred behind them, and towering flames turned half the sky red.

Puppet masters are skilled in mechanics and poisons, so they are naturally also adept at traps.

Ryuji had positioned himself in advance to await their arrival and had revealed his identity as a puppeteer during the previous battle.

What was his reason for thinking there were no traps ahead?

Were they the Sand Village ninjas who came to provide support and returned safely?

Don't make trouble.

These are fellow villagers; it would be easy for them to leave a mark on the trap that only they could recognize.

(End of this chapter)