"Don't worry, someone will save her," Kaoru said calmly.
As expected, just as the two puppets lunged towards Sāra, several figures suddenly appeared. Two of them unleashed blue spiraling balls that struck the puppets directly.
"As expected, Minato Namikaze and the others wouldn't die so easily…" Kaoru mused after clearly identifying them.
However, he also thought with a touch of dark humor, if he were to kill Minato Namikaze now, would Naruto simply disappear?
"So you've found the Dragon Vein after all…"
Minato Namikaze let out a wry smile, his eyes filled with a heavy expression as he looked at Kaoru. They had almost died at Kaoru's hands before.
"Alright, since you've all arrived, it's time for you to contribute…" Kaoru said calmly, looking at Minato Namikaze and his group. He took Wan'er's hand and ascended to a high platform, adopting a stance of observing from the sidelines.
" Judging by Mukade's previous attempt to kill Sāra, he must have already gained control of the Dragon Vein's energy. However, Sāra can disrupt the flow of that energy, making her his biggest threat. Mukade should be arriving soon…"
Kaoru said calmly from the high platform, looking at Minato Namikaze. "Therefore, dealing with Mukade will be up to you."
"Clap clap clap!" As soon as Kaoru finished speaking, just as Naruto was about to retort, a round of applause suddenly echoed from outside the hall. Then, Mukade appeared, clapping slowly as he walked in through the entrance.
Staring directly at Kaoru, Mukade sneered and said, "Where did you come from, fellow? You seem to know quite a lot about me…" With that, Mukade's gaze shifted directly to Sāra below, and he chuckled, "Your Majesty the Queen, what are you doing here?!"
"Anrokuzan…" Hearing Mukade's words, Sāra's face stiffened, and she couldn't help but murmur.
Glancing sideways at Mukade, Kaoru felt an inexplicable urge to laugh. Mukade, living in luxury, adorned in opulent clothing, with a massive belly that seemed to glisten with a greasy sheen, reminded Kaoru of the corrupt officials from his previous life in the Heavenly Dynasty.
"Today, all of you will die here!" Mukade shouted. Instantly, a large group of puppets surged into the hall, densely packed, numbering over a hundred.
Without wasting further time, Mukade looked directly at Minato Namikaze and the others, waved his hands, and instantly, a large number of puppets controlled by the Dragon Vein's chakra attacked Minato Namikaze and his group.
Minato Namikaze and the others quickly reacted. Minato threw his Flying Thunder God Kunai into the puppet swarm and instantly plunged into the group using the Flying Thunder God Jutsu.
Chōji Akimichi used his Multi-Size Jutsu to smash them one by one, while Shibi Aburame inserted his insects into the puppets, rendering them immobile.
Soon, except for a few puppets in the corners and those positioned last, most of the other puppets were already in pieces.
Scrambling to his feet from the ground, Mukade's expression was grim. Clearly, Minato's strength had exceeded his expectations.
Glancing at the damaged puppets and the numerous craters around him, Mukade glared fiercely at Minato and said coldly, "I didn't expect you to be so surprisingly powerful!"
With that, Mukade's expression turned arrogant, and he shouted, "But what good is your power? Under my puppet army, you will surely be defeated!"
Saying this, Mukade waved his hands repeatedly. The puppets on the ground began to integrate, not only that, but these puppets also combined with each other, forming even larger puppets.
In just a few seconds, the original hundred puppet soldiers had combined to form about twenty to thirty large puppets.
After completing this, Mukade wasted no words. With a wave of his hand, chakra threads controlled these puppets and sent them charging towards Minato and the others.
Minato became the primary target, and although they hadn't clashed yet, it was clear that as many as ten puppets were heading straight for him.
Although Mukade was somewhat foolish, he understood the key point. Sāra was going to sever the Dragon Vein, and he had to eliminate Minato and the others before rushing to kill Sāra.
"These puppets are truly troublesome…" Minato and the others felt the pressure as the large puppets charged. Kaoru, however, was already growing impatient.
