Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

These stacked earthen walls formed a maze-like formation on the battlefield, further troubling the advancing enemy.

Even more terrifying is that the earthen wall maze contains weightless traps set by the Iwa ninja using the Earth Release: Earth Core technique. If you accidentally go too far, you will fall in and die.

Moreover, from the high ground of the military base, a large number of Iwa ninjas skilled in Earth Release: Rock Gun Technique continuously spewed out huge flying stones, launching a dense and terrifying long-range attack on the enemy.

It must be said that Iwagakure's well-coordinated tactics played a huge role on the battlefield. Even though they were outnumbered by Sunagakure, they still managed to keep the enemy outside the military base, making it difficult for them to cross the line.

However, Huang Tu, the commander at the military base, showed no joy on his face; in fact, his expression grew increasingly grim.

The reason is simple: the attackers at the Iwagakure military base were not living Sand Village ninjas, but identical puppets.

These puppets are designed to resemble cats, each one being small in size, about twice the size of an average cat.

Due to their quadrupedal locomotion and the materials they are made of, they move at a very fast speed. Under the control of puppeteers, each of them is as fast as a Chunin.

Their attack methods are very simple: besides using their sharp claws on their forelimbs, they also use fireballs that they spew from their mouths.

Even though their attack methods are so simple and their physical defenses are so fragile, they still cause great trouble for Iwagakure.

The reason is simple: there are too many of these obviously inexpensive cat-shaped puppets, and because they are easy to operate, an ordinary puppeteer can operate ten at the same time, while a Jonin-level puppeteer can operate more than fifty at the same time.

That's why, even though there were only a few hundred puppeteers in Sunagakure, the number of cat-shaped puppets they controlled still exceeded a thousand.

Thousands of these cat-like puppets charged toward their Hidden Rock military base at high speed, a sight that looked quite frightening, not to mention that they were simultaneously firing fireballs from their mouths, concentrating fire on a specific area of ​​the military base.

Despite the fierce attacks from the Iwagakure ninja, most of these cat-shaped puppets were damaged before they could even get close to the military base, but they still put tremendous pressure on a large number of Iwagakure ninja.

The pressure comes from the large amount of chakra they have consumed. It should be noted that Sunagakure has only lost some inexpensive cat-shaped puppets. Their ninjas have not yet been truly deployed, but have been waiting on the edge of the battlefield, ready to launch an attack at any time.

With such a group of well-rested enemies watching from the sidelines, it would be strange if they weren't under a lot of pressure.

Secondly, there are those damned cat-shaped puppets from the local area. Their numbers seem endless. The puppeteers of Sunagakure don't worry about damage at all. As soon as one batch breaks, they immediately pull out a new batch of cat-shaped puppets.

"This can't go on. We have to get rid of those damned puppeteers."

Seeing that many of the Iwa ninja around him were starting to breathe heavily and that many had already taken their rations, Huang Tu realized that their chakra was running low and felt extremely agitated.

From his vantage point, he stared intently through his binoculars at the puppeteers hiding deep behind the Sand Village's defenses, realizing for the first time how troublesome and despicable these puppeteers were.

Once upon a time, the puppeteers he knew were equally terrifying, but these puppeteers were mostly lone wolves, and because the puppets they used were all different, once one was damaged, the puppeteer's skills were basically useless.

Therefore, unless these puppeteers can assassinate a high-ranking figure on the battlefield, they are unlikely to play a significant role on the battlefield.

But things are different now. These Sunagakure puppeteers have clearly learned tactics similar to those of their Iwagakure ninja army, using identical puppets to attack together, achieving a qualitative change from a quantitative one.

Moreover, since the puppets are all the same model, parts can be mass-produced, so puppeteers don't have to worry about their puppets being damaged and unable to be repaired quickly.

Finally, while the quality of Sunagakure's puppeteers declined, their quantity made great progress.

Currently, it appears that the puppeteers of Sunagakure have begun to move towards a legion-based system. They no longer pursue elite puppeteers; they only need to meet the requirement of flexibly controlling puppets.

"Rasa, Iwagakure's offensive pace has slowed down. Isn't it our turn to take the field?"

Behind the Sand Village's position, 16-year-old Rasa, the battlefield commander, was also keeping a close eye on the situation from a high vantage point. His adjutant, the Scorching Release ninja Pakura, said eagerly.

"No rush. We still have plenty of puppet troops. We can continue to use them to deplete the enemy ninjas' chakra. Besides, attacking the city is not good for us. Just wait. Sooner or later they will be unable to hold back and will take the initiative to fight us. That will be the best time for us to make our move."

