"His physical strength is immense; don't engage him directly!"
Despite saying this, Gari threw a punch straight forward.
Boom!
Dazzling light erupted from his fist. The terrifying high temperature caused the air to explode, and the violent shockwave blasted away the scrap-metal projectile.
Narita seized the moment to act. A curved blade swept horizontally, tracing a brilliant arc.
Ryuji extended his left hand, making a motion to grab it.
"Fool!"
Narita snorted inwardly. Wind Attribute Chakra erupted from the blade's edge; even from a distance, one could feel the sharpness threatening the throat.
Faced with this sudden situation, Ryuji still has a smile on his face. Unhurried, he reached out to grab the blade.
Clang!
His hand caught the blade, producing the sound of metal clashing.
'Wait?'
'Why would a hand grabbing a blade make the sound of metal clashing?'
'No, that's not the issue.'
'The issue is, how could he ignore the sharpness of the Wind Attribute Chakra and grab the blade directly with his hand?'
'Shouldn't his palm have been severed?'
Narita's eyes widened, his mind filled with questions.
"Fall back!"
Gari roared hoarsely behind him, but it was too late.
The moment Narita regained his senses, the curved blade was snapped by Ryuji, who then backhanded the blade fragment into his vital heart area.
"Thanks for the kill, bro."
Looking at the Kusagakure's Shinobi whose pupils were contracting, Ryuji smiled, released his left hand, and kicked him flying away.
Gari, who had been preparing to charge in for a sneak attack, was struck by Narita's body and sent flying together, crashing into the rubble over a hundred meters away.
Silence!
Though fighting sounds were everywhere throughout Sunagakure at this moment, this place was eerily quiet.
Ten Shinobi who had made great reputations in the Shinobi World were reduced to three in just two encounters.
They were awed by their opponent's strength and dared not act rashly again.
No, it should be four.
Even though he was kicked over a hundred meters away, Gari, the Explosion Release user, was not dead yet.
He pushed aside Narita's body pressing on him, trying to flip over and stand up.
But he was interrupted by the surge of blood rushing to his chest. He vomited blood violently, dyeing the nearby area red.
In this condition, he could no longer fight, so it's indeed just three of them left.
Toroi, the Magnet Release user from Kumogakure; a sword-wielding Kumogakure's Shinobi using Lightning Release; the Iwagakure's Shinobi who had charged first, weighing over 100 kilograms, using Earth Release.
Although they still had numerical superiority, the look in their eyes when they gazed at Ryuji was already filled with dread. They no longer dared to initiate an attack.
"Do you plan to just stand there and watch?"
Ryuji asked with a light laugh.
Troy stared at Ryuji nervously, swallowing involuntarily.
The other two had similar expressions, their faces dripping with sweat.
The horizon began to lighten with the first hint of dawn, finally illuminating the pitch-black night a little.
They finally got a clear look at the enemy they were facing.
On the road leading to the gate, a tracked vehicle blocked the way.
It was about the size of a small house, constructed from a blend of metal and special wood, mounted with many weapons.
Kunai launchers, giant crossbow carriages, hook-and-sickle launcher racks... Numerous thin pipes of unknown purpose were also inserted all around it.
At the very center of the vehicle, a cannon barrel over three meters long and as thick as a large bowl gleamed with a cold light, inspiring fear.
In front of the vehicle stood a youth.
Judging by his face and build, he looked about fifteen years old. He had reddish-brown short hair, wore black Shinobi attire, armored gloves on his hands, and over it... armor?
The reason for the question mark was mainly because the armor was a bit strange.
It didn't have much protective plating, not even covering vital areas like the chest, so it couldn't really serve a protective function at all.
There were only appropriately sized plates covering key points like the shoulders and knees, connected by soft tubes about the thickness of an index finger, all converging into a circular device the size of an egg on the chest.
"So young!"
Toroi looked at this young man and couldn't help but be momentarily stunned.
The other two Shinobi also couldn't help but wryly smile.
"Although I know the saying 'the new generation surpasses the old', I'm not old enough yet to be part of that old generation."
"I should have listened to the brigade commander's suggestion and sent more people."
"No, it's not about sending more people, but sending stronger people," Ryuji corrected. "For me, numbers below a certain scale are meaningless. Only by sending someone stronger than me would work."
Sunagakure, though one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, has a village scale and population comparable to a small village.
The reason it's ranked among the Five Great Shinobi Villages is because the Shinobi born in the harsh desert environment are generally stronger than those from other villages.
At the end of the Warring States Period, Konoha was established, and various great Shinobi Clans followed suit.
Reto saved the surviving Shinobi in the desert and united them to form Sunagakure. (T/N: Reto is the name of the First Kazekage.)
Each of these Shinobi who survived in the desert was an elite. As their leader, Reto was revered by the world and given the title of Kazekage.
And the next generation, the Second Kazekage, Shamon… he was a genius.
He developed the Puppetry Technique to compensate for the disadvantage of insufficient manpower.
He also militarized and researched the Tailed Beast that had always been sealed in the temple, developing Magnet Release, which could refine magnetic Chakra, giving Sunagakure many powerful individuals.
It was the Second Kazekage's series of actions that truly brought Sunagakure's overall strength to the level of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
So, the question arises.
Since puppeteers are a rare profession, how exactly did they serve to compensate for the lack of manpower?
This comes down to the puppeteer's talent.
Puppeteers are a profession that manipulates puppets to fight enemies. To become a puppeteer, one must have the talent for dual-tasking.
Otherwise, while you're concentrating on controlling a puppet to fight, a clone might circle around and cut you down.
For puppeteers to increase their strength, they either need to create more powerful puppets or enhance their dual-tasking talent, turning it into multi-tasking, allowing them to control more puppets in battle simultaneously.
Possessing such talent, fighting multiple opponents is a basic operation for a puppeteer.
Against a puppeteer, unless your strength surpasses theirs, don't expect to gain an advantage through numbers (the number is proportional to the puppeteer's strength).
Ryuji's talent is quite average. Although he has become a Jonin, he can only manage dual-tasking at most, controlling two puppets simultaneously in battle at best.
But he developed autonomous puppets that no longer require personal control. He alone is an army.
Ten Elite Jonin would most likely win against two Kage-level opponents, but for Ryuji, sending a single Kage would be better.
Although he doesn't currently have that many autonomous puppets, it doesn't prevent him from boasting and bluffing.
"Perhaps what you say is correct, but..."
Halfway through his sentence, the sword-wielding Kumogakure's Shinobi erupted with Lightning Chakra. With a 'whoosh', he seemed to vanish from his original spot.
Leaving a trail of afterimages, he circled around Ryuji and sprinted towards the direction of the gate. The rest of his words arrived at this moment.
"We don't necessarily have to fight you, you know!"
Ryuji showed a look of astonishment, then couldn't help but shake his head.
"How foolish!"
As his words fell, a tremendous explosion occurred behind him. Surging flames shot into the sky, dyeing half the horizon red.
Puppeteers excel in machinery and poison, and naturally, they are also proficient in traps.
Ryuji had taken position in advance, waiting for their arrival, and had exposed his identity as a puppeteer during the previous battle.
What reason could there be for that Shinobi to think there were no traps behind him?
Was it because of the group of Sunagakure's Shinobi who came to reinforce and then returned safely?
Don't be ridiculous.
These are comrades from the same village. Leaving marks on the traps that only villagers can recognize is a simple matter.