Chapter 44

"Are you a medical ninja?"

"Yes..."

"Follow me."

"Yes..."

Shirai turned around and saw that the puppeteer was a beautiful woman with long, chestnut-brown hair, who looked no more than thirty years old. She recognized her as one of the two puppeteers from the Sand Hidden Village team.

However, the woman had lost an arm, and the wound was bandaged, which affected her overall appearance.

But for a puppeteer of her caliber, losing an arm wouldn't significantly reduce her strength.

After all, a puppeteer's strength lies in their puppets.

The woman led the way without any apparent caution, seemingly unguarded towards Shirai, if one ignored the puppet holding a kunai to Shirai's neck.

Given her current predicament, it was understandable that she was being cautious.

It was a massive tree, so thick that even a dozen people might not be able to encircle it. The base was hollow, revealing a dark opening with a bit of light shining in.

Shirai was forced to enter, and with the help of the light from outside, he could see the situation inside.

A red-haired man lay weakly on the ground, a shocking cut across his chest, hastily bandaged but soaked with blood. This kind of bandage could only stop the bleeding temporarily.

In a little while, they would have to abandon him and escape alone.

But from the intelligence Shirai had, these two puppeteers, a man and a woman, were the son and daughter-in-law of a high-ranking official in the Sand Hidden Village, a loving couple of ninja. Rather than letting her husband die here, she might have thoughts of committing suicide with him.

This was a possibility.

Ninja are human, and no matter how much they suppress their emotions, it only makes those emotions stronger.

If it were just about weighing the pros and cons, every human would be a wise strategist.

But in reality, there aren't that many such strategists.

Compared to the pros and cons, humans are more easily swayed by their emotions.

The best choice for the woman would be to kill her husband, dispose of his body to prevent information leaks, and then leave as quickly as possible.

But she didn't do that, which proved her point.

"Heal him, and don't play any tricks."

The woman's words were brief, and Shirai understood her meaning clearly.

"Understood. If I heal him, can you show mercy and spare my life?"

The woman didn't respond.

The kunai held by the puppet against Shirai's neck almost cut through his throat.

Shirai shrugged helplessly.

A faint green light appeared on his right hand. He squatted down, and with his left hand, slowly removed the bandages from the male puppeteer's body. The man, unconscious, groaned in pain. Then Shirai covered the wound with the green light, trying to heal it as quickly as possible.

"This is a wound caused by wind-natured chakra... It will take me ten minutes to heal it properly."

"Didn't you, as his students, know the secret of the White Fang Blade Technique?"

The female puppeteer frowned.

Shirai shook his head.

He only knew that Shoma's sword technique was powerful, but he didn't know much about its secrets.

Perhaps the enemy knew, but those who knew the secret of the White Fang Blade Technique might all be dead.

How many in Konoha knew, and if they did, they might be practicing secrecy.

After all, casually exploring a ninja's secrets is not a wise move, as it can easily cause discord among comrades.

Especially for a powerful jōnin like Shoma, the secret of his sword technique might only be known in detail by the Hokage and other high-ranking officials.

Time passed, and the male puppeteer's complexion improved, and his breathing became more stable.

The female puppeteer looked at Shirai with a slightly surprised expression and said, "Your medical ninjutsu is quite good. No wonder you were assigned to Konoha's White Fang."

She knew how severe her husband's injuries were, and she didn't expect Shirai to heal him in just ten minutes, without even performing surgery.

Then she thought about Shirai's jōnin leader, Shoma, and felt relieved.

A medical ninja following Konoha's White Fang could be average in strength, but their medical ninjutsu had to be exceptional.

Even most of the medical ninjas in the Sand Hidden Village, including those with outstanding medical skills, might not have Shirai's level of medical ninjutsu.

Only such a person, a genin with average strength, would have the qualifications to follow Konoha's White Fang.

Konoha truly was a cradle of geniuses.

"The wound is healed, but there are still severe internal injuries. If you want a complete recovery, I need a surgery room and some herbs."

Shirai stepped back and stood obediently.

"No need, this will do for now."

The female puppeteer's expression softened slightly.

Just as she was beginning to relax, the male puppeteer on the ground suddenly screamed, his lips turning dark red, and he began to cough violently, spitting out dark red blood.

Poison!

The female puppeteer's face changed in shock. The terrifying thought flashed through her mind, and her remaining hand's fingers began to move, her eyes filled with a terrifying killing intent, preparing to control the puppet to kill.

Her movements were not slow. To some extent, her finger dexterity was even better than Shirai's, but Shirai had planned ahead.

Using the male puppeteer's scream as a signal, he gathered blue chakra in his hand, forming a blade-like shape.

He turned and swung.

The puppet was just about to move when it was sliced apart by Shirai's hand blade, and a loud crack echoed as wooden pieces scattered in front of Shirai.

"You!"

This reaction and speed were not something a genin could achieve.

The female puppeteer finally realized the severity of the situation.

Her strength was concentrated in her puppets.

Her puppet had already been destroyed by Shoma's White Fang Blade, and now the one she was controlling, her husband's puppet, was also damaged.

Even if she wanted to bring out a new backup puppet, it would take time.

However, Shirai's speed and reaction surprised her. Without hesitation, as he turned to cut the puppet, she picked up her poisoned and bleeding husband and rushed out of the tree hollow.

Her only option now was to escape.

Just as she ran outside, she hadn't taken a few steps when a small figure suddenly landed in front of her.

In her crimson eyes, the tomoe began to spin.

"Ugh..."

The female puppeteer's body stiffened, unable to move.

Her husband rolled to the ground, coughing painfully, his lips completely black.

Thud!

A blade pierced through the female puppeteer's back, through her chest, and into her heart.

She fell forward, her eyes filled with不甘 (reluctance) as she died.

Shirai held a blood-stained ninja blade, glanced indifferently at the female puppeteer's corpse, then walked to the side of the poisoned and unconscious male puppeteer and, without hesitation, cut into his chest, ending his life.

"It was much easier than planned."

Ruri smiled.

"Of course, a puppeteer's main strength lies in their puppets. When you can't target the puppeteer directly, finding a gap to destroy their puppet is also a good strategy."

If he had Shoma's strength, he could directly look for an opportunity to attack the puppeteer, without the need for such a clumsy act, wasting time.

"It seems we had good luck. You can take the credit for these two."

Shirai generously gave the credit to Ruri, content to remain behind the scenes.

Ruri nodded, accepting the credit.

"By the way, I forgot to mention, the Yamanaka clan is skilled at extracting information from corpses, provided the brain is intact. Make sure to clean up properly and leave no traces."

Ruri suddenly remembered something and said.

"Got it. What a hassle, I'll have to waste my medicine again, making it look like I'm doing something bad."

Shirai complained, searching his ninja tool bag for two syringes filled with a light purple liquid, and walked towards the two corpses on the ground.

"Stop complaining. We caught such a big fish this time, the village will definitely reward us generously."

Ruri took a syringe from Shirai and injected it into the female puppeteer's neck, delivering the liquid.

Immediately, the surface veins of the female puppeteer's corpse bulged, as if about to burst through the skin.

This terrifying phenomenon lasted less than three seconds, and the corpse returned to its normal appearance, as if nothing had happened.

"I've heard that the Hokage has a sealing scroll that records various powerful techniques and forbidden jutsu..."

"Don't even think about it. The Senju clan isn't that generous to outsiders. During the First Hokage's reign, it might have been possible."

Ruri was good at pouring cold water.

After cleaning up the traces, Shirai and Ruri returned to the outpost with the two corpses.