"For the tenth match, please welcome Kankuro from Sunagakure and Kurotsuchi from Iwagakure to the stage!"
Kankuro stepped onto the center of the arena with his puppet strapped to his back. Kurotsuchi followed close behind, her presence drawing a sharp gaze from the viewing box.
Ōnoki, the Tsuchikage, leaned forward and muttered with expectation,
"My dear granddaughter… you're the only one from Iwagakure who's advanced this far.
You must make it to the semi-finals at least. Anything less would be an embarrassment for the village."
On the other side, Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, gazed down at his son with little enthusiasm.
Kankuro again...
Why did he have to pick puppetry, of all things? What's so great about those broken-down dolls?
Those three scrap puppets of his cost nearly ten million ryō!
Puppets were, in his opinion, a fallback for shinobi lacking talent in ninjutsu or genjutsu. In the history of Sunagakure, only three puppet masters had ever truly made a name for themselves:
The Second Kazekage, Shamon…
Granny Chiyo…
And the missing prodigy of the Red Sand—Sasori.
It was a profession that guzzled money and came with far too many flaws.
Back when Kankuro was little, he'd spend his days playing in the desert.
At that time, Sasori had already vanished, and Chiyo was asked to watch over him for a while…
And just like that, the boy had grown into a full-blown puppet maniac.
Thinking about it now... of my three children, only Gaara inherited my ability to manipulate sand.
How pitiful… how disappointing…
With a loud bang, the signal gun fired—the match had begun.
Kurotsuchi was quick to act. She stomped her right foot into the ground and shouted:
"Earth Style: Earthen Bamboo Shoots!"
From the soil beneath her, massive earth spikes erupted like wild bamboo shoots after the rain.
Since the arena itself had been shaped using Earth Release mixed with Water chakra by Yamato, it was a naturally favorable battlefield for someone like Kurotsuchi.
She could release her jutsu with minimal chakra cost.
The spiked earth launched straight beneath Kankuro's feet, threatening to impale him.
Kankuro calmly unhooked the puppet from his shoulder strap and tossed it aside.
He leapt backward the moment it hit the ground.
Kurotsuchi spotted the brief separation and saw her chance. She surged forward, chakra focused in her soles.
"So you ditched the puppet just to dodge faster?"
"That confirms it. You're weak in close combat."
"I've already won!"
She reached him in seconds, reared back, and punched him square in the chest.
But the instant her fist landed, she sensed something was off. That didn't feel like a human body at all…
It's too hard—too stiff...
Her eyes widened. This wasn't Kankuro. It was the puppet.
Just as she moved to retreat, bandages began to unravel from the discarded puppet nearby.
Ten chakra threads stretched out from fingers, attaching to the "Kankuro" she'd just hit.
A mocking voice echoed:
"Can't you Iwagakure shinobi even tell the difference between a puppet and a real person?"
"How naïve."
With a puff, the fake Kankuro's outer layer crumbled into sand, revealing the humanoid puppet—Crow—with three eyes and four arms.
It launched at Kurotsuchi in a flurry of attacks.
They clashed violently, but after a brief exchange, Kurotsuchi landed a heavy punch and sent Crow flying.
She hesitated for a beat, calculating.
There's only one puppet… and puppeteers can usually control just one. If I waste time severing the chakra strings, he might reposition. Better to finish this quickly!
She rushed Kankuro directly.
But then—Kankuro's right fingers curled.
Behind her, the Crow puppet's scattered parts reassembled mid-air like ghosts.
The joints of its limbs gleamed with cold steel—poisoned blades hidden in its limbs and head. With a hiss, they shot straight for her from behind!
A chill ran through her spine.
So this is puppetry... cruel and underhanded.
Kurotsuchi spun, drew a kunai from her thigh pouch, and cut the chakra threads mid-attack.
Then she picked up the puppet's creepy head from the ground.
"Your puppet's finished. Just give up."
"...though this little thing is kinda cool-looking."
But Kankuro only stared blankly at her.
Suddenly—PSSSHH!
A cloud of purple poison mist sprayed out from Crow's mouth, right into her face.
The surprise attack caught her completely off-guard. She inhaled deeply.
Kankuro calmly pulled out two more scrolls from his back.
"It's true most puppeteers only control one puppet..."
"But I'm not most puppeteers."
"Come forth—Black Ant! Salamander!"
A bull-headed puppet and a massive salamander puppet unsealed beside him with a thud.
Kurotsuchi staggered back, her body turning weak.
Her vision blurred. Her limbs trembled. Her stomach twisted with nausea.
Even her chakra felt disordered.
With her last bit of strength, she lifted her middle finger at him.
"You puppet freaks are the worst…"
Kankuro smirked.
"Ninjas strike from the shadows."
"And puppet masters are the most vicious shadows of them all."
"So thanks for the compliment." (¬‿¬ )
Kurotsuchi forced herself to launch a few more attacks, but Salamander and Black Ant blocked every one.
Eventually, the poison spread completely through her body, and she collapsed.
Hayate immediately declared:
"Winner: Kankuro of Sunagakure!"
Medics rushed in and carried Kurotsuchi off the field.
Kankuro handed them a small vial.
"Here's the antidote. Use it quickly."
Ōnoki glared daggers down at Kankuro from the stands, his face red with fury.
"That despicable brat from the Sand Village… shameless! Absolutely shameless!"
Rasa blinked in disbelief.
"...He actually won?"
He glanced again at Kankuro, then toward Ōnoki's box.
That girl is nothing like her grandfather… so naïve…
(｀・ω・´)ゞ
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