Naruto: Hyuga Warlord

Before the Byakugan, no scheme or underhanded trick stands a chance!

Though this phrase may sound boastful, in battle—unless facing an opponent far superior—a member of the Hyuga Clan can ensure enemies regret ever standing against them.

As for these two red-haired puppeteers, their skills speak for themselves. Mastering both wired and wireless control over puppets is unquestionable proof of their talent. Moreover, their real bodies were hidden nearly one kilometer behind the front-line serpentine puppet.

Just from this puppet-control distance alone, it was clear their chakra control far surpassed that of ordinary Jonin.

But Hyuga Soushu showed no sign of hesitation.

Because his Byakugan and [Counter Storm] technique were exactly what puppets dreaded the most!

If he could just get close enough, no matter how skilled those puppeteers were, they'd end up smashed flat like petals scattered by a storm beneath his merciless torch pole strikes.

However, this pursuit had started rather hastily this time.

Since Mahiru Uchiha couldn't suppress her fighting impulse and charged ahead first, Hyuga Soushu didn't have time to leave markers through other means, which meant the cleanup squad at the back might fall out of coordination and get left behind.

"Signal flare!"

Hyuga Soushu gave Mahiru Uchiha a tap on the shoulder—she was just half a step ahead of him.

"Oh right!"

Mahiru Uchiha instantly snapped out of her battle excitement as her rational mind took over. She yanked out the flare launcher and shot a bright signal flare into the sky.

Glancing slightly backward, Hyuga Soushu confirmed the cleanup squad was already adjusting pace according to the signal flare's instructions before immediately accelerating past Mahiru Uchiha.

Distance-wise, there were roughly seven hundred meters between Hyuga Soushu and the two fleeing red-haired Sand ninjas—an absolute surveillance range of the Byakugan. Meanwhile, the cleanup squad was still about eight miles behind him.

At a Jonin's top sprint speed, covering that distance would take about three or four minutes.

In other words, if Hyuga Soushu could close the gap and engage the escaping red-haired Sand ninjas in battle, delaying them for just three or four minutes would allow the arriving backup forces to surround and finish off the enemy.

"Their true bodies should be hiding within the bandaged puppet gear behind them; the ones running are likely special humanoid puppets. Watch your attack priorities when we get there."

After quickly observing the situation, Hyuga Soushu made a rapid assessment.

Although during their escape, the movements and physical appearances of the two Sand ninja disguised as red-haired humans seemed very human (a typical trait of elite Sunagakure puppet masters), they hadn't used Body Flicker even after running for quite some time—that itself became their biggest flaw!

Even seasoned Rain ninjas—who were generally considered weaker—still used Body Flicker as their go-to escape move when things got dicey in battle!

Though due to the distance, he couldn't see their internal chakra flow, this clue alone was sufficient!

"Got it!"

Mahiru Uchiha shouted in agreement, sprinting right behind him while twisting to reach into the Ninja Tool Pouch on her back.

"Get ready!"

Hyuga Soushu silently checked his system interface, making sure all skills were fully charged. Then muttered another reminder to himself,

Mahiru Uchiha gave a nod and started preparing her throwing weapons under her boyfriend's cover.

[Watchtower Totem]

At Hyuga Soushu's command, an invisible [Watchtower Totem] was planted approximately three kilometers ahead of the red-haired Sand ninja sprinting at full speed. At the same time, he began accelerating.

Mahiru Uchiha's ninja tools were already primed. All they needed was a signal from Hyuga Soushu to strike together.

"Five-second countdown!"

Hyuga Soushu took a deep breath and centered his chakra.

"Alright!"

Instantly energized, Mahiru Uchiha shouted in response and launched another flare into the sky as a guiding signal.

The red-haired Sand ninja briefly glanced back while fleeing at a steady pace, but their running speed never changed—this only further confirmed Hyuga Soushu's suspicions.

As both Hyuga Soushu and Mahiru Uchiha picked up speed, the distance between them and their targets narrowed to around five hundred meters. Though the two red-haired Sand ninja hopped playfully across the snowy terrain, they still showed no sign of speeding up—as if perhaps they simply weren't designed with a speed-boost function!

[Body Flicker!]

Hyuga Soushu suddenly erupted with chakra from beneath his feet, closing the gap even faster.

Now, Hyuga Soushu trailed closely behind the two red-haired Sand ninjas, just about one hundred meters away—an ideal combat range for launching jutsu and throwing weapon attacks!

"You're asking for death!"

The male red-haired puppet Sand ninja twisted his hands unnaturally backward mid-run, firing a barrage of needles glowing faintly with blue light from his palms.

"It's definitely puppets!"

Hyuga Soushu burst into laughter!

