Human Puppets are Ninjutsu invented by the earliest generation of Ninja in the Hidden Sand Village, likely to counter the Second Hokage's Edo Tensei. Their principle is to create them from the bodies of Ninja.
The more powerful a Ninja was in life, the stronger the Human Puppet created from them will be, able to unleash between eighty and one hundred and twenty percent of the deceased's former power.
This is because, after death, numerous mechanisms can be added to a Ninja's corpse, and some vital points from their life become irrelevant once they are transformed into a puppet.
Later, because some people abused this Human Puppet Jutsu, capturing living civilians and Ninja to create Human Puppets, the Hidden Sand Village deemed it too inhumane and thus sealed it away.
But in reality, no matter how inhumane a Ninjutsu is, they would still preserve it. Coincidentally, the Human Puppet creation Ninjutsu was in Granny Chiyo's home. After Sasori learned it, he secretly assassinated his own Kazekage...
Now, Kankuro, as the Kazekage's son, although he hasn't used Human Puppets, the puppets he possesses are, of course, top-grade.
The Crow puppet opened its mouth and fired a volley of poisoned needles at Kimimaro. However, Kimimaro easily fended them off using Water Breathing: Twisting Whirlpool.
Subsequently, various hidden weapons, Kunai, and shuriken were all blocked by him one by one—
Seizing the opportunity, Kimimaro used Water Breathing's Seventh Form: Dropping Ripple Thrust, a thrusting technique, directly aiming for Kankuro.
However, the seemingly unobstructed desert posed no challenge for a puppeteer, because no puppeteer would expose his true body to an enemy during a battle. What is exposed to the enemy is often a trap.
Pfft!
"Hm!? No blood?" Kimimaro, who had stabbed his sword into Kankuro's body, realized something was wrong; there was no sensation of piercing flesh and blood.
As he sensed something was amiss and tried to pull out his sword and retreat, Kankuro smiled, and the makeup on his face actually flaked off.
"It's not the real one, it's a puppet~" Kimimaro was horrified, but it was already too late.
The next second, the stabbed Kankuro transformed into a puppet, which then "ate" Kimimaro who had approached it.
Click! Clack~~
The puppet's mechanisms activated, firmly locking Kimimaro in place, while all the surrounding mechanisms stabbed into him. Just then, a person leaped out from beside a sand dune—it was Kankuro's true body.
It turned out he had brought two puppets: his true body was secretly approaching hidden underground, one puppet went forward to lure Kimimaro into battle, and another was disguised as his true body, setting a trap for Kimimaro to step into.
The puppet used to set the trap was incredibly sturdy, ensuring that even a Jonin would be unable to escape if caught.
"Got one, huh?! Where's that woman? How did she disappear?" Kankuro was a bit confused. When he arrived, he clearly saw two people: one an ordinary person without Chakra, and the other this sword-wielding boy. So he planned to capture this Ninja first, then deal with the woman.
But now, she's gone? He looked around; on the desert with no obstructions, the woman had actually vanished?
Actually—
Yukihime was lying on the ground, crouching motionless. If one didn't look closely, it would seem like just a piece of sand. The distinct yellow burlap of the Land of Wind covered her, providing excellent camouflage. And at this moment, she had already entered that state of merging with nature.
Even Uchiha Nagi with his Mangekyo couldn't sense Yukihime, let alone Kankuro.
At this moment, Yukihime gave off the impression of a breathless stone or a plant, her concealment no less effective than a White Zetsu—
At this moment, Kimimaro, who was still banging inside the puppet, suddenly quieted down and said in a low voice:
"Dance, Dance of the Clematis."
Inside the incredibly sturdy puppet, white and hard bones continuously grew, forcefully tearing it apart.
Boom!!
With a dazzling explosion, Kankuro's proud and sturdy puppet was thus forcefully blown apart.
"How is this possible, how could he break the puppet from the inside...?" Kankuro watched in stunned disbelief. It wasn't just the pain of losing his puppet; more importantly, the puppet's sturdiness was such that even a Jonin-level Ninja specializing in Taijutsu might not be able to blast it apart from the inside.
Because he was the Kazekage's son, he naturally had the best puppets...
Kimimaro slowly emerged from within, his entire body covered in bone spikes.
Dance of the Clematis is a unique Kekkei Genkai skill of the Kaguya Clan, but it doesn't necessarily require burrowing into the ground to use; otherwise, it would seem a bit foolish.
However, at this time, Kimimaro was not yet an adult, so he certainly hadn't reached the map-wide destructive power he displayed later when fighting Gaara. His current Dance of the Clematis only covered a radius of about ten meters.
But it was enough; escaping by directly bursting the puppet was effortless—
"I'm sorry, sensei, I used Shikotsumyaku again. I'm truly useless..."
Kimimaro walked out of a patch of bone spikes in annoyance. Aside from his clothes being a bit tattered, there wasn't a single scratch on his body.
All the sharp blades inside the puppet were blocked by his Shikotsumyaku skin; max-level physical defense is just that confident. As for the poison smeared on those blades, it had absolutely no effect before it could pierce Kimimaro's defense.
