From Tōji's position to Akane's was about a hundred paces.
If not for all the trees, he'd have been able to see what was happening over there.
Clang! The first clash of metal rang out—followed by a rapid clink-clank-clink of repeated strikes.
Tōji gripped a kunai in his hand. He didn't charge in blindly, but kept his guard up as he advanced, eyes sweeping the surroundings, ears tuned to more than just the sounds of combat.
"Caution keeps you alive."
A few dozen meters—and he encountered nothing. By the time he got there, he could see Raicho locked in battle with a puppet controlled by a Suna puppeteer.
Raicho wielded a kusarigama—a chain with a sickle on one end and a weighted ball on the other.
The enemy controlled only one humanoid puppet. And it didn't seem particularly agile—probably damaged in an earlier fight, and its construction looked fairly crude…
With Raicho at full strength, he had the upper hand.
The puppeteer was struggling. He'd probably only come out of hiding because he had no choice—Akane had stumbled right into him.
The fallen teammate, Akane, was lying facedown on the ground, several senbon sticking out of her back… and they looked venomous to the eye.
Natchi had arrived a little earlier than Tōji and was now standing guard in front of Akane, tense and ready for any sudden attack from the Suna puppeteer.
Tōji didn't step into the jōnin-level fight either—especially not against a puppeteer's poison. He really didn't want to deal with that… who knows if they'd get the antidote in time…
That was when Tōji noticed—one of the puppeteer's legs was wrapped in bandages with dried, dark bloodstains… He'd probably been stranded here for days, unable to leave.
Raicho was pretty skilled. Every time the puppet fired a salvo of projectiles from some weird, unexpected angle, he dodged in time. But he couldn't seem to land a decisive blow on the puppet itself.
Both Tōji and Natchi had opportunities to throw some projectiles at the Suna puppeteer—but both knew they shouldn't.
"Tōji!" Raicho called out—probably worried that if this dragged on too long, the poisoned Akane wouldn't make it. He was signaling Tōji to act.
"Sigh. Guess a tokubetsu jōnin has limits after all." Tōji sighed inwardly, then got moving.
He used Body Flicker to vanish from his spot and reposition behind a large tree—close enough to the puppeteer for a clean shot, but far enough to stay out of trouble.
"This should be safe. No need to take unnecessary risks!" Thinking this, Tōji hurled six shuriken in one go!
Shing shing shing… Four of them flew high, low, left, and right around the puppeteer—sealing off any room to dodge—while the remaining two came straight at the middle, one after another, forming a pincer.
It wasn't flashy, but the only genin who could pull off that kind of throw were from the Uchiha clan.
Even Raicho, busy fighting the puppet, caught a glimpse of those shuriken.
The puppeteer twisted sideways, dodging five—and took the sixth one square in the chest.
But—no blood!
"This cheating bastard—he's wearing armor!"
And in that moment of distraction, Raicho's sickle sliced clean through one of the puppet's shoulder joints, disabling the limb entirely.
Without needing to be told, Tōji kept up the pressure, giving Raicho room to finish the puppet off.
Shing shing shing! Another volley—three shuriken, all aimed at the head and neck, the only spots without visible armor.
Shing shing shing! And at the same time—from a different angle—Natchi had launched his own volley, similar in intent, forcing the puppeteer to dodge.
"Natchi's got good instincts. Poor social skills, but solid combat sense."
Crack! Suddenly, two pieces of chest armor—material unknown—extended upward from the puppeteer's torso, one in front and one behind, covering his head and neck in time to catch the incoming projectiles with a series of dull thud thud thud sounds…
"Well, didn't see that coming!"