The world I hear is completely different from yours.

Puppet masters differ significantly from other ninjas in their use of chakra. Instead of forming hand seals to convert chakra into ninjutsu, puppet masters project chakra out of their bodies, creating chakra threads. These threads are used to transmit information to the puppet's body, thereby controlling it. These chakra threads are difficult to detect and highly elastic, but they cannot withstand excessive force. Therefore, in the original story, when Granny Chiyo fought Sasori, she attached chakra threads to Sakura, intending to use her as a puppet. She specifically instructed Sakura to relax her body to prevent the chakra threads from breaking.

However, after using Sage Mode, Tian Qing discovered that her chakra threads had undergone a qualitative change under the amplification of Sage Chakra. Threads of the same thickness had significantly increased adhesion and tensile strength; threads that could previously only support the weight of a puppet could now even pull a giant carriage. To put it another way, if what was once an ordinary rope was now practically steel wire.

A chakra thread stuck directly to the watchtower where the sentry was standing. Tian Qing pulled hard, and "crack!" the wooden watchtower trembled violently. Tian Qing's body, which was already gliding quickly, accelerated again, even leaving a faint afterimage in the air. In an instant, he rushed in front of the sentry, whose terrified face was clearly visible!

"What kind of technique is this? How can it be so fast!" the cat-masked ANBU exclaimed. He hadn't even seen Tian Qing's movements clearly; the opponent was clearly only a Chunin!

With a swift uppercut, Tianqing sent the sentry, who was still forming hand seals, flying backwards into the air, his throat gurgling. Tianqing's punch shattered his neck, directly interrupting his ninjutsu. At the same time, Tianqing swung her other hand, and a second chakra thread carried her body away from the watchtower. Just then, the enemy's ninjutsu arrived, and several fireballs struck the watchtower almost simultaneously!

"Boom boom boom!" The watchtower burst into flames, and the few remaining sentries were instantly burned alive, screaming as they fell from the sky.

The third chakra thread stuck to a wagon in the camp—the spoils of yesterday's slaughter of a caravan by the rogue ninja. With a powerful swing, the massive wagon flew through the air like a meteor hammer, its enormous form spinning rapidly with a chilling sound. Any enemy even lightly touched by the wagon was instantly reduced to a bloody pulp! The enemies before them couldn't even mount a resistance, screaming as they turned into clumps of flesh, just like the caravan members they had killed yesterday.

"Take this!" The last rogue ninja finally unleashed his second ninjutsu: "Take this genjutsu!"

Chapter Twenty-One: The Puppet Master in Close Combat (Part Two)

Illusion is a mental attack technique that uses chakra to interfere with the opponent's five senses, causing them to fall into illusions.

Unfortunately, Tianqing, as the listener, possessed immense mental power, making this minor illusion completely ineffective against her. Therefore, after being hit by the illusion, Tianqing didn't even pause for a moment, turning to look at the rogue ninja with a slight smile playing on her lips.

In the eyes of the rogue ninja, the minotaur was not affected by his genjutsu at all; instead, it was attracted by his attack and stared straight at him.

"Monster... Monster!!" Overwhelmed by fear, the rogue ninja panicked and screamed as he frantically fled backward.

Tianqing glanced in the direction the rogue ninja had fled and tossed the carriage he was holding into the air.

"Snap!" The world fell silent again.

"Now only the mission objective remains." Tian Qing slowly walked towards the cave behind the camp.

"This...this newbie's combat power is high, isn't it?" The cat-masked ANBU member watching from the sidelines said in disbelief, "The battle hasn't even lasted 30 seconds, and they've already wiped out all the enemies?"

"It's just that she's too fast. The other party didn't even have time to react before being killed." The monkey-masked operative said coldly, but his heart was not as relaxed as he said. At this speed, even he himself would probably be instantly killed if he faced this newcomer.

"However, the battle that follows will not be so simple," the cat-masked ANBU continued. "The target is hiding in a cave, with simply not enough space to dodge. No matter how fast she is, she can't avoid ninjutsu attacks! If she relies solely on close combat, she'll probably be blasted to smithereens by ninjutsu before she even gets close to her opponent!"