Kimimaro raised his bone sword and charged at Kankuro again. At this moment, Kankuro realized that the person in front of him might be very troublesome. With a wave of his hand, the Crow puppet quickly flew in front of him to protect his true body.
Then he threw a smoke bomb; white smoke enveloped Kankuro's entire body, and he then used Earth Release to once again hide in the sand underground.
As a Ninja from the Land of Wind, not knowing Earth Release would be too embarrassing...
Kimimaro threw a few Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets, but they missed Kankuro, hitting the Crow puppet a few times.
By the time he charged over, Kankuro's figure was already gone from the smoke; he had hidden himself.
He then remotely controlled the Crow puppet to once again engage him in battle—
"Cough, cough, cough..." Suddenly, Kimimaro began to cough.
"No, I'm poisoned? It was those smoke just now~"
His experience was still too shallow; he didn't realize that a Ninja needed to be more careful to live long. Kimimaro had never considered that there was poison in that seemingly ordinary smoke.
And the Breathing Technique he used was inherently most vulnerable to things like poisonous gas...
Kimimaro gritted his teeth, biting the tip of his tongue to maintain his last bit of consciousness, but his body fell uncontrollably.
"Is he faking it? To be safe, I need to test him."
Kankuro, hiding in the sand, did not easily believe the signs of Kimimaro's poisoning. Instead, he had the Crow puppet throw several poisoned Kunai at him.
Just then, a graceful figure suddenly leaped out from nowhere, pouncing in front of Kimimaro to block the Kunai for him.
"Ah~~" Yukihime closed her eyes, awaiting death.
However, the anticipated pain did not arrive—
"Why 'ah'? Couldn't you just hide yourself properly? Kimimaro isn't that weak..."
Yukihime opened her eyes and saw the man with a pair of red eyes standing in front of her—
"Nagi-aniki..." Yukihime said joyfully.
Uchiha Nagi was carrying a small brat, who was the defeated Gaara. After Shukaku was beaten to tears, he retreated into his body.
And Gaara, who hadn't had a good night's sleep in too long, was now sleeping like a pig, not only deeply but also snoring...
The Kunai thrown by the Crow puppet were blocked by Uchiha Nagi using Gaara. Unsurprisingly, the sand in his gourd automatically transformed into a sand shield, blocking the Kunai.
This was the result of the sand's automatic defense while he was completely unconscious.
Uchiha Nagi clicked his tongue in admiration. A Ninja's Chakra is truly amazing. Gaara's mother, before her death, left him Chakra that automatically formed an absolute defense, protecting him at all times.
To say it was love protecting him is a bit of a stretch; it was Chakra. Just like the Chakra left by Minato and his wife in Naruto's body, sometimes Chakra can not only communicate like the original body but also inherit will and be passed down continuously.
For example, the two brothers, Indra and Asura, their Chakra inherited their will, reincarnating and fighting for generations. And Gaara's mother also infused her will to protect her child into her Chakra, then poured it into Gaara's body to protect him constantly.
"Hey, kid, how long do you plan to hide? Huh!" Uchiha Nagi looked towards Kankuro's hiding place.
The thing puppeteers feared most was encountering eye Kekkei Genkai. Their invisible Chakra threads were seen by Uchiha Nagi as if they were running naked.
Knowing he was no match, Kankuro reluctantly leaped out of the sand.
He had witnessed the battle between the opponent and Shukaku; it was a war of gods, where a casual flick could kill ten of himself.
Just like Kakashi encountering a wounded Orochimaru, the aura inadvertently emitted by powerful individuals could scare them into paralysis.
Gulp~
"You... what do you want to do? We are Ninja from the Hidden Sand Village. If anything happens, the Kazekage won't let you off..." Kankuro swallowed nervously. Now he could only hope the Kazekage's reputation would be of some use. But the opponent had even defeated Shukaku, so he didn't know if he feared the Hidden Sand Village and the Kazekage...
"Hey, kid, I'm taking your Jinchuriki for a while and will return him to you later—"
Uchiha Nagi gave Gaara's butt a firm pat—
"Ah, no, Gaara is the Village's Jinchuriki, I can't give him to you—" Kankuro subconsciously shook his head.
"Hmph, do you think I'm discussing this with you? Why would I, Uchiha Nagi, need to discuss my actions with anyone? If you have an opinion, tell the Kazekage to come and get him from me personally." Uchiha Nagi sneered.
"But..."
"There are no 'buts.' If you don't sober up soon, that person named Baki might die..."
"Sober up?"
Kankuro felt a dizzying sensation, his brain spinning, then he realized he was standing alone in the desert, and everyone else was long gone. He didn't know when Uchiha Nagi had left...
"It was those eyes, those red eyes..." Kankuro was filled with lingering fear. He had only accidentally glanced at the Sharingan and had fallen under its spell. "So that's the Sharingan, truly terrifying and evil eyes. Oh right, Baki..."
Without time to think further, Kankuro immediately ran towards Baki, wondering if he was still alive.
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