The battlefield was in utter chaos.
Boom!!
Tsunade's face was slightly pale as she swung her fist forward, shattering a massive boulder that had crashed down toward her.
To her right, a kunai wrapped with explosive tags flew in from an unknown direction. Kaede reached out, caught it mid-air, and flung it back toward a Sand ninja.
"Lady Tsunade, are you alright?"
Kaede glanced at the slightly pale-faced Tsunade.
Just as he had expected, Tsunade was still somewhat affected by the battlefield conditions.
"…I'm fine."
Tsunade took a breath. Though her face was pale, she wasn't completely overwhelmed by fear or helplessness. only the flow of her chakra was slightly disrupted.
Kaede swept his gaze across the battlefield and was just about to speak when a figure suddenly darted toward him at incredible speed. Mid-air, the body twisted, unleashing a barrage of arrows that enveloped both him and Tsunade.
"Watch out!"
Tsunade shouted lowly and forced a punch into the ground, flipping a large slab of rock into the air. It rose up above their heads, shielding them from the storm of arrows.
But at that moment, several more figures attacked from all directions. The chaotic assault consisted mostly of various throwing weapons, in all forms and types.
Whoosh!
Kaede and Tsunade flashed out from under the stone and landed on either side.
Now they could clearly see the attackers. None of them were actual humans, every single one was a bizarre puppet!
Ten puppets in total surrounded Kaede and Tsunade.
Not far behind them, a shadowy figure appeared and looked toward Tsunade.
It was none other than the elder of Sunagakure, one of the village's most revered puppet master — Chiyo!
"Looks like something's off with you, Tsunade."
Chiyo's gaze was calm and cold.
The two had clashed during the Second Great Ninja War. Chiyo had shaken the ninja world with her puppet techniques, and while Tsunade wasn't her equal in raw power back then, she had used her medical ninjutsu to neutralize Chiyo's many poisons, greatly diminishing her lethality.
At that time, Chiyo had long harbored the intent to kill Tsunade, but was thwarted by Konoha's White Fang. In that very battle, White Fang had killed Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law and even defeated Chiyo head-on, earning his own fame and becoming a hero of Konoha.
It could be said that Chiyo hated two people most in the world, one was White Fang, and the other was Tsunade!
So when she noticed Tsunade's presence, she immediately led her puppets to strike. Chiyo now stood at the absolute peak of her strength and experience. Even though Tsunade had grown stronger since the war, Chiyo was confident she could kill her now!
"Oh really?"
Tsunade knew her condition wasn't great and didn't expect Chiyo to find her so quickly. But she didn't flinch, simply letting out a cold chuckle.
Chiyo's gaze slid toward Kaede, a flicker of killing intent flashing in her eyes.
"That kid… could he be White Fang's son?!"
"Look out!"
Tsunade's heart tightened, and she shouted a warning to Kaede without hesitation.
Almost the moment Chiyo finished speaking, several puppets launched an all-out attack on Kaede. Metallic scorpion tails and various barbed projectiles surged toward him, each coated in a dark sheen, clearly laced with Chiyo's most potent poisons!
Faced with this sudden, coordinated assault, Kaede's eyes remained calm. His body leapt into the air, drifting like a falling leaf through the chaotic storm of attacks. With a step on one of the puppets, he flipped mid-air and landed smoothly some distance away.
"Not bad."
Chiyo narrowed her eyes.
Compared to Tsunade, she wanted even more to kill Kaede. Her hatred for White Fang ran far deeper than what she felt for Tsunade. She had longed to make White Fang feel the pain of losing a son before dying himself. Unfortunately, White Fang was already dead.
But even so, killing White Fang's son would still bring her some twisted solace.
Hah!!
Tsunade shouted, activating her monstrous strength and charging straight at Chiyo.
Chiyo controlled a puppet to raise a shield and block her. Tsunade's punch struck with a thunderous boom, but was barely stopped by the shield.
"Just as I thought, you're not in good shape."
Chiyo let out a chilling laugh.
She wasn't sure whether Tsunade was injured or afflicted otherwise, but her poor condition was obvious. Even a single puppet could block her frontal attack, a perfect opportunity for revenge!
The heavens themselves had delivered White Fang's son and an injured Tsunade right to her doorstep!
"Sasori… watch closely. All the pain you've endured, they will pay it back, one by one."
Chiyo's eyes gleamed with a cold light, and her presence turned terrifying. She manipulated her puppets to assault both Kaede and Tsunade simultaneously.
Tsunade knew Chiyo's strength well from their past encounters.
In her current state, she would need at least four or five elite Jōnin cooperating flawlessly with her to stand a chance.
Worse still, Chiyo used only two puppets to pin her down, while the other eight rushed straight toward Kaede, clearly aiming to kill him quickly!
If the eight puppets were attacking her instead, she could endure it with the Strength of a Hundred Seal. But right now, two specially designed puppets were keeping her locked down, and with her fear of blood still interfering with her chakra control, she couldn't break free!
"This is bad…"
Tsunade gritted her teeth, forcing her chakra into a semblance of control as she tried to summon her monstrous strength to repel the two puppets.
But Chiyo's two puppets were built for support and control, their offensive power was low, but their ability to obstruct was overwhelming. Especially given Tsunade's current condition, she couldn't shake them off.
Meanwhile—
Chiyo manipulated her eight puppets to completely encircle Kaede, cutting off all routes of escape.
"White Fang's son… die! Go join your father in hell!"
Chiyo's eyes burned with killing intent. She flung her chakra threads forward, binding Kaede's body, locking down his movements, and sent two nearby puppets to strike with their blades.
Seeing this, Tsunade's face turned ashen. It felt as though the same tragedy was about to replay itself before her eyes.
But then—
A flash of silver light suddenly erupted.
Like a star igniting in the darkness, the glow surged outward.
The silver light burst from Kaede's chest, instantly enveloping him. Wild chakra erupted, shattering all of Chiyo's chakra threads wrapped around him as if they were paper!
Bathed in silver light, Kaede's eyes turned cold. He reached behind and drew the Kusanagi Sword, swinging it with a fluid motion.
The sword's arc, wrapped in that silver glow, sliced through the air like a crescent moon tearing the void.
Clang!!!
A silver arc flashed.
The two puppets flanking him, along with their weapons, were cleaved cleanly in half by that one stroke, as if they were made of rotting wood!
------------
Note: If you want to read up to 55+ chapters ahead of the current story, you can support me on Patreon and read up to Chapter 150 there! Patreon.com/Veltoria