Chapter 37: Forest Sea (Part 1)

In this battle, Haseo had no intention of showing off his godlike speed in performing techniques—not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't. If this were merely a training exercise, naturally he could freely waste his chakra. However, facing a ninja like Menzuomen, what difference would there be between exhausting his chakra and death itself?

On the grass, on tree trunks, and among the evergreen canopies stood ten puppets, crouching or standing upright. Spread out at different distances and angles around him, they encircled Menzuomen—no guards could be more loyal than these mechanical protectors.

Menzuomen's fingers danced rapidly; under his command, the Chikamatsu Collection swiftly sprang into action. Although caught slightly off guard by the enemy's sudden assault, his reaction remained timely.

Amidst the dense, eerie, and grating screech of machinery, three of the ten puppets charged straight toward Haseo. Yet Haseo paid them no mind. His hands moved up and down in quick succession, forming one hand seal after another. At the same time, he quietly called out to his companion:

"Nara!"

At moments like this, Nara naturally knew exactly what to do. The dark shadow beneath his feet seemed suddenly to gain life of its own, morphing into tendrils that extended forward. These shadows quickly overtook Haseo's figure, reaching ahead and connecting first with the feet of those three puppets.

The deadly blades raised by the three puppets froze mid-strike. At the same time, Menzuomen suddenly stilled three fingers; clearly, he'd already sensed that these three puppets had slipped beyond his control.

"Old guys always run low on chakra, don't they?" Haseo thought to himself before dashing past those three puppets.

Although [Shadow Binding Jutsu] was an incredibly convenient and powerful control technique, Nagisa Nara was still a young ninja. His skill wasn't nearly refined enough, nor could his chakra be considered strong. How could he hope to wrest control of those puppets away from Menzuomen? Logically speaking, someone like Menzuomen should have immediately broken free from such restraint.

Yet from appearance alone, Menzuomen was already well into his late seventies. No matter how ruthless he appeared, truthfully he was merely an aging ninja barely capable of continuing to fight for his village… Just how abundant could his chakra truly be?

In fact, Menzuomen had long since become the sort of ninja who relied primarily on experience rather than chakra in battle. His reputation was formidable, and his threat great, yet his actual power was nowhere near what it once had been. It was believed that if we went back merely five years earlier, even such a renowned opponent wouldn't have been trapped by the strength of a Chunin like Nagisa Nara.

These thoughts flashed through Haseo's mind momentarily. If Nagisa were to learn of them, he would surely curse loudly. What an easy thing to say while standing safely aside—things simply weren't that simple! At this moment, for Nagisa—who controlled those three puppets—it felt just like sitting atop an about-to-erupt volcano. Rather than Menzuomen, it was actually Nagisa himself who was on the verge of losing control.

Nara didn't sense any weakening of Menzuomen's chakra due to old age. While barely maintaining control over those three puppets, he himself had also become immobilized and could no longer offer support to Haseo.

After leaping past the puppets, Haseo completed his hand seals. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with fresh, abundant air, then exhaled forcefully:

[Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!]

The blazing Fire Dragon Flame Bullet was especially noticeable in the dim forest. A surge of scorching heat radiated outward from Haseo as explosive flames roared toward Menzuomen standing more than ten meters away.

There was no way such an exaggerated, overt Ninjutsu technique—one powerful yet relatively slow—could land a direct hit. Without hesitation, Menzuomen immediately positioned another trio of puppets directly in front of himself as shields.

Boom!

The Fire Dragon Flame Bullet slammed into those three puppets, instantly exploding into scattered sparks. Such was the only result achieved by this powerful Ninjutsu.

Puppets are a special type of Ninja Tool. Normally, during their construction process, they definitely undergo testing for fire resistance, pressure tolerance, abrasion resistance, weight capacity, adaptability to deserts and aquatic environments, high temperatures, freezing cold, and so on. This is even more true for top-tier puppets like the Chikamatsu Collection—they're certainly designed with much higher specifications.

If puppets couldn't withstand attacks from basic techniques like Fire Release or Water Release, their range of applications would be far too limited. Therefore, Haseo's fire-style jutsu only caused minimal superficial damage to these puppets.

However, immediately afterward, a nearly imperceptible shuriken trailing transparent threads slipped silently through the gaps between the three puppets. Using the intense brightness created by the fire technique as cover, it spiraled at an extremely difficult angle around toward one of Menzuomen's arms.

Hidden within the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet attack was the Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique.

Haseo executed both fire-style techniques with almost no time gap between them.

This was also an area-effect fire-based Ninjutsu, but unlike the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet, the Dragon Fire Technique required guidance via chakra-connected threads—in some ways, it was "guided."

A second wave of searing flames surged toward Menzuomen. Bound in place by the shuriken thrown moments earlier, he had no chance to dodge. Compounding the situation, the earlier high-temperature environment generated by the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet allowed this C-rank Dragon Fire Technique to generate an intensity and impact far beyond what its rank should produce.

Then, engulfed by the flames of the Dragon Fire Technique, Menzuomen began burning violently... The one who dared mess with the old master had finally been caught.

Despite landing a successful hit, Haseo frowned deeply. Though he'd planned this consecutive assault all along, the effect it produced seemed overly exaggerated, almost unbelievable… No matter how cleverly arranged, tricks were still just tricks—would something like this really have significant effect against a shinobi like Menzuomen? Haseo had his doubts, and frankly, his trick was pretty crude to begin with.

Even more telling was that Menzuomen burned silently the whole time—no struggle, no cry, just stillness within the flames.

All the Chikamatsu Collection puppets halted their movements too.

Haseo raised a single hand, signaling his companions not to move recklessly. His gaze remained locked on Menzuomen, who was engulfed in flames.

"Truly impressive... You managed to hit my puppet replica so quickly. Yet the more impressive you are, the more determined I am that none of you will leave here alive today. I can't afford to give you the chance to grow stronger."

As a Sunagakure ninja, this mindset was entirely justified. Threats must be eliminated before they have the chance to fully develop.

The flames from the Dragon Fire Technique gradually faded away. However, Menzuomen's voice hadn't originated from that location. Haseo and the others sharply turned their eyes toward the treetop where they had originally hidden. There stood another Menzuomen.

No, more accurately, Menzuomen had been there all along.

They watched as he subtly twitched his index finger. In response, the figure emerging from the flames mimicked that motion with its own finger. Moments later, one of the Chikamatsu Collection puppets stirred to life, taking up an offensive stance.

Clearly, what Haseo had struck earlier was still another decoy—a puppet crafted by Menzuomen modeled after himself.

It wasn't uncommon for puppet masters to modify their own bodies or create self-replica puppets as substitutes. But to control one's own puppet-substitute while simultaneously manipulating an entire puppet army through it was simply unheard of. No wonder the previous movements of the Chikamatsu Collection lacked finesse—they were effectively being manipulated by nothing more than a single finger.

One finger controlling eleven puppets—what extraordinary operational ability!

"Senpai, you sure are spry for an old timer..."

At last, a shadow settled within Haseo's eyes.

This was supposed to be a full-strength fight, huh? It turns out you were never serious this whole time. While such cautious concealment of his true form logically made sense—in this manner, Menzuomen could ensure his position remained unshakable no matter what—it genuinely felt like nothing more than play.

For a first-time enemy, Menzuomen was way too strong. Where was that 'grind mob' they were promised anyway?

P.S.

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