This was a lake, home to a river god worshipped by nearby villagers, so torii gates stood upon the water.
Above them, a hooded figure blocked the path of a group of Sunagakure.
The puppet birds flying in the sky discovered the enemy on the torii gate.
At the same time, the Sunagakure running through the forest stopped.
"An enemy has appeared," the Shinobi controlling the bird puppets said in a deep voice, "There's only one person, be careful of a trap or ambush."
"Can we go around him?"
The leading Sunagakure Shinobi asked.
"He's watching us."
A troublesome sensory type, then.
"Who's going to take him out?" the team leader asked.
"Is it that Insect User?" asked the girl with the giant fan, Rin, she still wanted to get some revenge.
"Probably not," the scouting Sunagakure Shinobi said, "The Chakra feels different."
"Then I'm not interested," the girl said, looking at the Iron Sand Boy, "Brother Black Sand, are you going to make a move?"
"Me?" the boy smiled gently, "I'll follow the seniors' decision."
"Then I'll do it," a Puppet Master said, pulling out a scroll.
"Count me in, let's finish him quickly," another Sunagakure Shinobi said in a deep voice.
He pulled out the puppet he carried with him.
"Then, let's go," the leader commanded.
Twelve Sunagakure instantly shunshined.
The two Puppet Masters who broke off from the group rushed towards Hitomi, while the others circled around from the side.
The two Puppet Masters approached within a certain range, the lakeside jungle within five hundred meters of Hitomi, and stopped simultaneously to unseal their puppets.
This distance was their maximum operating range.
Immediately, four strangely shaped puppets flew low over the river and charged towards Hitomi.
Seeing this, Hitomi stepped off the torii gate and dropped onto the river, then drew his longsword, pointing the tip at the approaching puppets.
The two hidden Puppet Masters both sneered, their puppets flying rapidly and making a series of dense clattering sounds.
The next moment, a blue light bloomed at the tip of Hitomi's sword.
Secret Sword: Blue Tip
A point of blue cold light extended rapidly from the sword tip, then instantly passed through from beneath the four puppets.
Where are you hitting?
Seeing this, the Puppet Master's mind only had time to flash with this question when he felt a pain in his chest, looked down, and found a blue blade had already pierced through his heart.
So fast.
The other Puppet Master beside him was terrified, cold sweat instantly covered his entire body, and just as he was about to jump up, the blue sword light swept across quickly.
His neck was instantly severed by the blade.
The headless corpse fell to the ground, and the four puppets on the lake surface fell, floating on the water.
As Hitomi swung his sword to flick off the blood, the blue Chakra blade dispersed into a sky full of flying stardust.
"They're dead!!"
The sensory Sunagakure said with a strained voice.
Hearing this, the other Sunagakure stopped.
"That fast!?" the girl blurted out.
"Yes," the sensory Shinobi responded.
The other Sunagakure exchanged grim glances.
Finally, the leader said, "Let's go, let's take him out first."
"Ha!"
Everyone immediately turned and headed towards the lake.
A dozen figures emerged from the forest, flying over the calm lake, looking at the sword-wielding figure standing beneath the torii gate.
Hitomi made a sword flourish, charged forward, passed through the group of puppets, and stood on the lake surface.
Behind him, the puppets, like kites with severed strings, fell out of control into the lake.
A group of Puppet Masters in the woods widened their eyes.
They looked at each other in panic.
What a joke!
These were Chakra threads, not to mention seeing them, they weren't something so easily cut.
Leaving aside seeing the existence of Chakra threads, simply cutting them was impossible with just a sharp weapon.
The hardness of Chakra threads was linked to their density.
Ordinary steel blades couldn't easily cut them.
The Puppet Master extended his hands, and Chakra threads silently extended, connecting to the puppets on the lake.
The puppets on the lake trembled slightly, Hitomi didn't look back, after he swung his sword, the puppets behind him all stopped moving.
This…
The group of Puppet Masters glared at Hitomi with burning eyes, hating him to the core.
Now we're screwed!
"Seniors, let us handle it," the boy said softly, breaking the seniors' awkwardness.
"It's up to you, Black Sand!"
The leader quickly said.
The boy nodded in agreement.
His figure emerged from the edge of the forest, and as he advanced, an endless stream of black Iron Sand emerged from underground, flying and gathering around him.
The giant fan girl followed behind him.
Hitomi looked at these two Shinobi, and couldn't help but tilt his head.
The Wind Release girl and Magnet Release boy from the intel.
Without these two, Hitomi would already be wildly slashing at these Puppet Masters.
But it wouldn't make much difference, Hitomi didn't think he would lose to this Iron Sand Boy.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be worthy of his hard training over the years.
Magnet Release, huh…
Hitomi raised his hand and pointed his sword at the boy.
The ignored giant fan girl pouted unhappily, and in a few leaps, she moved in front of the boy, unfastened her giant fan, and fully opened it.
She swung it out.
Wind Release: Sickle Weasel
Dense gusts of wind blew, and chaotic wind blades hidden within the wind quickly slashed out.
In the midst of the storm, Hitomi didn't dodge or evade, charging straight across the lake.
The wind blades had no effect on him.
The girl couldn't help but widen her eyes in surprise, she had thought the opponent would choose to submerge underwater to avoid it, but she didn't expect such a development.
Just as she was about to dodge, the opponent had already charged halfway through the storm, and a blue starlight flashed like lightning, thrusting before her eyes.
So fast!
The girl held up the ribs of her giant fan in front of her, and the next second, the sword light struck the fan ribs, instantly sending both her and the fan flying backward.
The nearby Puppet Masters all released Chakra threads at the sight.
They took the opportunity to connect to their puppets.
But the next second, Hitomi spun his body, the blue sword light twirled and danced up and down, cleanly severing the Chakra threads.
The puppets that had just been able to move suddenly lost their support again, falling and floating on the lake.
"Damn it!" A group of Puppet Masters couldn't help but curse under their breath.
This guy, he's doing it on purpose, right? Does he have eyes all over his body?
How could he notice all that!?
The spinning blade, following Hitomi's advance, closed in on the Iron Sand Boy.
Then it whizzed down, striking the surging Iron Sand that formed a shield of resistance.
Sparks fiercely erupted and danced on the Iron Sand.
Hitomi spun rapidly, the blade, like a fan blade, continuously and frantically chopped down.
The Iron Sand shield was covered in ugly sword marks.
Behind the shield, the boy said with a calm expression, "It's useless, you can't break through my Absolute Defense."
Hearing this, Hitomi raised an eyebrow.
Coincidentally, I also have an Absolute Defense.
Absolute Defense VS Absolute Defense
What a curious battle.
The Iron Sand Boy extended his hand and clenched it at Hitomi, and immediately, dozens of Iron Sand spikes shot out insidiously from under the water.
He thought Hitomi hadn't seen them.
But Hitomi actually saw them very clearly.
The moment before the Iron Sand spikes broke through the water surface, Hitomi suddenly stomped on the water, and as a water pillar erupted, his figure instantly disappeared.
Black Sand's pupils suddenly constricted.
Too fast!
He couldn't even see where the person was!
He could only see the water pillars that erupted belatedly on the water surface due to the movement.
Danger!
His scalp instantly tingled, and the surrounding Iron Sand surged and clumped together under his will, enveloping him.
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