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

Chapter 5 Capturing Sasori of the Red Sand

Ryuji swooped down on his mechanical bird.

Scorpion's lips curled up slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips. He flicked his index and middle fingers together, and the gears inside the puppet's body clicked and clacked under the pull of the chakra threads.

The floating iron sand surged upwards, shooting out several needles that hurtled towards the mechanical bird.

The mechanical bird swayed left and right, shaking off the needles.

At the same time, it opened its mouth, revealing a pitch-black tube with arcs of electricity coiled around it, gathering lightning-attribute chakra towards the center of the tube.

Scorpion realized something was wrong and quickly manipulated the puppet to change tactics.

All the iron sand that was shot out flew back and gathered above to form a thick rectangular iron block.

boom!

The air was torn apart, and dazzling laser beams descended from the sky, as if divine punishment had been handed down.

The scorpion showed no fear, and the iron block above its head met it head-on.

boom!

When the two made contact in mid-air, a shockwave rippled outwards, lightning flashed, and the entire sky was obscured by blinding light.

Silver didn't let the opportunity slip by and strode towards Scorpion.

"snort!"

Scorpion wore a mocking expression, connecting all ten fingers of his hands to puppet strings.

During Silver's dash, a human puppet burst forth from the ground, kicking up dust. Its right arm mechanism activated, revealing a sharp blade crackling with electricity, dazzlingly bright.

This was actually a deadly move planted before the war even began.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Yin had no time to dodge and could only try to turn his body to avoid vital organs.

puff!

The blade sliced ​​through the muscle, and Silver had one arm severed.

However, no blood flowed from the cut; instead, mechanical parts such as electronic wires could be seen in the gaps between the muscles.

"This is a puppet!?"

Sasori of the Red Sand slightly widened his eyes, forgetting what he was going to do next.

Silver clenched his remaining right hand into a fist, a large amount of chakra gathered in his wrist and exploded outwards.

boom!

One punch, and the puppet shattered.

Random parts and fragments were flying everywhere.

Scorpion snapped out of his surprise, then suddenly looked up at the sky as if he had just remembered something.

Amidst the flashes of lightning, a graceful figure leaped down, heading straight for him.

"Don't even think about it!"

For the first time, Scorpion panicked, letting out a hysterical roar as if he were cornered, and a sharp spike shot out from the iron block in the sky toward the figure.

"Too late!"

Ye Cang roared and clenched his fist, smashing it down on Scorpion's face.

"Oh!"

Sasori's lips curled up slightly, his hysterical expression turning into a victorious smile, and he dodged the punch with a roll.

Yecang, on the other hand, was pierced through the chest by the pursuing spikes.

"Are you misunderstanding something?" Scorpion looked at Ye Cang with disdain. "Puppet masters' combat abilities are indeed lacking, but that doesn't mean they're zero. I really don't understand what you're thinking, going to such lengths just to land a punch on me..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ye Cang, who had been pierced, turned into quicksand and gradually disappeared with the wind.

Whoosh!

Silver had already arrived behind him, unleashing a powerful punch fueled by chakra.

Sasori's pupils contracted, and with a sudden pull of his right hand, chakra threads were pulled up from the sand, connecting to more puppets that burst forth from the ground. One stood in front of Sasori, while the others attacked Gin.

boom!

The puppet blocking his way was shattered with a single punch, but more puppets had already swarmed in to attack.

Scorpion retreated a short distance, looking disdainfully at Silver who was surrounded. "Did you think this kind of strategy could deal with me?"

"What if we add this?"

A calm voice came from high above.

Scorpion looked up and saw a mechanical bird darting towards him amidst dazzling lightning, its speed as swift as lightning.

Before Sasori of the Red Sand could react, blood splattered across the sky as he was sent flying, feeling several of his ribs shatter upon impact.

"asshole!"

Scorpion endured the pain, flicked his index finger, and the iron blocks in the sky scattered into sand, dripping down like rain.

With such a large area, no one can escape it.

The mechanical bird was filled with a large amount of iron sand, which jammed the gear parts, rendering it unable to operate, and it fell from the sky.

boom!

boom!

The scorpion and the mechanical bird fell to the ground at the same time.

The former was thrown so hard he vomited blood, while the latter was smashed into a pile of broken parts.

But Ryuji and Yekura jumped down beforehand.

They walked slowly toward Scorpion, with Silver following from a distance.

Scorpion looked up toward the sound of footsteps, and a smile appeared on his face the moment he saw who it was.

However, he looked rather pathetic at the moment, with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth and his clothes stained red.

So much so that his smile looked very miserable.

"Ryuji... I guessed it was you when I saw those scarab puppets. I didn't expect you to even create puppets that can spontaneously extract chakra. But my human puppets are pretty good too. Just one of them has driven you to this point."

Hearing this boastful tone, Ryuu stopped and looked down at Scorpion with a calm expression. "What's strong is Kazekage, not your puppetry skills."

"What did you say?!"

Scorpion was agitated and wanted to get up to argue with Ryuji.

Yin lunged forward, kicking him to the ground, then pressed down on his back with one knee, and with his remaining right hand, grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, subduing him.

He struggled to break free from the oppression.

Unfortunately, the power difference between a puppeteer and a puppeteer is enormous, especially since the former is in a subdued state.

"Turning a person into a puppet while preserving some of the ninjutsu used on the corpse... isn't that just turning high-quality ingredients into low-grade food?" Ryuji sneered mercilessly. "Compared to the Third Kazekage, your puppet is far inferior."

"I'm talking to you about puppets, and you're talking to me about people. You're just jealous!" Scorpion said indignantly.

"Whatever you say, that's fine. After all, you've gone this far, what's wrong with giving in a little?"

"you……"

"Silver, shut him up."

boom!

Silver knocked Scorpion unconscious with a single punch.

Seeing this, Long Er nodded and said, "Clean up the battlefield and go back to the village."

……

That's how it is!

Sunagakure Village, high-level round table conference room.

Ryuji and Yekura reported the mission's progress to the elders and high-ranking Jonin who were temporarily in charge of village affairs.

The reactions of the senior executives after hearing this varied.

Some were indignant, some were sorrowful, some were shocked, some couldn't believe it, and some were heartbroken.

But no one has proposed a specific solution.

No, there should be.

Long Er noticed a young man in his early twenties with short, reddish-brown hair sitting in the corner of the conference table, looking hesitant to speak.

The future fourth-generation Kazekage—Rasa!

He should know what the most urgent task is, but he is afraid that his words carry little weight and dare not speak.

This future Kazekage seems to lack the necessary courage at the moment.

Ugh!

Ryuji sighed inwardly and raised his hand, saying, "Well... although I know it's sad that this happened, we have more important things to do right now."

"Bang!"

An old man slammed his fist on the table and stood up, throwing a tantrum: "What important matter is this? How could my grandson do such a thing? This is simply impossible. There must be something going on. I want to interrogate him myself."

"Lady Chiyo, you can listen in, but to interrogate her personally... heh heh!"

"What do you mean, you old rascal?"

"Don't you understand what I mean?"

"Say it again, I..."

Looking at the noisy conference room that was now like a bustling market, Long Er sighed helplessly.

Granny Chiyo threw a tantrum, trying to protect Sasori of the Red Sand.

Others want to benefit from this.

With the village leader dead, the border troops searching outside, and the village defenses weak... at this critical juncture, not a single one of these high-ranking officials cared about the village's well-being.

(End of this chapter)