Chapter 117 Kakuzu: Bah! Pauper!
On the Sand-Rock battlefield.
Unlike the battle with the Hidden Cloud Village, the battle with Hidden Stone Village appeared much more difficult.
Although Hidden Stone Village didn't have many top-tier powerhouses, they excelled in defense and legion warfare.
Faced with the exploding tags attacks from Hidden Sand Village, Hidden Stone Village seemed to handle it with ease.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Rampart!"
The Ninjutsu, performed by nearly a thousand Hidden Stone Village Ninja simultaneously, steadily blocked the exploding tags' explosions outside, without causing a single bit of damage to the Hidden Stone Village side.
But it was also extremely difficult for the Hidden Stone Village side to launch an attack.
"Lord Kitsuchi, are we not going to counterattack? Are we just going to keep taking hits?"
An Hidden Stone Village Ninja captain, seeing his side hiding under the earth walls, asked Kitsuchi in frustration.
"Counterattack? Why counterattack? We only used one Ninjutsu to consume so many of Hidden Sand Village's exploding tags supplies. Why bother counterattacking?"
"Uh... this... well..."
Hearing what Kitsuchi said, the Hidden Stone Village Ninja captain felt the logic was sound, but he still felt frustrated and didn't know how to express it for a moment.
"Alright! I know what you mean. Restrain your emotions; this is a battlefield!"
"Yes! Lord Kitsuchi!"
---
The Hidden Sand Village side.
"Lord Kakuzu! The enemy's turtle shell is too hard; our exploding tags aren't even as fast as their repairs! This isn't a solution. Even if exploding tags are worthless to us, we can't just keep wasting them like this!"
A Hidden Sand Village Ninja was reporting all this to Kakuzu.
"Then draw them out and fight! If thousands of people can defend against an exploding tags attack, I don't believe a single person can defend against dozens or hundreds of exploding tags once they're separated!
Tell the Taijutsu Ninja to stop, protect the Puppet Masters, and have everyone else disperse and prepare for battle."
"Yes!"
---
"I didn't expect the famous Bounty Hunter Ninja, Kakuzu, would actually join Hidden Sand Village."
"What benefits did Hidden Sand Village give you to make you work so hard against Hidden Stone Village!"
"If you leave now, whatever Hidden Sand Village can give you... Hidden Stone Village can give you the same!"
"Double!!!"
At this moment, Kitsuchi was locked in a fierce battle with Kakuzu.
Facing Kakuzu, a Ninja famous in the Black Market, Kitsuchi didn't dare to be the least bit careless.
At the same time, he kept trying to interfere with the other party verbally.
After all... how could a Black Market Ninja have any sense of Village honor?
Kitsuchi believed that with the conditions he offered, he could definitely send Kakuzu away. Once a top-tier powerhouse was missing from the battlefield, it would be much easier for Hidden Stone Village to take down Hidden Sand Village.
Then, before Kumogakure arrived, they would reinforce the New City and completely claim it as their own.
As expected, after hearing Kitsuchi's words, Kakuzu's attack rhythm began to slow down.
[It's working!]
"Mr. Kakuzu, our Hidden Stone Village has always been willing to employ Black Market Ninjas, and as a legendary Ninja in the Black Market, you must know about Hidden Stone Village's credit."
"As long as Mr. Kakuzu is willing to stop now and leave this place, whatever treatment Hidden Sand Village gave you, we in Hidden Stone Village will give you double!"
After hearing the temptation Kitsuchi offered again, Kakuzu's small green eyes widened a bit, and they immediately turned into the shape of money.
He said to Kitsuchi.
"Really?"
"Of course it's true, Mr. Kakuzu. Hidden Stone Village's reputation in the Black Market has always been clear to all."
"Then Hidden Sand Village gave me a solid gold bed. Are you willing to give me two?"
Kitsuchi: "???"
"Haha... of course, no problem. It's just two solid gold beds; Hidden Stone Village still has that much wealth! So, is Mr. Kakuzu willing to withdraw?"
"What's the rush? I haven't finished yet!"
Kitsuchi: "???"
"Haha, then whatever else Hidden Sand Village gave Mr. Kakuzu, you can say it all at once."
"Besides a solid gold bed, there's also a solid gold desk and office chair, a solid gold dining table, gold bowls... oh, right, and a Golden Retriever!"
"Given that Hidden Stone Village's sincerity is so great, I can give you a discount. I don't need two Golden Retrievers; I'm already struggling to raise one. That Golden Retriever eats more than I do every day; I don't want two more."
"But except for the Golden Retriever, everything else must be doubled! After all, I've already given you a discount!"
Kitsuchi: "!!!"
"Oh~ right! There's also my salary!"
