Chapter 141: The Puppet Army

The appearance of the man was merely a minor interlude that failed to stir the slightest ripple. Naturally, Baimu and the others did not step in to save him; in hidden corners of Loulan where the eyes could not reach, there were thousands, even tens of thousands of such slave laborers—what use would it be to rescue just one?

Moving slowly with the current of puppet crowds, they approached the towering royal palace. Getting any closer meant they could no longer rely on the same method of infiltration, as civilian puppets were strictly forbidden from approaching the royal grounds.

Two massively built, giant puppets stood like the most dedicated and loyal guard warriors, blocking the entrance to the royal palace on the left and the right.

Ahead of them, rows upon rows of puppet soldiers, arranged like terra-cotta warriors, stood sternly across the plaza, as though any living soul daring to approach would trigger their combat mechanisms.

Looking up, near the summit of the hundred-meter-tall obelisk-like tower, a red-haired young woman in gorgeous royal robes could be vaguely seen holding a scepter, waving to the cheering crowds dancing wildly on the streets below.

"What should we do? Charge straight through?" Having once fought head-on with the First Hokage, Kakuzu truly did not hold a mere few hundred puppet soldiers in any regard.

"Can you have a bit of artistic flair? We are all civilized people. Resorting to brute force is such a crude approach, and who knows how many traps are hidden in the shadows," Baimu said with an expression of disdain. "I'll sneak in quietly first, rescue Queen Sara, and shut down the Dragon Vein seal."

Maki nodded. They knew nothing about the situation in Loulan and could only follow Baimu's lead.

Kakuzu disliked skulking about; his signature move was always to unleash a massive, sweeping spectacle.

"We are all civilized people... I'll sneak in quietly first... rescue Queen Sara... shut down the Dragon Vein seal..."

A bizarre, mocking voice rang out from the side.

"Who is imitating me?" Baimu snapped his head around in a hurry.

"Who is imitating me?" A monkey squatted on top of a civilian's head, tilting its head as it repeated Baimu's words. Although dressed up like a human, its expression was entirely devoid of life—it was startlingly a puppet monkey!

"Damn it! Catch it!" This creature was definitely a spy-type puppet that would report any eavesdropped intelligence back to Anrokusan.

"Damn it! Catch it!" After repeating the phrase, the puppet monkey stepped on the heads of the puppet crowd and scurried forward at high speed.

"Wind Scythe Whirlwind!" Maki whipped out his curved wind blade once again, hovering it in a spin above the monkey puppet's head to sever all of its chakra control wires.

The puppet monkey lost control and tipped over to one side. Just as everyone let out a sigh of relief, the puppet monkey suddenly grabbed the chakra thread on the head of an ordinary civilian nearby, reconnected it to itself, tilted its head, and mocked backward, "Wind Scythe Whirlwind."

Baimu and his companions were wedged inside the crowd of puppets; how could they possibly outrun this freakishly agile monkey? Within a few bounds, it leaped onto the wall of the royal palace tower.

In desperation, Baimu could only blurt out: "The white cat's black nose, the black cat's white nose, the black cat's white nose bruised the white cat's black nose, the white cat's black nose bruised; peel the chaff husk to mend the nose, the black cat's white nose is not broken, mend the nose without peeling the chaff husk."

The puppet monkey twitched its head with a mechanical clacking sound and scrambled rapidly up the tower.

"As expected of Dad, truly clever!" Xianglin gave a thumbs-up.

"This... will that actually work?" Yura twitched the corner of her mouth.

"Whether it works or not, it has to. Or would you like to try?" Baimu spread his hands in resignation.

The monkey indeed served as a specialized puppet tasked with eavesdropping on intelligence and searching for intruders. Within mere dozens of seconds, it had climbed to the top of the high tower, leaped onto Anrokusan's shoulder, tilted its head, and clacked its jaws open and shut: "Black cat... white cat... nose..."

"What black cat and white cat?" Anrokusan frowned.

"Damn it! Catch it!"

"Who is imitating me?" The puppet monkey babbled back and forth.

"As expected... you still came, Your Majesty the Emperor..." Anrokusan grabbed the puppet monkey and crushed it into pieces with a loud crunch.

"White cat, black cat..." The monkey's head struggled twice before its light went out.

"Your Majesty the Queen." Anrokusan walked slowly behind Queen Sara, pressed a hand to his chest, and bowed deeply. "Our soldiers have detected foreign intruders. For Your Majesty's safety, please move to a secure area."

Sara stood on the high platform and looked down. Sure enough, the crowds were fleeing in all directions, and several figures stood directly facing the entrance of her palace, breathing a massive torrent of flames toward her soldiers.

"People from the Land of Wind... have they come after all? Lord Anrokusan, I leave everything here in your hands. You must protect my mother's life's work." Sara nodded without pretense, turning to follow two personal maids toward the shelter.

"Your Majesty the Emperor... please gracefully accept the gift you have brought upon yourself. The humiliation you inflicted upon me shall be repaid a hundredfold..." Anrokusan's fists clenched so tightly they creaked.

...

[Warning, warning. Intruders detected...]

[All personnel are requested to evacuate and return home.]

[Warning, warning...]

All the surrounding puppets raised their hands and fled in panic, leaving Baimu and his group stranded in the swirling wind.

The puppet soldiers stationed in the plaza before the palace were activated one after another. Their eye sockets lit up with a crimson chakra glow, locking onto the intruders including Baimu.

"I told you, we should have just charged straight through." Ignoring whether Baimu agreed or not, Kakuzu brought his palms together, causing two masked monsters—one red and one blue—to burst forth from his back. Raging flames and lightning energy accumulated within their mouths... and then blasted forth!

Fire Release: Searing Migraine + Lightning Release: False Darkness!

Lightning Flame Surprise Attack!!!

A surging, overwhelming sea of fire swept across the land like a rolling tide. The lightning spears embedded within it crackled with flames, violently shattering one puppet soldier after another, leaving them not even a chance to throw down their weapons and surrender.

"Such a grand spectacle!" Baimu was blinded by the dazzling radiance and could barely keep his eyes open. If this were adapted into an animation, just how much of the budget would it burn through?

"This guy... just how strong is he?" Yura was also a ninjutsu-type ninja, but standing before Kakuzu, she felt too ashamed to even weave hand signs, fearing she would lose face.

However, as everyone knew, grand spectacles rarely achieved much practical effect...

After the lightning and flames subsided, the plaza was littered with charred puppet fragments. Some twitched feebly under the pull of invisible chakra threads, while others had the rocket ammunition inside their bodies directly detonated, blowing them to smithereens.

"Area cleared. Let's go in and find the minister's treasure." There was a reason Kakuzu could fight with such enthusiasm.

Hummm...

The floor tiles of the plaza shifted, operating like a massive elevator to transport the damaged puppets downward while hoisting up a fresh squad of intact puppet soldiers. Countless chakra threads descended from the air to re-establish the connections.

At the same time, dozens of patrollers swarmed in from all directions across the sky, forming an inescapable net above and below that left no room to fly away.

[Intruders detected...]

[Destroy them...]

"Are you kidding me? ... Does this count as the four of us going to war against an entire nation?" Baimu stood dumbfounded.