The man trapped and wrapped inside the rock slightly opened his mouth. Suddenly, a net made of many black stones connected together shot out and covered Kagetsu and the others.
The sudden attack was both stealthy and strange.
Before the net could land, a black thread pulled Kagetsu out of its range. Along with him, Itachi, who was also within the net's reach, was dragged away.
Seeing Naruto being covered by the net, Sakura instinctively rushed forward to pull him out.
But as soon as her hand grabbed the net, she felt all the chakra in her body stall for a moment—like it was completely drained. A wave of weakness instantly washed over her.
After letting go of the net, Sakura finally felt the chakra flowing in her body again.
"Be careful! This net can absorb chakra and make it stop working!"
Sakura reached out to stop Sai, who was trying to help, and shouted loudly.
"As long as we don't touch the net, we should be fine, right? In that case…"
Seeing Naruto getting more tightly bound the more he struggled, Sai quickly drew four ink clones in one go and sent them forward to rescue Naruto.
But as soon as the ink clones touched the net, they suddenly collapsed into puddles of ink, splashing onto the ground in front of everyone.
"Even chakra-based jutsu can be neutralized? What is that net made of?"
Seeing his jutsu fail, Sai immediately realized that the net was made of something special.
It was the first time he had seen a material that could suppress or disrupt chakra and ninjutsu.
Wood Style: Wood Clone Jutsu!
Even the wooden clones faced the same issue. Although they didn't disappear immediately when touching the net, they stopped moving entirely.
Like lifeless wooden statues, they stood still no matter how much Yamato tried to control them.
The rocks encasing the man began to tremble, vibrating at a strange frequency. Then, sharp, glimmering blades began to pierce through the rocks from within.
"Though we're from different times, the faces in front of me are all familiar!"
The man calmly freed himself from the rocks. His movements and actions were far beyond what any normal human could achieve.
While speaking, he stood before everyone again.
At that moment, he appeared like a giant spider. The top half of his body was human, but the lower half was split open, with blades protruding from his legs to support him.
"How could this be?" Baki stared at the figure, momentarily stunned.
"Figured it out? That's right, this is a human puppet!" The man glanced at Baki briefly, then his eyes shifted back to the black shadowy threads that spread like a spider's web around Nara Kagetsu.
"I never expected to see you here, Nara Kagetsu!" Mukade's expression and tone carried a mix of admiration and jealousy. He looked at Kagetsu like he was gazing at a rare treasure.
As Naruto grew weaker and more distressed, Sakura Haruno had no time to waste on listening to Mukade's calm conversation. She swung her fist at his head.
Having fought against human puppets before, she knew exactly what needed to be done—destroy the body and core up close. If they were kept at a distance, the puppet would easily counterattack.
Sakura was stunned when the man simply reached out and grabbed her fist.
In an instant, all the monstrous strength in her punch was absorbed by his body, and every bit of chakra she had put into it was consumed entirely.
A blade tip shot out from the hand of the Mukade creature, which had been gripping Sakura Haruno's fist, and it pierced directly into her shoulder along her arm.
With a swift movement, Mukade raised its arm, and Sakura, almost defenseless, was lifted high and then tossed aside like garbage.
"So boring, ninjas from another world. Don't you guys still only know how to use chakra, that energy?"
Mukade said disdainfully, commenting on Sakura and the others.
"Be careful, he's a puppet master. His body doesn't have the so-called vital spots of a ninja. Only by destroying his core can you truly kill him."
Sakura's voice, filled with pain, rang clearly in the underground space.
"I know you. From the memories I've gone through, the creator of the human puppets, Sasori of the Red Sand, died at your hands and that old lady Chiyo's. Of course, in your world!"
Mukade wasn't bothered by Sakura revealing the weakness of human puppets. He reached into his cloak, pulled out a scroll, and unsealed it, revealing ten puppets that were completely different from the usual clay puppets.
One by one, chakra strings connected to these ten uniquely designed puppets.
"Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets!"
Upon seeing those puppets, Baki felt a shiver down his spine.
To the current Sand Village puppet masters, Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets, created by Monzaemon Chikamatsu, represented the pinnacle of puppet mastery!
Each finger could control a single puppet, and different puppets could be used for different strategies.
This was the ultimate form of puppet control and manipulation, considered the highest art every puppet master dreams of mastering!
Currently, in the entire village, only Elder Chiyo might be able to proficiently use the secret technique, "Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets."
"It's a modified version, my own version of Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets!" Mukade corrected Baki.
"Looks like you're not from their world, but from a future of this world!"
Like a black spider lurking in the center of its web, waiting for prey to fall into its trap, Kagetsu didn't make another move. His curiosity had shifted from attacking Mukade to Mukade's body itself.
"You're still as sharp as ever. Although I never intended to hide this," Mukade said, giving a slight bow to Nara Kagetsu. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on novèlfire.net
His expression carried a kind of fanaticism and reckless madness, like that of a seeker of truth.
"In the future, you've seen me and gotten to know me well, right?" Nara Kagetsu speculated again.
"You are the famous Nara Kagetsu! Whether you want to admit it or not, you were the one who played a key role in the revolution of the ninja world! As an ally of Konoha, being from Sunagakure, I naturally know a lot about you.
The happiest time for me was when I visited Konoha and attended a few of your lessons! You opened a door for me that I never dared to imagine!"
Mukade didn't seem to intend to act immediately.
It appeared that just having this conversation with Nara Kagetsu satisfied him.
It even had the air of a student eagerly showing off new knowledge to a teacher, hoping for recognition and praise.
"My influence on you was that great? Is this current form of yours because of my influence?" Nara Kagetsu glanced at the puppet-like Mukade, narrowing his eyes.
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