"Tsunade."
Sakumo said in a deep voice, "Now that Sunagakure's puppet corps has no leader, I think we can press our advantage and pursue them."
Sunagakure's puppet corps naturally did not only consist of four Jonin.
As a unit, they had quite a few mbers, thirty people in total.
Two leaders, naly Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law, and twenty-eight mbers ford seven shinobi teams.
After thinking for a mont, Tsunade nodded.
This ti, Sakumo had brought a total of five shinobi teams to stop Sunagakure's puppet corps.
Adding her and Team One, that made six shinobi teams, twenty-four people in total.
But Sunagakure's puppet corps had already lost its core four Jonin, including its two leaders.
Comparing the two sides, they were now the ones with the advantage.
Especially with Sakumo.
His swordsmanship was fast, accurate, and ruthless, making most shinobi before him soone he could finish with a single slash.
In terms of style, he was similar to Namikaze Minato after learning the Flying Thunder God Technique.
"In order to lure you out without being discovered by us, Sunagakure's puppet corps deliberately sent out quite a few mbers to confuse us."
Sakumo took out a map and said, "Right now, they are all in this place."
"When you ca to support us, did you alert them?"
Tsunade glanced at it and asked.
"No. I specifically brought one team and avoided them."
Sakumo explained, "After all, if we alerted them, we would be held back by them."
"There's no ti to lose. We set out now!"
Hearing this, Tsunade imdiately said.
"Tsunade, you take them there first. I'll go back and notify the others. When the ti cos, we'll surround them from both sides."
After Sakumo handed the map to Tsunade, he disappeared from the spot at extrely high speed.
"Does anyone here know Earth Release ninjutsu?"
Tsunade did not rush to leave. She spoke and said, "Disrupt the terrain here so that others can't tell what exactly happened."
"I do."
A middle-aged shinobi walked out and imdiately ford hand seals.
Earth Release: Split Earth Turn Around Palm!
He struck the ground with his palm. The ground cracked open, and the terrain imdiately changed.
Tsunade looked it over twice, then waved her hand and said.
This ti, Sakumo had brought four Jonin over to provide support.
Adding Tsunade, Natsuki, Nawaki, and Nonō, there were eight shinobi.
Natsuki, who was following behind Tsunade, suddenly let out a light sound of surprise.
To unlock Starburst Stream, he needed to defeat three Fire Release Jonin.
He had already defeated one in the Land of Rain, so the progress was one out of three.
But he had just discovered that the progress had already reached two out of three.
What was going on?
Among the four puppet masters who had just been defeated, was there a Fire Release Jonin?
Natsuki suddenly rembered that one of the puppets used by Chiyo's son could spray flas.
Could it be that he was skilled in Fire Release?
No matter what, it was still a good thing.
This ant that Natsuki only needed to defeat one more Fire Release Jonin to unlock Starburst Stream.
And perhaps he would encounter one in the upcoming battle.
The group traveled at full speed and soon arrived at their destination, the temporary base of Sunagakure's puppet master corps.
"Looks like they haven't noticed yet."
Tsunade stopped and did not rush to attack.
She was waiting for Sakumo and the others to arrive.
They were not far away.
The sound of breaking wind rang out.
Sakumo and the other Konoha shinobi arrived in ti.
But their movents were too loud and were imdiately noticed by Sunagakure's puppet master corps.
"Move!"
Seeing this, Tsunade imdiately charged forward.
"Enemy attack!"
The mont her voice fell, a shinobi from Sunagakure's puppet master corps shouted loudly.
In an instant, many ninjutsu poured out.
There was Wind Release, Earth Release, and Fire Release. Overall, Earth Release was the most common.
Although Sunagakure's puppet master corps was skilled at controlling puppets, that did not an they did not know ninjutsu.
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!
Nawaki and the others imdiately released ninjutsu as well, clashing head-on with them.
Sakumo took out the White Light Chakra Sabre. His speed was as fast as lightning, and he disappeared from the spot.
In the next second, screams rang out.
Natsuki imdiately locked onto the puppet master who had used Fire Release.
Shadow Space.
His body entered the shadow.
The shadow quickly approached the Fire Release puppet master.
Once he got close, he leaped out, gripping the projected Kurosawa in his hand.
Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux!
Kurosawa slashed down toward the Fire Release puppet master.
The nearby rain was drawn in and turned into a water dragon, descending from the sky.
The Fire Release puppet master's expression changed drastically. He had never expected Natsuki to suddenly appear.
At the critical mont between life and death, he swung both hands, and his puppet went forward to et the water dragon.
Kurosawa carried the water dragon and directly cut his puppet to pieces, then continued with undiminished force toward the Fire Release puppet master.
The Fire Release puppet master was imdiately sent flying backward.
His face turned deathly pale, and he felt as if his body had been struck by a truck. His entire body hurt.
Fortunately, his puppet had blocked most of the damage for him.
After stabilizing himself, the Fire Release puppet master ford hand seals without hesitation.
A huge fireball was spat out by him.
The rain fell onto the fireball, imdiately creating mist.
Water Breathing, Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust!
Natsuki charged forward with Kurosawa in hand.
A huge ripple appeared, and Kurosawa struck the fireball.
Water and fire collided, producing even more mist.
Natsuki's body disappeared into the mist.
The Fire Release puppet master stared fixedly at the sound of the explosion. With a movent of both hands, he took out a new puppet.
But when the explosion faded, aside from so lingering mist, he did not see Natsuki.
The Fire Release puppet master could not help freezing.
In the next second, a spiral-shaped column of smoke suddenly appeared from the mist and bound him.
The Fire Release puppet master could not help struggling, but it was useless.
This was the ability from the Logia-type Smoke-Smoke Fruit, White Vine.
Natsuki's right arm solidified again and knocked him unconscious.
He then released White Vine and restored his body.
[Congratulations, host. You have unlocked Kirigaya Kazuto Template Ability Four, Starburst Stream.]
Good!
It ca at just the right ti.
Natsuki nodded in satisfaction.
At this point, his Kirigaya Kazuto Template only had Ability Five left to unlock.
Ability Five was The Eclipse, which was equivalent to an enhanced version of Starburst Stream. Its unlock condition was to defeat one battlefield commander.
Natsuki fell into thought.
Theoretically speaking, Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law could also be considered battlefield commanders, but The Eclipse had not unlocked.
It seed that because the number of people involved had been too small, it could only be counted as a battle, not a battlefield.
Natsuki did not think too much about it. Holding Kurosawa, he threw himself into the battle again.
Although Sunagakure's puppet master corps had very strong combat power, before Sakumo, Tsunade, and the others, they were still not enough.
Most importantly, they had lost their two leaders. With no one commanding them, they were eventually defeated.
"Sakumo, you handle clearing the battlefield."
Tsunade exhaled and said, "I'll take the dical shinobi to treat the wounded."
Sakumo nodded.
He imdiately arranged for the other shinobi to begin cleaning up the battlefield.
Perhaps because Natsuki, Nawaki, and Nonō were young, he did not assign them any tasks.
The three of them gathered together, each looking sowhat dazed.
Nawaki and Nonō were experiencing a large-scale slaughter like this for the first ti, so they could not react for a while.
Natsuki had another reason. He had awakened a new character template.
[You have awakened the Bickslow Template.]
Although Natsuki had seen many works, he could not rember who this was for the mont.
However, he could be certain that it had to be related to puppet masters.
After all, tonight he had defeated quite a few puppet masters.
Among them were Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law.
[Na: Bickslow.]
[Period: Hundred Years Quest.]
[World: Fairy Tail.]
[Rank: A-rank.]
[Ability One: Seith Magic, Human Possession, Unlocked.]
[Effect: Summon five dolls and inject part of your soul into the dolls for remote control. As long as there is enough chakra, they can be summoned endlessly.]
[Ability Two: Doll, Linear Formation, Locked.]
[Effect: Five dolls line up in a straight line and release a piercing slashing beam.]
[Unlock condition: Defeat five Genin.]
[Ability Three: Doll Formation, Locked.]
[Effect: Five dolls form an X-shape, creating a high-strength defensive barrier.]
[Unlock condition: Defeat five Chunin.]
[Ability Four: Doll, Victory Formation, Locked.]
[Effect: Five dolls form a V-shape and launch a wide-range impact and cutting attack.]
[Unlock condition: Defeat five Tokubetsu Jonin.]
