Hoshiyomi swept his gaze across the half-circle of Sand ninja surrounding him, before finally fixing his eyes back on Chiyo's smug face.
"So what you're saying is, you've got me?"
Chiyo spoke with disdain. "Not just you, but also Hatake Sakumo. Both of you will die at my hands."
Hoshiyomi was so amused by Chiyo's words that he laughed. "Is that so? You're quite the dreamer."
Chiyo's expression turned dark upon hearing this. "What a sharp-tongued brat. Your Konoha ninja are really one after another in their ability to talk. How dare you speak so arrogantly in a situation like this?
I've heard that you defeated the Four-Tails from Iwa, but so what? If you dare to make a move, I'll send your little disciple straight to the Grim Reaper!"
Hoshiyomi responded with a cold laugh. In that instant, his aura erupted in full—the overwhelming pressure of a Kage-level powerhouse crashing down and making every shinobi present tremble in their hearts.
"You can go ahead and try. If you dare to lay a finger on Minato today, I will make sure to capture your grandson, Sasori, and slowly skin him alive with a blade, piece by piece, right in front of you!"
Of course, Hoshiyomi said this on purpose—his true aim was to break Chiyo's psychological defenses and force her to reveal a weakness.
And he was absolutely right. Having so recently lost her son and daughter-in-law, Chiyo's heart was already fragile. At this stage of her life, her beloved grandson Sasori was her everything.
So when she suddenly heard someone threaten to carve him to pieces before her eyes, her already unstable nerves snapped. Her eyes went bloodshot, her body shaking violently like a leaf in a storm.
"You… you damned bastard!"
Chiyo raised the kunai in her hand high, ready to drive it down toward Minato. But just then, a flash of icy light flickered in Hoshiyomi's eyes. This was his only chance.
Dance of the Startled Swan!
With his left hand on his waist, Hoshiyomi drew his Mikazuki Munechika. His form ripped through space and instantly appeared in front of Chiyo like a ghost.
Before her kunai could fall, Hoshiyomi's blade had already swept past Chiyo's right arm.
Mikazuki Munechika sliced cleanly through Chiyo's arm, severing it with ease—and at the same time freeing Minato, who had been gripped tightly in her hand.
Without a moment of hesitation, Hoshiyomi immediately triggered the second stage of the Dance of the Startled Swan, taking Minato with him and returning to the afterimage where he had been standing before.
The entire sequence flowed as smooth as water, completed in less than a single second.
To the Suna shinobi, it was nothing but a blur of silver light flashing before their eyes. When they looked again, Hoshiyohi was already holding Minato safely in his arms.
Chiyo's kunai had stabbed at nothing but air. Not only that, her severed right arm now lay on the ground.
But strangely enough, there wasn't a single drop of blood.
The truth was, Chiyo's arms had long since been modified into puppet limbs. So even when they were cut off, she felt no pain.
Shock. Everyone present was stunned by what had just occurred. What exactly happened in that brief instant? Why was Minato suddenly rescued? How had Chiyo's arm been severed? Countless questions flooded their minds.
Only Minato knew the full truth. At this moment, he gazed at Hoshiyomi with open admiration. That technique again… I have to master it someday!
Hoshiyomi pointed the Mikazuki Munechika calmly at Chiyo, offering a deceptively gentle smile: "Now… do you still think you've got me cornered?"
Chiyo, finally emerging from her rage, stared at Hoshiyomi in stunned silence.
That speed... Is that even human? My arm hadn't even hit the ground by the time he returned to his original position.
A grim realization dawned on her: this time, she might have kicked an iron plate.
But the arrow was already nocked; she had no choice but to let it fly. No matter how strong this brat was, he couldn't possibly take on a hundred shinobi alone. Not when she still had the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu as her trump card.
Clinging to that thought, Chiyo forced herself to calm down. With the ten most powerful and terrifying puppets, backed by over a hundred Suna shinobi, she hadn't lost yet.
Like a gambler who had lost everything but refused to leave the table, Chiyo shouted to the stunned Suna shinobi:
"Don't be afraid! So what if he took Minato Namikaze back? There are only two of them. Everyone, attack together! They are as good as dead!"
Her words jolted the surrounding Sunagakure shinobi from their shock. Obeying the elder's command, they drew their kunai and shouted as they charged straight at Hoshiyomi and Minato.
From farther back, the reinforcements lying in ambush also stirred at the cries from the front. In an instant, more than a hundred Suna shinobi surged forward in a wave, rushing directly at Hoshiyomi.
Meanwhile, Chiyo seized the opportunity amidst the chaos to pick up her severed arm. Gesturing for several jōnin to cover her, she pulled a summoning scroll from her waist. With a puff of smoke, piles of puppet materials appeared before her.
Her left hand blurred with afterimages as she frantically worked to repair her right arm. For a puppet master, the hands were everything. With one arm gone, no matter how refined her techniques, her strength was crippled.
She had to fix her arm first—only then would she have the qualifications to face Hoshiyomi.
Hoshiyomi, watching the Suna shinobi charge, gave a dismissive laugh. Turning to Minato, he said:
"Today your Sensei is giving you a lesson. The subject is this—know when to stop. Never, ever lose your head."
With that, he helped Minato onto Lobo's back to watch safely from afar. Then, without hesitation, Hoshiyomi charged straight toward the Suna forces.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!"
Fireballs and wind blades filled the air, surging toward him in a storm of destruction.
But Hoshiyomi didn't dodge.
Instead, he calmly slid Mikazuki Munechika back into its sheath, closed his eyes, bent his knees slightly, and drew in a deep breath.
The next instant, his eyes snapped open—a sharp gleam flashing within. In one motion, the Mikazuki Munechika was drawn, releasing a devastating blade of sword energy that swept out in all directions.
The slash was utterly destructive. Whether roaring water dragons, flaming serpents, or howling wind blades and spheres—all were annihilated by that single overwhelming wave of energy.
Even after shredding every technique, the remaining sword energy mercilessly tore into the ranks of shinobi, causing widespread casualties.
A single strike, even at only twenty percent of its full power, had already killed several shinobi.