Kankurō might talk big, but he definitely didn't underestimate his enemies.
He had already recognized them.
This was the very same team that had been the first to step onto the second floor during the first exam.
Back then, he'd thought they were hot-headed idiots with no brains.
Reality proved otherwise—
They didn't just break the barrier, they modified it and left a trap behind.
Just a small tweak, and a C-rank barrier instantly became B-rank.
These were not people to take lightly.
So now…
What was that guy doing?
Recovering?
Or…
No—could it be!?
Kankurō's breath caught as a possibility flashed through his mind—
He's analyzing our puppet techniques.
Why else would only one of them come forward?
And that single slash just now—so fast it was like lightning. Even if he needed time to recover afterward, by now…
Bang!
Kankurō suddenly controlled his puppets to scatter a spray of poison and smokescreen, then turned and ran.
…??
His teammate just stood there, stunned.
What was the Fourth Kazekage's son even doing?
But then he thought about it—
If the Fourth's son was running, what was he staying for? To offer up his head?
Just that one slash from earlier was enough to tell him—
This Konoha genin team was not to be messed with.
Souma felt a bit disappointed.
He'd really wanted to see that "Black Secret Technique,"
but Kankurō's reaction was sharp. The moment he sensed something was wrong, he bailed.
Still—
"Tenten."
"Right!"
She moved in perfect sync with Souma—
Steel wires snapped out, wrapping tightly around Kankurō's two puppets.
The man could run.
The puppets stayed.
The wires weren't made of chakra metal, but with chakra coating their surface, their toughness was more than enough to hold puppets in place.
"Send a signal. He wants to force us to use puppets!"
Kankurō gritted his teeth.
His teammate didn't hesitate.
He immediately pulled out a signal arrow.
But at that moment—
"Kh… kh—!"
He clutched his throat and collapsed with deep unwillingness in his eyes.
Moonlight Kazusa had just swung her first blade in this exam.
Then, without a word, she vanished into the underground passage the giant ants had revealed.
A chill ran all the way down Kankurō's spine.
This was supposed to be Sunagakure's Demon Desert, right?
So why did it feel like Konoha's team were the locals here?
He split his chakra threads—ten lines in total.
In that instant, Kankurō's potential was fully forced out.
His puppet split into four.
Puppet Shadow Clone Technique!
The four puppets clattered and creaked.
Amid clouds of poison gas and needles, two large puppets spread their blade-like arms wide and charged in.
Black Ant.
Crow.
Two major puppets plus puppet shadow clones—
Chaos instantly engulfed the battlefield.
Kankurō wasn't trying to kill the enemy.
Puppeteers won with strategy.
Every battle came with several pre-planned routes.
The same applied to how he judged his opponents.
Earlier, he'd decided that Souma's sudden burst of speed was some sort of secret technique.
But—
It might have been a fake-out.
What if Souma was just naturally that fast?
If that was the case, trying to beat him with puppet tricks would be wishful thinking.
His only real chance of survival was stalling until the proctors declared the match over.
So…
Boom!
Two puppet shadow clones charged Souma and self-destructed, exploding into a toxic cloud to block his path.
Fwip!
A signal shot screamed into the air.
"I've got one!"
Tenten called out.
Her ten fingers moved rapidly, steel wires snapping tight around Black Ant.
Souma's eyes narrowed.
He flicked his right hand and a wire shot out. Chakra raced along its length toward Crow.
Crow shot away, but the wire suddenly curved in midair—
Heading straight for Kankurō instead.
He twisted away—
And another wire whipped in from behind, followed by a surge of crackling lightning nature chakra.
Kankurō pushed himself to the limit, forcing Crow to block for him,
using one of the puppet's arms to break the incoming wire.
But a moment later—
Souma's steel wire looped around his neck.
"I'd stay very still if I were you. Move, and I'll slit your throat."
Souma said calmly.
"You—!"
Kankurō's face flushed red, but he didn't dare twitch.
His puppets fell limp.
Souma stepped closer and examined the two puppets up close.
Sasori's craftsmanship really was frightening.
Those two puppets held an absurd number of mechanisms.
By comparison—
The other two puppeteers' toys were straight-up junk.
And the scariest part—
These were just Sasori's early works.
"Pack up the scrolls. We're moving."
Souma ordered.
"Not killing him?"
Kazusa gestured at Kankurō.
Souma gave her a strange look.
