“Have you become so arrogant with your inflated power that you no longer recognize yourself?!”
Uchiha Tenxiu looked at An Lushan, the minister of Loulan, who was originally a confident character from the theatrical version.
Or, he could also be called Hyakuzu.
Years ago, he had traveled through space-time from an unknown future to this world, a rogue Ninja from the Sand Village.
“Hmm?” Uchiha Tenxiu tilted his head, hearing the other party’s idiotic remark, and couldn't help but chuckle: “An ordinary Jonin, who luckily obtained a bit of the Dragon Vein’s exposed energy, thinks he can contend with the Five Great Nations. Although I look down on the Five Great Villages, a third-rate Ninja like you, Hyakuzu, even if you’ve luckily gained a boost in strength, probably don’t have the qualifications to be taken seriously by the Five Great Nations!”
“What?!” Hyakuzu suddenly roared, his eyes blazing with anger: “How dare you call me a third-rate Ninja? What do you people understand? You should know that Puppet Ninjutsu itself has an upper limit; even the strongest puppets are limited. No matter how powerful a puppet is, it can be destroyed by a Tailed Beast, but through my efforts, I have changed this weakness of the Puppet Master.”
“My extraordinary Puppet Ninjutsu, even without the Dragon Vein’s power, has broken through its upper limit, becoming an existence no less than a Kage-level. As long as there are enough hands, it can be repeatedly replicated. Even if damaged in battle, it can be repaired at any time and fused and reorganized into even more powerful puppets. As long as there is sufficient quantity, they can be reorganized infinitely!”
“This point has been pushed to the limit under the power of the Dragon Vein. As long as there is enough time and manpower, I alone can destroy the Five Great Nations and become the master of the entire Ninja World. At that time, who would dare to call me a third-rate Ninja?!”
“Unfortunately, those dog-shit elders of the Sand Ninja looked down on my Puppet Ninjutsu and refused to give me more resources. Sooner or later, I will make them pay the price! And you, who also look down on my Puppet Ninjutsu, I will turn you into human puppets!”
He clenched his fists, refuting directly.
Clearly, facing Uchiha Tenxiu’s mockery of being a third-rate Ninja, he was completely triggered.
“Perhaps by relying on the power of the Dragon Vein, you can barely survive in Loulan, but in an external war, your strength doesn’t seem to be that great!” Uchiha Tenxiu surveyed the opponent’s puppets. Unlike Sasori’s puppets, which pushed individual strength and skill to the extreme, the opponent pursued scale and mass production.
Because he knew the limitations of Puppet Masters, that quality could not break through the Ninja’s limit, he sought to compensate for everything with quantity, and could infinitely repair them through the interchangeability of puppet parts, as well as combine them, allowing a large number of puppets to fuse together to become even more powerful puppets.
Each individual puppet had the strength of a Special Jonin, and they could combine for group attacks, and even if scattered, they could reorganize. As long as they weren’t pulverized in one go, they could continuously reassemble by relying on numbers. Unfortunately, all of this relied on the power of the Dragon Vein.
Once they left Loulan,
the limitations were almost too great.
“What’s more, you want to turn us into human puppets, but I also hope to use you as a new beast of burden!”
As soon as he spoke, Uchiha Tenxiu’s gaze naturally turned to Zhili beside him, a hint of trust and anticipation flashing in his eyes. He smiled and said to Zhili, “This person is Hyakuzu, a Ninja who came from the future of another parallel space-time. Like us, he also used the power of the Dragon Vein to travel here. However, from the strength he has shown so far, Zhili, I believe you are fully capable of defeating him! This is a good opportunity for you to fight a Puppet Master. Just treat him as your practice target!”
Uchiha Chiri nodded slightly, indicating that she understood Tenxiu’s meaning. She softly replied, “Mm, Tenxiu brother, I will do my best! I will learn how to deal with Puppet Masters!” Before her words even finished, Zhili had already stepped forward without hesitation, swiftly drawing the short blade from her waist behind her, her movements as natural and fluid as flowing clouds and water. The short blade glinted with a cold light in her hand, as if speaking of its sharpness and deadliness.
Uchiha Tenxiu saw this and nodded with satisfaction, his worries slightly eased.
He knew that although Zhili was still young, her strength was not to be underestimated. Facing such an opponent, Zhili didn't even need to use her full strength to defeat him.
“In that case, I am relieved!” Uchiha Tenxiu said with a smile, then turned his attention to another task—dealing with this world’s Dragon Vein.
Uchiha Tenxiu then released Little Dragon Girl Ao Ling.
“Master, leave this Dragon Vein to me!” Little Dragon Girl Ao Ling said cheerfully, gazing greedily at the underground Dragon Vein.
As a Dragon Vein Spirit with her own thoughts and sentience, facing this scattered Dragon Vein power that had no thoughts or sentience, she was practically drooling with desire. As soon as Uchiha Tenxiu summoned her, she wanted to have a good meal.
