Unexpected Foe

Natsume and Sahiro were going to fight together but several kunai landed in between them with explosive tags. They went off almost instantly, causing them to dodge away from each other. A shadow appeared before her in the direction she dodged. Fortunately, she slashed her sword out to block the incoming fist. Meanwhile, Sahiro was already engaged in a 10 versus 1 battle with the Uzumaki warriors.

Natsume wanted to assist him, but the large-robed figure blocked her way. Natsume recognized him right away as the puppet that the Shirogane puppet master summoned. The hair on the back of her neck stood and she instinctually side-stepped. A thousand needles scattered across the ground. The soil turned purple as poison spread out. She repositioned herself and saw the two puppets standing before her.

"Ho-ho, your eyes are quite interesting. This is fate! Once I turn you into a living puppet, you will be my ultimate weapon!" The puppet chattered its mouth up and down again. That mocking fake laugh annoyed Natsume every time she saw it. Without wasting any time, she made hand signs and released a dozen balls of orange flames.

Seeing this, the main puppet's elbow compartments opened, causing its forearms to swing backward. From within, two tubes stuck out. A stream of limestone powder shot out smothering the balls of flame. Natsume saw this and realized that this would directly suppress any fire release user. Any other fire user would have to fight a battle of attrition or use a different strategy.

The limestone powder put out the immediate flames, causing the puppets to stop focusing on that and attempt a counterattack. However, when the blobs landed on the ground and splashed in all directions, they reignited in renewed fervor. The flames clung to everything, destroying the heavy robe around the main puppet revealing its true form. As for the living puppet, a large burn wound festered along his arm.

"Interesting! A kekkai genkai only makes me want your body even more!"

The puppet's six arms that were now revealed each brandished a dark black blade. The puppets' speed were unlike before. Natsume realized that he had not been taking her seriously before. Fortunately, her eyes allowed her to keep up with their movements. The only issue was her body couldn't keep up with her eyes. Her chakra reserves were quickly being depleted which caused her alarm.

"Hehe, looks like the parasite has given you to me on a silver platter." The puppets sword dance was fascinating. It was a technique that Natsume had never seen. She tried to deflect as much as possible, even severing two of the puppets' arms. However, she still received several small cuts all over her body. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but the Shirogane specialized in poisons. She could feel her body becoming weaker and weaker. As a shinobi, her poison tolerance was very good, but it only lasted so long.

She could not match up to the puppets. Every time she tried to cut the chakra strings; the living puppet would block her with his body. Any strings she removed would be replaced with a string from the thick bundle attached to the living puppet. Although this decreased the control of the living puppet, it was an impossible battle of attrition.

"The Red Scorpion venom is the main ingredient in my poison. You have done well to last this long, but it'll only be a matter of time before full body paralysis sets in." Natsume gritted her teeth. She didn't want to use Susanoo because she was afraid of the consequences, but she couldn't think of a solution. "You foolish Uchiha really should have just destroyed my puppets when you had a chance!"

Thinking about the caravan, she suddenly thought of something. When she awakened her eyes, she only received a brief understanding of their capabilities. Their true potential would need to be discovered on her own. She understood from her inherited memories that her first ability was very good in the current era, but her second ability was a bit vaguer. However, her gut told her that this was the best moment to use it.

'If I can't defeat your puppets… then go after the puppet master.' Natsume thought. Her right eye rotated rapidly and her dojutsu power plummeted. The poorly lit forest suddenly became radiant. Every shadow and corner was revealed to her. She felt as if she were looking down at everything from the heavens, but simultaneously from any angle she wished. The whole forest was under her observation.

"Zenchizen!" The name appeared in her mind. The first thing she saw was the cart and caravan, it was still intact. The next was a lone Shirogane clan member hiding in the hollow of a tree with a hundred chakra strings extending toward the battlefield. He was an old and decrepit man with one foot in the grave. His body had even been modified with puppet techniques.

Natsume saw everything all at once. The information seemed overwhelming, but her dojutsu allowed her mind to process it without issue. Without any delay, she activated her left eye and smiled at the puppets. With both eyes working in tangent, she was able to activate Fuchikoma from a different position. The thousands of explosive tags turned into streaks of light before appearing around the tree that the puppet master was hiding in.

In order to secure the mission success, each Uchiha had the ability to trigger the tags from a distance. Natsume formed a hand seal and started laughing. "Boom!"

Everyone paused for a moment when, in the distance, thousands of explosive tags went off which shook the forest. The puppets went slack, and Natsume didn't take a chance and instantly released another jutsu to destroy them. Their bodies turned to ash under the intense heat, and she collapsed on the ground breathing heavily. Her chakra was dangerously low, and her eyes felt like they were being pierced by a thousand needles.

She looked at her arms and saw they were beginning to turn purple from the poison. She also felt that she couldn't withstand another activation of her dojutsu. She let her sharingan revert back to her normal eyes to preserve her strength. At that moment, she detected the difference in chakra drain and tore her pant leg. A life-like snake tattoo was curled up. It covered nearly her whole leg from ankle to hip. She stabbed the head of the snake with a kunai while rapidly expelling chakra from her tenketsu.

"Hsss!" The snake jumped off her leg and transformed into the same white snake she saw in the genjutsu.

"It seems you are going to die. How… Delicious."