"Future Fourth Hokage-sama, it seems you'll need quite some time to deal with these puppets. However, I really don't want to wait any longer!"
As soon as he spoke, Kaoru's figure instantly vanished from the high platform!
His speed was incredible. With a single movement, he left afterimages in his wake. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, he had already reached the center of the puppet swarm, in front of the largest puppet!
"Throat Cut Battle!!!" Kaoru murmured softly, directly severing the head of the central puppet. Then, his Mangekyō Sharingan spun wildly, and a powerful, eerie force erupted within his body!
"Now… all of you, die!"
"Shadow Assault!!!"
Kaoru unleashed his S-rank ultimate technique, Blade of Shadows. In the next moment, his entire body disappeared from everyone's sight. Simultaneously, a vast expanse of dazzling, blindingly bright throwing knives spread out from Kaoru's previous position.
"This… this is bad!!!" Seeing the tens of thousands of throwing knives erupting from Kaoru's center in all directions, covering almost the entire space of the hall, Minato Namikaze's pupils contracted sharply. He immediately grabbed Naruto and the others and used the Flying Thunder God Jutsu to disappear from the spot.
In an instant, the throwing knives swept through the forms of all the puppets. The sensation was like metal throwing knives cutting through tofu, encountering no resistance as they pierced straight through all the combined puppets. The throwing knives, as if controlled by an unseen force, floated in mid-air.
Seeing this, Mukade was instantly shocked and instinctively took a step back.
However, as soon as Mukade moved, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. In the next moment, a katana pierced directly through Mukade's body. At the same time, Kaoru's slightly mocking voice echoed from behind Mukade. "You and your puppets… are truly pathetic, not even a little bit…"
"How could this be…" Mukade was astonished by Kaoru's attack method and his sudden appearance. However, what happened next was even more horrifying. The floating throwing knives suddenly turned and flew directly towards him, or rather, towards Kaoru behind him!
"No!!!" Amidst Mukade's pained cries, the second stage of the Blade of Shadows ultimate technique unleashed its damage. Countless throwing knives pierced Mukade's body through and through, turning him into a sieve, before returning to Kaoru's hand.
"He actually took down all the puppets in an instant…" Naruto's voice, filled with shock, was heard at this moment.
In a corner of the hall, Minato Namikaze reappeared on the ground with Naruto and the others. Seeing all the puppets in front of them already cut into pieces by throwing knives, they were too shocked to speak.
"As expected… this person is truly too dangerous. Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu? No, even with Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu, it's impossible to control so many throwing knives…" Minato Namikaze's azure eyes gazed deeply at Kaoru ahead, feeling the immense gap between him and Kaoru once again.
"Too weak…" With a "thump," Kaoru kicked Mukade against a wall, shaking his head involuntarily.
"Brat, don't be so arrogant…" Mukade's body was now riddled with small holes from the throwing knives, making him look terrifying. However, even so, there was no trace of bleeding. The wounds on his body all had a soil-like color.
"This guy… has he modified himself into a puppet too…" Seeing this, a look of surprise appeared on Minato's face. He had never heard of such a drastic measure.
However, Kaoru remained nonchalant. Mukade wasn't the first to modify himself into a puppet. After all, there were many perverts in the Naruto world, and he was already accustomed to it.
"It's not over yet. Let me show you my power!" As the words fell, Mukade's body rapidly expanded. His clothes instantly burst, and in the blink of an eye, Mukade transformed into a giant monster.
"ROAR!!!"
After transforming into a monster, Mukade let out a non-human roar. Chakra lines shot out from his body, directly embedding themselves into the shattered fragments of the puppets.
Then, the puppet fragments began to fly into the air, rapidly converging towards Mukade's body. In just a few seconds, those fragments had adhered to Mukade's body.
At this moment, another thick stream of purple energy descended from the sky, striking Mukade directly. Under the influence of this Dragon Vein energy, the puppet fragments fused with Mukade's body, causing him to instantly expand several times in size.
"See this?!" Mukade looked down at Kaoru and the others from above, laughing heartily and shouting, "My power is endless! You will all become my defeated opponents!"
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