"Throw a torch!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted loudly.
"I've got it! Partial Expansion Jutsu!"
Choza Akimichi's right arm swelled to enormous proportions, gripping a massive torch. With a low roar, he hurled it like a blazing meteor, instantly illuminating a patch of night sky.
"What the hell...!"
The scene before them made every Konoha ninja's eyes widen in shock. By the torchlight, they could see countless wooden puppets of every shape and size surging toward the Konoha camp like sand crabs scuttling ashore after the tide.
"That's it? All ninja to battle stations! Don't let a single puppet enter our camp!"
Hiruzen wasn't particularly concerned about these puppets.
They were just old-fashioned wooden puppets controlled by chakra strings—Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, or Wind Release could all handle them.
Just as Hiruzen was about to turn and leave, Minato Namikaze grabbed his arm.
"Lord Hokage, something's wrong! There are nearly ten thousand puppets out there—where could Sunagakure possibly get so many puppet masters?"
Hiruzen froze.
Right—who was controlling all these puppets?
By now, the Konoha ninja defending the first line had taken their positions in the fortifications. In front of the works stood a barrier of antler-shaped obstacles. Once the puppets approached the antlers, they'd be within attack range.
"Turn on the searchlights!"
Several massive beams of light swept across the forward positions. The Konoha ninja discovered there were even more puppets than they'd imagined!
"Don't use kunai or shuriken—they're useless against puppets! If you must use them, attach explosive tags. Use more Fire Release!"
The commander at the first defensive line was highly experienced and quickly devised countermeasures.
Soon the puppet army had closed in on the antlers.
"Ready!"
Boom! Boom!
Before the defending Konoha ninja could react, the two puppets at the front suddenly exploded. Two rows of antlers were blasted skyward, and countless puppets poured through the breach.
"Not good! These puppets are rigged with explosive tags!"
Minato quickly realized the severity of the situation.
This was a suicide attack!
"Don't let these puppets get near the camp!"
Minato roared at the top of his lungs.
...
"How's it going?"
Jinghang asked.
"The advance is going smoothly. Konoha's first defensive line has been taken, and we're pushing toward the second. We should break through in three minutes at most!"
Xuechi Gaoyi stared wide-eyed as he reported.
"Excellent!"
Jinghang looked at the Konoha camp five kilometers away, explosions lighting up the sky in brilliant flashes. He tore off his face covering, loosened his collar, his expression radiating pure excitement.
"Damn it all! I've played the fool for ten years, and finally this day has come! What a rush! What a rush!"
Sasori smiled knowingly. He understood perfectly how much Jinghang had endured these years, carefully managing Sunagakure, always keeping his head down and focusing on development. How much hardship had he suffered? How much humiliation had he swallowed? Sasori knew it all. During the Second War, he'd been young, but as one of the "compound kids," he clearly knew that the village leadership from top to bottom had been holding back their anger, wanting revenge for the Second Kazekage and to test their strength against Konoha.
Today, the opportunity had truly arrived.
After tonight, perhaps the entire ninja world would change.
"By the way, did you prepare enough wooden puppets?"
Jinghang suddenly asked out of nowhere.
"Heh, don't worry, Godfather—there are definitely enough. Our puppet clan has a tradition: retired puppets aren't carelessly discarded. They're all sealed and stored in scrolls. Except for the museum-level pieces like Grandma's Ten Chikamatsu Puppets, I brought everything else."
Sasori answered with a laugh.
"Great tradition!"
Jinghang gave him a thumbs up in praise.
"Report, Lord Kazekage! Konoha's outer defensive works have been breached."
Xuechi Gao'ao reported.
"Excellent! Time for me to head out too. Brothers! Let's go stick it to Hiruzen Sarutobi!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A Konoha ninja formed hand seals and spewed a massive fireball at the puppets in front of him, instantly engulfing them in flames.
Boom!
The scorching flames triggered the explosive tags, instantly blasting the wooden puppets to pieces. Flying splinters and iron nails formed shrapnel that cut the ninja's face.
There was no time to wipe away the flowing blood—another group of puppets came clawing forward.
The ninja couldn't finish his hand seals before being swallowed by a violent explosion.
Scenes like this were playing out simultaneously throughout the massive Konoha camp.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Hiruzen bit his finger, smeared blood on the back of his hand, struck the ground with his palm, and shouted.
A massive, muscular monkey appeared in a puff of white smoke.
"Hiruzen, what's happening?"
Seeing the carnage before him, Enma looked shocked.
"Sunagakure's raiding our camp! No time to explain—Adamantine Staff!"
Enma instantly transformed into a staff as thick as a bowl. Hiruzen gripped it tightly.
"Everyone clear out!"
The staff suddenly grew much longer. Hiruzen charged to the front lines with the iron staff and swept horizontally at the tide of puppets.
As they say: spears thrust in lines, staffs sweep in arcs. Hiruzen's maneuver quickly proved effective, instantly sweeping away the puppet horde and clearing a large space. As the Adamantine Staff struck heavily, many puppets were smashed with broken arms and legs.
But after sweeping away one wave, another surged forward. The dense mass of puppets still rushed at the Konoha ninja like a tidal wave. Even the puppets swept aside didn't stop moving—they got back up and continued their "fearless" charge forward. Even puppets missing arms and legs still shakily used every method possible to get closer to areas with more people.
"These puppets' purpose is just to explode!"
Just then, a giant toad dropped from the sky, pipe in mouth and short sword at its waist. Standing on it was none other than Minato Namikaze!
"Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"
A massive pillar of fire shot toward the puppet horde, instantly igniting a sea of flames.
Unlike ordinary Fire Release jutsu, the Toad Oil Flame Bullet burned longer and more intensely. Wherever the flames reached, puppets exploded one after another.
"Well done, Minato! Choza Akimichi, come help!"
"Coming! Partial Expansion Jutsu!"
Suddenly, over a dozen mountain-sized giants appeared in the Konoha camp, each wielding massive iron staffs. They smashed and battered the puppet horde, explosions echoing endlessly.
The clever ones used their staffs to sweep puppets into piles, and Minato immediately caught on, using Toad Oil Flame Bullets to incinerate them en masse.
Boom!
A tremendous explosion actually produced a small mushroom cloud rising from the Konoha camp. The shockwave from the blast was like a storm erupting on flat ground, directly blowing away many Konoha ninja.
"Minato, we're out of toad oil."
Gamabunta said in his deep voice.
"It's fine, Bunta. I can see most of the puppets have been destroyed."
Minato wiped the sweat from his forehead.
...
"Lord Sasori, the first attack wave's wooden puppets are nearly exhausted."
Xuechi Gao'ao reported.
"No problem. Konoha camp's outer defenses are basically destroyed—our strategic objective has been achieved. Are the flying puppets in position?"
"They're in position."
"What about the Terrorist Squad?"
"They've also reached the front of Konoha's camp."
"Good! Launch the second wave!"
Sasori pumped his fist decisively.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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