The battle entered its third day, and both sides had invested a tremendous amount of energy. Everyone realized that this war was nearing its final stage. If a victor couldn't be determined soon, they would have to accept a mutually destructive outcome.
Amidst the fierce sounds of battle, blood flowed unceasingly from both allies and enemies, and it would not stop until the very end.
In ninja battles, the presence of high-level combatants remains crucial. New ninja tools like explosion cannons haven't yet completely leveled the playing field for high-level combatants. Of course, compared to the past, there has certainly been some mitigation; at least high-level ninjas no longer dare to charge recklessly into the front lines.
How many people in this ninja world could survive a continuous bombardment of explosion cannons? Even high-level ninjas would struggle. To some extent, this is also a sign of progress. If more convenient and powerful new ninja tools emerge in the future, the role of high-level ninjas will further diminish, and they might no longer be able to single-handedly determine the outcome of a war.
The direction Hatake Sakumo was responsible for primarily involved the Sand Village's puppet corps, which was led by Chiyo, and naturally included her son, Sasori. Due to the grudge over his wife's "death," Sasori had repeatedly engaged Hatake Sakumo's forces over these three days, though never with full effort.
Hatake Sakumo understood that this was because the Sand Village's ninja forces hadn't yet decided on a full-scale attack. Despite the animosity, Sasori wouldn't dare to disregard orders and unleash his full power against him, as this could impact the overall situation for the Sand Village's ninja forces. Even as Chiyo's son, he might not be able to bear that responsibility.
However, at this point, both sides had little strength left. The final battle was imminent, and Hatake Sakumo knew that this was the critical moment to decide victory or defeat, and the opposing side would undoubtedly go all out.
After a battle, Hatake Sakumo quickly returned to his position, recovering chakra while listening to Yamanaka Risa's report on the surrounding situation. As soon as high-level ninjas from the Sand Village appeared, it would be his turn to act. If he was a step too slow, his side's position might be encroached upon by the enemy.
"Captain Sakumo, Sasori's chakra has appeared in the northeast!" Yamanaka Risa immediately shouted after receiving new intelligence.
"Alright, let's move out." Hatake Sakumo nodded. Just as he stood up, he heard Yamanaka Risa report another situation: in addition to Sasori, another person's chakra had appeared, very likely Chiyo of the Sand Village.
"Are the mother and son working together this time?" Hatake Sakumo's mind raced. For the past two days, Chiyo and Sasori had fought in different locations. Sometimes, he would abandon Sasori to deal with his mother. This time, however, they were attacking together, seemingly intending to use a certain direction as a breakthrough point, then rush into the position and wreak havoc with the advantage of the puppet corps.
—He would never let the two of them succeed!
Hatake Sakumo, without hesitation, led his elite squad towards the northeast. At the same time, that area was facing a powerful attack from the Sand ninjas. With Chiyo and Sasori leading the charge, their desperate resolve was beyond doubt, and the Sand ninjas they brought were naturally formidable.
After a high-speed Wind Release attack, the Sand ninja puppets surged forward. These were the elite of the Sand ninja puppet corps; each puppet was incredibly powerful, concealing countless insidious mechanisms. Among them, the most formidable were the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu, inherited from the legendary puppet master Monzaemon.
Due to their unique secret techniques, the Konoha Village ninjas couldn't replicate the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu. Lacking the appropriate usage methods, mimicking their appearance was useless. The Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu still belonged to Chiyo, the ultimate masterpiece of the Sand Village, and no puppet surpassing them had appeared to this day.
A large number of puppets swarmed forward, their stiff and dull surfaces creating a terrifying impression. Not to mention the numerous insidious mechanisms hidden within them. Even though Konoha ninjas had encountered many puppets, seeing so many still gave them a sense of trepidation.
"Hold on! We'll be fine once Lord Sakumo and his team arrive!" The Konoha ninja currently responsible for defending this position shouted loudly, ordering others to control the explosion cannons or use long-range ninjutsu to bombard, while those fighting at close range gripped their weapons, ready to engage later.
However, the Sand ninjas' fighting style was to suppress with powerful Wind Release or conceal their movements with Sand Secret Arts, then use puppets once the distance was closed, effectively avoiding losses from explosion cannon bombardments or other long-range ninjutsu. Even if they tried to compensate, it would be too late.
