"Well done! Puppet Corps!"
"Lord puppet masters! Slaughter every last Konoha ninja!"
"Long live Sunagakure!"
The Sand shinobi watched as the puppet masters controlled their puppets, sweeping invincibly across the battlefield and cutting down the Konoha ninjas who had been suppressing them moments earlier one by one.
They all shouted loudly, cheering for their Puppet Corps.
"Hm? What is this?"
A Sand shinobi who was shouting suddenly looked at something on his hand in confusion.
"Bugs? Aren't you overreacting a bit?"
A Sand shinobi beside him heard his companion muttering to himself, looked carefully, and said mockingly.
"They're just some bugs. Don't tell me you're scared of—"
Just as that Sand shinobi was mocking his overly startled companion, countless insects suddenly appeared on his own body. Under his horrified gaze, they wrapped around him completely.
"Bugs…!"
The Sand shinobi who had first discovered bugs on his hand looked at the miserable state of his companion and was just about to scream when he too was covered by countless insects.
When the insect tide dispersed, those two Sand shinobi had already been eaten clean.
And the insect tide once again turned into countless tiny flying insects, spreading across the enormous battlefield. Almost no one noticed them.
Scenes like this began appearing in many parts of the battlefield.
But the Sand shinobi, immersed in the power of their Puppet Corps, did not even realize that many of their companions had already died in the mouths of insects.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
"What's that sound?"
A Sand shinobi asked his pale-faced comrade in confusion.
The Sand shinobi being questioned shook his head, indicating that he also had no idea what that strange sound was.
"Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!"
A Sand shinobi pointed toward the distant horizon in terror.
"What are you bugging about?" The Sand shinobi beside him looked at his companion, who seemed to have suffered a terrible fright, and shouted anxiously.
"An insect tide!"
Terrified screams continuously rang out from Sunagakure's formation.
In the distance, vast patches of pitch-black clouds covered the sky.
But upon closer inspection, how could those possibly be dark clouds? They were all formed from a terrifying insect tide, flying over from the distance and blotting out the sky!
"It's the Aburame clan!"
"The secret technique clans have made their move!"
"We're saved!"
The Konoha ninjas who were struggling to resist Sunagakure's Puppet Corps looked at the terrifying insect tide, their faces filled with excitement.
In the past, if they saw these disgusting insects, they would have felt sick.
But now, these insects were simply their lifeline!
"By Lord Yoru's order! Aburame clan, exterminate the Puppet Corps!"
At the very front of the dozens of Konoha ninjas wearing cloaks of various colors, an Aburame clan ninja pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and shouted in a low voice.
"Yes, Clan Head!"
The Aburame clan ninjas shouted in unison.
Countless insects flew toward the Puppet Corps, covering the sky and earth.
As for the Sand shinobi blocking the insect tide's path, once the tide passed over them, not even scraps remained.
These Sand shinobi were eaten clean by the insects amid miserable screams.
And as the insect tide flew toward the Puppet Corps, a portion of the insects actually landed on the bodies of the injured Konoha ninjas.
Unlike the Sand shinobi, although the Konoha ninjas covered by insects looked somewhat pale, there was no fear in their eyes.
Secret Technique: Healing Insects!
The insects of the Aburame clan had many functions.
They could roughly be divided into four types: medical, reconnaissance, combat, and defense.
Different members of the Aburame clan also had their own different insects.
Of course, most members of the Aburame clan used the relatively versatile kikaichu.
During the insect tide's advance just now, the insects that devoured the Sand shinobi clean were combat kikaichu.
As for the insects covering the Konoha ninjas, they were kikaichu performing medical work.
Moreover, because the Aburame clan ninjas had swallowed a large number of antidote pills earlier, these newly hatched kikaichu carried components inside their bodies that could counter Sunagakure's toxins.
Very soon, the poison inside the Konoha ninjas covered by the insects was cleared, and they recovered their combat ability. Their bleeding wounds were also sealed by secretions from the kikaichu.
Although it was somewhat disgusting, it was still better than losing their lives.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
The terrifying insect tide began wrapping around one puppet after another.
The mechanical hidden weapons and various ninja blades on the puppets kept slashing desperately. Although they did kill some insects, there were simply too many.
The insects gnawed at every joint on the puppets.
Very soon, one puppet after another became unable to move because their joints had been eaten through. No matter how the puppet masters tried to control them, they could not budge.
However, there were only several dozen Aburame clan members, after all. Compared to the massive number of puppets, the number of insects was still slightly insufficient.
"Secret Technique: Insect Cocoon!"
Just as the number of kikaichu began to show signs of being insufficient, the dozens of Aburame clan ninjas at the front of Konoha's formation formed hand seals at the same time.
Insect Cocoon! A secret technique of the Aburame clan. It used chakra to create large numbers of insect cocoons, quickly hatching new kikaichu and sending them into the battlefield.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
At this moment, every member of the Aburame clan was like a hive. Countless kikaichu flew out from their bodies, densely forming another insect tide that once again flew toward the Puppet Corps.
"M-Monsters!"
Many Sand shinobi saw this terrifying scene and collapsed onto the ground in fear. Moments later, they were eaten clean by the speeding insect tide.
After receiving these fresh reinforcements, the insects gnawed at the puppets even more vigorously. More and more puppets lost their ability to move, turning into piles of rotten wood.
"Bastards! What a disgusting clan!"
At the center of Sunagakure's formation, the puppet masters were hiding there.
Because puppet masters were extremely poor at close combat, after summoning their puppets, the Sand shinobi surrounded the puppet masters tightly, preventing them from appearing in Konoha's line of sight.
Seeing their puppets being wantonly gnawed apart by insects, many puppet masters were furious.
"Hm? What is this?"
A puppet master who was controlling his puppet in battle suddenly felt something strange on his fingers. He looked carefully—and the moment he did, his expression changed drastically.
"Bugs!"
Before that puppet master could scream, countless insects wrapped around him. A moment later, there was no sound left.
"Bastards! How are there bugs here?!"
"Help!"
"So many bugs…!"
Countless insects appeared on the bodies of the puppet masters, wrapping around them and biting them without restraint. Their flesh and chakra were the best nourishment for the insects.
And chakra and flesh allowed these insects to rapidly lay eggs and hatch. Even more insects appeared at the center of Sunagakure's formation.
"These insects came along the chakra threads!" a puppet master skilled at observation screamed in terror. "And these insects can even eat our chakra threads! The more they bite through them, the more of them there are!"
Sunagakure's puppet masters fell into complete chaos.