Of course, being cautious, she still set up a barrier to protect herself and the center of the Dragon Vein.
Meanwhile, outside.
“What? He… he… how could he know my origin?!” Hyakuzu was filled with astonishment, his voice trembling slightly, completely unable to understand why his identity had been so easily exposed.
He knew that he had traveled through space-time alone, and no one in this world should know his true identity.
However, the facts were before him; the other party not only knew his name but also seemed to be fully aware of his origins.
Could it be that the other party was also someone who had traveled through space-time?
Moreover, from the other party’s words, it could be inferred that they did not come from the same space-time.
So, the question was, how exactly did the other party know his origin?
Various possibilities flashed through Hyakuzu’s mind. Could it be that the space-time the other party was in was even more distant than his own, which was why they knew everything about him?
Or did the other party possess some special ability that allowed them to perceive the past and future of others?
Just as Hyakuzu was deep in thought, Uchiha Chiri opposite him suddenly charged forward, wielding her short blade.
“Although I don’t quite understand what’s going on, as long as I kill you all, no one will know my origin, and naturally no one will be able to notice the location of the Dragon Vein’s power, and they will never be able to decipher my Ninjutsu. Haha, kill them for me…” A sinister smile appeared on Hyakuzu’s face. He unhesitatingly commanded his puppets to rush towards Uchiha Chiri like hungry tigers pouncing on their prey.
Hundreds of puppets, each a zhang tall, possessing flight and agile movements, and with the power of the Dragon Vein, each was at the Jonin level. They not only had Chakra blades and could release Chakra lasers, but also possessed powerful defensive capabilities and could reorganize after being destroyed.
And puppets like these,
with his puppet factory, relying on the infinite energy of the Dragon Vein, he could assemble an endless supply at any time.
Although he still didn't understand where these two mysterious individuals came from or what their strength was, he could already imagine their defeat in front of his countless puppets, relying on the infinite power of the Dragon Vein.
Controlling these puppets was effortless for him.
And how much Chakra could the other party consume?
“Hehehe! I’ve won…” Hyakuzu was laughing, thinking he had won, and planned to take down the woman in front of him first.
At the same time, Uchiha Chiri had already engaged in a fierce battle with Hyakuzu’s hundreds of puppets.
Her short blade cut silver arcs through the air, intertwining with the puppets controlled by Hyakuzu, emitting crisp clashing sounds, easily fending off puppet attacks from any direction.
Uchiha Chiri’s movements were agile and varied, like a ghost, weaving through the puppet attacks with ease, occasionally delivering fatal blows to the opponent, effortlessly severing the puppet control threads, and then steadily advancing towards Hyakuzu, who was controlling these puppets. Her short blade, under the effect of Chidori Current, was capable of cutting through anything, and moreover, it left a layer of electric current on all the puppets damaged in battle.
This way,
even if Hyakuzu wanted to restore these puppets with Chakra threads again, he wouldn’t be able to do so in a short time.
“No, this woman’s speed is very fast, her strength is definitely no less than Kage-level. I must fuse all the puppets together and unleash the power of the Dragon Vein at once, using Kage-level puppets to deal with such a master.” Hyakuzu saw that more than half of the hundreds of puppets he brought were instantly gone, and immediately became anxious, planning to use a higher-level technique to take down this woman in front of him first, and then use her to threaten the man behind her.
Hyakuzu had just gathered the puppets, their bodies covered in blades, towards his main body, forcing Zhili to retreat. He was about to fuse them when, in the next moment, all the gathered puppets suddenly had their abilities greatly reduced, and the purple Chakra belonging to the Dragon Vein on their outer surface rapidly disappeared.
Only Hyakuzu’s own Chakra control remained.
This was the effect of Little Dragon Girl Ao Ling. Even though she had only just absorbed a bit of this world’s Dragon Vein, she could already easily control its power. Therefore, she immediately withdrew the Dragon Vein Chakra from all of Hyakuzu’s puppets.
Thus, Hyakuzu was miserable.
The immense power he had gained from the Dragon Vein completely plummeted after the Dragon Vein’s power disappeared.
Not only his puppets, but even his current main body, which had originally been modified into a special human puppet adapted to the Dragon Vein’s power, could easily animate puppets and possess near-immortality by relying on the Dragon Vein’s power.
And now, the disappearance of the Dragon Vein’s power made him realize that the immortality he had relied on was completely gone!
“Damn it, how is this possible?!” The disappearance of the Dragon Vein’s power made Hyakuzu, who was controlling these puppets, suddenly widen his eyes, looking at the two people in front of him with a face full of fear, unable to believe the changes in his puppet body, his heart filled with terror.
How could they control the power of the Dragon Vein?
Clearly, only the queen’s family of Loulan could control the Dragon Vein!