Escape from Konoha.

The female puppeteer finally realized the seriousness of the situation.

All her strength is concentrated on the puppets.

Her puppet had already been shattered by Sakumo's White Fang Short Sword, and now she was controlling her husband's puppet, which was also damaged.

Even if you want to come up with a new backup puppet, it will take time.

However, Shiraishi's speed and reaction speed surprised her. Without thinking twice, she rushed out of the tree hole with her poisoned and vomiting blood husband in her arms as Shiraishi turned around and smashed the puppet doll.

All she could do at that moment was run for her life.

Just as I ran outside, after only a few steps, a petite figure suddenly landed in front of me.

The magatama spun within the scarlet eyes.

"Well……"

The female puppeteer froze, unable to move.

The husband rolled to the ground, coughing painfully, his lips completely black.

puff!

The blade pierced through the female puppeteer's back and down to her chest, piercing her heart.

The female puppeteer fell straight forward, dying with a look of resentment in her eyes.

Shiraishi, holding a blood-stained ninja sword, glanced indifferently at the female puppeteer's corpse before walking to the side of the poisoned and unconscious male puppeteer. Without hesitation, he slashed the puppeteer in the chest, ending his life.

"It's much easier than planned."

A smile appeared on Liuli's face.

"Of course. A puppeteer's most important combat power lies in the puppet. If there is no way to target the puppeteer himself, finding an opening in the enemy's defenses to destroy the puppet is also a viable option."

If he had the strength of Sakumo, he could have simply sought an opportunity to attack the puppeteer himself; there was no need for him to put on such a pathetic show and waste his time.

"Looks like we're in luck. You get the credit for those two guys."

Shiraishi generously attributed the credit to Ruri, saying he only needed to remain hidden behind the scenes.

Liuli nodded, accepting the credit without hesitation.

"Oh, right, I forgot to mention, the mountain clan is skilled at extracting information from corpses, provided that the brain remains intact. Remember to be thorough and don't leave any clues."

Liuli suddenly remembered something and said.

"I understand. What a hassle, it's going to waste my medicine again, making it seem like I'm doing something wrong."

Shiraishi casually complained, then rummaged through his ninja tool bag and pulled out two syringes filled with a pale purple liquid, walking towards the two corpses on the ground.

"Stop complaining. We just happened to catch such a big fish this time. The village will definitely give us a generous reward."

Ruri took a syringe from Shiraishi and plunged it into the neck of the female puppeteer's corpse, injecting the liquid.

Immediately afterwards, the veins on the surface of the female puppeteer's corpse bulged out, as if they were about to burst through the skin.

This grotesque phenomenon lasted for less than three seconds before the corpse returned to its previous normal appearance, as if nothing had happened.

"I've heard that the Hokage possesses a Book of Seals that records all sorts of powerful secret techniques and forbidden arts..."

"Don't even think about it. The Senju clan wouldn't be so generous to strangers. It might have been possible during the First Hokage's reign."

Liuli's skill in pouring cold water on things is quite remarkable.

After cleaning up the traces, Shiraishi and Ruri returned to the outpost with the two corpses.

Chapter Forty-Four: Rewards

The killing of Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law by members of Sakumo's squad has caused quite a stir among Konoha's high-ranking officials.

This is Konoha's only major victory on the battlefield since Sunagakure declared war on Konoha more than two years ago.

It can be said that this victory was no less significant than winning a war of considerable scale.

As the son and daughter-in-law of high-ranking advisors, and also among the top experts in the Sand Village's puppet army, the intelligence and secret techniques recorded in their minds are extremely important and must be taken seriously by Konoha.

Upon receiving this message through the Anbu (secret agents), the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, immediately notified the four members of Sakumo's team to return to the village and regroup.

Most importantly, we can obtain crucial secret intelligence and puppetry techniques from the two puppeteers' corpses, and find ways to counter the puppet army.

This is extremely important for Konoha right now.

So, after receiving the Hokage's order from the Anbu, Sakumo led Shiraishi and the other two back to Konoha Village, which they had been away from for several months.

"I'm going to hand in the mission. The three of you are free to do as you please."

"Yes."

At the entrance to Konoha Village, the four parted ways. Sakumo was going to the Hokage Building to submit his mission, while Shiraishi and the other two, having nothing to do, decided to find a place to fill their stomachs.

They had been traveling at full speed since morning, so busy that they hadn't even had breakfast. The three of them were starving, so of course they had to have a hearty meal in the village.

◎

"Lord Hokage."

