"Hmph. You kept us alive because we seemed harmless, planning to squeeze information out of us. I won't let that happen."
The Suna ninja finished speaking and suddenly stabbed himself with a kunai.
Anya's eyes flickered. With two quick slashes of her tanto, she severed his wrist. The kunai slipped from his now-useless grip and clattered to the ground.
The Sand ninja stared blankly at his own severed wrist, unable to believe it. This child in front of him, around the same age as himself, had moved fast enough to sever his arm before even the slightest pain registered—completely disabling him.
After a short pause, blood spurted from the wound. Before he could scream, Anya slammed her foot onto his mouth, silencing him instantly. His body writhed like an earthworm pinned to the ground.
"You may be clever," she said, her smile fading as she turned to the second ninja, "but some smarts come with a price. Since you already know what I want, just tell me now. If you don't feel like talking, you can experience all one hundred-plus interrogation methods Leaf ninjas use to force confessions."
"I'll talk, I'll talk..." The second Suna ninja finally cracked.
"Good." Anya pressed down hard on the one beneath her foot, then looked up. "How did you detect me?"
"Our leader is a Puppet Master. He set up many transparent puppet threads around us, and once someone approaches, he immediately knows their position."
"I see." Anya recalled—the Suna squad sent during the Chunin Exams in the anime had included a Puppet Master, a rather formidable one.
Satisfied with the answer, Anya didn't waste another word. Her tanto twisted slightly in her hand, and both Suna ninjas drew their final breath.
On the battlefield, showing mercy to enemies meant being cruel to yourself. Anya had no room for soft-heartedness.
Besides, those two genin likely didn't know anything else worth knowing. Just one useful clue was enough.
Puppet Masters—what a troublesome profession. This group originally numbered forty people. Preliminary analysis suggested they were divided into four teams of ten each, possibly each containing a Puppet Master. After all, their silent enemy detection made them excellent for surveillance.
In that case, only genjutsu would work.
Anya approached the Suna squad leader she had just killed. As expected, she found many transparent threads attached to him, tied tightly to various nearby trees, forming a massive web. Once a large creature entered, the system would alert the user immediately.
Anya looped each thread around her ten fingers and channeled chakra through them. The vibrations traveled up her fingertips, painting a clear image in her mind.
So that's how it works. Simple enough.
If a Suna Puppet Master witnessed this scene, he'd probably be left utterly dumbfounded. After all, among the Sand ninja, those gifted with puppetry techniques were extremely rare. But someone like Anya, who could grasp the skill without any instruction, was truly one of a kind.
Since that's the case, there's even more certainty now. A sinister smile flickered across Anya's lips. With a sudden "pop," she transformed into the recently slain Sand Village leader, manipulating the newly acquired chakra threads toward the next location.
After only a few steps, Anya froze mid-stride. Suddenly, several ninjas appeared beside her. One of them shouted, "Sekko no, why are you entering our territory? You didn't send any signal flares beforehand!"
Remaining unfazed, Anya calmly replied, "There was no time at all. My puppet thread just detected an unknown creature invasion heading straight in your direction, so I chased over here. Haven't you noticed anything?"
At these words, all the ninjas turned their gazes simultaneously toward the last person among them.
The individual immediately felt a killing intent locking onto him. Before he could even speak, a flash of white blade passed by, and his head rolled off.
Found you—the puppet master of this group. Daring to let me get close? Die.
Such a skilled puppet master — dead before he could even react.
"He isn't Sekko no! Who are you?" The Suna ninja shouted furiously while attacking Anya.
Anya sneered coldly. Talking on the battlefield? That's suicide.
Lifting her tanto, she unleashed [Shadow Dominion]—the culmination of six months' relentless training. From Anya outward, the surroundings plunged entirely into pitch darkness. The blackness spread rapidly, swallowing the entire forest in moments. Charging Suna ninjas became blind, with even their previously locked targets consumed by the darkness, not a glimmer of light remaining.
Darkness may feel overwhelming, but it brings terror—it's the true essence of shadow warfare.
Their squad leader shouted loudly, "Don't panic! This is only a genjutsu, and one this widespread cannot be maintained for long. Stay where you are and prepare defensive measures."
Smart move—exactly what I expected from you.
In the dark, Anya launched a sudden lunge attack.
The tanto pierced flesh with a squelching sound before striking rock.
"Been waiting for you." The Suna ninja had actually coated his body with stone armor. As Anya attacked, he immediately formed hand seals preparing to unleash a wide-scale ninjutsu.
"Can you really withstand this?"
A whisper suddenly echoed near his ear. At the same time, the blade buried in the stone armor crackled with lightning—[Thunderclap Edge]. Its electrified edge forced itself deeper inside, abruptly ending the ninja's thoughts.
Within less than five minutes total, another ten-man team from Suna met total annihilation. On the ground, there was barely any blood; nearly everyone died instantly from single strikes. Not even a few surrounding trees were damaged. This was the art of silent death—perfectly executed.
Anya found a tall tree, ate a Military Rations Pill, and began restoring her stamina. Actually, eliminating targets with the Tanto wasn't too bad, but the [Bringer-of-Darkness Technique] consumed an enormous amount of Chakra. Without it, however, she might not have been able to take them all out. After all, only someone wielding the [Flying Thunder God] technique—like Minato—could probably walk away unscathed from fighting twenty remaining ninjas, two of whom were Jonin.
After finishing her recovery, Anya manipulated the puppet's control lines and moved to the next position as planned. As expected, the same method still worked. However, this group was two short—only eight in total—and no Jonin were present.
The next group—the final one—will be the most challenging to handle. Two Jonin are together, plus there are ten additional ninjas remaining. This will be difficult to deal with. It looks like I'll have to use a divide and conquer approach.
I don't buy that those two Jonin are always stuck together every single moment.
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