Everyone present widened their eyes, staring at the two figures in disbelief.
To be more precise—
They were two puppets.
One was Akebino Jinin.
The other was Kuriarare Kushimaru.
Two elite jonin of Kirigakure.
Two former members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
And now, they had been turned into puppets and brought onto the stage for a tournament between young ninja.
Was this reasonable?
Was this fair?
No matter how much of a genius Kakashi was, he was still only a young ninja.
How was he supposed to fight Akebino Jinin and Kuriarare Kushimaru at the same time?
Even if Jinin and Kushimaru were no longer alive and were only puppets now, the foundation they possessed as elite jonin in life still remained. On top of that, they had been remade with Sunagakure's puppet techniques.
There was no way they could be weak.
"This isn't fair!"
It was not only Konoha's shinobi who questioned it.
Even Iwagakure's shinobi began objecting.
Because after this, Hyena would still be fighting against one of Iwagakure's shinobi.
Akatsuchi had already lost once. As for Bunya, there was no chance he could be Hyena's opponent.
"Sunagakure must replace their contestant!"
"Replace him!"
"Replace him!"
To them, this was a fright.
But to Sunagakure's shinobi, it was a pleasant surprise.
"Excellent!"
"Sunagakure will definitely win!"
"What part of this is unreasonable? What part of this is unfair?"
"We have puppet masters in Sunagakure. If you're unhappy, then send out puppet masters of your own!"
"What? You don't want to?"
"What's wrong with a puppet master controlling puppets?"
"Do you also shout unfair when you face Sunagakure puppet masters on the battlefield?"
"What a joke."
The moment Hiruzen Sarutobi and Onoki saw those two puppets, their expressions changed.
But neither of them could say anything.
Because this did indeed follow the rules.
This was how puppet masters fought.
The shinobi below could complain all they wanted, but the two of them were Kage. There were certain words they simply could not say out loud.
No matter how dissatisfied they felt.
"Konoha has lost."
Hiruzen quickly calculated the situation in his mind.
"Asuma lost to Maki."
"Kakashi will also lose to Hyena."
"That leaves only Shisui… but can Shisui defeat Kisame Hoshigaki?"
"If Shisui loses as well, then won't Konoha lose all three matches?"
Hiruzen's expression grew even uglier.
Losing all three matches did not merely mean Konoha's share of Kusagakure's compensation would drop sharply.
This matter would inevitably spread throughout the shinobi world.
Most ordinary people chose which shinobi village to commission based on reputation.
Now that the war had ended, this tournament between three shinobi villages represented, in a certain sense, the strength and potential of each village. It would influence the choices of clients.
A client who had originally been undecided might choose Sunagakure instead of Konoha after hearing the results.
Even someone who had originally intended to choose Konoha might end up choosing Sunagakure instead.
For Konoha, that would bring massive economic losses.
"We cannot lose all three."
"At the very least, we must win one match."
"Shisui… can you do it?"
Hiruzen's gaze turned toward Uchiha Shisui.
"Kisame Hoshigaki is extremely skilled in chakra absorption techniques, and he also possesses a special ninja tool. Shisui is still too young."
Hiruzen could not help but feel the urge to replace him.
At the same time, Hiruzen finally realized something.
Sunagakure had not bribed Mui.
They simply had not treated Maki as their strongest horse.
Their true strongest horse was Hyena.
"Sunagakure didn't bribe him… but that doesn't mean I can't."
Hiruzen's eyes flickered, and he gave a subtle signal to one of Konoha's shinobi.
Kisame Hoshigaki looked at Akebino Jinin and Kuriarare Kushimaru with a complicated feeling in his chest.
Those two had once been his seniors in Kirigakure.
They had been people he admired and looked up to.
Kisame had respected them.
But now, both of them had been turned into puppets.
Sunagakure's puppets.
And they were being controlled by a young shinobi of Sunagakure.
Still, Kisame did not feel resentment toward Sunagakure because of it.
First, he was no longer a shinobi of Kirigakure. Kirigakure had sold him out.
Second, Akebino Jinin and Kuriarare Kushimaru were already dead.
They had died on the battlefield.
And they had died because the four of them had joined forces, using numbers and seniority to bully the young, only to fail in their encirclement of Maki and end up killed by Rasa.
Ending up like this was not entirely unreasonable.
In Onoki's mind, Chiyo's face surfaced.
"Puppets made by that old woman?"
"Puppet masters really are disgusting creatures."
"It's bad enough that they hide behind puppets, but they even toy with corpses."
"If Kirigakure finds out, they'll be furious. Heroes of their own village have been turned into puppets by Sunagakure."
"But with Kirigakure's current situation, even if they want to do something to Sunagakure, they won't be able to."
"That must be why Sunagakure dares to act this way."
"But if they've done this, then they must be prepared to remain enemies with Kirigakure for a long time."
Rasa was indeed prepared for that.
Kirigakure's friendship?
Was that worth anything?
After such an intense war, their relationship had already fallen to rock bottom. Turning these people's corpses into puppet materials merely made that relationship even worse.
But in exchange, Sunagakure obtained benefits.
Just like now.
Without Hyena and without these two puppets, it would be difficult to find any young shinobi in Sunagakure who could defeat Kakashi. In that case, Sunagakure would suffer a heavy loss in this tournament.
"And it won't just be this time."
"Next time, and the time after that, as long as there are tournaments like this, Sunagakure will always have a fixed puppet master card to play."
"Puppet masters grow older. They eventually exceed the age limit."
"But puppets do not."
"When needed, simply transfer the puppets to another young puppet master."
Rasa's gaze settled on the arena.
Kakashi was indeed strong. He deserved his reputation as a genius.
But geniuses needed time to grow.
Facing Akebino Jinin and Kuriarare Kushimaru at the same time was still too much pressure for the current Kakashi.
Under Hyena's control, the two puppets launched a fierce assault against Kakashi.
Kakashi could only dodge.
Retreat.
He could not find even the slightest opening.
From the very beginning, he fell into an absolute disadvantage.
And that continued until the end.
Bang!
With a heavy strike from Akebino Jinin, Kakashi fell to the ground.
"The winner—Sunagakure, Hyena!"
Sunagakure's shinobi erupted into cheers.
Konoha's shinobi were furious.
"Unfair!"
"That victory has no honor!"
"Sunagakure cheated!"
The Sunagakure shinobi looked at them with contempt.
"If you can't handle losing, then don't come."
"Trash."
A Konoha shinobi came up behind Hiruzen Sarutobi and whispered into his ear.
Hiruzen nodded, clearly letting out a breath of relief.
"That's good."
He looked toward the arena, and a smile appeared on his face.
"Heaven still favors Konoha. Even among genin, such talent can emerge."