Everyone in the stands had their eyes bugged out, staring in disbelief at the two figures.
More accurately—two puppets.
One was Jinin Akebino.
The other was Kushimaru Kuriarare.
Two forr elite jonin of the Hidden Mist. Two of the legendary Seven Ninja Swordsn.
Now they were puppets. Fighting in a tournant for young ninja.
Was this reasonable?
Was this fair?
Kakashi was a genius, sure, but he was still just a young ninja. How the hell was he supposed to fight both of them at once?
Even if Jinin and Kushimaru were dead and turned into puppets, the foundation of elite jonin was still there. Plus Sunagakure's puppet techniques. They weren't going to be pushovers.
"This isn't fair!"
It wasn't just the Konoha ninja complaining. The Iwagakure ninja were pissed too.
Because Ryo was still going to fight them later. Kitsuchi had already lost one match, and Bunya sure as hell wasn't beating Ryo.
"Sunagakure has to swap him out!"
"Swap him!"
"Swap him!"
To the other villages, this was a nightmare.
To the Sunagakure ninja, it was pure joy.
"Perfect!"
"Sunagakure's winning this for sure!"
"What's unfair about it? What's unreasonable?"
"Sunagakure has puppet masters. If you don't like it, bring your own!"
"Or is it because you can't?"
"What's wrong with a puppet master using puppets?"
"Would you scream 'unfair' on the battlefield when you're facing our puppet masters too?"
"Pathetic."
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Onoki both went pale the second they saw those two puppets.
But neither of them could actually say anything.
Because this was completely within the rules. That's how puppet masters worked.
The rank-and-file ninja could bitch all they wanted. But the two Kage? They couldn't open their mouths without looking like hypocrites.
Even if they were seething inside.
"Konoha… has lost."
Hiruzen ran the numbers fast in his head.
"Asuma lost to Baki."
"Kakashi's going to lose to Ryo."
"That leaves Shisui… but can Shisui even beat Kisa Hoshigaki?"
"If Shisui loses too, Konoha goes zero for three."
Hiruzen's face got even darker.
Zero for three didn't just an a much smaller slice of Grass Village's compensation. It ant the whole ninja world would hear about it.
Most clients picked their missions based on village reputation. The war was over, and this three-village tournant was basically a live demo of each village's strength and future potential.
A client who was on the fence? After hearing about this, they'd probably pick Sunagakure over Konoha.
Even clients who were leaning toward Konoha might switch.
That was real money walking out the door.
"We can't go zero for three."
"We need at least one win."
"Can Shisui pull it off?"
Hiruzen's eyes flicked toward Uchiha Shisui.
"Kisa's extrely good at chakra absorption and he's got that special ninja tool. Shisui's still young…"
Hiruzen caught himself wanting to swap the matchup.
Then he realized sothing.
Sunagakure hadn't bribed the referee. They just hadn't considered Baki their top pick. Their real top-tier fighter was Ryo.
"Sunagakure didn't bribe him… but that doesn't an I can't."
Hiruzen's eyes flashed. He gave a subtle signal to one of the Konoha ninja nearby.
Kisa stared at Jinin and Kushimaru, feeling weird as hell.
These two used to be his seniors back in the Mist. Guys he looked up to.
He respected them.
But now they were puppets. Sunagakure puppets. Being controlled by so young Sunagakure ninja.
Still, Kisa wasn't about to hold it against Sunagakure.
One, he wasn't Mist anymore. The Mist had sold him out.
Two, Jinin and Kushimaru were already dead. They died on the battlefield—surrounded and killed by Rasa after they tried to gang up on Baki four-on-one.
This outco was… understandable.
Onoki's mind went straight to Chiyo.
"That old hag made these puppets, didn't she?"
"Puppet masters… disgusting."
"Hiding behind puppets is one thing, but playing with corpses?"
"If the Mist ever finds out, they're going to lose their minds. Their own heroes turned into Sunagakure puppets."
"But with the Mist's current situation, there's nothing they can do about it."
"That's exactly why Sunagakure feels safe pulling this move."
"Still… doing this ans they're ready for a long-term feud with the Mist."
Rasa had already made peace with that.
Friendship with the Mist? What was that even worth?
After a war this brutal, their relationship was already in the toilet. Using these bodies as puppet material just made it a little worse.
But the benefits were real.
Like right now.
Without Ryo and these two puppets, Sunagakure would've struggled to find anyone who could beat Kakashi. They would've taken a big L in this tournant.
"And not just this ti. Next tournant. The one after that. As long as there are age-restricted matches, Sunagakure now has a permanent puppet-master trump card."
"The puppet master grows up and ages out of the bracket. The puppets don't."
"Just hand the puppets over to the next young puppet master when the ti cos."
Rasa's eyes stayed on the stage.
Kakashi was strong. No doubt about it. The genius title wasn't for show.
But even geniuses need ti to grow.
Facing both Jinin and Kushimaru at the sa ti was way too much pressure for the current Kakashi.
The two puppets, under Ryo's control, went straight for the throat.
Kakashi could only dodge and backpedal. He couldn't find any opening.
From the very first second, he was completely on the defensive.
All the way to the end.
"Boom!"
Jinin landed a heavy blow. Kakashi hit the ground hard.
"Winner: Sunagakure, Ryo!"
The Sunagakure ninja exploded into cheers.
The Konoha ninja were furious.
"Not fair!"
"That's a cheap win!"
"Sunagakure cheated!"
The Sunagakure ninja just looked at them with open contempt.
"If you can't handle losing, don't show up."
"Pathetic."
A Konoha ninja slipped behind Hiruzen and whispered sothing in his ear.
Hiruzen nodded, visibly relieved.
"Good."
He looked back at the stage and smiled.
"The heavens still favor Konoha. Even among our genin, we've got talent like that showing up."
User Comments
0 comments from readers