From Danmachi to God of Ninja

Chapter 90: Chapter 90

Kiriya originally thought that this slash would swiftly deal with Chiyo and end the battle in his favor.

However, things developed beyond his expectations.

Clang!

With the sound of metal striking metal, Kiriya’s blade was blocked by a layer of blue light.

Chiyo’s arm had also changed.

Several plates on her forearm opened outward like an umbrella, and that layer of light burst from the arm itself.

The light screen was so thin that it seemed like mist that could be scattered with a single breath, yet it was preventing his sword from advancing even an inch.

’Are you kidding me? Even energy shields are showing up now? Is Sunagakure actually the one with the core technology? With this kind of ability, why are you fighting a Shinobi World War? Just go explore space already.’

’And this woman... her reaction is fast! is she really a puppeteer?’

In an instant, all kinds of thoughts tangled together in Kiriya’s mind, and the urge to roast her surged up fiercely.

Of course, although those thoughts seemed like a lot, only a split second had passed in reality.

Kiriya’s figure vanished instantly, avoiding the surprise attack from the nearest puppet.

When he reappeared, he was already several meters away.

The two stood facing each other, and for a moment, the atmosphere became strangely tense.

"Puppet Technique: Mechanical Light Shield."

Cold sweat had appeared on Chiyo’s forehead, and even her breathing had become slightly hurried.

If she had not reacted quickly just now, and if she had not prepared Mechanical Light Shield in advance, she would already be dead.

"A movement technique just like the Yellow Flash’s, huh?"

Chiyo’s expression grew solemn.

The way she looked at Kiriya was no longer the gaze one gave a junior, but the gaze one gave a powerful opponent qualified to stand on equal footing.

"Brat, you’re dangerous. I can’t let you live."

As she spoke, her right hand moved as fast as lightning. She pulled out a scroll, unfolded it, and summoned all the puppets sealed inside in one breath.

Bang, bang, bang!

As clouds of white smoke scattered, ten puppets dressed in white robes floated in the air.

They guarded Chiyo tightly while also forming an encirclement around Kiriya.

"White Secret Technique: The Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets."

This was the masterpiece of Monzaemon, the ancestor of puppeteers.

The Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets.

Under Chiyo’s almost divine puppetry, they could fight independently or unleash combination techniques.

Their power increased exponentially, enough to make each puppet worth a thousand soldiers.

In her youth, Chiyo had once used this technique to capture an entire castle with ease.

The Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets was the current peak of puppetry in the shinobi world.

As for why it was only the "current" peak...

That was because in the future, her precious grandson Sasori would be able to use the Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets, truly surpassing the previous generation.

Of course, that was a story for later.

"To think you can control ten puppets at once. That really is impressive."

Kiriya looked at those puppets, swept a hand across his ninja pouch, and scattered the kunai he had already marked with the Flying Thunder God formula around the area, turning this battlefield into terrain convenient for his movement technique.

’I see. His movement technique uses those kunai as coordinates. In that case, I only need to remember their locations and destroy him the instant he appears.’

Chiyo was worthy of being a top-tier puppeteer and a Kage-level expert.

Through the information available, she quickly analyzed part of the principle behind Kiriya’s movement technique and formulated a countermeasure.

"Brat, you’re staying here."

Chiyo shouted, her index fingers moving rapidly.

Seven or eight puppets immediately flew toward Kiriya.

A puppet with the face of a pink-haired woman took the lead, holding swords in both hands. Its twin blades moved like a violent storm, cutting toward Kiriya.

Clang!

Against a sword user, Kiriya had no intention of indulging the opponent. He directly swung his sword to meet it.

With only one pass, he cut down the pink-haired dual-sword puppet.

And precisely because of that strike, his speed briefly stagnated.

Several harpoons attached to ropes shot out from behind him and pierced through Kiriya’s body in an instant, yet not a single drop of blood flowed out.

"Tch. An afterimage?"

Chiyo clicked her tongue.

Noticing Kiriya on top of a large tree, she continued controlling her puppets and sent them charging toward him.

For a while, poison needles flew like rain, and sharp blades cut wildly like fierce winds, tearing the forest area into a complete mess.

Smoke and dust filled the air, yet they could not even touch the corner of Kiriya’s clothes.

"He really is troublesome..."

More and more sweat gathered on Chiyo’s forehead.

Maintaining such high-intensity, multi-line operation placed extremely high demands on both her brain’s calculation ability and her fine chakra control.

In only a short while, she already felt the consumption becoming frightening.

’I have to restrict his movements.’

Chiyo kept controlling the puppets to launch assaults, but Kiriya dodged every attack one by one.

He even found chances to counterattack now and then, leaving Chiyo with fewer and fewer puppets under her control.

But instead of decreasing, Kiriya’s pressure grew heavier.

Because a reduction in the number of puppets also meant that the puppeteer could allocate more focus to the remaining ones, multiplying their flexibility.

Under these circumstances, Chiyo finally seized an opportunity.

"Puppet Technique: Three Buddhist Treasures Vacuum Destruction."

Three puppets stood in a triangular formation.

Their mouths opened, revealing the characters "Buddha," "Dharma," and "Sangha," forming an extremely powerful array.

Then a fierce storm swept out, pulling everything in front of it—trees, rocks, and kunai—into the formation at the center of the three puppets.

Under the formation’s tremendous force, everything was compressed, crushed, and blown out from behind.

Kiriya was in midair.

The tornado formed by the array pulled at him until his body became unstable, dragging him directly toward it.

"Good. Just like that, in one breath..."

Chiyo had just been about to increase the output when Kiriya flashed again, appearing beside the three puppets.

He opened his mouth and spat a massive fireball at them.

"Fire Release: Big Flame Bullet."

The high-temperature flames instantly destroyed the puppets’ bodies, turning them to ash.

"What?"

Chiyo was shocked.

She remembered clearly that there had been no kunai there.

How had that brat teleported to that location?

Kiriya smiled faintly.

The reason kunai could serve as coordinates was because of the Flying Thunder God formula engraved on them, not because of the kunai themselves.

The only reason he prepared them in advance was to save the time needed to mark formulas during battle.

Of course, doing so also created an effect he expected.

Almost everyone who encountered the Flying Thunder God Technique would subconsciously assume those kunai were special.

As a result, they would focus all their attention on the kunai and overlook the fact that Kiriya, as the user of the technique, could place marks at any time.

"Water Release: Water Severing Wave."

The instant Chiyo lost focus from shock, Kiriya’s Wood Release clone appeared behind her and swung out an extremely thin high-pressure water blade, cutting toward her waist.

’Damn it!’

Chiyo reacted and hurriedly commanded her two remaining puppets to block it.

But in front of Kiriya’s Water Severing Wave, they could not even last half a second before being cut cleanly in two.

The Water Severing Wave continued forward, rushing toward her.

Bang!

In front of the Water Severing Wave, Chiyo used Mechanical Light Shield once again and finally blocked the deadly high-pressure water blade.

But Mechanical Light Shield’s effectiveness was directly proportional to chakra consumption.

Chiyo had never belonged to the type of shinobi with unusually abundant chakra, and after this battle, her reserves had already been drained almost completely.

She dropped to her knees, gasping heavily.

She had originally come to eliminate Kiriya.

Instead, she had placed herself in danger, hanging on the edge of death!