"As the Minister of Commerce for Hidden Sand Village, my annual commission is a full one hundred million!!!"
"If I leave the battlefield now, then your Hidden Stone Village must give me an unemployment subsidy!"
"With my current physical condition, I should be able to work until your father dies, so..."
"You must give me at least three billion!!!"
"Plus all that gold... Hidden Stone Village has to give me mmmm..."
When it came to how much money should be given, even Kakuzu, who was always sensitive to money, couldn't calculate it for a moment. Finally, he looked at Kitsuchi, whose face was pitch black, and said.
"Can you make your old man step down now?"
"How about you go back and discuss it with your old man?"
Kitsuchi: "!!!"
"No need to discuss!"
"? What? You can make the call on such a big deal?"
Kitsuchi: "..."
[Heh... Now I want to kill you! And then inherit your legacy!]
At the thought of this, Kitsuchi's eyes began to glow!
He had thought he could only make a profit after reaching the New City, but he didn't expect to make one now.
As long as he could take down the person in front of him... and make Hidden Sand Village trade a gold bed for him... that's reasonable, right!
"Haha, of course I can't make the call on such a big deal! So please, Mr. Kakuzu, come back to Hidden Stone Village with me. Our Hidden Stone Village will definitely treat Lord Kakuzu well!"
As he spoke, he quickly formed hand seals and performed a Ninjutsu, wanting to capture Kakuzu alive.
And this Ninjutsu was naturally easily dodged by Kakuzu.
"Bah! Kidnapping is kidnapping! Calling it a guest!"
"You're despicable!!!"
"A pauper is a pauper; you clearly just have your eyes on my net worth!"
"Bah!"
A glob of Kakuzu's phlegm was spat directly near Kitsuchi's feet.
Kitsuchi: "Argh!!!"
[Earth Release: Earth Flow Wave!]
As Kitsuchi finished his hand seals, a stream of earth emerged from the ground, lifting Kitsuchi up and then rapidly surging towards Kakuzu.
[Earth Release: Rock Fist!]
A pair of fists made of rock struck out towards Kakuzu.
"Hmph! Lightning Release: Gian!"
A mask lunged out from Kakuzu's body, and then a blast of Lightning Release shattered the attack Kitsuchi had launched.
"Little brat! You're still a bit too green to take me down."
"When I fought the First Hokage, your father wasn't even born yet!"
Kitsuchi: "???"
---
Setting aside the battle between the two commanders, Kitsuchi and Kakuzu.
The battle on the main front was undoubtedly much more tragic.
"Puppet Brigade, engage the enemy!"
Watching the Hidden Stone Village Ninjas charging forward one after another.
Yūto, as the commander of the Puppet Brigade, also began to organize the puppet forces.
With a loud shout, Yūto also took out his puppet scroll.
"Bang! Bang!..."
Five puffs of white smoke rose around Yūto, followed by the appearance of five puppets.
Then came a series of exclamations.
"Whoa! Since when can the boss control five puppets? Wasn't it only three before?"
"Yeah, yeah! The boss's strength has improved quite a bit again!"
..."Ahaha... it's nothing! I just practiced puppets during the time you guys were resting, ahahaha..."
Hearing the praise from his subordinates, Yūto also spoke with self-conscious modesty.
The other Puppet Masters: "..."
"There he goes~ the boss is starting to show off again."
"Exactly, exactly."
"It's clearly the techniques his son taught him after he was defeated by his own son."
"Exactly, exactly. Lady Chiyo told us all about it when she came last time!"
Yūto: "..."
[Argh!!!]
"Damn Hidden Stone Village Ninjas! Die!"
Hidden Stone Village Ninjas: "???"
Thanks to Hidden Sand Village's lack of money issues, their investment in training Puppet Masters had become relentless. Previously, if you could control one puppet, you could call yourself a Puppet Master.
But now, you were only considered a Puppet Apprentice. If you couldn't control two puppets, you'd be embarrassed to call yourself a Puppet Master.
Moreover, those who could enter the Puppet Brigade were all elites among Puppet Masters, many of whom could control three puppets.
This immediately closed the gap in numbers with the Hidden Stone Village Ninjas.
But the Hidden Stone Village side's strength was no joke either. Although the puppets were hard all over, with the addition of the Rock Armor Ninjutsu, the Hidden Stone Village Ninjas' defense was also not weak.
Furthermore, not all puppets were of the caliber of Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets, so in terms of agility and reaction speed, they were inferior to the Hidden Stone Village Ninjas.
One Ninja seized an opportunity, directly controlling the puppet's feet, and then... "Riiip~"
One of the puppet's arms was torn off by that Hidden Stone Village Ninja, who then held the puppet's arm and sneered.