Rasa rejected Yekura's suggestion without hesitation.

This was his third time commanding a battle as a battlefield commander. The first two times, his youthful impulsiveness led to unnecessary sacrifices.

Although the cruelty of the battlefield had chilled his heart and made him accept the deaths of ninjas as mere numbers, he still believed that the best outcome was to minimize bloodshed and sacrifice.

Being able to exchange some puppets for the enemy's life, thereby reducing the casualties of one's own ninjas, is a win-win situation no matter how you look at it.

"Hmph, if this continues, we regular ninjas will soon be overwhelmed by those puppeteers. Look at how arrogant that kid Sasori is now. Don't you want to outdo him?"

Ye Cang said angrily after being rejected.

Since the war between Sunagakure and Iwagakure began, the status of puppeteers has risen rapidly. Although puppeteers already had a high status in Sunagakure, they were not completely arrogant. Now, however, they treat these regular ninjas like lords.

Yekura, with her fiery temper, was naturally very indignant about this.

As he spoke, Yecang's eyes fell on a red-haired young puppeteer from Sunagakure not far away.

This young puppet is none other than Sasori, the genius puppeteer of Sunagakure.

He's so talented that the cat-shaped puppets currently used by the Sand Village puppeteers were designed by him, and he even designed a parts production line that made mass production of cat-shaped puppets possible.

In addition, he can now control more than fifty cat-shaped puppets to fight against Iwagakure ninjas by himself, and has already killed hundreds of enemies on the battlefield.

“No, Yecang, now is not the time to be willful. In this war against Iwagakure, we can only win and not lose. In order to win, as long as Sasori can play a huge role in commanding the puppet troops on the battlefield, it doesn’t matter if he is a little arrogant.”

Luo Sha shook his head and said earnestly, then turned to look at Ye Cang with cold and serious eyes.

After the death of the Third Kazekage, his status in Sunagakure declined rapidly. Fortunately, he was protected by Akasuna and Chiyo, which prevented him from being used as a bargaining chip in the peace talks between Sunagakure and Konoha.

Life underwent such a dramatic change, and Luo Sha matured rapidly as a result.

The village's decline after its defeat in the battle against Konoha made him realize that Sunagakure needed to win a great victory to prove itself.

So when he discovered that the puppet army, the secret weapon that Akasuna had brought out, was playing a huge role on the battlefield and giving Sunagakure hope of defeating Iwagakure, he made up his mind to ensure Sunagakure's victory no matter what, and he was willing to pay any price for it.

Yecang was somewhat frightened by Rasa's gaze. It was the first time she had ever seen Rasa look so terrifying. She stammered, "I-I understand, I'll do as you say."

Since the battlefield commander, Rasa, did not issue any orders, the regular ninjas like Pakura could only continue to patiently wait for the battlefield to change.

Soon, when the third wave of cat-shaped puppets was deployed to the battlefield by the Sand Village puppeteers, the Iwagakure ninjas finally lost their composure and rushed out of the military base to charge towards the Sand Village's position.

There was no other way; if they didn't launch an attack soon, their chakra would run out, and at that point, with their chakra severely depleted, they would have even less chance of winning.

The village was not far behind them, and they could not retreat.

"They really came out, haha, good thing they came."

Yekura watched as a large number of Iwa ninjas rushed out of the military base and shouted excitedly. Without waiting for Rasa to give an order, she rushed forward on her own.

In an instant, several bright red fireballs appeared around her, quickly striking several Iwa ninja and turning them into desiccated corpses in an instant.

His death was extremely gruesome.

This was Yekura's signature Scorching Release ninjutsu, Overheating Kill, a terrifying ninjutsu that almost instantly kills upon contact.

"Hahaha~ Come on, come on, you cowards of Iwagakure, come and see how powerful I am."

After Yekura ruthlessly killed several enemies, it seemed as if a switch within her was flipped, causing her to go berserk. She revealed a villainous, maniacal laugh and arrogantly provoked her enemies.

The Iwa ninjas, who are generally tall, could not tolerate being mocked by a delicate young woman like Pakura. Immediately, more than ten Iwa ninjas attacked Pakura at the same time, including two Jonin.

They had already recognized Yekura as a rare bloodline limit ninja from Sunagakure, and now their killing intent was surging; they were determined to kill this potential seed ninja of Sunagakure right here and now.

However, they didn't realize that Yecang's apparent madness was mostly an act. As they rushed towards Yecang, he had already retreated to a safe distance.