Sakumo knocked on the door and came in, bowing slightly to the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was sitting next to the desk.

Then she noticed that advisors Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado were also there. She nodded slightly to them as a sign of politeness.

The two advisors went to Daming Prefecture a few days ago to procure war supplies, and returned safely with the supplies yesterday.

However, since the mission that the Shuo Mao team completed this time was extraordinary, the two of them sat here as bystanders to witness it.

"Thank you for your hard work, Sakumo. You did a great job this time. With that, the safety within the Land of Fire should be largely secured. The rest can be left to the Anbu."

"Yes."

Considering the heavy losses suffered by Sunagakure this time, it would be unwise to continue sending elite troops deep into the Land of Fire for secret sabotage.

Therefore, the security work within the Land of Fire can now be left to the Anbu and the remaining Konoha ninja at the outposts.

Squad Leader Sakumo's mission, which had lasted for several months, came to an end here.

"Has the body been handed over to the torture department?"

"It has already been handed over, and not a single enemy survived."

Although Shiraishi and Ruri made the greatest contribution that day, the other Sand Village ninjas who scattered and fled in all directions, as well as the Earth Release ninjas who were suspected to be from Iwagakure, were all chased down and dealt with by Sakumo and Ayane. Jonin Amaterasu also contributed some of the strength.

Thus, the Sand Village squad that had caused Konoha so much trouble had been completely wiped out.

The difficulty and importance of this task can be set to S level.

Hiruzen nodded and looked at the advisors Koharu and Menhou, saying, "Next, let the Yamanaka clan ninjas investigate carefully, and we can uncover the enemy's secrets."

"Let's do it this way. We must find the weaknesses of the puppet army as soon as possible and let Sunagakure know how powerful we are."

Koharu and Menyan were very satisfied with the performance of Sakumo's team. They were indeed Konoha's best Jonin, even better than the Sannin.

"Your Shuomao team did an excellent job this time. Let's calculate the rewards for the missions over the past few months based on one S-rank and five A-rank missions."

Hiruzen laughed with a sigh of relief.

Shuo Mao had no objection.

With one S-rank mission and five A-rank missions, even if it's divided among the three of them, Bai Shi and his companions could each receive at least a million taels of silver as a reward.

Of course, financial rewards are secondary.

The Shuomao team has made such a great contribution this time, and the funds are just the most basic reward. There will definitely be even more generous rewards later.

However, the Hokage himself couldn't think of a good reward for the time being, so the reward might be delayed for two or three days before it was distributed to each member of the Sakumo Squad.

"Lord Hokage, please distribute my share of the reward among the other three people. They need these things more than I do."

Sakumo spoke up.

"You're still the same as ever, Sakumo."

Hiruzen glanced at Sakumo helplessly when he heard his request.

"After all, I wasn't the one who dealt with those two puppeteers, was I?"

Shuo Mao laughed.

Hiruzen already knew about the mission. Although Sakumo was not the one who dealt with the two puppeteer Jonin, no one else would have gotten the credit if he hadn't severely injured them first.

However, since Sakumo had said so, Hiruzen had no choice but to listen to him.

Because he truly had nothing left to reward Shuo Mao with.

Even when he previously showed Sakumo the Book of Seals, Sakumo refused with a laugh.

He is the White Fang of Konoha; swordsmanship is everything to him.

Ninjutsu and illusion techniques will only affect the speed and power of his sword strikes.

But this doesn't mean that Sakumo doesn't know ninjutsu. On the contrary, his talent in ninjutsu is outstanding; he's just a pragmatist.

For him, all he needed to do was kill the enemy with the White Fang Sword Technique before they could use their ninjutsu.

The white dagger in his hand is his strongest 'ninjutsu'!

After reporting his mission, Sakumo left.

"Seeing outstanding younger generations constantly emerging in the village makes me feel really old."

Xiaochun suddenly sighed.

"We're only in our forties, not yet at the age to be sentimental," Men Yan said, defiantly refusing to admit his age.

"That means I can stay in this position for about ten more years."

Hiruzen also joined in the conversation between the two.

"Hiruzen, have you decided who will be the next Hokage?"

Xiaochun asked, seemingly casually.

Hiruzen fell silent for a moment; he hadn't made a decision about this matter yet.

The Hokage is the ninja chosen from among many Jonin (high-ranking ninja) based on their reputation, strength, and character.

Currently, Sakumo is the Jonin closest to becoming Hokage. His reputation is higher than that of the Sannin, his strength is also greater than that of the Sannin, and his character is beyond doubt.