In Naruto with the Flame-Flame Fruit

"You're dead, brat!"

With a furious roar, the puppet master launched his puppet forward. Hidden mechanisms sprang open, unleashing a barrage of steel needles, fine as hairs and laced with poison. The volley flew like a rainstorm of plum blossoms, riddling Kiyosuke's body with countless holes.

But the attack was useless against someone like him, whose body had become elemental. With a swing of his arm, a massive fist of flame lashed out, engulfing both the puppet and its master in an instant.

The other puppet master, seeing this, tried to flee—but Shinku and another jōnin had already lost their patience. One targeted the puppet, while the other used the Body Flicker Technique to appear right behind him.

Shinku clapped a hand on the man's shoulder.

"Yo! Having fun, are we?"

The puppet master: (⊙x⊙;)

Oh no... I'm done for!

He tried to fight back, but his vision went black. Genjutsu had already taken hold. The next step was interrogation.

Kiyosuke sealed the wounds on his body with flames, then bent down to examine the remains of the puppet, curious to see what secrets it might hold.

Shinku walked over and asked, "Interested in these things?"

"Yeah, kind of. I'm just curious how they work," Kiyosuke replied.

"Puppet techniques from Sunagakure are closely guarded secrets. It's not just about chakra threads—everything from construction to control is hidden knowledge. Konoha once gathered intel from captured puppet users. Turns out, it's not just about talent; you need years of dedicated training. The only clan in the village that can replicate their techniques is the Uchiha. They can copy a puppet master's movements with their Sharingan—but they've always looked down on puppetry. They prefer their traditional Fire Release techniques. So the village gave up on it."

The Uchiha clan's Sharingan could easily mimic an opponent's actions, and that included puppet techniques. But their pride made them dismiss puppetry as weak compared to their fire jutsu. As a result, no one bothered learning it, and the village never invested in developing puppet masters. Other villages followed suit, and over time, puppetry faded away.

Only Sunagakure preserved the art of the puppet master.

And you couldn't afford to underestimate even one of them.

"I see... puppeteers really are a pain to deal with."

Under the hands of a skilled user, puppets could ignore terrain, move at incredible speed, feel no pain, and launch traps and poison attacks from hidden compartments. All it took was one mistake, and you were dead. Fighting them was never easy.

"We'll need to send the wounded back to camp for treatment."

Just then, voices came from the other side. The poisoned ninja couldn't detox on their own—it would take medical-nin to help.

A few jōnin hoisted the injured onto their backs. The lead jōnin began sealing up the corpses of the enemy puppet squad.

After receiving intel about Sunagakure, Shinku's expression darkened.

"We need to get to Konoha's main camp as fast as possible. Sunagakure has assembled a force for a surprise attack. Their commander is Elder Ebizō."

Ebizō—the younger brother of Chiyo, the puppet master grandmaster. While he might not have matched his sister in skill, he was still a formidable opponent. Only someone like Orochimaru could realistically stand against him.

"Stay sharp. We move out for the camp immediately."

Everyone stood up at once. They had to reach the main camp before it was too late and deliver this intel to Orochimaru.

Shinku turned to Kiyosuke and said, "Kiyosuke, you send the message to Lord Orochimaru."

"Understood."

"Summoning Technique!"

A snake slithered into view. Shinku handed over the sealed intel scroll. Kiyosuke fed it to the snake, which vanished the moment it swallowed it.

...

Konoha Main Camp

Orochimaru was deep in thought, pondering Sunagakure's next move, when a snake suddenly appeared at his feet. He extended a hand, and the snake coughed up the scroll. He opened it and read the report about the incoming ambush.

A cold smile curled on his lips.

"Ebizō, is it? You think too highly of me."

He rose and immediately began making preparations.

...

It was deep into the night. The camp lay quiet under the blanket of darkness. Shadows crept silently through the grounds. The perimeter wards hadn't triggered at all.

One by one, the assassins slipped into tents. Splashes of blood painted the canvas red.

The killings were unexpectedly easy.

Then, a frail, aged figure suddenly appeared in the camp's center. He wore a black robe slung with a pouch, and a head wrap of white bandages. Long white brows drooped over his eyes, and his wrinkled face was utterly unreadable. He spoke softly:

"Something's wrong. It was too easy. Retreat!"

His fingers twitched under his sleeve.

At once, the shadows withdrew from the tents and regrouped at his side.

That was when a massive serpent burst from the ground, lunging straight for him.

A puppet sprang forward and sliced the snake in two. That seemed to be the signal. Behind the old man, a group of Sunagakure puppet masters emerged, each flanked by their puppets.

"Ebizō-sama, I think we've walked right into a trap," one puppet master said gravely.

"Indeed. It seems our intel was leaked. Fall back."

A husky, magnetic voice rang out from the darkness.

"Leaving so soon after dropping in uninvited? That's not how Konoha treats its guests. Since you're here... why not stay?"

The lights of the command tent flared to life. Orochimaru stepped out, his golden serpent eyes filled with cold indifference.

Ebizō's long white brows twitched slightly.

"Well, well. Sarutobi Hiruzen's disciple. So it's you, Orochimaru. Seems you were tipped off. Still... even if we lost a few men to your trap, I'd say the mission was worth it."

Orochimaru laughed softly.

"Those weren't Konoha ninja you killed—they were Sunagakure prisoners. We just dressed them in our uniforms."

The assassinated "Konoha ninja" had actually been enemy captives. After extracting all possible intel from them, their only remaining use was as decoys. They'd been destined for lab study back in the village anyway—this worked just as well.

Ebizō showed no emotion.

"In that case, the operation has failed. Retreat."

"Come now. You think you can leave just like that?" Orochimaru's hands formed seals.

"Summoning Technique!"

A giant serpent dozens of meters long burst from the ground and lunged at Ebizō with its fangs bared.

Ebizō, for all his age, moved with startling agility. He and the puppet masters leapt into the air, sending their puppets to attack Orochimaru mid-flight.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

A torrent of flames spewed from Orochimaru's mouth. It scattered the poisoned needles, kunai, and shuriken heading his way, then surged toward the airborne enemies.

The puppets, though durable, were still made of wood. And wood burns.

Even if Ebizō had countermeasures prepared, most of his subordinates lacked his experience. When their puppets caught fire, panic set in.

They fell to the ground, trying to extinguish the flames.

That was when Orochimaru exhaled a gust of wind to fan the flames.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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