Those Iwagakure ninjas, having rushed too far, fell into a trap set in advance by a Magnet Release ninja.

One after another, long iron spears suddenly pierced out from the ground beneath him, killing most of the Iwa ninja who were chasing Yekura. The remaining few were also killed by Yekura using Scorch Release: Over-Steam Kill.

Meanwhile, other Sand Village ninjas also achieved remarkable results on the battlefield.

That's for sure. They've been waiting in comfort, and their chakra, stamina, morale, and numbers are all superior to those of Iwagakure. If they still can't overwhelm the enemy head-on, they'll just become useless in the eyes of the puppet army.

As a result, within just a few minutes, Iwagakure suffered a large number of casualties.

Even Huang Tu himself is now in a precarious situation. He personally led more than ten Jonin to raid the Sunagakure puppeteer force, but was intercepted by a large number of puppets and was surrounded.

At this moment, Huang Tu is fighting a puppet that looks just like a real person. This puppet can even use the Magnet Release ninjutsu to fight him, and its controller is a young red-haired puppeteer.

"I remember you are Onoki's son, right? How nice. Let's introduce ourselves the same way. I am Sasori, the son of the Fourth Kazekage, Akasuna. We are both children of Kage, so let's have a great fight. None of you are allowed to interfere."

The red-haired puppeteer, Scorpion, grinned with interest as he looked at the yellow earth and shouted.

As soon as he spoke, the other puppeteers around him automatically drove away the other Iwa ninja, leaving enough space on the battlefield for Sasori and Yotsuchi to fight.

Seeing this, Huang Tu felt even more troublesome about Scorpion as an enemy, and he wanted to take his life even more.

He had already discovered that Sasori was the core of the Sand Village's puppeteer force. As long as Sasori was killed, the Sand Village's puppeteer force would definitely suffer unprecedented heavy losses.

"Give me your life, you arrogant brat."

Huang Tu roared and charged at the scorpion.

Sasori immediately manipulated the Magnet Release puppet to create a sturdy iron sand wall, which then fired countless iron sand bullets. However, the iron sand wall was directly shattered by Huang Tu's Rock Fist Technique, which was able to withstand the iron sand bullets. Sasori then pressed forward.

The next moment, Huang Tu used the Rock Fist technique to smash Scorpion's head apart with a single blow.

Huang Tu risked his life to achieve a great victory, and was shocked to find that he had killed the enemy so easily.

His surprise lasted only a few seconds before being overwhelmed by horror. The corpse whose head he had smashed in front of him actually moved, grabbing his body tightly with its hands, making it difficult for him to break free for a moment.

Then, a sharp iron spike pierced his body from behind.

"Pfft~"

Huang Tu immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, which landed on the headless corpse of the scorpion.

"Hehehe~, you didn't expect that, did you? I'm still alive."

The next second, Scorpion's mocking voice came from his headless corpse.

Chapter 347: Planetary Devastation

"Oh!"

In the Tsuchikage's office, Onoki slammed his fist on the desk and roared furiously, "Damn Sunagakure, just you wait, I will kill you all!"

Seeing this, Hongtu in the room remained silent, his face also showing an expression of extreme anger.

Just now, intelligence from the front lines arrived, and it was very bad news. One of Iwagakure's most important frontline military bases had been captured by Sunagakure, and Commander Hirotsuchi had been captured by the enemy. His fate was now unknown.

To show off their victory to Iwagakure, the enemy cut off one of Huangtu's hands and sent it to Iwagakure.

Onoki and Kurotsuchi immediately recognized that the severed arm belonged to Hirotsuchi's right hand. Both of them were thoroughly enraged by the enemy's provocative act. If they hadn't retained some rationality, they would have already rushed to the front line to seek revenge.

"Lord Tsuchikage, give the order."

Hongtu suppressed the anger welling up inside him and said solemnly.

Upon hearing this, Onoki did not respond immediately. Although he was extremely angry, he was also keenly aware of the strength of Sunagakure as an enemy, and now was definitely not the time to act rashly.

They need more intelligence about the enemy.

The Sand Village's combat strength has increased far too much this time. The number of their standard puppets is simply outrageous. Logically speaking, given the Sand Village's current economic capabilities, it is impossible to support the production of such a large number of puppets, even if these puppets seem to be very cheap to produce.

However cheap they may be, these standard puppets are still quite expensive, far exceeding the cost of ninja tools such as explosive tags and kunai.

Clearly, there is an even bigger shadow behind Sunagakure.