The number ten puppet of the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu floated up, and five chains emerged from a hollow in its head, directly tearing apart the rock wall Konoha ninjas used for defense. Then, other puppets further ripped open the gap, followed by the Sand ninja puppet corps.
Shortly after the fierce clash between the two sides began, Hatake Sakumo arrived with his team. He was the first to step forward, lightning gathering on his White Light Blade, forming a spear. Behind him, Mizuki and Asuna each threw out their hands, and iron wires coiled forward, quickly infused with Fire and Wind Release that transferred through them.
Just as the wind and fire triggered a violent explosion, Hatake Sakumo's Lightning Release was also injected into it, causing another explosion. A huge fireball mixed with lightning tore the Sand ninja puppet corps to shreds. This was good; Hatake Sakumo didn't expect to eliminate many people, the key was to prevent the puppet corps from regrouping.
Among the many types of ninjas, the puppet corps might be the most suitable for group combat. They could display a unity like a samurai army. As long as they were segmented, although puppets were still not easy to deal with, they were no longer as threatening as before.
"Hmph, as expected of Hatake Sakumo. This kind of move might even involve his own people. Such boldness is truly remarkable." As the battlefield gradually divided into squad-versus-squad and team-versus-team combat, the high-level ninjas from both sides finally met. Chiyo, with the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu floating beside her, said coldly.
Hatake Sakumo didn't reply, but quietly recovered his breath. Taking such an approach was a last resort, as the enemy had deployed more puppet troops than before. Mizuki and Asuna's combined ninjutsu alone might not have been enough to destabilize the enemy's forces and allow his side to segment them.
Chiyo had no time to concern herself with the situation of the other puppet masters. Konoha ninjas' fighting style was inherently to segment the enemy to create an advantage for themselves. This had played out countless times in past battles, and she didn't expect to be the exception. As long as she could defeat these people in front of her, Konoha ninjas, deprived of their high-level combatants, would surely be unable to resist.
Therefore, the outcome of the battle essentially depended on which side's high-level ninjas achieved victory first, or if, in a stalemate, one side's forces collapsed first. In this kind of chaotic melee, Konoha Village's new ninja tools were no longer playing a significant role.
Hatake Sakumo gripped his sword hilt tightly, and lightning once again surged forth. He looked at Chiyo and the others in front of him, among whom Sasori, standing beside Chiyo, was looking at him with a gaze filled with hatred.
Honestly, Hatake Sakumo's target should have been Chiyo. He himself thought so, but just as he was about to act, he saw Sasori step forward, blocking his path with six puppet masters.
And Chiyo seemed to know this, showing no surprise at her son's actions. Instead, she controlled the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu to move to the left, their target not Hatake Sakumo, but the forces behind him.
Hatake Sakumo didn't expect the opponent to change targets. After a brief thought, he saw through their plan: they intended to swap targets, having Sasori hold him back while the more powerful Chiyo eliminated his forces. Once they had an advantage, they would then deal with him.
In the battles of the previous two days, Chiyo hadn't gained any advantage against Hatake Sakumo. Perhaps considering this, she chose this method. However, how could she be so confident? Sasori's strength was indeed considerable, but there was a significant gap between him and Hatake Sakumo, and she might also have underestimated Asuna and Mizuki.
At this moment, any decision was not made after careful consideration, but rather by relying on one's experience to make a judgment in a short amount of time, which severely tested a person's depth of experience and accuracy of intuition.
Hatake Sakumo reached his answer in less than two seconds. Without turning around, he simply said, "Hold on, just stall her." The person behind him softly acknowledged, indicating understanding.
Hatake Sakumo gazed at Sasori in front of him, holding his sword horizontally before him. At the same time, the opponent also controlled his puppets, and together with the six puppet masters behind him, accompanied by "clack, clack" sounds, the puppets' surfaces reorganized, revealing sharp circular saws, blades, or various mechanisms.
Neither side had any intention of conversing. Sasori intended to kill Hatake Sakumo directly, while Hatake Sakumo aimed to end the battle as quickly as possible. There was no need for verbal communication between them, unless it was for tactical purposes. Otherwise, on the battlefield, uttering an extra word was a waste of time.