[Ability Five: Doll, Heavy Child Formation, Locked.]
[Effect: Five dolls form a pentagonal formation and fire a powerful laser, causing devastating damage.]
[Unlock condition: Defeat five Jonin.]
[Ability Six: Figure Eyes, Locked.]
[Effect: By making eye contact with the target, you can control the target's soul and turn them into a puppet. The duration of control depends on the strength of both sides.]
[Unlock condition: Learn five control-type ninjutsu.]
So it was a character from Fairy Tail.
Natsuki rembered that the five dolls Bickslow summoned had nas. They were Pippi, Poppo, Pappa, Peppe, and Puppu.
These five dolls essentially had no combat ability and had to rely on the user's control and commands.
From this point of view, Bickslow was no different from Sunagakure's puppet masters.
It was just that one controlled puppets, while the other controlled dolls.
Ability One, Seith Magic, Human Possession.
There was no need to say much about its effect. It summoned five dolls.
Compared to Sunagakure's puppet masters, its greatest advantage was that the dolls could be summoned endlessly.
In other words, Natsuki did not need to worry about what to do if the dolls were destroyed.
From Ability Two to Ability Five, they were all formations composed of dolls that produced corresponding effects.
Judging from the effects, there were attacks as well as defense.
And judging from the unlock requirents, their power clearly increased from low to high, with Ability Five having the greatest power.
It had to be said that the unlock requirents for these four abilities were quite interesting.
They respectively required defeating five Genin, five Chunin, five Tokubetsu Jonin, and five Jonin.
For the current Natsuki, defeating five Jonin was undoubtedly quite troubleso.
But from another perspective, defeating five Jonin overlapped with the unlock conditions of other character templates.
For example, The Eclipse from the Kirigaya Kazuto Template, and also Mind's Eye and Tsuba Gaeshi from the Sasaki Kojirō Template.
Aside from that, there was another problem.
With his current strength, challenging Genin and Chunin seed a little shaless.
Natsuki's heart moved, and he thought of the upcoming Chunin Exams.
The participants in the Chunin Exams would definitely all be Genin.
In fact, quite a few Genin already had strength comparable to Chunin. He just did not know whether the system would count them.
But even if it did not count, it did not matter. They were currently in the Second Shinobi World War, so completing the above unlock conditions would not be especially difficult.
Ability Six, Figure Eyes.
To Natsuki, this was an unexpected surprise.
His first reaction when he saw it was that it was an inferior version of the Sharingan.
The Sharingan could also cast genjutsu through sight to control the target.
Compared to the Sharingan, Figure Eyes did not have effects such as copying or insight.
But it had one advantage.
The characteristics of the Sharingan were very obvious. When activated, tomoe would appear.
Figure Eyes did not have that.
In any case, it was quite underhanded.
Its requirent was to learn five control-type ninjutsu.
Control-type ninjutsu often referred to genjutsu.
But aside from genjutsu, there were also many other control-type ninjutsu.
For example, the Nara Clan's shadow secret techniques, Water Release: Water Prison Technique, and Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique.
Natsuki knew two genjutsu.
One was Fox Demon Art from the Shippo Template, and the other was the D-rank Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique that he had learned on his own.
How should he put it?
Learning a few control-type ninjutsu would still be very helpful.
After all, his teammates, Nawaki and Nonō, did not know control-type ninjutsu.
"How are you feeling?"
Natsuki ca back to his senses and asked.
"I'm fine."
Nawaki took a deep breath and had already adjusted.
Nonō did not speak and only shook her head.
Her small face was still sowhat pale, clearly still shaken.
"This is sothing that can't be helped. We can only get used to it."
Natsuki reached out, stroked her head, and said.
Nonō responded softly.
"Let's talk about sothing happy!"
Nawaki imdiately changed the subject and said, "This ti, Team One made a great contribution. The village will definitely reward us properly."
Being able to capture Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law, Team One had indeed made the greatest contribution.
But as for who had contributed the most specifically, that went without saying.
Natsuki had gone all out and created an inferior version of Unlimited Blade Works, directly trapping four puppet masters.
"Natsuki, what was that move of yours called?"
Nawaki asked curiously.
"What do you an, what was it called? Don't you know? It was Projection Magecraft."
