"You may stand down from defending this base." Thorn said to the figure bowing respectfully before him . the owner of the modest teahouse.
The teahouse owner replied in a disciplined voice, "As you command, sir."
Thorn continued, "There's one more favor I'd like to ask. There is a group of children in the forest. I'd like you to take them with you and have them admitted into one of the kingdom's orphanages."
The man answered without hesitation, "It will be done, sir."
The orphanages of the Blue Dragon Kingdom were far more than ordinary shelters that merely provided temporary refuge. They were part of a much broader and deeper network dedicated to discovering hidden talent, carefully nurturing it, and giving children the opportunity to build a far better future than the one that awaited them if they were left to survive alone in streets consumed by war, bandits, and criminals.
A short while after their exchange, Thorn continued his journey away from the teahouse, venturing deeper into this remote region. During their brief conversation, the intelligence agent had informed him that many of the small nations and territories scattered across this part of the continent had already been destroyed by the advancing Puppet Army, which continued expanding without pause.
For that reason, Thorn wanted to witness the situation with his own eyes and determine whether there was truly anything he could do to slow the terrifying spread of this force especially since his father, Dan, had specifically given him permission to act according to his own judgment in this particular matter.
So he continued traveling on foot for two full consecutive days, observing the scattered traces of destruction along his path. Entire villages had been abandoned, others partially burned, and numerous other signs testified to the passage of the Puppet Army through these lands, leaving behind only devastation and an eerie silence.
On the third day of his journey, he sensed a battle taking place some distance ahead in the direction he was traveling. Without hesitation, he vanished from where he stood with a burst of speed so overwhelming that it resembled teleportation.
Near the village under attack by the Stone Puppet Army, what immediately caught his attention was that this was no ordinary settlement. Its inhabitants were clearly warriors capable of wielding chakra with remarkable skill. Nor were only the men fighting . women stood among the defenders as well, battling with the same ferocity and expertise as their male counterparts.
Among them, a young blonde woman stood out above the rest. Her swift movements and precise, calculated strikes allowed her to weave through the attacking puppets, shattering them one after another with tremendous force.
Yet despite all this, the defenders' situation was clearly far from favorable. Even the puppets they successfully destroyed simply reassembled themselves from their scattered fragments in the same bizarre manner as before.
The battle was steadily becoming a losing one, especially as the puppets systematically attempted to encircle the defenders from every direction, seeking to eliminate them through exhaustion.
Without the slightest hesitation, Thorn summoned his bow and unleashed a powerful volley of arrows toward the puppets surrounding the defenders from all sides.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The battlefield echoed with a series of powerful explosions as the blue arrows shattered the stone puppets apart. Every defender froze in sudden shock, instinctively searching for the source of the unexpected intervention that had completely changed the tide of battle in a single instant. But the puppets were far from finished, for they immediately began reconstructing themselves from the rubble scattered across the ground, forcing the defenders to regain their focus after only a brief moment of incomplete relief.
Before anyone could react again, they all heard a voice reaching their ears, ordering them to retreat immediately because a far stronger attack was about to be unleashed. The defenders quickly fell back, but several remained where they stood, either because they hesitated or because they had not fully understood the strange warning in time to make the right decision.
Before they could do anything at all, they suddenly felt thin strands of blue chakra wrapping tightly around their bodies, pulling them high into the air with incredible speed and carrying them far away from the dangerous area where they had been standing only moments earlier.
"Whaaa! What the hell is this?!"
"Ah! Damn it!"
Their cries echoed through the air, filled with panic and utter confusion at this sudden and incomprehensible force pulling them away. But the shouting did not last long. The colossal explosion that immediately erupted where they had been standing only moments before silenced everyone at once. Those who had retreated on their own in time, as well as those whom Thorn had forcibly dragged away, all turned deathly pale with fear and shock as they stared at the enormous mushroom cloud rising from the exact place where they had stood only seconds earlier.
A short time later, after the violent disturbances caused by the tremendous explosion had subsided, leaving behind an enormous crater carved into the earth, everyone who had taken part in the battle heard the sound of someone walking out from the dense forest surrounding the battlefield with quiet footsteps.
Everyone turned at once toward the source of the sound and saw a mysterious figure emerging from between the trees. He wore simple black clothing, and a black cloth covered most of his face. Even so, enough of his features remained visible . a dark complexion and uniquely sky-blue hair.
Silence fell over the battlefield for several long seconds. Some had only just escaped certain death, while others had witnessed with their own eyes a mysterious power that had obliterated an entire army of stone puppets with a single concentrated strike. They all stared at the strange young man as though he had stepped out of an ancient legend.
The blonde-haired young woman who had distinguished herself throughout the battle was among the first to regain her composure. She looked toward Thorn with naturally cautious eyes after everything she had experienced, yet beneath that caution lay a deep gratitude she could not conceal after witnessing what this mysterious stranger had done to the Puppet Army that had been only moments away from wiping out her entire village and erasing it from existence.
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