Senju Yukika watched the now-raging Yukika and shook his head, lifting his hand coldly with spiritual pressure, forcing her to calm down.
"Take the people and leave first. Leave this to me."
Regaining her composure, Yukika took a deep breath, stared at An Lushan, then turned and led the people toward the exit, leaving behind a sentence:
"My promise from before still stands."
Yukika knew that staying wouldn't help. Though An Lushan was a minister of Loulan, his puppet techniques were definitely formidable. Now, she could only trust Senju Yukika.
An Lushan raised an eyebrow, lifted his hand, and sneered, "Who said you could leave?"
Two puppets burst from the ground, blocking Yukika and the others, but in the next second, two flying stones smashed them to pieces.
Yukika glanced back at Senju Yukika's silhouette. After praying silently for safety, she quickly led her people away.
An Lushan didn't care about their escape. Looking down at Senju Yukika, he said, "Interesting. Yukika sensed everything because of you, didn't she?
"I don't know who you are, but opposing me is a death sentence."
Senju Yukika didn't rush to attack. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the ground, picking up wood chips with his palm.
"Although you haven't shown yourself fully, through your puppets, you must already know my strength. Since you're still confident enough to stand before me, I'm guessing your backing is the power of the Dragon Vein.
"I'm curious, after all this planning, how much power have you actually gained from the Dragon Vein?"
An Lushan raised his hand, golden chakra igniting in his palm. It was clearly more refined than normal chakra—not as wild as Nine-Tails' chakra but much more enduring.
"Your strength is indeed surprising. You're definitely no ordinary person in the ninja world. But in front of my Dragon Vein, you are nothing.
"Perfect timing—you'll be the Dragon Vein's first victim. Puppet Dragon Legion!"
Hundreds of giant puppets emerged from the ground—far more terrifying than the earlier ones, fully armed and infused with the Dragon Vein's chakra, dramatically boosting their combat power. Only Kage-level fighters could hope to destroy them. With so many puppets, they could probably sweep through an entire ninja village.
"You must realize this Lost Tower is shrouded in magical power, and from my observations, your power seems suppressed by it. You can't fight me here!" An Lushan laughed wildly.
Senju Yukika glanced at the clay puppets surrounding him. He crouched slightly, then launched himself like a cannonball, fists and kicks roaring like a dragon and tiger. Every puppet blocking his path was smashed to pieces.
Even Madara wouldn't beat Senju Yukika in pure martial arts—no way these puppets could stop him.
However, the shattered puppets quickly reassembled, and the destroyed puppets once again stood before him.
An Lushan's expression turned dark but then he laughed loudly. "Useless! As long as the Dragon Vein's chakra exists, my puppets can infinitely regenerate. Let's see whether your strength runs out first or the Dragon Vein's chakra!"
As he spoke, An Lushan recklessly unleashed his chakra, sweeping everywhere. He wasted chakra because he had the Dragon Vein backing him.
Even An Lushan himself didn't know how much chakra was hidden in the Dragon Vein—only that if it exploded, it could destroy the entire world.
Senju Yukika glanced at the increasing number of puppets and nodded, "This is troublesome... but there's a solution.
"Eliminate you, and the puppets will disappear."
Senju Yukika pressed his hands together and slowly separated them. Between his palms, a wooden sword gradually formed—just wood chips gathered to forge a temporary sword.
Though it looked powerless, like a toy sword, the moment it appeared, An Lushan shivered uncontrollably, as if a sharp blade was already pressed against his neck.
Senju Yukika twirled the sword, creating dazzling sword flowers in the air. Under the blossoming sword flowers, hundreds of puppets shattered instantly.
Though Senju Yukika couldn't fully use Ulquiorra Cifer's power right now, don't forget—every Shinigami is a master swordsman.
After slicing through a hundred puppets, without waiting for them to regenerate, Senju Yukika pointed his wooden sword at An Lushan, his challenge unmistakable.
An Lushan's face twisted with rage. Forming hand signs, he snarled, "You're offending the future ruler of the ninja world! Puppet Transformation!"
In seconds, An Lushan's body transformed dramatically—his flesh turning hard as steel, similar to Sasori's human puppet form. Most importantly, he continuously drew power from the Dragon Vein to reinforce himself, so he didn't worry about physical depletion.
"Puppet: Super Dragon Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive dragon-headed fireball roared fiercely. It had the power of Madara's Limbo clones and was worthy of an elite Kage-level jutsu.
But like a flash of light, the giant fireball was suddenly cleaved in two, exploding into a sea of flames.
Senju Yukika still held the sword hilt, smiling as he looked at the mark on An Lushan's neck.
"Though this sword is less than three feet long, its sword energy spans the entire world."
An Lushan wiped the wound on his neck in disbelief. That flash of light had seemed to cut right through him. His face twisted in madness and determination as he shouted, "As long as the Dragon Vein exists, I can regenerate endlessly. With my puppet body, you can't kill me! I'm invincible!"
Senju Yukika looked at him like he was a fool. "True, I can't drain the Dragon Vein's power completely. But I only need to sever your connection to it."