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

Chapter 36 One Against Four

"Oh dear..." Ryuji turned around, looking at Minato, who had retreated to a distance and was clutching his shoulder, a mocking smile on his face. "You clearly had the upper hand, so why did you let him go so easily?"

"Captain, what's going on?"

Zhiwei asked, her voice a little nervous.

He thought it was a battle he had the upper hand, but the situation suddenly reversed, and he still didn't understand what was going on.

The same applies to Dingza on the opposite side.

"Be careful of his armor; it may contain weapons."

While reminding his teammates, Minato took out an antidote and injected it into his thigh.

Although there were no visible wounds, there was a sensation on the skin as if it had been pierced by a sharp object.

Just to be on the safe side, he still injected himself with the antidote provided by Konoha.

After all, puppeteers are also poison masters, and each of them is a master of poison.

This antidote, personally developed by Tsunade, can cure most known poisons on the market.

"Tsk, so cautious."

Seeing the other party's behavior, Ryuji made no attempt to hide the regret on his face.

Dingza and Zhiwei looked at Long Er in astonishment, or rather, at the armor he was wearing.

Although it was called armor, it provided no protection whatsoever.

Apart from a patch-like soft armor on each joint and a flexible tube-like thing connecting these soft armors, there is no other protection.

Could such a thing hide weapons?

but.

Despite their doubts, they believed it wholeheartedly because of their trust in Minato.

"He's a puppeteer, and it's hard to say what kind of mechanical weapons he might have. Try to avoid close combat." As Zhiwei spoke, he unfolded his hands, which were forming a hand seal, and with a flick of his wrist, a large number of insects flew out from his sleeves and swarmed towards Long Er.

[Ninja Art: Insect Ball Technique!]

Ryuji chuckled softly, raised his right hand, and five chakra threads emerged, grabbing the roof beams. With a gentle pull, he leaped into the air before the swarm of insects arrived.

"call out!"

A dark figure descended from the sky.

A masked boy with silver hair wielded a short sword and slashed down from the roof beam.

As if he had anticipated this, Ryuji flicked his fingers, causing the chakra threads binding the roof beam to swing like a swing, allowing him to dodge the attack falling from above.

Furthermore, in that split second, Ryuji kicked Kakashi, sending the genius flying and crashing into a distant pillar, leaving cracks on it.

[The technique of localized multiplication!]

Just as Long Er jumped onto the roof beam, before he could even stand firmly, a giant hand slapped him down, trying to flatten him and the beam together.

But he was not afraid at all.

Behind it, the hoses connecting the right shoulder, knee pad, and hand armor plates expelled gas, accompanied by the roar of a huge engine.

Long Er raised his right hand with a cold smile and struck at the giant hand that was even bigger than himself.

"Bang!"

A shockwave rippled out from the point of impact, and the enormous hand was deflected by the punch, crushing a section of bricks and stones.

Ding, who was standing below, lost his balance and stumbled before sliding and falling to the ground.

Because he had lost his footing earlier, Long Er was also thrown away by the reaction force.

"Hiss!!!"

The person is in the air, and the hoses connected to the armor plates release gas.

Using this tiny force, one can adjust their posture in mid-air and maintain balance.

He flipped in mid-air, his legs landing on the wall he was supposed to hit. The force of the impact caused several cracks to appear and spread outwards.

Ultimately, the entire wall could not withstand the force and collapsed with a crash.

After Ryuji passed through the wall, he had lost most of his strength, but when he landed on the ground, he still slid for quite a distance before finally coming to a stop.

Just as he stopped, a figure flashed in front of him, and Minato appeared in front of Ryuji, holding a chakra jutsu that was compressed to its limit and spinning continuously, and shoved it at his face.

That movement was seven-tenths similar to Naruto's before. You could say they're father and son after all.

In a moment of crisis, Ryuji's first reaction was to mentally complain.

Or perhaps, this situation wasn't even a crisis for him.

Just as the Rasengan was about to hit Minato's face, Ryuji suddenly reached out his right hand, grabbed Minato's wrist, and pulled him aside.

At the same time, he leaned to the side in the opposite direction and narrowly missed the water gate.

"boom!"

The water gate crashed headfirst into the wall behind it with astonishing force.

Long Er didn't turn around to check the situation, because the swarm of insects was flapping their wings and chasing after him. He started running, dodging the insects' pursuit, in the empty hall.

"Human Bomber!"

Dingza transformed into a giant ball of flesh and charged in from the side; Kakashi, wielding a short sword, blocked his way; behind them, a swarm of insects chased after them; all around, yellow figures flickered, waiting for their chance to strike.

If Ryuji escapes through the only opening, he will fall into the attack of this yellow flash.

There's no need to launch an effective attack; simply delaying for a moment while other allies arrive will end the battle.

This wave is a decisive blow.

"Aren't you going to give me time to retrieve the puppet...?"

Ryuji stood still, a cold smile on his face as he watched the attacks coming from three directions.

These people have obviously been carrying out missions together for many years, and their teamwork is excellent, far surpassing that of the ten elite allied forces from a few days ago.

but……

The flesh-and-blood tanks rolled in with the floor shaking, and the swarm of insects covered the gaps on the other side, blocking the jump and the other side.

To avoid being accidentally injured, Kakashi slowed down and charged from the front.

Minato Namikaze continued to move rapidly around, creating confusion while preparing to deliver a fatal blow at any moment.

"My puppet was released from the very beginning."

As the words fell, the blazing flames illuminated the room, and the temperature rose dramatically.

Zhiwei, who was controlling the insects from a distance, cried out in pain. The swarm of insects seemed to have lost its command and hovered in place like headless flies.

The flashing yellow figures around them rushed towards Zhiwei immediately.

With the encirclement faltering at two points, Ryuji seized the opportunity, leaping out from the swarm of insects and avoiding the human-bullet tank.

Kakashi pursued him, and several scarabs burst from the ground, spewing flames at him.

Kakashi abruptly stopped and stepped back, forming hand seals.

[Earth Escape·Earth Flow Wall! 】

A thick rock wall rose up in front of him, blocking the flames, but he also lost sight of Ryuji.

The meatball tank circled around and sped over. Ryuji punched the floor and jumped, causing it to fall down.

The deadly threat has been neutralized.

Ryuji didn't relax. He quickly took out two scrolls and summoned Silver and "Armor".

A is a humanoid puppet made of metal and hardwood. It is even smaller than Silver, and the fasteners of its joints are exposed, making it look like it could be knocked apart with a single punch.

Furthermore, there was no trace of a weapon on the puppet, making it appear to be an unfinished work, or rather, not a puppet intended for combat.

But after taking out the puppet, Ryuji showed a relaxed expression.

It seemed that victory was assured.

"Alright, let's begin round two!"

Ryuji opened his arms, and chakra threads connected to various parts of the armor. Gin also opened his bright silver eyes.

(End of this chapter)