"It seems you've noticed it too. Lee is in trouble. Treating that Sand Ninja as just a Puppet Master is a big mistake."
Most Konoha ninja who had been on the battlefield had encountered Puppet Masters. Known as the reapers of the battlefield, their fighting styles were bizarre. While they didn't neglect the fundamentals of taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu, their main focus was puppet manipulation and creation.
But Daigan's fighting style marginalized the role of his puppets. Instead, his proficiency in taijutsu and ninjutsu was exceptionally high, clearly the result of long practice, not some spur-of-the-moment decision. His tactical execution was flawless—not the performance one would expect from a Puppet Master.
Just as they predicted, Rock Lee, who had seemed so vigorous, inexplicably missed a punch aimed at an approaching Sand Clone. Then, as if struck from behind, he was knocked to the ground.
"What happened?"
Lee sprang back to his feet, warily eyeing the surrounding Sand Clones. "I should have hit him just now."
*Pow!*
Another heavy sand fist came at him. Lee instinctively blocked and countered with a whip kick, which hit empty air but produced a dull thud as if it had struck something solid.
*Smack!*
Before he could figure out what was happening, something struck him in the face, sending him flying again.
"Is it genjutsu?"
Getting up again, Rock Lee wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and slapped his dazed head. "No, the impact felt absolutely real."
Realizing he couldn't trust his eyes, Lee relied on instinct, cautiously backing away from the invisible attacks. He leaped onto the statues of hand seals at the edge of the arena, struggling to catch his breath.
"Invisible attacks?"
No matter how strong your attacks were, if you couldn't hit your enemy and could only take hits yourself, you were at a severe disadvantage.
There was no doubting the power of taijutsu. If sheer force could shatter all petty tricks, any problem could be solved. But the current Rock Lee wasn't strong enough for that yet.
***
Uzumaki Naruto craned his neck, watching as Rock Lee was chased around like a headless chicken, finally forced to retreat to high ground just to catch his breath.
"What's going on? Bushy Brow had the upper hand, so why did he suddenly start losing? Did he get caught in a genjutsu?"
Hatake Kakashi sighed. "That's not genjutsu. It's a pure five-element ninjutsu that just happens to look like one."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, completely baffled. The only jutsu the blond-haired boy knew were the Three Basic Academy Techniques and the Shadow Clone Jutsu; anything more complex was beyond him.
"Naruto, look closely. Every time Lee counterattacks, he hits empty air. It looks like he missed, but a nearby Sand Clone always takes damage..."
"What does that mean?"
"You idiot!" Haruno Sakura couldn't help but scold him. "It means Lee's counterattacks are landing, they just *look* like they're missing."
Might Guy couldn't help but frown. "That Sand Ninja is deceiving everyone's vision. But it's impossible for him to catch everyone in a genjutsu without them noticing, which means it's not genjutsu, but the effect of a ninjutsu. Kakashi, have you ever seen a jutsu like this?"
Kakashi put away the copy of *Icha Icha Paradise* he was reading and thought for a moment. "There are jutsu with similar effects. I've never seen it myself, but rumors say the Second Mizukage—Hozuki Gengetsu—had a technique just like this..."
"The Second Mizukage," Might Guy nodded. "Like a mirage, it distorts light, making it impossible to see the enemy's true position."
"I know what a mirage is!" Naruto finally understood a word and shouted, "I saw one over the ocean in the Land of Waves! It was really pretty!"
"But how is that Sand Ninja creating such a jutsu in a small indoor space like this?"
"It's Wind Release," Kakashi answered after a careful look. "The most suitable methods for this would normally be genjutsu or Water Release, but Wind Release can actually be more effective, just much, much harder to pull off. I have a bad feeling about this, Guy. Your student might be in trouble..."
"What makes you say that?"
Kakashi lifted his headband, revealing his hidden Sharingan. "See this scar? Over a decade ago, on Kannabi Bridge, an Iwa-nin blinded this eye with a Camouflage Concealment Jutsu, leaving this scar. The Sharingan... well, that's another story."
It was during that mission that Nohara Rin was taken hostage, leading to Uchiha Obito's disappearance and subsequent declaration of death by the village.
"Camouflage Concealment Jutsu? Never heard of it..."
"To this day, I still don't know if that Iwa-nin's technique was Earth Release or Wind Release. But if that Sand Ninja can create localized mirages, a simpler camouflage-style invisibility is definitely within his reach. If you haven't taught Lee any chakra-sensing techniques..." Kakashi shook his head, not optimistic. This wasn't a matter of how strong his taijutsu was; his overall abilities were being completely countered. "I can guess the basic principle. He's using chakra to change the density of the surrounding air, bending the light rays. It's like when you put a chopstick in a glass of water and it looks bent. If that Sand Ninja is smart enough, he could actually achieve perfect visual invisibility..."
As he spoke, Kakashi couldn't help but smile. Based on Daigan's performance in the first two exams, it wasn't clear if he possessed great wisdom, but he certainly didn't lack the cunning to annoy people.
Temari curled her lip dismissively. "Tch, he just got lucky he's up against someone who knows no ninjutsu at all." If she were in the arena, a few wide-area Wind Release jutsu would clear the field. Whether it was visual deception or optical invisibility, she'd like to see it stand up to the power of her Three-Moon Fan.
Saya spoke with disdain. "What kind of Puppet Master is this? He's not even using his puppets. Did he go through all the trouble of making them just to show off? Don't underestimate the pride of a Puppet Master, you bastard..."
Baki, however, understood Daigan's performance. Anbu intelligence reports had already speculated that Daigan's specialty was Wind Release; today simply confirmed it.
"Kankuro, you're familiar with Daigan. Do you know what's up with his puppets?"
"They're decent, I guess. I never understood why he was so obsessed with carving Wind Release chakra pathways into them, but I think I'm starting to get it now..."
Baki nodded. "The strain of using Wind Release is immense, especially for a novice. Daigan needs his puppets to help absorb the backlash from using close-range wind jutsu..."
Puppet Masters could use their puppets to perform jutsu they had mastered, but for most, it was an unnecessary step. Injecting chakra through strings to activate a jutsu circuit in a puppet was effectively just using a multi-use ninjutsu scroll—and only for jutsu they already knew. With that time and effort, the Puppet Master might as well form the hand seals and cast the jutsu themselves for greater power and speed, not to mention most Puppet Masters weren't very skilled with elemental ninjutsu anyway. There were plenty of other ways to enhance a puppet's combat ability, from adding various mechanisms to coating them with poison.
The only way to use puppets to cast jutsu beyond one's own limits was with Human Puppets—an evil technique that perfectly preserved the chakra pathways and jutsu traces of a corpse to replicate the deceased's secret techniques.
Wind Release could easily spiral out of control, and even training with it was prone to injury. This was especially true for someone like Daigan, who used it to manipulate light by altering air density—something impossible without arduous training.
"With such talent, why didn't he focus on Wind Release's greatest strength, its offensive power? Why take the long way around to master such a troublesome support-type jutsu?" Baki was puzzled. Daigan's technique was impressive, but its applications were limited. It couldn't compare to the power of his own A-rank jutsu, Blade of Wind, which could slice a man and his weapon in half.
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