'Kumogakure Squad' vs Ebizo, Shalan and Chisa

(Sakumo Pov)

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As I observed the puppeteers, a strategy started to form in my mind, and without hesitation, I shared it with my team.

"I'll take the lead, engaging the puppets head-on," I announced confidently, despite the tense atmosphere. "Our magnet release users will form a defensive barrier at the rear, using their iron sand to intercept attacks, while those skilled in lightning techniques will support from behind, striking enemies with long-range lightning assaults."

As we geared up for battle, I could feel the anticipation mounting among my companions. The magnet release users nodded in agreement, their faces displaying unwavering focus and resolve.

Despite the magnet release users' ability to disrupt the puppets with iron sand, their manipulation speed proves insufficient against the puppets' swift control. They could only manage to catch one off guard before the others evaded.

"Too cowardly to make a move?" Too cowardly to make a move?' Ebizō taunted, his voice dripping with contempt as he urged his puppets forward.

With my sword ablaze with crackling energy, I poised myself for the impending clash.

As I rushed forward, the puppets' lack of resistance took me by surprise. 'Why aren't they stopping me?' I wondered, suspicion creeping in

I pondered, expecting them to try to delay or stop me. Closing the gap between me and Ebizō, I found it odd that he wasn't reacting, now defenseless against my attack. 

A sense of dread crept in as I recalled their previous traps. Growing wary, I hurled kunai infused with lightning chakra towards him, hoping to expose another trick. True to my prediction, it was a sand clone, and sand began to spill out from the gap created by the kunai.

I swiftly dodged the dashing puppet, avoiding the deadly blades it wielded. 

"Where are you going, young man?" Ebizō whispered from behind, catching me off guard as he attempted to approach me before I stab him in the abdomen. With an evil smirk on his face, I realized his tactic and relinquished my stuck sword to backslide quickly.

Boom!

Barely escaping from the radious of blast from the sand clone, from the smoke emerge another Ebizō with a mocking expression. 

'I suppose going after the remaining two is futile,' I sighed, realizing that they too might be sand clones, complicating the battle even further than I had expected.

Suna shinobi frequently employ sand clones in the battlefield. These clones can be formed either by creating sand through chakra or by imbuing existing sand with minimal chakra. While they share the fragility characteristic of Shadow clones seemly no upside for regular shinobi, in hands of puppeteers, I can see significant advantages it offers.

Since puppeteers rely more on puppet manipulation than direct chakra expenditure, the use of sand clones enhances their combat effectiveness. In the vast expanses of the Land of Wind, puppeteers can generate a nearly inexhaustible supply of sand clones while maintaining a safe distance from the fray. This tactic minimizes their vulnerability in close-quarters combat, where traditional detection methods such as the Byakugan would prove ineffective at detecting difference between them and their clone. 

This would results in serious harm to unsuspecting opponents like us, who attack a seemingly defenseless puppeteers only to be caught in a dangerous explosion triggered by an explosive tag hidden within the clone.

"Give up," Ebizō taunted, promising not to resort to poison. As he began to disassemble his puppet mid-air, poisoned blades emerged from the parts of the puppet and launched toward me at great speed.

Dodging them with mild difficulty, I reflected some back with my sword I picked up, but they kept coming. Amidst the chaos, a spherical object hurtled towards me which I deflected it just in time that releases toxic fumes in the air and narrowly avoiding another exploding sand clone that was behind me.

As I took a deep breath, feeling adrenaline coursing through my veins, I felt a faint tremor beneath me. Quickly, I moved away, narrowly avoiding the puppets that were closing in on me, their blades poised to pierce me like the notorious Iron Maiden.

Looking back at my team for a brief moment, I could see that they too were in a difficult position, forced into a defensive stance against Shalan and his wife, Chisa.

Initially taken aback by our use of Iron Sand, Shalan and Chisa quickly adapted to the situation and continued their relentless assault.

Their efforts seemed futile, as their attacks had no noticeable effect on them as their Sand clone kept emerging from the ground after one is fallen.

Despite the urgent need to dismantle the puppet, my team hesitated. They knew that destroying it could trigger an explosion or release toxic fumes, so no one dared to engage it closely as it hovered near us.

Time was running out, where the Kazekage may arrived , which would further diminish our slim chances of survival, so we couldn't afford to wait any longer.

'I guess there's no point in holding back,' I sighed as the lightning chakra surged within me, filling my body with a crackling energy.

At first, I hesitated to eliminate all of them. Although the mission only required one survivor to frame Kumogakure, I considered sparing the rest to ensure Sunagakure retained enough forces to wage war against Kumogakure.

But now, it seems foolish to hold back as they pose a direct threat to our safety.

"Lightning Release: Overdrive!" I shouted, channeling the lightning chakra through my veins. Blue sparks danced across my skin as I braced against the discomfort it caused to my nerves. As my hold on my sword tightened, it now glowed even more brilliantly with the infused chakra.

"Ah, the brute has finally resorted to that jutsu,' Ebizō remarked with a smirk, unfazed at the sight of me.

That would be his biggest mistake.

As the air crackled with energy, I deftly evaded their attacks and closed in on a disassembled part of a puppet that had a chakra thread extending from it, far away from the rest.

With a swift motion, I severed the thread from the puppet and gripped it tightly.

"Lightning Release: Paralytic Shock," I muttered, sending the electric current down the chakra thread.

"AGHH!!"

From a distance, the real Ebizō screamed in agony, revealing his hidden position beneath the sand as his puppets collapsed and his Sand Clone dissipated.

Using the Body Flicker Technique, I swiftly approached him.

Before Shalan and Chida could react, I focused my chakra into the sword and executed a swift slash, creating an arc of lightning that sped towards him, sealing his fate.

'One down, two to go,' I muttered under my breath. Without wasting a moment, I dashed toward the remaining two targets. Suddenly, an impenetrable barrier of iron sand rose up, blocking my path.

Confusion washed over me as I tried to understand why someone in our team would hinder my efforts to assist them. Then, a voice broke through the silence.

"Where do you think you're going?" The words came from above, where a man stood confidently on a platform of iron sand.

Despite the calmness in his tone, there was an unmistakable undercurrent of irritation. It was Kaze Shinki, the Sandaime Kazekage.