Because of the relentless chase and closing distance, the [Watchtower Totem], originally placed three kilometers away, now sat less than one hundred meters from the two red-haired Sand puppets—only about one hundred seventy meters from Hyuga Soushu.

[Throwing Arts: Shuriken Barrage!]

Ducking low so Mahiru could have a clear shot, Hyuga Soushu let her unleash a storm of shuriken from behind him. Mixed among them was a trace of Fire Release chakra that collided with the needles filling the air. The Fire Release exploded, scattering all the incoming projectiles.

But that brief delay rapidly closed the distance between the two red-haired Sand puppets and Hyuga Soushu down to roughly one hundred meters!

This was exactly the moment Hyuga Soushu had been waiting for! As he once again unleashed his chakra to close in, he activated his skill:

[Jumping Slash!]

In the blink of an eye, Hyuga Soushu—who had been chasing tightly behind the red-haired pair—seemed to teleport and appeared directly in front of them!

Though startled, the two red-haired Sand puppets reacted quickly.

[Wind Blade!]

Roaring furiously, the male red-haired puppet Sand ninja released several invisible slashes of wind toward Hyuga Soushu!

At the same time, the female red-haired puppet abandoned any pretense and shot out two long blades directly at Hyuga Soushu from her palms!

[Counter Storm!]

[Power Strike!]

At the same time they launched their attack, Hyuga Soushu activated two skills!

The red-haired female Suna ninja's long blade was blocked by the powerful wind barrier, and the physical damage from the Wind Release technique was also directly nullified. However, the scattered Wind Release chakra slashed through Hyuga Soushu's upper jonin vest.

Under the skill enhancement of [Power Strike], Hyuga Soushu swung his lantern pillar, delivering a single blow that crushed the red-haired male Suna ninja's skull, sending various mechanical components flying in all directions!

[Counter Storm], Phase 2 Activated!

Then, a strange chakra wave spread out, dispelling the defensive effect of [Counter Storm]. The surging chakra wave will also stun both individuals for 1 second!

The crucial seconds should have sealed their fate for good!

Surprisingly, the two Suna ninjas did not stop. The female ninja opened her mouth and shot a large volley of needles toward Hyuga Soushu's face.

"Huh?!"

Hyuga Soushu was instantly startled.

Flash!

At this critical moment, Hyuga Soushu timely activated the summoner skill, instantly teleporting out of the attack range of the flying needles.

"What the hell is happening?!"

Hyuga Soushu, who had flashed to a position nearly fifty meters away from the two Suna ninja, was already breaking out in a cold sweat. This was the first time his combo move had failed.

But upon a closer look, he was even more astonished.

In the Byakugan's chakra vision, not only did the bandage-like puppet apparatus carried on their backs display chakra flow lines resembling those of a human body, but even the interior of the bodies judged as puppets by Hyuga Soushu also exhibited the chakra flow of a ninja.

Moreover, judging from the chakra phenomenon inside its puppet shell, it seems that two people are curled up within the puppet's abdomen, controlling it!

What's going on here?

Hyuga Soushu had a bit of a headache.

[Katon: Tessenka no Jutsu!]

Meanwhile, Mahiru Uchiha's ninjutsu attack followed closely behind, as more than ten shuriken, each enveloped in fire-style chakra fireballs, hurtled towards the two Suna ninja from various sharp angles!

[Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!]

The red-haired female Suna ninja immediately turned around, quickly forming hand seals before exhaling a powerful gust of wind from her mouth, attempting to disrupt the barrage of shuriken and fireballs that were hurtled towards her.

Although Hyuga Soushu perceived these mystical enemies as unaffected by [Counter Storm], in reality, the stun effect of his skill had already taken effect.

It's just that the control of the puppet has a certain inertia, so even if the puppeteer is in a paralyzed state, they can still complete the attack steps preset by the control program, making it seem as if the paralysis had no effect at all.

In Hyuga Soushu's Byakugan vision, judging from the chakra flow through her—or rather its body—the one performing this C-ranked Wind Release technique was indeed the person hidden inside the puppet's abdomen!

So, how many people is he facing now!

Hyuga Soushu was also a bit confused.

But just as the red-haired female Sand ninja turned to confront Uchiha Mahiru, the headless Suna ninja, despite still having chakra sparks flickering around its neck area, fearlessly rushed towards Hyuga Soushu.

Still, this headless Suna ninja's chakra flow was unlike the Female Red-haired Sand ninja's. Under Mahiru Uchiha's Byakugan vision, the curled-up human figure inside the puppet's abdomen showed no signs of chakra flow during operation. Instead, the chakra was being sent and controlled via the bandages wrapped around its back-mounted puppet gear.