Under the watchful eyes of the secret agents, Tian Qing walked to the cave entrance, untied another scroll, and dropped out the items that had been sealed inside: dozens of longswords that Tian Qing had bought when she passed through a town earlier.

The materials required to make a puppet are numerous, and Tian Qing's background and financial resources simply cannot afford them. So far, she has only made a puppet monkey named Sanzang with no combat ability using discarded parts from the battlefield. But who says that a puppeteer can only control puppets?

Tianqing took a deep breath, focused his attention, and dispersed his last chakra thread into many strands, each of which was attached to the hilt of a sword. Although this reduced the tension and adhesion of the threads, the sword could still be turned around by slightly manipulating the hilt.

"Unleash your full mental power! Maximize your hearing!" Tian Qing listened carefully to the sounds inside the cave, and the cave's internal structure appeared in her mind: a narrow passageway leading to the bottom of the cave after a turn, where the rogue ninja was crouching, already forming hand seals and aiming at the cave entrance.

Tianqing gripped all the longswords in her hands, gathered her strength in her right hand, and hurled them. The swords flew into the cave like arrows, and just as they were about to pierce the cave wall, Tianqing's left hand tapped lightly, using pre-connected chakra threads to move the hilts. In an instant, all the swords changed angle, bypassing the bend, and thrust straight towards the rogue ninja! "Ninja Art—Ten Thousand Swords Return to One!!"

The cave was very small, and Tian Qing couldn't dodge inside, but the rogue ninja was in the same boat! He couldn't dodge the flying swords at all! In despair, the rogue ninja released his prepared ninjutsu—a fire jutsu—and watched as swords pierced through the flames and plunged into his body.

With a slight tug on the chakra threads, the longsword embedded in the enemy's body dragged the corpse out, blood flowing freely and leaving a trail of blood in the cave.

The battle ended in 1 minute and 15 seconds. Tian Qing estimated that he could use Sage Mode for a maximum of 30 seconds, but he would no longer be able to create any more chakra threads.

"The total amount of chakra is still too little. We really need to find a source of chakra."

Chapter Twenty-Two Epilogue

After watching Tian Qing slowly seal all the rogue ninja's corpses into the scroll, the cat-faced and monkey-faced ANBU remained silent. From this distance, they couldn't see how Tian Qing ultimately killed his opponents with his longsword. They only knew that even if the two of them joined forces, they couldn't complete this combat mission so quickly.

The cat-masked operative spoke quietly: "They really have a remarkable newcomer. We should go back and advise them to tone it down a bit."

“Yes, that’s for the best.” The monkey-masked operative nodded, and then the two of them quickly left.

It was already the second day after returning to Konoha. Tianqing went to the Anbu base and handed over the sealing scroll. This time, the Anbu leader was much more polite to Tianqing, and his tone was not as cold. Watching the leader carefully examine each of the corpses brought back, Tianqing couldn't help but ask, "Why does the mission specifically require bringing back all the enemy's intact corpses? Wasn't it enough to just bring back the target's head or some other proof before?"

The person in charge was also taken aback: "That's true, lately all the missions have become about bringing back corpses."

"Don't you know either?"

"I don't know, maybe the employer has some special requirements."

"Haha, that's true." Tian Qing quickly put this little question out of her mind, took the reward handed over by the person in charge, and walked out of the base.

"Speaking of which, the reward given by the Anbu is really high. After deducting the living expenses given to the foster parents, the rest should be enough to make a combat puppet."

At dusk, in the Hokage's office, Tobirama Senju was reviewing a report submitted by the Anbu. Hiruzen Sarutobi strode in: "Master, you wanted to see me?"

Tobirama Senju put down the report in his hand: "Hiruzen, how is the research you participated in progressing?"

"Progress is going well so far, and we're almost at the practical application stage. Human trials are currently underway, but we're running out of consumables for the trials."

"I have already issued a large number of assassination missions and required the retrieval of all the ninja corpses. Go and collect some first. Prioritize the development of this technique and make sure it is completed before I set off for the Land of Lightning."

"Yes." Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and left.