"Heh, what Puppet Brigade? Just a bunch of children's toys!"
"Oh~ really! Then let me show you some fireworks!"
Hearing what the Hidden Stone Village Ninja said, the Hidden Sand Village Ninja controlling the puppet also showed a sincere smile.
"Sss~"
The sound of a fuse being lit came from the Hidden Stone Village Ninja's hand.
"What!"
The obvious sound also reached the Hidden Stone Village Ninja's ears. He then followed the sound and let out a cry of surprise.
He saw that the arm he had just torn from the puppet was actually stuffed with exploding tags. At this moment, the exploding tags had been lit and were about to explode. The Hidden Stone Village Ninja hurriedly threw the arm away and then used Earth Release to protect himself inside.
"Bang!"
After a loud explosion, the Hidden Stone Village Ninja poked his head out again.
"Whew~ that was close! I almost lost my life!"
"Damn Hidden Sand Village Ninja, to be so despicable as to stuff exploding tags inside a puppet!"
Speaking of this, the Hidden Stone Village Ninja's anger flared up.
He charged towards where the Puppet Master was.
Just as he was about to move, another hissing sound reached his ears. Following the sound, he saw it was coming from the very puppet he had trapped.
Then he saw the puppet simply dismantle itself, and a missile flew out from within, trailing sheets of exploding tags behind it.
Connected together, they drew a beautiful ribbon with an exhaust flame in the air.
Of course, such beauty was for others; for that Hidden Stone Village Ninja, it was lethal.
[Earth Release: Multiple Earth-Style Walls!]
Watching the incoming exploding tags, the Hidden Stone Village Ninja was also quick-handed, erecting one earth wall after another in the opponent's flight path.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!..."
A series of explosions rang out, getting closer and closer to him.
But fortunately, he managed to block them in the end.
"Hahaha... this time you don't even have a puppet left. Let's see what you can do now!"
With that, the Hidden Stone Village Ninja charged straight out.
Today, he was definitely going to stuff exploding tags into that guy's mouth!
"How unlucky, to run into such a tough customer!"
Seeing that he hadn't taken down the opponent even after scrapping a puppet, the Puppet Master cursed under his breath.
Then he looked at his other puppet and found it was entangled with another Hidden Stone Village Ninja, unable to break free for the time being.
So he turned to the Ninja beside him.
"Sorry to bother you, just help me stall for a while."
"No problem!"
With that, he stepped forward to engage the approaching Hidden Stone Village Ninja.
Seeing the crisis temporarily averted, the Puppet Master also cancelled the Chakra threads on his right hand and began rummaging through his robes.
Before long, he pulled out a scroll.
"Emmm... not this one. This is one I just bought recently; I can't bear to part with it."
After saying that, he stuffed the scroll back in and started rummaging again.
A moment later, as if he had felt a special mark on a scroll, the Puppet Master's eyes clearly lit up.
"Found it!"
Immediately, a scroll was pulled out, and on the scroll was written [First Legion Puppet Corps Standard Issue Puppet Model 44].
"Hehe, this one is better; if it breaks, it can be reimbursed."
After saying that, he released the seal on the scroll, and immediately a puppet identical to the one scrapped earlier appeared before him.
He reconnected the Chakra threads and then continued to charge towards that Hidden Stone Village Ninja.
And then... and then that Hidden Stone Village Ninja fell into silence.
Because from the puppet being destroyed to the appearance of a new one, he had seen every scene.
If he wasn't mistaken, that Puppet Master just now... still had quite a few on his chest, right!
Were there still big guns that hadn't been brought out yet?
Otherwise, why did he put the first scroll he took out back!
Even though he had quite a few misgivings in his heart, facing the puppet that had already attacked.
The Hidden Stone Village Ninja could only start fighting it again.
As for the Hidden Sand Village Ninja who had been fighting before, he returned to the Puppet Master's side.
To prevent the Hidden Stone Village Village Ninjas from launching Earth Release sneak attacks.
And the scene at this part of the battlefield was repeating itself elsewhere.
However, the difference was... this Hidden Stone Village Ninja's strength was sufficient.
But not all Hidden Stone Village Ninjas were strong.
Relying on this style of fighting, Hidden Sand Village had permanently left many Hidden Stone Village Ninjas of insufficient strength here.
After a long and bitter struggle, Hidden Stone Village had actually turned from having the initial advantage to being at a disadvantage.
Kitsuchi, as the commander-in-chief of the Hidden Stone Village Ninjas, naturally saw all this.
But faced with this situation, Kitsuchi also had no choice, because he himself was being pinned down by Kakuzu.
Could it be... that this is the only way?
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