A total of seven puppets surrounded Hatake Sakumo. Hatake Sakumo's gaze shifted slightly, and both sides moved almost simultaneously.
Hatake Sakumo leaped high, unleashing a barrage of needle-like lightning at the puppets' joints, and simultaneously parried the puppets' weapons with his sword. Using the explosion of the lightning needles and the interception of his short sword, he burst forth with astonishing speed, aided by his Lightning Release-activated body, and darted out of the encirclement's gap.
Hatake Sakumo was about to stab the distant puppet masters; no matter how powerful the puppets were, the puppet masters themselves were relatively fragile. But at that moment, he noticed that the puppets whose joints he had blown off with his lightning needles were floating up once again, mechanisms popping out from their bodies, attacking him from either long or close range.
Hatake Sakumo immediately abandoned his original target, blocking the sneak attack of the puppet mechanisms. He retreated, creating distance, and then fully understood the scene before him: those puppets, which in his impression should no longer be able to move, had actually floated up again, reassembled, and reverted to their original forms.
"Don't think your little tricks will still work!" Sasori said at this moment.
In the past, Hatake Sakumo had relied on dense lightning needles to blow off the puppets' joints, thereby severing their ability to move, which was very convenient and quick, making him a dangerous figure that puppet masters dreaded. After careful research, under the guidance of the puppet master Chiyo, Sasori created puppets assembled based on individual joints. Such puppets could move even with only one joint, making them the best method for dealing with Hatake Sakumo.
However, the manufacturing method for these puppets was extremely strict, coupled with material limitations. The Sand ninjas, lacking industrial assembly line methods, clearly couldn't arm themselves on a large scale. They could only serve as Sasori's special puppets. But, as long as they could deal with Hatake Sakumo, that was enough; not too many were needed.
Looking at the reassembled puppets in front of him, Hatake Sakumo admitted that they were indeed a bit more difficult to deal with than previous puppets—yes, just a bit—the gap in strength between the two sides was not so easily bridged, especially since these puppets were merely opportunistic tricks and not a true fundamental improvement. They were vastly different from the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu or the Third Kazekage's Human Puppet created by Sasori of the Red Sand in later generations.
The former is currently the greatest masterpiece of the Sand Village, while the latter surpasses the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu, being a puppet capable of using the Magnet Release kekkei genkai, possessing exceptionally powerful offensive and defensive capabilities. It's important to know that puppet masters have a significant drawback: a lack of offensive power. In the battle against Sasori of the Red Sand, if not for Sakura Haruno's monstrous strength compensating for the lack of attack power and taking advantage of the opponent's carelessness to defeat the Third Kazekage's Human Puppet, even with the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu, Chiyo would have had no chance of defeating the Third Kazekage's Human Puppet.
The formidable Secret Red Art: Performance of a Hundred Puppets is actually inferior to the Third Kazekage's Human Puppet. The immense power brought by the Magnet Release kekkei genkai is enough to annihilate the so-called "Hundred Puppets." The advantage of the Hundred Puppets is only that they are connected to the puppet master's will and can move simultaneously; their essence is the unification of collective power.
And coincidentally, Hatake Sakumo, who specialized in using Lightning Release chakra, was naturally a ninja with extremely powerful destructive capabilities. Both his speed and strength were top-notch. Puppets lacking powerful offensive means truly couldn't gain much advantage against him; the only opportunity would be through insidious mechanisms.
However, Hatake Sakumo, through numerous battles with puppets, had a pretty good grasp of their workings. He still held the advantage. Sasori himself understood this very well; he knew his strength was inferior to Hatake Sakumo's, a fact he had to admit no matter how unwilling he was. Now, he could only resort to opportunistic tricks to stall Hatake Sakumo.
But, as long as he could avenge his wife, Sasori was willing to accept this helplessness. He didn't aspire to defeat Hatake Sakumo, but merely to stall him was enough to achieve his goal.
Once his mother dealt with Hatake Sakumo's helpers, they could then combine their efforts to confront Hatake Sakumo. The Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu, as the ultimate masterpiece of puppets, were already the strongest in terms of offensive power among puppets, possibly only losing to the Third Kazekage's Human Puppet, which did not yet exist. Even the Hundred Puppets were no match for the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu in a single encounter, only managing to hold on due to their numbers and the advantage of moving in sync with the puppet master's will.