Shinku Yuhi's face turned red, and after stammering for a long while, he managed to speak with difficulty:
"The squad... isn't full... there are only... the three of us..."
"Wrong answer!" Fūga's tone didn't waver in the slightest.
None of the three people on the ground was the brat he had seen in the city.
In other words, there were at least four of them.
He gave a cold snort, and the mechanism in the Puppet's palm was triggered. With a flash of cold light, a short blade suddenly popped out and stabbed deep into Kurenai Yuhi's thigh!
"Ah..." The already dying Kurenai Yuhi let out a piercing scream, her body convulsing violently.
"Kurenai!!" Shinku Yuhi let out a heart-wrenching howl.
His fists were tightly clenched, his teeth gritted, and the veins on his neck bulged.
He stared intently at Fūga with eyes like a predator's.
"Oh my, what a terrifying gaze!"
Fūga spoke teasingly, and the sound of gears turning once again came from inside the mechanical palm.
A sharp blade gleaming with cold light slowly extended; this time, the tip was aimed at Kurenai Yuhi's abdomen.
"You know, I don't have the heart to hurt such a cute girl."
"But this time, it won't be as simple as stabbing a thigh."
Shinku Yuhi's jaw muscles bulged, and his teeth made a grinding sound.
His face was tense, and his gaze moved back and forth between his daughter and the Puppet.
In his eyes, there was sorrow, anger, and a struggle that flickered from time to time.
Beside him, Uchiha Tetsubi was filled with guilt as he saw Fūga aim the sharp blade at Kurenai Yuhi once more.
He could only helplessly lower his head and cover his face, unable to bear watching the scene that was about to unfold.
After the intense pain, Kurenai Yuhi felt her consciousness begin to blur, and the sensation of pain was gradually replaced by a kind of numbness.
Her mind began to wander: "Am I... dying?"
The memories in her mind began to uncontrollably flash before her eyes like a revolving lantern.
She remembered her mother's warm embrace when she was still around, and every little detail of her father taking her out to play when she was a child.
She remembered eating and drinking to her heart's content with Akado Hanahana, and laughing wildly with Anko.
And... Aokawa, who always wore a calm smile.
She suddenly felt some regret for rejecting Aokawa's confession.
Even if he had only said it as if it were a joke.
But... she probably wouldn't have another chance.
If only she could see him one more time... As she thought this, Aokawa's figure actually appeared in the woods within her blurred vision.
He was holding a massive Chakra Bow in his hand.
His gaze was cold as frost, and his arrow was aimed right behind her...
"Heh... I'm even having hallucinations; I really am letting my imagination run wild," she thought with a bitter smile.
Even if Aokawa came to save her, he wouldn't use a Chakra Bow as a weapon.
He should be launching a sneak attack with his superb Ninja tool throwing skills.
However... the version of him in her hallucination, holding a longbow...
...was actually unexpectedly handsome!
Kurenai Yuhi suddenly began to admire him closely.
A bright and handsome face, with an Aura of having everything under control despite his calm demeanor.
Combined with the massive Chakra Spirit Bow in his hand, he looked incredibly wise and mighty.
That look of having everything within his grasp gave her an inexplicable sense of peace.
She really hoped this was real.
She hoped that one day Aokawa would become this powerful.
That he could also hold such a Spirit Bow and descend like a Heavenly God to save her.
In her hallucination, the bow-wielding Aokawa released the bowstring.
A blue Light Arrow left the string and shot towards her... In reality, Fūga lost his patience as he saw Shinku Yuhi remain silent for so long:
"What a pity. Silence also counts as a wrong answer."
As he spoke, he aimed at Kurenai Yuhi's palm and, with a click, was about to eject the sharp blade.
The next moment.
A brilliant streak of blue light arrived through the air at a speed difficult for the naked eye to track!
Boom!!!
A massive explosion rang out! The Puppet controlled by Fūga didn't even have time to react before it was shattered into countless fragments by the enormous impact!
The sudden blast of the explosion's shockwave startled Kurenai Yuhi, and her consciousness instantly became clear.
She turned her head in shock, only to see that the Puppet that had been threatening her father just moments ago had been reduced to a pile of wreckage!
She looked toward the depths of the forest in disbelief.
The Aokawa from her "hallucination" was now actually walking out from the shadows of the trees step by step.
Holding the Spirit Bow with a sharp gaze, he looked exactly like the heroic figure in her imagination!
"It's... it's real..." Kurenai Yuhi covered her mouth, and tears began to flow once more.
"He really came with a Spirit Bow, like a Heavenly God descending to save me..."
Shinku Yuhi and Uchiha Tetsubi were also dumbfounded.
Uchiha Tetsubi, in particular, was full of disbelief.
It wasn't that he hadn't fought this Puppet before.
Its material was extremely hard; neither his Ninjutsu nor his Kunai could cause any damage to it.
That was why they had been hunted all this time.
Didn't this kid say he was just a Medical Ninja?
How could he, besides having a superb hand at Ninja tool throwing,
also know such a powerful Ninjutsu?
With just one strike, he had directly blown up the hard Puppet that had left Tetsubi helpless.
Fūga and Fūshin, hidden deep in the forest, were also startled by this sudden turn of events.
Fūga, in particular, was just about to attack the girl.
The next moment, his shared vision went dark.
Even if a Puppet master's vision is slightly better than a regular Ninja's, it's only marginally so.
They didn't have the ultra-long-range vision like the Hyuga Clan.
Therefore, this kind of long-range Puppet control definitely required the Puppet to have a vision-sharing function.
Now, the Puppet sharing its vision with him had been blown up in one hit.
It caused more or less of a backlash for him.
"Bastard!"
Being the hunter yet having his tool destroyed by the prey.
Fūga gritted his teeth; this was a Puppet he had spent half a year of hard work and a lot of money to build.
It was just gone, for nothing.
If he didn't avenge this, he wouldn't be able to swallow this insult.
But the only vision-sharing Puppet he had left was this one.
If he wanted to control the others, he could only rely on his own eyes for vision.
"Fūshin!" he said fiercely to Fūshin beside him. "Entangle that kid! Don't let him escape! I'm going over there myself to tear him to pieces!"
"Then you won't have the chance." Fūshin let out a sinister, cackling laugh. "Before you even arrive, I'll have already twisted his head off." Fūshin continued to cackle... In the clearing, Aokawa remained expressionless, his Spirit Bow drawn to its limit once more, the tip of the arrow steadily locked onto the only remaining Fūshin Puppet ahead.
"Jie jie jie, you only have one chance." A bizarre tone emanated from the emotionless Puppet's mouth, sounding incredibly eerie.
"Let's make a bet: is your arrow faster, or am I? Let's see who can twist off whose head!"
"I'll shoot your head." Aokawa's tone was extremely cold, his gaze as if looking at a dead object.
"Then try it!"
Before the Fūshin Puppet's words had even faded, it suddenly exerted force with its feet and charged forward like a cheetah!
Aokawa's eyes narrowed, and he released the bowstring!
Hum!
The blue arrow transformed into a streak of light and shot out!
The charging Fūshin Puppet was fully focused; the moment it saw Aokawa's movement, it immediately dodged to the side at high speed!
The arrow seemed powerful, but it brushed past it without even touching a corner of its clothes.
"Nothing more than this!" The Puppet let out a mocking laugh. "Didn't you say you were going to shoot my head? Come on!"
A set of high-speed rotating, sharp saw blades popped out from its palm, and its charging speed increased once more!
"Jie jie jie... it seems I've won this bet!"
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