Inside the Ruins, a man wearing a monocle was leading more than a dozen armored individuals, searching every corner of the ruins.
"Lord Haido, is this the place?" Kamira, the female knight in the group, asked.
"It should be somewhere around here, but why can't we find it?" Haido frowned, carefully pulling out a book from inside his coat and flipping through its pages. "According to the Greer Stone Records, the ore vein lies at the deepest part of the Ruins. By logic, we're already at the deepest point. Could there be some hidden mechanism?"
Just then, a voice came from behind them.
"Heyan, is that the Greer Stone Records they're holding?"
"Yes, Lord Nord!"
Hearing the voice, Haido and his group spun around.
A group of individuals dressed in ninja attire were staring at them with ill intentions. Beside the ninjas stood a normal-looking villager—the one who mentioned the name Greer Stone Records.
"You know about the Greer Stone Records?" Haido's expression darkened. "Then I'm afraid I can't let you walk out of here alive!"
At his words, the group of ninjas burst into laughter.
"Walk out of here alive? You think your armored lackeys are a threat?"
"Fools! The samurai era is long gone!"
"Dare you speak to us ninjas like that?!"
"Ninjas? Samurai?" Haido adjusted his glasses, snorting contemptuously. "Have you misunderstood something? They are not those foolish beings. They are armored knights who control ancient, primordial Strength!"
"Hmph! If you're so eager to die, then don't blame us!"
"That line should be mine to say!"
Seeing both sides inevitably clash just as he'd hoped, Heyan breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He originally came to scout the ruins' secrets, but unexpectedly discovered the Greer Stone Records in these people's hands—and their greed for the ore vein.
That's why he deliberately led these ninjas here, hoping to use their strength to eliminate his enemies.
Heyan muttered to himself, "Although I don't know where you obtained the Greer Stone Records, for the sake of peace, I have no choice but to do this!"
"After these ninjas obtain the Greer Stone Records, I'll trick them into believing there's a cipher in it. I'll ask them to hand the book to me for decryption, then destroy it immediately. That way, even if they kill me in rage, it'll be worth it!"
Thinking of this plan, Heyan felt spiritually elevated. Compared to world peace, personal life and death were trivial matters.
Then he heard agonized screams from beside him.
"It's impossible! These people clearly have no Chakra!"
"Monsters! They're not human!"
Heyan looked up and saw the ninjas already crushed beneath their foes—creatures of various grotesque forms: bat-creatures, ape-men, werewolves, and more.
Seeing those monstrous beings, Heyan felt a chill run through his body. "You… you've already mastered part of the Greer Stone's power!"
"Has come to this," he muttered, his whole body slumping. "No wonder these ninjas can't defeat you. Frankly speaking, there's probably no one left in this world capable of opposing you!"
The ninja being trampled underfoot by the Bat-creature wore a puzzled expression. Sure, these monsters were strong, but calling them invincible was going too far. Was this guy an idiot?
"Haha!" Haido let out a loud laugh, his gaze then sharpening. "Who exactly are you? And how do you know about the Greer Stone Records?"
Heyan changed tactics, pleading sincerely with a determined look, "Please stop this. The overwhelming power of the Greer Stone will only bring catastrophe to the world!"
"Not willing to talk?" Haido smirked. "Then take him away first. We'll find ways to make him talk later."
Heyan persisted, "Since you've read the Greer Stone Records, you should understand that..."
"The Greer Stone Records? Sounds like I've caught something interesting." A calm voice suddenly interrupted.
Everyone turned to look as a tall figure stepped out from the shadows.
"Only one person?" They felt a surge of tension at first, but quickly relaxed when they realized they were facing a single opponent.
"Another ninja?" Haido frowned. "Seems these ruins are crawling with pests! Kamira, go kill him for me!"
"Understood!"
Following the command, Kamira swooped down from midair where she had been hovering in her Bat-creature form.
"A Bat-creature?" The tall man was actually the disguise of Sasori. When he saw Kamira, an appreciative glint flashed across his eyes. "Such a rare specimen. A shame not to make it into a puppet."
"So awestruck you've forgotten how to run?" Kamira inwardly sneered as she slashed downward with her claw.
Clang!
Kamira felt intense pain in my claw. This didn't feel like striking flesh at all — it was more like hitting steel.
Taking advantage of her daze, Sasori stretched out his right hand and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her into the air.
"Mmph! Mmph!" Kamira's eyes widened in shock as her legs flailed helplessly in midair. But when her gaze met his eyes, she suddenly stopped struggling.
"What kind of eyes are those?" Staring into his eyes, Kamira inexplicably felt her scalp crawling.
She had seen many kinds of gazes — eyes lusting after her beauty, eyes fearing her strength, eyes filled with hatred for her killings. But never had she encountered a gaze that seemed to want to dissect her, to preserve her forever!
Far away, the knights only now realized what was happening and cried out in alarm.
"How could this be? Kamira in her transformed state possesses ten times the strength of a normal human!"
"She should be able to crush even rocks!"
They had seen ninjas before — quite a few actually. They had fought against ninjas many times, and those ninjas were just like these useless creatures beneath their feet — extremely weak!
Haido's expression darkened. "Kamira, use the power of the Greer Stone!"
Hearing the command, Kamira managed to open her mouth, and a beam of light shot out from her throat.
However, Sasori smacked the beam away with his empty left hand, causing it to strike another section of the cave wall, which instantly collapsed.
Seeing the shattered rock face, Haido's pupils shrank sharply. "The power of the Greer Stone hasn't faded! So how did he do this? Could this guy actually be human?"
Witnessing the destruction caused by the beam, Sasori murmured, "They might be valuable targets, but it's better to wipe them out now. Too many people have seen too much in this ruin."
"This bastard actually wants to kill us?" Haido thought, alarmed. "Quick, attack him together!"
These knights were orphans he had brainwashed and raised, and without hesitation, they rushed at Sasori.
Some transformed into beastmen using the Greer Stone's power, others fired air cannons, and even some launched sonic attacks and Genjutsu.
Yet none of this affected Sasori in the slightest!
[Puppet Technique: Mechanical Light Shield!]
Using his puppet body as a medium, he converted chakra into a protective barrier capable of repelling all attacks.
No matter how fiercely they attacked, they couldn't inflict even the slightest damage on Sasori within the glowing shield.
"Enough messing around. It's my turn now!"
[Puppetry: Living Human Puppet Jutsu!]
Unbeknownst to them, chakra threads had wrapped around several of the knights. Sasori then manipulated their bodies to slaughter their own comrades.
The remaining knights were completely unprepared. Within seconds, more than half were dead or dying at the hands of their allies.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Haido shouted furiously, shocked and furious. "Are you trying to betray me?!"
However, the knights doing the killing were panicking too.
"Lord Haido, my body isn't under my control!"
"What's going on here?!"
Watching Sasori calmly flicking his fingers from within the light shield, Haido quickly realized. "It's you!"
One of the surviving Ninja couldn't help but sneer. "Idiots, couldn't you tell that person was a Puppet Master?"
He went on, still amazed, "But without actual puppets, just using chakra threads to make enemies kill each other? This Puppet Master's the real deal!"
"Puppet Master?" Haido's forehead pulsed with anger. "This isn't right. How could a mere ninja be this powerful?"
Meanwhile, Yan He also stood there, stunned. "Isn't the ancestral teaching that the power of the Greer Stone is invincible... I understand now! It must be that these people simply don't know how to use the Greer Stone's power. It has to be!"
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