Senba Suzume supported himself with his long blade, his back against the rough tree trunk, the poison blurring his vision.
Kuroai and Sakikawa lay prostrate before him, gasping for breath, blood spreading from their ankles.
Sakikawa pushed himself up with his hands, his eyes filled with despair and unwillingness.
A dense swarm of Puppets surrounded the three of them, leaving no room to escape.
A Sunagakure Ninja emerged from among the Puppets.
He looked at Senba Suzume and the other two, as if seeing prey that had fallen into a trap, his eyes cold and cruel.
Kuroai looked at the Sunagakure Ninja approaching, a flicker of hatred in his eyes.
"Akasuna, the Puppet Ninja!"
"The Hidden Sand Village actually sent you to ambush us!"
Puppet Ninja were the Hidden Sand Village's secret weapon.
This time, to prevent the Amegakure and Konoha from signing a contract, the Hidden Sand Village had even dispatched a Puppet Ninja.
"It's over."
Akasuna looked coldly at the three Ninja before him.
Senba Suzume tightened his grip on the hilt, his knuckles turning white.
Sakikawa closed his eyes.
Despair engulfed them.
On a branch extending from the tree trunk above Senba Suzume's head, a crow covered in black feathers let out two soft caws.
Akasuna looked up, and poison needles shot out from his hand.
The crow flapped its wings and flew high.
The poison needles missed their target.
Akasuna narrowed his eyes.
Black feathers slowly drifted down from the sky.
A figure, faster than the circling crow, silently pierced through the black crow feathers, swooping down at a speed beyond the capture of the naked eye.
The figure was small but contained explosive power.
Akasuna had expected it; how could an ordinary crow evade his poison needles?
A Puppeteer never confronts people head-on.
Akasuna instantly retreated, and a Puppet blocked Shiratori Rin's path.
Shiratori Rin's figure approached like a ghost, his long blade slicing across the Puppet's body.
Crack—
A crisp cracking sound.
The Puppet was instantly cut in half, becoming a pile of scrap metal.
Akasuna frowned; how could his Puppet be dealt with in one strike?
He leaped onto a tree branch, his fingers moving slightly, and countless Puppets instantly surged towards the small figure.
Shiratori Rin's figure left a blurry afterimage in the air.
His body weaved through countless Puppets.
The sharp Ninja blade, with a piercing sound of cutting through air, critically struck the weakness of every Puppet.
Fast!
Accurate!
Ruthless!
There was not a single wasted movement, swordsmanship purely born for destruction!
Even though these Puppets had been modified by the Puppeteer to have no weaknesses, under his blade, they were easily sliced open like watermelons.
"That's Rin!"
"He... how is he here!"
Kuroai's voice trembled.
More terrifying than death was the realization that the person who came to save them was Shiratori Rin!
If Shiratori Rin encountered a life-threatening danger to save them, he would rather die!
"Ding!"
"The System detected Kuroai's Pain Value + 5000."
"Your Cursed Spirit Kenjaku's Rank has risen to 30%."
"He must have snuck out!"
Sakikawa immediately asserted.
Lord Hanzo would never allow Shiratori Rin to leave the Village alone!
Sakikawa looked at the figure weaving through the Puppets, his breathing quickening.
Shiratori Rin cannot be in trouble!
He absolutely must not be in danger!
He is the hope of the Amegakure!
His value far exceeds the three of them!
"Ding!"
"The System detected Sakikawa's Fear Value + 5000."
"Your Cursed Spirit Hanami's Rank has risen to 20%."
"Rin!"
Senba Suzume's vision had been encroached by darkness.
He heard Kuroai and Sakikawa's words, his eyes stained crimson.
How could Rin be here?
How could he sneak out!
Is he not afraid of death!
"Ding!"
"The System detected Senba Suzume's Anger Value + 5000."
"Your Cursed Spirit Jogo's Rank has risen to 25%."
"I came to save them, shouldn't they feel gratitude and affection towards me? What's with Fear Value and Anger Value?"
Shiratori Rin thought to himself.
He could slightly understand Pain Value.
Shiratori Rin's splitting movements did not stop.
Akasuna's Puppets indeed had no weaknesses, after all, those things weren't human.
But coincidentally, Kento Nanami's technique, Warawara, could forcibly create an invisible weak point division on a person or object, with a fixed ratio of 7:3.
This 7:3 division point was the absolute weakness set by the technique.
As long as this marked 7:3 division point was hit, it could ignore the target's inherent defensive strength, toughness, or special abilities, and would definitely cause critical damage.
Shiratori Rin didn't care if these Puppets had weaknesses; he directly forcibly set a weakness.
A technique built on rules is just that unreasonable!
Clang—
A teeth-grating clang of metal exploded.
Sparks flew.
Shiratori Rin only felt a huge force coming from the long blade, numbing his arm and sending him staggering back several steps before he barely managed to stabilize himself.
A massive Puppet appeared before Shiratori Rin, surrounded by many ordinary humanoid Puppets.
"Ding!"
"The System detected Akasuna's Killing Intent Value + 5000."
"Your Cursed Spirit Ryomen Sukuna's Rank has risen to 51.6%."
Shiratori Rin glanced at Akasuna in the distance on the tree; it seemed Akasuna had discovered the problem and chose to keep his distance.
Akasuna on the tree sharply tugged on his Chakra threads, and the massive Puppet immediately floated in the air, opening its chest armor to reveal a gaping cannon muzzle.
Blinding purplish-black Chakra light instantly converged.
Whoosh—
Three bowl-sized beams of light tore through the air, forming a triangular pattern that sealed off all of Shiratori Rin's evasion space.
Shiratori Rin sheathed his blade, without the slightest panic.
A large amount of silvery-gray liquid metal, like boiling water, gushed out from his shadow beneath his feet.
—Mercury.
The mercury moved with his Curse Power, easily controlled by him.
The mercury was like a living creature, allowing his Curse Power to mold it into any shape.
A huge, continuously flowing mercury shield formed in front of Shiratori Rin.
Boom—
The three beams of light fiercely struck the mercury shield.
The terrifying impact caused the shield surface to severely dent, and ripples surged wildly.
The mercury was scattered and splashed by the huge energy impact.
Although the shield was riddled with holes and on the verge of collapse, it did not completely break due to its unique properties.
Shiratori Rin spread the five fingers of his left hand, aiming at the Puppet in the air.
Bone-chilling extreme cold Curse Power surged out.
The cold air spread forward at an astonishing speed, directly approaching the massive Puppet floating in the air.
Crack—
The Puppet's hands were quickly frozen, and the cold air spread throughout its body.
No matter how Akasuna swung his Chakra threads, the Puppet, frozen solid, remained motionless.
Akasuna frowned tightly, the Chakra threads connecting to the massive Puppet broke from his fingertips, immediately connecting to a new Puppet.
Could he not even deal with a mere child?
Akasuna sneered, today he would nip the Amegakure's Genius in the bud.
"Ding!"
"The System detected Akasuna's Killing Intent Value + 5000."
"Your Cursed Spirit Ryomen Sukuna's Rank has risen to 52.1%."
Chakra threads danced.
Three humanoid Puppets leaped out from behind the frozen massive Puppet.
One Puppet extended rotating chainsaw blades from its arms, creating a piercing sound as it swooped low to the ground, targeting Shiratori Rin's lower body.
Another Puppet opened its mouth mechanism, spraying a large amount of poisoned senbon rain; the dense poison needles sealed off all of Shiratori Rin's escape routes.
The third Puppet extended several iron whips with barbs from its back, winding around the front like venomous snakes, striking towards Shiratori Rin's sides and back.