Hoshiyomi raised his blade, pointing it at Chiyo, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips:
"If this is all you've got, then I'm afraid you'll end up just like Monzaemon."
Chiyo's face first turned pale at his words, then quickly twisted into rage. As one of Sunagakure's elders, to be humiliated again and again by Hoshiyomi was intolerable. She no longer cared about preserving Monzaemon's posthumous reputation.
"Arrogant brat! When Monzaemon-sama fought you, he was already nearly eighty years old. His strength was only a fraction of what it once was, and you took advantage of that weakness! Today, I'll show you the full power of the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets at their peak!"
As she spoke, Chiyo's ten fingers moved in a blur, so fast they left afterimages in the air. The pale-blue chakra threads quivered unnervingly like restless spirits.
Despite the blistering speed and the number of threads, not a single one tangled—testament to Chiyo's absolute mastery of puppetry.
And indeed, she wasn't lying. At her physical prime, her strength was greater than Monzaemon's had been in his eighties. Unlike him, she had undergone body modifications—both of her arms were now puppet arms, granting her finer control than Monzaemon could ever achieve.
When Monzaemon had wielded the Ten Puppets, he hadn't been able to coordinate them properly. At most, he could combine three or four at a time.
But now, under Chiyo's furious control, the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets moved in flawless unison.
Chiyo abandoned all defense—every puppet surged forward in attack.
Normally, when facing a puppeteer, the optimal tactic was to strike at the master directly. But Hoshiyomi made no such attempt. Watching the ten puppets hurtling toward him, he said calmly:
"Then allow me to tell you a simple truth: in my eyes, all puppets are nothing but scrap metal."
With that, Hoshiyomi surged forward instead of retreating. He activated his Shunpo, quickly closing the distance with the puppets while sheathing his Mikazuki Munechika.
Chiyo, pouring all her concentration into controlling the puppets, had no attention to spare for Hoshiyomi's taunts. Her hands moved like lightning, and the ten puppets sprang into action.
The puppet with a Topknot was the first to move. While still in the air, it fired both its arms with a poof. The puppet arms extended continuously, their spike mechanisms activating, rapidly forming a spherical cage attempting to imprison Hoshiyomi.
At the same time, its mouth gaped wide, spitting out three small bombs.
The Blue-Faced Chain Puppet, though its blades had already been severed, still launched its chains, snaking them through the cage's gaps to skewer Hoshiyomi like a sieve.
But Hoshiyomi remained utterly unshaken.
He drew a deep breath—then in one fluid motion, unsheathed Mikazuki Munechika. The blade ignited instantly, wrapped in ghostly blue chakra flames.
Blazing Draw Slash!
A circular arc of azure sword-light tore through the battlefield.
In its wake, the cage, the chains, and even the bombs that had just launched—all of them shattered to pieces.
In a single exchange, two puppets were already destroyed.
Chiyo, however, felt no grief for their loss. Instead, she concentrated fully on the remaining eight.
This time, the Twin-Blade Puppet rushed in first, swinging two enormous swords that howled as they cut through the air, slashing straight at Hoshiyomi.
But when it came to swordsmanship, how could a puppet compare to Hoshiyomi?
Hoshiyomi turned, executing a parry that blocked both blades, while the azure flame on his sword rapidly transformed into a dazzling lightning aura.
The lightning from the Mikazuki Munechika traveled along the twin blades into the puppet's body. Though lifeless, the puppet's internal components faltered instantly, frozen in place as if shut down.
"Break!"
With Hoshiyomi's shout, the lightning on the Mikazuki Munechika flared brightly. Under his absolute control of nature transformation, the lightning subtly took on a serrated shape, quickly cutting through the broad twin blades like a chainsaw..
The blades continuously broke apart, and with a ping, both of them shattered completely.
Just as Hoshiyomi prepared to press his advantage and destroy the Twin-Blade Puppet entirely, a sudden whoosh split the air from behind him. Frowning, he abandoned the follow-up strike and vanished in a flash with Shunpo.
The instant he left his spot, two thunderous impacts shook the ground—fists from the two Guards Puppets slamming down where he had stood.
But Hoshiyomi's crisis was not over. The moment he dodged the Guards' fists, the combination of the Center-Part Puppet and Red-Faced Puppet charged forward.
The Center-Part Puppet swung out its elongated arms, hurling the Red-Faced Puppet straight at Hoshiyomi. Mid-flight, the red puppet's mask split open, revealing a hidden chakra blade that spun out like a fan, whirling rapidly toward him.
In just a few seconds, seven puppets had unleashed attack after attack without pause, leaving no room to breathe. A single misstep would mean instant death from the relentless chain strikes.
Such dense and precise coordination was proof enough—Chiyo's strength was undeniably at the Kage level.
Yet even this could not threaten Hoshiyomi.
Before the Red-Faced Puppet could reach him, Hoshiyomi stepped back and unleashed a slash of sword energy.
The movement resembled Mifune's Retreating Slash, but was superior—empowered by sword energy, its range and reach extended much further.
The wave of sword energy clashed with the Red-Faced Puppet, stalling its advance for a critical moment.
Hoshiyomi seized the opening, raising Mikazuki Munechika high. The ghostly blue chakra flames along the blade pulsed like breath—brightening and dimming in rhythm—before he struck fiercely.
With his swing, a snarling skull-shaped blaze of chakra roared forth, hurtling at the puppet. It was one of Hoshiyomi's rarely used techniques: Soul-Eater Ghost Slash.
The skull collided with the Red-Faced Puppet's chakra fan-blades, triggering a massive explosion. The ghostly flames erupted violently, and their lingering heat clung to the puppet's body.
After the explosion, tthe pale blue chakra splattered all over the Red-Faced Puppet's entire body. Under the high temperature, the puppet struggled to function, its chakra fan blades already gone. Hoshiyomi brought his blade down upon it, cleaving it into a shower of components.
With the Red-Faced Puppet destroyed, its partner—the Center-Part Puppet—was left vulnerable. Hoshiyomi closed in, sending a cutting arc of sword energy that sliced it cleanly in two.
But just then, Chiyo's voice rang out from behind:
"White Secret Technique: Three Jewels Suction Crushing!"
At some point, the three puppets marked with the words Buddha, Dharma, Sangha had taken position. Forming a formation under Chiyo's seals, they unleashed a devastating Wind Release, generating a suction force that dragged Hoshiyomi toward them.
At the same time, the last two Guard Puppets leapt behind him, rushing in under the pull of the vortex. The plan was clear: crush Hoshiyomi in a pincer strike, front and back, to finish him.
Yet Hoshiyomi's expression showed not the slightest trace of fear.
"You want to pull me in? Then I'll grant your wish."
As the suction dragged at him, Hoshiyomi slashed outward, unleashing a spiraling tornado of ghostly flame. At the same instant, he activated the Dance of the Startled Swan—his figure pierced through space itself, vanishing from where he had been, and reappearing an instant later outside the reach of the Three Jewels Suction Crushing.