"I haven't been on the battlefield for a long time," Elder Chiyo muttered, stretching her fingers. "Time to loosen up a bit."
On the other side of the battlefield, facing the AB brothers and their team, the aged kunoichi calmly pulled out a purple sealing scroll.
The sight made Fenfu's expression shift. The elderly monk with thick black eyebrows and a long beard squinted his eyes. Could this be the legendary puppet technique—Chikamatsu Ten Puppets?
Everyone knew that aside from their notorious poison techniques, the greatest weapon in the Sand Shinobi's arsenal was puppetry. However, compared to poisons, creating puppets required far more resources. The stronger the puppet, the more expensive the cost.
That made puppets a luxury item—far beyond the reach of most Sand Shinobi, who barely made ends meet. Those who possessed puppets were either from wealthy bloodlines, inheriting them from their ancestors, or had earned enough from exceptional battlefield achievements.
Among them, the most famous was Elder Chiyo. She had inherited ten puppet masterpieces crafted by the First Generation Puppet Master, Monzaemon. These puppets had once leveled an entire city!
Bang!
With a puff of smoke, the sealing scroll released its contents. Ten imposing figures emerged, each cloaked in white high-collared robes and wearing eerie, distinct ghost masks. They stood silently around Elder Chiyo like a circle of death.
Fenfu instinctively tensed as the ghostly aura chilled the air around him. His eyes narrowed. These weren't ordinary puppets—this was the legendary Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu.
"Fenfu," Chiyo said without turning her head, her voice as calm as ever. "According to Rasa, that man with all those swords strapped to his back is the Eight Tails Jinchūriki. I'll leave him to you."
Without waiting for a reply, she moved her hands. Chakra threads shot out from her ten fingers, instantly connecting to each puppet. With a snap of her wrist, the ten figures charged toward Ai, the older of the AB brothers!
"You wrinkled puppet hag!" Killer Bee shouted, clearly annoyed. "Trying to mess with my big bro? What a joke! You better go home and sip tea before you break a hip. Woo!"
A massive octopus tentacle suddenly shot out, crashing toward the puppets like a tidal wave, aiming to crush them in one blow.
Elder Chiyo didn't flinch.
"Haha! Youth must learn to respect their elders," Fenfu said warmly, stepping forward. "Let this old monk show you a thing or two."
His words were gentle, but his actions were fierce. Yellow chakra surged in his right arm. With a thunderous pulse, a massive sand arm materialized from the ground, clamping onto the octopus tentacle and stopping it mid-swing.
"Yo, old man's got some moves. One Tail Jinchūriki wants to play top lane? What a twist!"
Despite his casual singing tone, Bee's expression turned serious. He hadn't expected the elderly monk to be a fellow Jinchūriki.
"Puppetry: Three Treasures Absorbed!"
Chiyo's cold voice rang out. At her command, three of the ten puppets—labeled "Buddha", "Dharma", and "Monk"—moved into formation. Spinning in sync, they generated a powerful tornado. Its suction aimed directly at Ai, threatening to pull him into the vortex.
This was one of Chiyo's most feared moves—The Three Treasures Suction Formation. Anyone caught in the center would be compressed and shredded, reduced to a bloody pulp before being blasted out by the violent winds.
Ai sneered.
"What a cheap parlor trick!"
"Lightning Style: Lightning Armor!"
Electricity crackled around him, enveloping his body in a powerful aura. His muscles surged, reflexes heightened to the max as lightning coursed through his veins.
"Heavy Flow!"
With a deafening shout, Ai shot forward. His elbow, glowing with concentrated Lightning Chakra, struck the "Monk" puppet square in the chest—shattering it with a single blow.
The tornado instantly collapsed.
Without pause, Ai activated Thunder Instant Body Technique, flickering behind another puppet. One hit. Two hits. Three.
Each strike was a bolt of pure destruction.
Elder Chiyo's eyes narrowed. She couldn't afford to lose all ten puppets here.
Her fingers danced—faster, sharper.
"Puppetry: Mechanical Light Shield Seal!"
At her command, the remaining puppets formed a defensive circle. Their Chakra strings intertwined, and a shimmering barrier manifested—a glowing wall of light capable of withstanding even Lightning-enhanced assaults.
It worked.
Ai's strike slammed into the shield and rebounded.
He clicked his tongue. "Hmph, that's not bad... for an old lady."
He shifted targets—now aiming directly at Chiyo herself.
If the puppets were too tough to break, then he would go for the puppeteer.
But Chiyo was ready.
She pulled her puppets inward, surrounding herself like a fortress. From one of them—the Blue-Faced Ghost—a hidden mechanism activated.
Whiiish!
Five chains shot out from the ghost puppet's head, lunging toward Ai like snakes.
Ai raised his arm like an axe and cleaved through the chains effortlessly.
Just then, the puppet opened its mouth and spewed purple poisonous gas into the air.
Chiyo had timed it perfectly.
Ai's reflexes kicked in. He immediately held his breath and blinked away using Thunder Instant again, narrowly avoiding the cloud.
But it was too late.
Just a hint of the gas had brushed against his exposed skin—and already his right arm began to go numb.
"Damn poison...!" Ai muttered.
Chiyo exhaled a shaky breath.
She was old now—far from the prime of her youth. Her stamina couldn't compare to a powerhouse like Ai. But what she lacked in strength, she made up for in cunning and experience.
It wasn't about who was stronger.
It was about who could survive longer.
Fenfu, who had been watching from the sidelines, finally made his move.
"Haha, it seems Elder Chiyo is planning for a long fight."
"In that case, I'll keep the Eight Tails busy myself."
He stepped toward Killer Bee, arms relaxed, his robe fluttering in the wind.
Bee grinned.
"Yo! One Tail versus Eight Tails? That's cannibalism, bro! What a poetic line!"
"Hold up—gotta write that down."
Bee paused mid-step and pulled out a tiny notebook, scribbling down lyrics.
Bang!
Inside his mindscape, a giant octopus arm slapped him hard on the head.
"IDIOT!" Gyūki, the Eight Tails, bellowed. "This is a battlefield, and you're writing rhymes?!"
"Oww! Oww! Oww!" Bee clutched his head in agony. Pain was magnified in the mental realm—this felt like torture!
"Okay okay, I got it, Gyūki!"
He reluctantly tucked the notebook into his jacket.
Despite their odd dynamic, Bee and Gyūki were in perfect sync. They had trained together to the point of perfect Jinchūriki synchronization.
Bee's eccentric attitude was balanced by Gyūki's level-headed wisdom.
That harmony gave them an edge few could match.
"Alright then... let's dance!"
Gulp Gulp—
Red bubbles surged from Bee's skin as eight Chakra tentacles burst forth from his back, twisting violently.
"Time to show off my Seven Sword Style!"
He dropped into a strange stance, one leg hooked forward. Swords gleamed at every limb—hands, elbows, knees, mouth—like a human porcupine of blades.
Swish!
He vanished—only to reappear right in front of Fenfu!
The swords danced wildly. His strikes came from impossible angles, each one aimed to bypass defenses and land a critical blow.
But Fenfu didn't panic.
He pressed his hands together.
"Sand Shukaku!"
Golden sand surged, layering and compressing into a thick armored cocoon around him. The sand shell shaped itself into a massive civet cat, its eyes gleaming with primal power.
This was the ultimate defense of One Tail—Shukaku's Sand Shell.
Fenfu couldn't match Bee's speed. He didn't try to.
He simply endured.
Because sometimes... the strongest offense means nothing if you can't get through the wall.