Suddenly, a long-haired puppet opened its mouth and spewed out a cloud of purple poisonous mist.
Charizard hadn't anticipated this situation. Consequently, it was directly enveloped by the toxic fog.
Seeing this, Hayato Ren's expression couldn't help but turn grim.
This was the first time either he or Charizard had faced a Puppet Master opponent, and they hadn't made adequate preparations.
Otherwise, Charizard could have simply dispersed the poison mist with a single Heat Wave.
He just didn't know whether the Antidote Tsunade made would work on Charizard.
After the poison mist dissipated, Charizard appeared unaffected in terms of condition, but a purple sheen glowed on its skin.
Clearly, Charizard was now in a poisoned state.
To avoid further complications, Hayato Ren quickly ordered Charizard to attack the other puppets.
However, under the masterful control of Sasori's father, the remaining nine puppets deftly dodged Charizard's flames as they maneuvered through the air.
As the situation progressively worsened for their side, Hayato Ren could only instruct Charizard to change targets and directly attack Sasori's father, the Puppet Master.
After all, no matter how formidable the puppets you control might be, the master's body remains mortal flesh. A single graze from Charizard's attack would mean instant death.
Unless, like Akasuna no Sasori, one completely transforms their body into puppets, otherwise Puppet Masters are like summoners—their true bodies ultimately become their greatest liability.
Just as Charizard charged toward Sasori's father, the nine puppets simultaneously flew toward Hayato Ren, creating what seemed like a mutual destruction scenario.
As White Fang, observing from the sidelines, prepared to intervene and save Hayato Ren, a dark figure suddenly appeared before him.
This figure stood as solid as a fortress wall, firmly protecting Hayato Ren.
"Pupitar, use Harden!"
A metallic gleam surfaced on Pupitar's body, followed by a series of clinking and clanging sounds.
All nine puppets' attacks were completely blocked by Pupitar, which emerged completely unscathed.
Meanwhile, Charizard reached Sasori's father, opened its mouth, and sent him to meet his maker with a Flame Jet.
The nine puppets, having lost their controlling Puppet Master, all fell from the sky one after another.
Actually, Sasori's father had believed his puppets would be faster than Charizard. No matter what, he never thought Hayato Ren would choose a mutual destruction strategy.
What he hadn't anticipated was that Hayato Ren had a second Pokémon besides Charizard—Pupitar.
Although Pupitar doesn't possess much combat capability before evolving into Tyranitar, it serves quite adequately as a defensive shield.
Therefore, Hayato Ren, who held more trump cards than Sasori's father, ultimately had the last laugh.
Moreover, even without the Sand Ninja, Hayato Ren would have been fine in the end.
After all, White Fang was watching from the sidelines. One must know that White Fang's short blade cut through puppets more easily than a hot knife through butter.
Thus, Hayato Ren was not the least bit worried.
However, he deeply experienced White Fang's power firsthand.
Aside from the Jonin who had been instantly killed by the sneak attack earlier, the remaining three Jonin did not even last two seconds combined under White Fang's blade.
The swordsmanship of Konoha's White Fang was truly terrifying.
No wonder in the original story, White Fang was vilified by the entire Konoha for saving his comrades.
With his strength and seniority, he was fully qualified to become Hokage, which was why his reputation was sabotaged.
However, no one expected White Fang to be so unyielding, choosing death to prove his integrity.
But the position of Hokage had always been passed down within the Hokage's direct lineage; even if White Fang hadn't died, he could never have become Hokage.
After all, the Second Hokage was the First's biological brother, the Third was the Second's disciple, the Fourth was the Third's disciple's disciple, the Fifth was the First's biological granddaughter, the Sixth was the Fourth's disciple, and the Seventh was the Fourth's son.
Looking at it this way, Hayato Ren also possessed the qualities of a Hokage.
However, Hayato Ren had no interest in becoming Hokage.
He only wanted to become the Hokage's man after Tsunade became Hokage.
Setting White Fang aside, Namikaze Minato had also dealt with his enemies.
Namikaze Minato faced the largest number of opponents, but they only had Chunin-level strength.
Even though he hadn't yet mastered the Flying Thunder God technique, Namikaze Minato handled them as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.
After briefly verifying the identities of the corpses, Hayato Ren and Namikaze Minato headed toward the Konoha camp.
As for White Fang, he was returning to Konoha Village.
Originally, Hayato Ren thought this mission would take several days to complete.
Unexpectedly, they found traces of the Sand Ninja on the very first night, and by the time they returned to the Konoha camp, the sky was just beginning to lighten.
In other words, they completed an A-rank mission in just one night, demonstrating exceptionally high efficiency.
Namikaze Minato was promoted to Chunin thanks to this mission.
One could only wonder what Nawaki would think upon hearing this news.
After taking a quick shower, Hayato Ren returned to his tent.
To his surprise, Tsunade was still sitting in a chair, appearing as though she hadn't slept at all.
It was only around six o'clock; given Tsunade's habits, she shouldn't have woken up so early unless something major was happening.
Instantly, a warm feeling surged in Hayato Ren's heart.
"Teacher, you didn't stay up all night worrying about me, did you?"
"Tch, so full of yourself. Who would worry about a brat like you? I just had some things to do. You completed the mission so quickly."
Hayato Ren flashed a cheeky grin.
"No, I thought this mission was too dangerous, so I chose to be a 'deserter.' I was just about to ask you to cover for me, Teacher."
Tsunade rolled her eyes and retorted irritably:
"How could I possibly cover for you? The first thing I'd do is drag you back to the village and throw you in jail."
"Just kidding, how could I possibly become a 'deserter'? By the way, sensei, you have no idea how intense last night's battle was. I single-handedly defeated a Puppet Master with nearly Kage-level strength..."
After listening to Hayato Ren's vivid account, Tsunade suddenly spoke up:
"I recall that only that old woman Chiyo in the entire Sand Village is a Kage-level Puppet Master. Where did your opponent come from?"