"They are the Chikamatsu Ten-man Group."
They were masterpieces created by the founder of Puppet Technique—far superior to ordinary puppets.
Shishio wielded a sword, fully armored in strange battle gear with a helmet on his head.
"You distract them. I'll go look for the antidote!"
While running, Sakumo secretly tested and observed them. After throwing several shuriken he had picked up along the way, he concluded these puppets were unbeatable!
Worse yet, he could feel his chakra and energy draining even faster than before.
"Antidote? I already grabbed one!"
Shishio said, tossing the antidote toward Sakumo without hesitation.
"So generous?"
Sakumo caught the antidote, stunned for a moment.
Does this guy know there are only three doses?
"Oh right, the poison mist intensifies every ten minutes. According to my analysis, it might also shrink in range. We can't get stuck fighting here—you should hurry and find it."
While provoking the Chikamatsu Ten-man Group, Shishio shared the intelligence he obtained.
As he got distracted talking—
Two puppets fused into a massive shuriken hurtling toward him. And behind them, the remaining puppets charged aggressively.
Seeing the situation, Shishio didn't even look back—he turned and ran.
However, the shuriken formed from two puppets could maneuver and turn mid-air. Though fast, Shishio couldn't escape entirely unscathed and was struck directly in the back by the enormous shuriken.
Yet—
He just stood there—not a scratch on him!
"This durable?!"
Gekko Nightdance gaped in shock.
"It's the armor."
Kakashi Windseer noticed the armor on his back had already shattered.
"It looks like the equipment within this illusion has immense power. Pity I only had one manga, which Orochimaru stole from me."
Shinku Yuhi sighed inwardly.
"Shinnosuke will be at a disadvantage."
Kakashi Windseer no longer believed Shinnosuke would succeed. The three essentials—weapons, supplies, and intel.
Now it's clear each played a crucial role.
Weapons and equipment within this illusion could significantly enhance ninja strength.
If even Shishio's armor is this strong… Orochimaru, who bears the Blue Symbol for top-tier gear, must have some insane hidden advantages.
No need for further explanation—
A voice suddenly announced, "Sarutobi Shinnosuke has been eliminated. Killer: Orochimaru."
Another unfortunate soul appeared inside the observation room.
Shinnosuke looked at Shinku Yuhi, then at the previously eliminated Gekko Nightdance, heavily sighing.
The first three eliminated were all from Team One.
"What a shame!"
"How did you die?"
Since the camera didn't show Sarutobi's demise, none of them knew exactly how he died.
Kakashi Windseer spoke calmly, "Did he withstand your ninjutsu?"
"He actually took the Earth Dragon Bullet head-on."
Sarutobi sighed helplessly.
"What a shame."
Shinku Yuhi stopped asking further.
Earth Release is mainly defensive, with very few offensive moves—the Earth Dragon Bullet is one of the exceptions.
With Orochimaru's cunning mind, he certainly seized the chance for a finishing blow.
"Extra training this afternoon."
Kakashi Windseer stated casually.
"Yes sir..."
All three lowered their heads; who told them they'd be the first team eliminated?
At this moment, the scene shifted.
Orochimaru struggled out of the dirt and sat on the ground, panting heavily.
"This Battle Gear has its limits... damn it, I almost died!"
A chill ran down his spine.
That Earth Dragon Bullet had been way too strong—his armor barely held up against it.
"Orochimaru, why did you kill Shinnosuke?"
Tsunade arrived just then.
When she heard the report, she was stunned. She couldn't understand at all why Orochimaru would do something like this.
Jiraiya was behind her, but he looked like he'd been dragged all the way here. He was still breathing, barely—clearly in terrible shape.
Orochimaru glanced between Jiraiya and the energetic Tsunade, lost in thought.
He had worked so hard gathering Equipment, food, and intelligence.
And these two showed absolutely no sense of danger.
"Hey, help me! Somebody save me! Flat-chest, just kill me already—don't torture me like this!"
Jiraiya groaned in pain.
"Eat this."
Orochimaru took out a bottle and poured one pill into his palm.
Tsunade caught it and sniffed.
"It's food."
Then she passed it to Jiraiya, who swallowed it.
After a while, he regained some strength—at least he wasn't lying there motionless anymore.
"What exactly happened? Why did you kill Shinnosuke?"
Tsunade asked seriously.
"You two didn't notice anything along the way?"
Orochimaru was seriously pissed off.
What kind of teammates were they? Did everything have to rely on him alone?
"The poison wasn't lethal, so I ignored it," Tsunade honestly replied.
Then both turned their eyes to Jiraiya.
Jiraiya sat up, chin in hand, pretending to be deep in thought.
"Forget it. Can't expect much from an idiot anyway."
Orochimaru handed two sheets of notes to Tsunade. "You guys definitely obtained important intel. Now it's hard to know what's going on over there."
After reading the two pages of sketches, Tsunade suddenly felt awkward.
Jiraiya sat quietly for a moment before saying, "Now that I think about it, when I met Shishio, he had just gotten a sword—we were comrades, so I didn't fight him over it."
"You idiot!"
Orochimaru's eyes widened.
After witnessing abilities like [Flying Swallow] and [Frying Pan], he was certain none of the weapons in this illusion were weak.
A sword-type weapon must be extremely powerful.
"Well, we can still crush them now."
Tsunade said confidently, then stretched out her hand, palm open.
Orochimaru hesitated—it felt oddly like handing pocket money to a child.
Grumbling to himself, he dug through his stuff.
Finally, he said,
"I don't really have anything suitable for you… how about these shoes? They'll make you run faster."
"No way!"
Tsunade frowned in disgust. Those were Orochimaru's old shoes—no way was she taking them.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya managed to piece together a decent set of gear using random parts.
"Alright, let's go inside and take them down!"
Tsunade clenched her fist and charged ahead first.
"Be careful about their Battle Gear—it can withstand tremendous force."
Orochimaru warned.
"They're only two people—we've got this. Let's go!"
Jiraiya yelled excitedly.
Orochimaru paused, thinking maybe he really had been too suspicious.
Still…
Something didn't feel right.
In the observation room, Kakashi Windseer sat watching the scene unfold, lost in thought.
Whether it was equipment, routes, or even the movement range of poison mist, everything perfectly benefited Sakumo and Shishio.
"Red-Feather, you're playing unfair!"
Not only Kakashi Windseer but also others began to sense something strange. The direction the Chikamatsu Collection drove toward happened to lead them straight to another antidote.
Could things get any more convenient?
"Hmph, this will make things more fun, and after all, I am their teammate."
Akaba smiled.
This entire Illusion was his creation. Is slightly helping teammates even considered cheating?
Besides,
he wasn't even showing favoritism. He had simply arranged for the poison zone to appear in a position advantageous for Sakumo and Shishio.
Take the first antidote, for example — it was completely found by accident. Shishio had absolutely nothing to do with that.
That's right — the Heavenly Fate Circle.
After they found the antidote and reunited, they exited through another passageway just at the edge of the shrinking poison circle.
One or two more steps forward would bring them into an area where poison effects were weaker.
Although Orochimaru's group wasn't far behind, they now faced a choice — what to do about the third antidote?
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