Pupet Master in Konoha

Nakamura was leaning against a large tree, his eyes wide open as he surveyed his surroundings.

He had come to the conclusion that the strange figure in front of him was either a corpse disguised as Kimura Hideki or a realistic puppet, with even its internal organs perfectly restored. While the first assumption was more likely, the thought of the black cat puppet, which had been so well disguised that even he couldn't tell it apart from the real thing, made Nakamura uneasy. He couldn't help but wonder if the second assumption was, in fact, true.

This reminded him of what Chiyo-sensei had once said about puppets originally created by mechanics. These puppets were designed to perfectly imitate human appearance, hoping to lower the enemy's guard before launching a fatal strike.

Kimura Hideki was simply too much—he had even perfectly restored the human body's internal structure.

But, whether it was a corpse or a realistic puppet, it still needed a controller to move it.

This meant that Kimura Hideki, as the controller, had to be nearby.

Now that Nakamura had roughly figured out the cause and effect, he calmed down. Fear came from the unknown. Once you understood the principle behind something, there was nothing to fear—even the strange puppet corpse in front of him.

Even though Nakamura had lost his advantage and was injured, he still didn't underestimate his opponent. In the real battle between puppeteers, he was confident he could achieve the final victory.

The first thing he needed to do was find Kimura Hideki's location.

Seeing the puppet corpse of Hideki stagger not far away, Nakamura began to form a plan in his mind and controlled his mantis puppet to fly toward it.

"Kimura Hideki, let me show you what true puppets are!" Nakamura shouted, trying to provoke his opponent's position.

Of course, this was just a prelude. Puppeteers communicate through their puppets, not directly.

"Drill, Dance of the Mantis!"

Nakamura focused chakra into his puppet, causing the chakra threads connecting to the mantis puppet to glow with a bright blue light.

The mantis puppet's movements became more agile and faster, and it began to attack furiously, swinging its scythe-like forelimbs through the air.

The puppet corpse, bearing Hideki's face, began to move, trying to dodge the mantis puppet's attacks.

Although its speed wasn't fast, it managed to avoid the strong attacks with its strange movements, which defied human anatomy.

Even if it was occasionally struck by the scythe, the wounds would heal gradually, as if it had regenerative capabilities.

For a moment, both puppets clashed, neither side able to gain an advantage.

"Damn it, it's not so easy to reveal flaws..." Nakamura muttered, furrowing his brow.

The reason he attacked the puppet corpse so aggressively was to force his opponent to increase chakra production to control the puppet and dodge the attack. By doing so, Nakamura could find his opponent's location through the chakra threads that would appear.

However, things weren't going as planned.

Nakamura had thought that once the puppet corpse was exposed, it would be easy to deal with.

After all, to completely simulate the human body, the material strength of the puppet would only be on par with human flesh, with little room for installing weapons.

Perhaps the only weapon it had was the poisoned needle that occasionally appeared from its wrists.

And the ongoing battle seemed to confirm this fact.

The puppet corpse had no other means of combat except for the occasional poison needles from its wrists.

But a stealth puppet with low combat effectiveness was still able to fight to a draw with Nakamura's combat-ready puppet—nobody could make a decisive move!

What was even more terrifying was that up to this point, there were still no visible chakra threads on his opponent's puppet.

This meant that Kimura Hideki wasn't even exerting his full power yet...

Nakamura had to face a harsh reality.

"This is why I, coming from a specialty, can't compare to a wild type when it comes to puppet control..."

He couldn't help but think.

Not to mention that this seemingly even fight was actually very unfavorable for him.

Nakamura glanced at the wounded part of his calf.

Although the wound was temporarily sealed with chakra, he had already lost a significant amount of blood.

If he didn't win quickly, he might collapse from exhaustion and be killed.

"It seems we have no choice but to use the last resort..." Nakamura gritted his teeth, beginning to move his mantis puppet at high speed around the puppet corpse, wielding the twin scythes to slash the surrounding air.

His plan was simple.

Although there were no visible chakra threads around the puppet corpse, not seeing them didn't mean they didn't exist.

The twin scythes in the mantis puppet's forelimbs were mixed with some metallic chakra and were chakra-based weapons capable of cutting chakra threads.

So, while it might take time, if he kept trying, the hidden chakra threads would eventually be severed.

At the same time, Nakamura could pinpoint Hideki's location based on where the mantis puppet swung its scythe when the puppet corpse lost its mobility.

The reason Nakamura hadn't used this approach earlier was that he feared Hideki would abandon the puppet and escape, leaving him with nothing.

For the thirty million taels in reward, and to uncover Kimura Hideki's secrets, Nakamura wasn't ready to let him go easily.

But now, he didn't care as much.

It would be better to catch him now. If Hideki escaped, at least Nakamura could still save his life, and later, he could come back and settle things!

"Kimura Hideki, I admit, you are the real puppeteer."

"Then... surrender your life and your secrets!"

With all his strength, Nakamura urged the mantis puppet to keep swinging the scythe, attempting to cut the hidden chakra threads in the air.

For a moment, the forest seemed to be struck by a typhoon. Trees, flowers, plants, and even small animals that couldn't escape were swept up in the scythe storm, causing a disaster.

However, even after reaching this level, the scene Nakamura had imagined—cutting the chakra threads and making the puppet corpse fall to the ground—still didn't happen.

Left, right, back, up!

The scythes of the mantis puppet had covered every side of the corpse puppet, but still, there were no signs of chakra threads being cut.

Nakamura's expression shifted from anticipation and excitement to confusion and disbelief.

In the end, his face contorted into one of hysteria and madness.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible..."

"This puppet is clearly controlled by someone, how could it not have chakra threads?!"

"I must have missed something..."

"But it doesn't matter. As long as I chop through all the nearby areas, I'll definitely force Kimura Hideki out of hiding!"

Nakamura, left with no choice but to adopt this impotent approach...

Escaping directly wasn't possible. His only way of surviving was to force Hideki to appear before his chakra ran out.

However, his desperate move was destined to fail.

Because once the direction of the effort was wrong, no matter how much he tried, it would all be in vain.

Poor Nakamura—he probably never thought that Kimura Hideki, whom he desperately wanted to find, wasn't hiding in the forest at all, but buried beneath his very feet...

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