"Konoha and Suna have been allies for generations. Why would we kill the Kazekage's son?"
"Y-You knew who I was?"
Kankurō's heart lurched. His face went pale.
He'd thought they were unaware.
But from the start…
Souma had known exactly who he was.
"Heard about you."
Souma replied casually.
He then took out a notebook and pen.
He'd gotten them back after the first exam.
So while Tenten and Kazusa cleaned up the battlefield, Souma stood off to the side calmly drawing structural diagrams of Crow and Black Ant.
Some parts were what he'd just personally observed.
Others were details he remembered from the anime in his previous life.
Line by line, the puppets took shape on paper.
Souma held the notebook in front of him, studying it.
Sasori really was a genius.
Even with his own monstrous comprehension, Souma had to admit—
He couldn't design puppets this intricate and synergistic in a short time.
This was the product of decades of Suna's accumulated knowledge.
Not something that could be surpassed overnight.
Still.
Now that he had a pair of templates, research would be a lot easier.
Souma took a glance at the other two dead puppet users' contraptions.
Those were much weaker.
You could tell the creators had tried their best to mimic Sasori's work, but the results were mere imitations—
Not even in the same league.
"What a waste."
Souma muttered.
"What are you sighing for?"
Tenten asked as she collected scrolls.
One Heaven. One Earth.
Plus their own Heaven scroll.
They now had an extra Heaven scroll.
Souma shook his head.
"Nothing."
They returned to where the giant ants were waiting and rode them back into the underground passage.
Only then did he say,
"Suna's puppet arts are brilliant. But a true puppeteer has to learn way too much."
"Yeah. Puppet control, puppet creation, poisons, ninja tools, and on top of that you need your own life-saving combat skill."
Tenten listed.
"Pretty unfortunate that after Sasori of the Red Sand, Suna hasn't produced any more puppet-making geniuses."
Souma added.
These days, their so-called "puppet masters" were all just living off Sasori's leftovers.
Kankurō included.
In the original story, every puppet he used was one of Sasori's works.
Without those, half his strength would be gone—
And that was being generous.
"That's just how it is."
Tenten sighed.
She'd been dabbling in forging lately and deeply understood how much blood, time, and effort true "creation" demanded.
"Mm. But I do have a few ideas about puppets now."
Souma smiled, opening his notebook.
"Remember our new ninja tool?"
"The one that absorbs chakra?"
"Yeah. We can merge that with puppets."
"Combine the functions?"
Tenten's eyes lit up.
A puppet like that might not be as artistically intricate as Suna's,
but function-wise, it wouldn't be limited.
It'd be way more versatile.
"Exactly. We don't have to copy Suna's path."
"Our tool already has an absorption barrier built in. We can also engrave restraining formulas into the hands, and then…"
Souma started.
Ideas poured out of Tenten like a flood.
Souma's concept was brilliant.
Puppet arts were infinitely adaptable.
Konoha's puppets didn't have to look like Suna's at all.
They could be more flexible, more suited to Konoha's style.
Souma and Tenten dove into a heated discussion.
Kazusa watched them with a mixture of envy and joy. After a few seconds, she nudged one of the giant ants gently—
The tunnel ahead had reached a dead end.
Several of the ants were bunched there, waiting.
"There's no path ahead," she said.
"Mm. Let's get off. We're heading to the final destination after this—it's not ideal to bring them along."
Souma replied.
His main goal in coming to Suna was puppet arts.
Now, my goal is achieved.
The giant ants crowded around, touching their antennae to him.
They didn't seem eager to part ways—
They'd had a taste of senjutsu chakra.
There was no going back.
"I know you don't want to leave, but it really won't be convenient for you later. How about this—if you want to come with me, go wait for us in the desert to the east for a few days."
Hss hss!
The ants waved their antennae happily, then rapidly disappeared back into the sand.
Souma chuckled.
"These bugs really are simple."
He turned to follow Tenten and Kazusa—
But his brows suddenly drew together.
A low chuckle echoed from the shadows.
"Souma-kun, we will meet again."
A small white snake slithered out from a crack in the rock, its body twisting and swelling until it took on Orochimaru's human form.
Souma wasn't surprised.
He'd been expecting Orochimaru to show up.
He just hadn't expected him to come here.
"You shouldn't have come,"
Souma said coolly.
…?
Orochimaru tilted his head, thinking for a few seconds.
"Why not?"
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