The Fire Country Daimyo was overly verbose, but the Revived puppets were straightforward.
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, ten Revived puppets charged forward, attacking the two Konoha ANBU, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Hattori.
The puppets attacked the two ANBU and Hiruzen Sarutobi under the orders of the Daimyo. However, their attack on Hattori was due to his own command.
Since the Daimyo's "attack" order was an indiscriminate one, if Hattori didn't also order the puppets to target himself, they would leave him alone, which would look too suspicious.
If the loyalty of the Revived puppets were ever questioned, the noble reputation he had painstakingly built would collapse instantly.
So, he ordered the puppets to attack him too—even sending three against himself! This way, he and Hiruzen Sarutobi each took on three puppets, while the two ANBU handled two puppets each.
Hattori and Hiruzen Sarutobi were fine; both had Kage-level strength, and facing Revived puppets with no higher than B-level strength was manageable.
One of the ANBU members was skilled in swordsmanship and held his own against the two puppets.
However, the other one struggled.
After less than ten exchanges, he was cut on the arm by a puppet, forcing him to resort to ninjutsu.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
With this Fire Style technique, a massive fireball engulfed the two Revived puppets in front of him.
But as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he was shocked to see the two Revived puppets emerge from the flames, charging at him with blades raised!
"Damn!"
He couldn't react in time to dodge.
Just as the puppet was about to decapitate him, his teammate arrived in time to assist.
"Lightning Style: Chidori!"
With a blinding flash of lightning, the puppet's back armor was cut open, revealing a wooden framework inside.
But it had no effect—the puppet's blade continued to swing down on the ANBU member.
Swish!
The blade stopped just at the ANBU member's neck but did not strike.
This was not due to any mercy from the puppet; it was because Hiruzen Sarutobi intervened.
At that moment, Hiruzen held the puppet's arm firmly, speaking in a low voice, "These are puppets; you can't measure them by ninja standards!"
"Yes, sir!"
The shaken ANBU quickly responded, raising his sword to block another puppet.
But to his surprise, the puppet suddenly shifted its attack, dodging his block, and came in with an elbow strike!
Bang!
"Argh!"
The puppet's iron elbow hit him hard, knocking the ANBU to the ground.
Seeing this, Hiruzen's face changed immediately.
"These guys can grow stronger during battle—be careful!"
With that, he kicked away one of the attacking puppets and cast a jutsu toward the one preparing to finish off the ANBU.
"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
A massive dragon's head emerged from the ground beside him and shot earthen bullets at the Revived puppet.
Bang, bang, bang...
The earth bullets forced the puppet back a few steps, saving the ANBU member.
Still shaken, the ANBU thanked Hiruzen profusely.
"Thank you... Lord Hokage…"
But before he could finish, Hiruzen interrupted sharply.
"It's not over yet—watch out!"
Turning to look, the ANBU saw the Revived puppet that Hiruzen's Earth Dragon Bullet had hit charging at him again.
Raising its blade high, the puppet darted forward with unprecedented speed, dodging the Earth Dragon Bullets effortlessly!
"Alpha Strike!"
Recognizing the technique, Hattori's eyes lit up.
Realizing the danger, Hattori shouted.
"Lord Daimyo of the Fire Country, stop them now!"
"Huh?"
The shocked Fire Country Daimyo snapped out of his daze and quickly called out.
"My Revived guardians, I, the Daimyo of the Fire Country, command you to halt!"
Hattori: "(ω`)"
Come on! Couldn't you just shout "Stop!"?
Because of the Daimyo's slow command, the Revived puppet performing the Alpha Strike had already closed in on the ANBU, its blade just a hair away from his head.
A mere 0.5 seconds later, and they would have seen a real-life "slicing a melon on the beach"—with a white interior.
As the Revived puppet halted, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed in relief, bowing to the Fire Country Daimyo.
"Thank you, Daimyo!"
"No… no need!"
The Daimyo was still shaken but quickly became distressed.
All ten Revived puppets had sustained damage, with two in particularly bad shape.
One had its body partially sliced open by Chidori, and another had its front armor dented from the Earth Dragon Bullet.
For someone as image-conscious as the Daimyo, this was unacceptable!
Seeing the Daimyo's expression, Hattori guessed his thoughts and smiled.
"Heh, Lord Daimyo, there's no need to worry. These Revived puppets are not only powerful in battle—they have an equally strong repair ability!"
With that, he tapped on a puppet's armor.
"The armor is replaceable. Any internal parts without seal markings can be swapped.
And you don't need anyone's help. Just provide the materials, and the puppet will repair itself. That's why it's called the Revived!"
"Oh, oh… I see!"
The Daimyo's face brightened, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the Revived puppets.
"So that's why it's called Revived—they don't die and can fix themselves. Impressive!"
His gaze at Hattori grew warmer.
"Hattori, I'd like 100 more of these Revived puppets. I know the price—30 million each. How about I pay 3 billion upfront?"
"Deal!" Hattori grinned, nodding, leaving Hiruzen Sarutobi speechless.
"3... 3 billion? (Д*)"
(End of Chapter)