The problem was that after launching the first round of attacks, Hyuga Soushu had already exhausted all three of his Ninja Arts. Even [Jumping Slash] still required ten seconds to cool down. The only summoner skill available was [Smite], which couldn't kill enemies directly.

So, he could do nothing but engage in close combat!

"Three minutes!"

While swinging the torch pole to fight, Hyuga Soushu shouted loudly.

"Got it!"

Mahiru immediately understood his meaning. She quickly pulled out a large handful of shuriken without even looking and hurled them toward the Female Red-haired Sand ninja who was counterattacking her!

At the same time, Mahiru launched another signal flare into the sky, marking her current position.

Their current goal wasn't to kill enemies but to delay as much as possible—to buy time for the reinforcements closing in to join the fight!

Thankfully, Mahiru's Fire Release Ninjutsu gave her something to work with while keeping distance, but Soushu, relying solely on close combat abilities, had no choice but to go all-out.

Furthermore, to avoid unexpected mechanisms or poisoned traps during melee combat, Soushu couldn't use his Gentle Fist style directly. He had to rely on wide, forceful swings of his heavy torch pole.

[Six Arms!]

Soushu swung the torch pole, sending the puppet's arms screeching. As he struck and forced the puppet backward, sudden clicking noises came from his ribs and back, where mechanized appendages extended outward again from the puppet's chassis. At the same time, an opening appeared on the puppet's chest.

[Puppet Gatling Cannon!]

A burst of flames mixed with black smoke shot from the chest cavity of the puppet. At the same time, the four newly emerged mechanical arms simultaneously fired volleys of needles in all directions. In an instant, Soushu's space for dodging—left, right, and above—was completely sealed off.

[Shifting Body Technique!]

Hyuga Soushu flung his torch pole aside and executed the Shifting Body Technique to rocket backward, trying to escape the puppet's attack range.

Never mind whether [Counter Storm], which still had a cooldown remaining, could withstand the puppet's assault—the black smoke mixed within the flames clearly indicated poison. He certainly had no intention of getting even slightly contaminated by it!

Although the headless puppet missed its attack, it charged forward once again immediately!

[Jumping Slash!]

Hyuga Soushu triggered his Q ability directly, jumping far faster than his Body Flicker technique to land exactly where he had discarded the torch pole—in front of the puppet's right side.

As the puppet launched another attack, a new burst of chakra fluctuations erupted from the bandage-wrapped equipment on its back. This allowed Soushu to make a quick decision!

Right after landing beside the puppet, Soushu didn't even have time to pick up the torch pole lying on the ground before activating the only summoner skill currently available.

[Smite!]

A bolt of yellow lightning crashed violently onto the bandage-wrapped equipment on the puppet's back!

If Smite hit someone, that means they're a living thing with chakra!

A wave of relief washed over Hyuga Soushu as he successfully completed the technique. He knew he was right! The puppeteer must be hiding inside that bandage-covered apparatus!

Though Smite might not hurt much, it should've been enough to make the puppeteer lose control for a moment and panic.

So Soushu jerked his foot upward, snatching the torch pole weapon off the ground, ready to land a heavy strike so he'd think twice about scheming in his next life—no more underhanded tricks!

"Bang!"

Unexpectedly, a muffled explosion suddenly came from within the puppet device. In an instant, the bandaged figure vanished entirely from Soushu's Byakugan vision.

"What—?"

Hyuga Soushu was startled once again!

But that was just the beginning—

The Mū Puppet extended four arms from behind its back. From each mechanical palm emerged a scroll!

[Gray Secret Technique: Four Machine Linkage!]

As smoke burst forth from the scrolls, four brand-new mechanized puppets appeared before Hyuga Soushu!

This time, the chakra source controlling the puppets originated from the abdominal area of the Mū Puppet.

"It must be Shadow Clone Jutsu."

Figuring out the enemy's trick again, Soushu felt like he was getting used to the madness.

Honestly, these puppeteers sure have a knack for thinking up twisted plans—one after another!

Earlier, they used string-controlled puppets to manipulate remote-controlled ones against the watchpost guards; now hiding shadow clones inside the puppet suits to control them without ever engaging directly in battle! Who in their right mind can handle so many underhanded tactics one after another?

Hyuga Soushu immediately activated Body Flicker to break contact, rejoining Uchiha Mahiru, who was locked in a jutsu exchange with the red-haired female Sand ninja.

"Let's go!"

A voice suddenly emerged from the abdomen of the Mū Puppet, simultaneously sending the four newly-summoned puppets flying toward Soushu and Mahiru.

The red-haired female Sand ninja leapt backward instantly, regrouping with the Mū Puppet as they prepared to flee again.

It was at that very moment that the cleanup squad arrived panting and exhausted. Under Yechame Hamako's command, they appeared nearly half a kilometer behind Hyuga Soushu!

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