Puppeteer battles typically involve starting with a distance fight, and this situation was no exception. The White Ants and Little Boy simultaneously opened their mouths, unleashing a storm of needles towards the two Konoha ninjas.
"Leaf Style: Sword Dance!"
The ninja wielding a blade swung it with precision, blocking most of the needles aimed at them.
Even if some parts were hit, they were non-critical areas that did not affect the battle.
Without the Sharingan or exceptional dynamic vision, this was the extent they could achieve.
"It's troublesome; these puppeteers like to coat their weapons with poison."
The middle-aged ninja warned, then threw a few shurikens to disrupt.
"It's okay; I still have a few detoxification pills made according to Lady Tsunade's formula, enough to neutralize most toxins."
The blade-wielding ninja calmly swallowed the detox pill they had kept in their mouth since the beginning of the battle.
"Black Secret Technique: Puppet Dance."
Scorpion pulled a chakra thread, activating a mechanism on the White Ant puppet.
The six puppet arms creaked as they extended segment by segment, resembling an octopus, with sharp spikes at the tips, engaging in combat with the blade-wielding ninja.
It was evident that after being taken back from the exam, Scorpion had significantly improved and enhanced this puppet in terms of performance and power.
On the other hand, Hardy's Little Boy puppet lacked extravagant functions, with only a mechanical claw and a spiral-toothed blade, but it was swift.
This B-rank puppet excelled in agility, and when the puppeteer could unleash its full power, its speed combined with some attack capabilities could threaten a significant portion of mid-level ninja.
With the coordination of the two puppets, they managed to suppress the blade-wielding Konoha ninja.
However, the blade-wielding ninja had backup.
Removing the summoning scroll from their back, they instantly released hundreds of kunai, flying like a shower of cherry blossoms in all directions.
The White Ant's six arms froze in place.
Upon closer inspection, each kunai was connected to an imperceptible steel wire, tightly restricting the White Ant's movements.
The Little Boy, being faster and smaller, managed to cut through most of the wires with its rotating weapons, narrowly escaping.
"It's not over yet!"
The middle-aged ninja pulled and manipulated the steel wires with their teeth, continuing to form hand seals.
巳-辰-卯-寅!
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
A thick fire line spewed from the middle-aged ninja's mouth, spreading along the previously oiled wires.
Hardy pulled a chakra thread, trying to save the White Ant by controlling the Little Boy to cut the wires, but the opponent was prepared.
"Now is the time!"
The blade-wielding ninja plunged their blade into the ground, also performing a jutsu.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
A gale swept through the flames, intensifying the fire.
Scorpion and Hardy hastily retracted their respective puppets.
The White Ant might be out of commission, while the Little Boy only suffered minor damage to a few components.
"Black Secret Technique: Full Shield."
Scorpion quickly controlled the Salamander to deploy a defense, casting an anxious glance at Hardy.
"Watch out for yourself."
Hardy remained calm, preparing for close combat.
The Fatso puppet's hand position had begun to compress air by manipulating the chakra threads.
"Leaf Style: Crescent Dance!"
Wind-chakra was imbued on the ninja's blade, emitting a nearly one-meter-long sword aura, bypassing the Salamander's defense from the side, attempting to strike down Scorpion and Hardy.
Not far away, Jianye and Kana had raised their hands, ready to provide support.
"Black Secret Technique: Pneumatic Fist!"
The towering Fatso puppet swiftly turned around and delivered a powerful punch.
With chakra and pneumatic pump dual-powered, the force of the punch could break through rocks.
The sword aura dissipated, the ninja's blade shattered, and the ninja's body flew out like a broken puppet.
"One down."
The robust figure of the Fatso turned and advanced step by step towards the middle-aged ninja.
"One left!"
The upgraded Fatso was a B-rank puppet under normal circumstances, but when piloted by Hardy, it possessed a combat power of B+, two levels higher than the Little Boy.
This meant it could defeat most mid-level ninja.
The middle-aged ninja looked desperate.
His strength was already considered decent among mid-level ninja. Despite mediocre talent, he steadily climbed up after graduating as a low-level ninja, relying on a steady style to accumulate over twenty years of combat achievements.
Even though he had limited talent and couldn't learn techniques above B-rank, he managed to exchange some ninjutsu with his accumulated war merits.
Without the extraordinary talents like the Sharingan or dynamic vision, he could only rely on hard work.
Mastering multiple Fire Release ninjutsu techniques, with a solid foundation, he can be considered an elite ninja, or else he wouldn't have been chosen to carry out such a mission.
But precisely because of his extensive experience, he knew that in this situation, there was no way out.
"Secret Technique: Body Manipulation Jutsu."
Scorpion excitedly manipulated the almost defunct ant body, trying to block the middle-aged ninja's possible escape route.
Even though he had no chance of escaping.
The middle-aged ninja continued to resist, desperately seeking a way out.
For a moment, even with the Fatso Puppet controlled by Hardy, they couldn't take him down—there was no way. Although the agility was much higher compared to the Black Gold, it was all relative.
Ninjas specialize in agility and attack, so there are no slow ones. As a result, speed became a weakness for the Fatso Puppet.
After all, the Fatso Puppet was originally designed by Hardy to wear it as armor to protect himself.
Moreover, Hardy was not limited to controlling just one puppet.
The agility of the Little Boy Puppet complemented the Fatso Puppet.
With Scorpion's assistance, the death of this Konoha ninja was only a matter of time.
"Amazing... truly remarkable, worthy members of the Puppet Brigade."
Kanae looked at Hardy and Scorpion in amazement.
The older one definitely had the combat power to defeat most of the Jōnin, while the younger one, among the Genin, was definitely at the top level, and even among the Jōnin, most would probably struggle to take him down.
These two kids looked like they were only around ten years old, right?
Even more surprising was Jianye's reaction.
Scorpion's progress did not surprise Jianye, but Hardy's current combat power truly caught him off guard.
"There's no point in continuing to train. Kanae, let's take action together and deal with the remaining enemies."
After observing for a few seconds, Jianye turned to Kanae and said.
"Okay."
Kanae nodded slightly, forming hand seals, preparing to take action.
At that moment, a sudden change occurred.