"This is it. Let me see what secrets are hidden here..."
Instead of sneaking in at night, Kakashi went against the norm and infiltrated the palace during the day, carefully inspecting each room.
What Kakashi didn't know was that he had already exposed himself.
After all, who would have thought that even a door could be a puppet?
Or there's no rule stating that puppets can't be made to look like doors!
Ranmaru, who had been diligently practicing puppetry whenever he could, immediately sensed the change and activated his red eyes to deploy his clairvoyance ability, locking onto the enemy in the blink of an eye.
After confirming that only one person was infiltrating the palace, he pondered briefly before directly diving into a Tiger-style mini tank and driving off with a rumble.
For a small fry , he could handle it himself without bothering Lord Aoba.
That's what Ranmaru thought and was prepared to do.
Honestly, this had always made him anxious.
Not to mention the amount of money Lord Aoba had spent to support his puppetry training.
He must find a way to repay these kindnesses, though he might never be able to repay them fully in his lifetime.
"So, let's start with you!"
Ranmaru murmured inside the Tiger-style mini tank.
Hearing the noise, Kakashi immediately hid in a previously empty room with a kunai in hand, ready to fight at any moment.
However, the rumbling sound suddenly disappeared, replaced by a sense of crisis that made his scalp tingle.
Not good, I've been discovered!
Kakashi immediately made this judgment and tried to break through the door to escape.
But the next instant, a blast of blue chakra cannon exploded the door and charged straight at him.
It was too sudden, too fast!
Kakashi couldn't imagine how the enemy had locked onto his position.
It was too late to dodge now!
Kakashi instantly lifted the forehead protector that covered his Sharingan and poured a massive amount of chakra into his left eye.
Then, a bizarre scene occurred.
The chakra cannon twisted and vanished into thin air like it had never appeared!
Kakashi, however, gasped for breath, somewhat exhausted. Every use of Kamui was a significant strain on him.
But so much time had passed, and he was no longer the "one-second man" who had almost lost his fighting capability after using Kamui just once.
A familiar lightning blade appeared in Kakashi's right hand, and the screeching sound began to spread.
Since he had already been discovered, there was nothing to hide anymore.
Kakashi charged out in the direction from which the chakra cannon had come, only to be momentarily stunned.
Because what appeared before him was not an enemy, or rather, not a person at all, but a box with a dark cannon barrel, square and made of metal?
Kakashi was puzzled but didn't hesitate to act.
However, Ranmaru's red eyes had already detected that the enemy hadn't been eliminated, so he immediately began recharging for a second shot.
"Double Lightning Quake!"
As the cannon lit up again, Kakashi immediately extended both hands, wielding the dual Chidoris for offense and defense, and clashed head-on.
The wind pressure pushed back Kakashi, but was unharmed.
On the other hand, the somewhat cumbersome Tiger-style mini tank took heavy damage; its cannon barrel shattered, and its body was nearly torn apart.
However, its defensive capabilities were impressive, blocking the aftermath of such a close explosion without injuring Ranmaru inside.
But the difficulty of the enemy exceeded Ranmaru's expectations.
So, he immediately controlled the tank to eject two scrolls from both sides, then opened a mechanism and extended his hands to press on the scrolls.
With a bang, he summoned "Centipede" and "Scorpion," modified from Sasori creations.
The "Centipede," ten meters long, had countless pairs of 'human hands,' and its head had a pair of large and sharp mandibles.
The "Scorpion" had a mouth full of poison needles, and the end of its tail was a hook shape, also coated with poison.
Under Ranmaru's control, the "Centipede" and "Scorpion" immediately attacked.
Kakashi finally realized that his opponent was a puppeteer!
But can one see the outside from within that sealed iron box?
What puzzled Kakashi even more were the ninja of the Hidden Mist, the Ice Style ninja, the mysterious Taijutsu ninja, and now there was a puppeteer from the Hidden Sand...
The waters in this small country seemed too deep!
Who exactly is the person behind the scenes living in this palace?
Kakashi wanted to figure it all out, but for now, he had to deal with the puppeteer first, and he didn't even know what other help the opponent might have. A quick battle was necessary!
So, when the "Centipede" opened its sharp mandibles and the "Scorpion" spat out its poison stinger, Kakashi first dodged it with a Replacement Technique.
Then he released his Shadow Clone, and two flashes of lightning appeared, creating a lightning chakra chain between Kakashi and his shadow clone.
"Lightning Transmission!"
This S-rank ninjutsu, which evolved from the Chidori, immediately demonstrated its true power.
As Kakashi and his shadow clone ran at high speed, the "Centipede" in the middle was the first to be cut in half, followed by the "Scorpion's" tail being easily chopped off.
Just as Ranmaru, hiding inside the small tank, was about to be beheaded, suddenly, several golden chains flew from behind, lifted the tank's lid, and immediately dragged Ranmaru back.
The next instant, Ranmaru's 'vehicle' was cut horizontally in half.
Had it been a bit later, Ranmaru would have met the same fate.
Although Ranmaru had a high talent for puppetry, he had only practiced briefly and needed combat experience, so it was logical for him to be defeated by Kakashi.
A puppeteer's real strength lies in the puppets' quality and quantity.
If Ranmaru had also had a few Kage-level human puppets, the battle's outcome might have been different.
However, in the previous fight, Ranmaru's performance was commendable.
With X-ray vision cheats and a powerful chakra cannon, he almost managed to kill Kakashi!
Kakashi might have already been capsized in the gutter if it weren't for Kamui.
After Ranmaru was rescued, the cold sweat on Kakashi's back had not yet subsided.