Snowflakes filled the air, making it hard for Sakumo and Minato to clearly see Kouhi even from a mere distance of ten meters.
Though their vision was obscured by the snowfall, both men could clearly sense the surge of killer intent rushing toward them. Kouhi's eyes had already begun to turn crimson, filled with murderous intent.
The deadly silence stretched for a few seconds.
Suddenly, Kouhi's hands began forming hand seals at an incredibly fast speed, blurring into motion.
Hwack!
Almost simultaneously, Sakumo Hatake shot forward like a streak of white lightning.
Minato followed close behind, just slightly slower.
[Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!]
The compressed wind projectiles tore through the snow-filled sky, hurtling straight toward Sakumo and Minato.
"What incredible speed in forming seals!"
Minato felt genuinely shocked. Though this C-ranked Wind Release technique required only a short sequence of hand seals, Kouhi executed it faster than either of them could even close the gap.
Dodging side by side, they narrowly avoided the consecutive Wind Release projectiles. At that moment, a shadow darted out from the side.
Sakumo and Minato reacted instantly, giving chase to Kouhi.
"Shshshsh!"
As the two turned around, hundreds of shuriken flew toward them like a ruthless storm.
Even a top expert from the Uchiha clan couldn't possibly throw such a massive number of shuriken within such a short time span. Therefore, these hundred shuriken must have been summoned by Kouhi using a scroll.
While the summoned shuriken obviously lacked the strength or precision to harm Sakumo or Minato, that was more than enough time to create some critical distance.
Kouhi had acted in desperation before and didn't reclaim his puppet. Now everything he did was aimed at closing the distance to retrieve the puppet he previously abandoned.
Although his basic judgment had been compromised by Liufei's death, he wasn't acting recklessly in battle.
He understood clearly—on his own, he stood no chance against Sakumo and Minato. He needed to regain control over his puppet!
"Chichi!"
Seeing this, Sakumo abruptly raised his white chakra tanto in front of him, its blade crackling with surging electricity.
"Clang! Clang!"
The instant the shuriken touched the electric field surrounding the blade, they exploded and shattered into pieces.
Minato, meanwhile, pulled another kunai from his ninja pouch and skillfully handled it with both hands.
"Instant Flash!"
Planting his foot firmly on the ground, he burst forward at increased speed. Even moving at such velocity, he continued deflecting the incoming shuriken without pause.
Minato had long grown accustomed to performing precise actions while moving at high speed, so even under the effects of Instant Flash, he remained capable of counterattacking.
Yet compared to those other two, his speed still lagged slightly behind.
On the distant battlefield, nearly all fighting had halted. Many Sunagakure shinobi, affected by Liufei's death, were beginning to lose their will to fight.
However, sensing Kouhi's intense emotions, they hesitated instead.
Chiyo stared at her frenzied son, her aged face twitching violently.
In the next moment, her fingers moved again, and the Ten Puppets sprang into action.
Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Hiashi Hyuga stood ready.
Shwshwshw!
In an instant, the Ten Puppets launched together—four blades of chakra energy, a storm of steel blades and iron chains—as the dual-bladed puppet struck with sudden force.
This was the first time Chiyo had directly deployed all ten of her puppets in an offensive move during battle.
She simply could not stand by and watch her son perish here due to his own recklessness.
Tsunade and the others didn't dare slack off. They each employed their techniques and blocked this wave of assault from Chiyo.
Part of their attention also shifted toward the battle involving Kouhi, Minato, and the others.
Chiyo intended to rescue Kouhi, while they were locked in a desperate struggle like cornered beasts.
If Kouhi fell, this fight would end.
Sakumo Hatake and Minato burst out from the storm of shuriken, but by then, Kouhi had already neared the location where he'd previously fought against Hiashi Hyuga.
Ultimately, Kouhi had expended much physical strength after using powerful ninjutsu, or else there would have been no way he could have closed the distance on Sakumo Hatake's speed.
"Clack! Clack!"
Six puppets, manipulated by Kouhi's Chakra Threads, "revived" once more. They seemed to embody the enraged will of their puppet master. In the next instant, they vanished from sight.
Shwshw!
The six puppets moved with astonishing speed, arriving before Minato and Sakumo within two breaths' time.
Minato saw the hideous faces of the puppets rapidly approaching.
In the next moment, an even greater torrent of ninja tools and poison mist shot toward the two men.
Though unable to begin forming hand seals, Minato remained calm.
Dark blue lightning surged outward, forming a wall of lightning before the two men, repelling every tool and cloud of poison mist.
"Fall back now!"
Hatake Sakumo glanced sideways at Minato, who immediately leapt backward several times.
Although Minato had grown powerful, he still hadn't reached the level of Kouhi or Sakumo.
But Sakumo telling him to fall back did not mean sending Minato out of the fight entirely.
As soon as Kouhi's attack weakened slightly, Sakumo countered with a single slash, his blade releasing a solid blade of lightning cutting straight toward the enemy.
Kouhi's fingers danced, manipulating the puppets to evade Sakumo's slash without daring to withstand its full force head-on.
He himself had already begun evading sideways when, suddenly, two more slashes of energy surged forward.
[Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!]
However, it seemed Kouhi had anticipated this. While controlling the puppets, he had also been forming seals. Two air bullets the size of human heads slammed directly into the lightning blade.
Boom! Boom!
The collision exploded with a deafening roar before dissipating into thin air.
Hatake Sakumo narrowed his eyes—Wind Release counters Lightning Release. His lightning techniques were indeed formidable, but Kouhi's wind release was no weakling either.
According to earlier intelligence gathered by Konoha, it was known that Kouhi and Liufei worked together—one excelling in offense, the other in defense—and combined, they could rival Chiyo herself.
Liufei's Metallic Puppet boasted unparalleled defensive capabilities.
However, the seven puppets controlled by Kouhi, while impressive, were clearly incomparable to the Chikamatsu Collection and the Metallic Puppet.
Kouhi's offensive strength came not only from his ability to control seven puppets at once, but also from his skills as an exceptionally powerful ninja.
Therefore, combining these abilities, Kouhi could be considered the most formidable puppet master in Sunagakure since Chiyo. And if he hadn't died that day, he might've even outdone Chiyo in the future.
Whoosh!
Kouhi blocked Sakumo's technique. However, at this moment, a figure flashed beside him, radiating brilliant blue chakra as it slammed toward him.
[Rasengan]
...
...
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