Natsuki smiled and said, "I used it once before when I fought Minato."
When Namikaze Minato used the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, Natsuki had been inspired on the spot and thought of this usage.
But back then, he did not have Broken Phantasm, so its power was very ordinary.
"How could it explode?"
Nawaki continued asking.
"The principle is similar to explosive tags."
Natsuki casually said, "The projected swords and blades themselves are aggregates of chakra. As long as they are triggered, they can produce explosions."
"If you can instantly release that many swords and blades, then your Projection Magecraft could be comparable to an S-rank ninjutsu."
Nawaki sighed.
"That's right."
Natsuki nodded and said, "I'm trying to improve it. Maybe one day in the future, I'll be able to."
Nawaki was imdiately speechless.
Do you even know what you're saying?
"Casually improving an S-rank ninjutsu, only you would dare to say sothing like that."
Tsunade's voice rang out.
"Sis, are you done over there?"
When Nawaki saw her, he asked.
"I've already given the wounded preliminary treatnt. The rest can wait until we return to camp."
Tsunade paused and said, "Let's go. The mission is complete."
Natsuki and the others nodded.
The group soon returned to camp.
"First, send Anbu back to the village to notify Sensei."
Tsunade thought for a mont and said, "After treating the wounded, we'll leave as soon as possible."
"That's what I was planning too."
Sakumo agreed.
His mission had been to intercept Sunagakure's puppet master corps.
Now, with the help of Tsunade and the others, he had exceeded the mission requirents, so there was no need to waste any more ti staying here.
Early the next morning.
The group set off toward Konoha.
But the news of Sunagakure's puppet masters being wiped out had already been sent back ahead of them.
Konoha, Hokage's Office.
The office that usually only had Sarutobi Hiruzen in it was rarely lively for once.
The two Hokage advisors, Koharu and Homura, as well as the Hokage's assistant, Danzō, had all arrived.
The four of them were Konoha's absolute higher-ups, the absolute core.
"Did sothing happen on the battlefield in the Land of A?"
Danzō took the initiative to ask.
"It is indeed about the battlefield in the Land of Rain."
Hiruzen said with a face full of smiles, "Tsunade and Sakumo captured Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law, and completely wiped out Sunagakure's puppet master corps."
Danzō, Koharu, and Homura imdiately showed surprise.
"This is Konoha's greatest achievent since the war began."
Homura praised, "Sunagakure must be in complete disarray now."
"Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law have been captured. She will definitely take action."
Koharu reminded him, "We have to tell Orochimaru and Jiraiya to pay more attention."
"I've already sent Anbu shinobi to notify them."
Hiruzen nodded and said.
"With Sunagakure being held back by Agakure, they may choose to negotiate with us."
Homura pondered for a mont and said.
"The greater possibility is that they go to war with us!"
Danzō volunteered and said, "Why not let my Root investigate Sunagakure's situation?"
"With Jiraiya and Orochimaru there, that is already enough."
Hiruzen refused.
Danzō subconsciously clenched his fist, then loosened it again.
But he still had not given up on the idea of using the war to expand Root's scale.
"Sunagakure's puppet master corps are all elites."
Koharu asked curiously, "How did Tsunade and Sakumo wipe them all out?"
Danzō and Homura also felt puzzled.
In terms of visible strength, both sides were actually more or less the sa.
Otherwise, Sakumo would not have been locked in a stalemate with them for two months.
"This is related to Natsuki."
Hiruzen said with a smile.
Previously, when Natsuki fought Minato, he had even evaluated Projection Magecraft as a rather useless ability.
He had not expected to be proven wrong this ti.
Although Projection Magecraft had many shortcomings, with proper preparation, and under circumstances where the enemy did not know its details, it indeed had great killing power.
It was just that opportunities like this probably would not be too many.
If the enemy knew the information in advance, then it would not be of much use.
After Hiruzen finished speaking, the three of them had different expressions.
Danzō's regret was like an endless rushing river.
Koharu and Homura were more emotional than anything else.
After all, they had no grudges with Natsuki.
"It's enough for the three of you to know about this. Don't spread it outside."
Hiruzen reminded them.
The fewer people who knew about Natsuki's inferior version of Unlimited Blade Works, the better.
(To be continued.)
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