Tobirama Senju stood up, gazing at the setting sun outside the window, and murmured to himself, "Brother Hashirama, without your suppression, the war has begun again. Now Konoha is surrounded by enemies on all sides. We need your strength. Can you come back and help Konoha?"

After the death of Hashirama Senju, the "God of Shinobi," the war between the Five Great Nations resumed without the support of overwhelming force. During the war, each nation utilized the Tailed Beasts assigned to them by Hashirama, making the conflict even more brutal than before. Konoha, situated in the center, was surrounded by enemies on all sides and suffered particularly heavy losses.

Faced with a severe shortage of fighting power, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, proposed a forbidden jutsu development plan: the Impure World Reincarnation. This technique, initially conceived by Tobirama and expending a great deal of Konoha's manpower and resources, aimed to revive the fallen guardians of Konoha.

Tobirama Senju believed that once he completed this technique and brought his elder brother back to the human world, the other four great nations would obediently bow their heads and end the war. No matter how dire the situation, he believed that as long as his elder brother Hashirama was alive, all difficulties would vanish.

PS First update

Chapter Twenty-Three: Daily Life

Early in the morning, the sky was already bright. In this season, the sky over Konoha always brightens very early.

Thick curtains completely covered the windows, preventing any light from getting in.

"Ring ring ring ring ring... Sunny, wake up! Sunny, wake up!" The seven alarm clocks embedded in the ceiling rang almost simultaneously, chattering away like seven gourds seeing their grandfather coming to water the plants.

A puppet monkey swiftly climbed onto the ceiling, turned off the alarm clocks one by one, and then nimbly jumped down, deftly serving its master as he got up, dressed, brushed his teeth, and washed his face. As a puppeteer, Tian Qing's life consisted of simply moving his fingers; he was waited on hand and foot. If it weren't for the chakra threads on the puppets proving that Tian Qing was constantly training his chakra control, he would probably be living a typical life of a lazy bum.

Almost two months have passed since the last Anbu mission. During this time, Tenharu has spent almost all her time in her private base, creating her first combat puppet. However, she doesn't plan to continue this work today. Carrying a small gift she made earlier, Tenharu heads towards the Uchiha clan's headquarters. Today is the day Hyuga Kagetsu is discharged from the hospital, so Tenharu plans to ask Uchiha Haruno to pick her up.

“Uchiha Haruno?” The Uchiha ninja guarding the gate looked at Tensei with disdain. “Sorry, she’s on a mission right now. Come find her another time.”

"Oh? There's a mission? Could you tell me if this mission was issued by the noble or by the village?"

"Why are you asking this?" The Uchiha ninja grew increasingly impatient.

Tianqing took out a mission notice, which she had specifically asked Sarutobi Aoyama for: "This is a mission notice issued by the Hokage, requiring Uchiha Haruno to come with me now, or do you think that the mission issued by the nobles themselves is more important than the mission issued by the Hokage?"

"This..." The Uchiha ninja's face turned red, and he stammered, unable to utter a word.

“Of course, the Hokage’s mission takes priority.” Elder Uchiha Mokage of the Uchiha clan stepped forward from the side. “Our clan just received the mission notification from the village, which is why there was a misunderstanding. Haruno will be here soon, please wait a moment.”

However, the items on Uchiha Moying's body immediately betrayed him: "Actually, this old fox had already received the mission notice from the village. He was just waiting to see you make a fool of yourself, but he saw that the gatekeeper was stumped by your question, so he came out to help him out."

"It's alright, I understand how nobles feel." Tianqing always had a good attitude. The key to being a good person is to be happy.

“Young lady, you’re very smart. You know to apply for a mission from the Hokage before coming to find Haruno,” Uchiha Moying said calmly. “As a smart person, you should know what to do next.”

"Of course," Tian Qing said, seemingly oblivious to the threat in the other person's words. "The best thing is for everyone to live in harmony and happiness."

Konoha Hospital.

Hyuga Kagetsu walked out of the hospital. She didn't sense any Hyuga clan chakra. It seemed the clan hadn't sent anyone to pick her up after all. Had she really been ostracized by the clan? "These stubborn adults!" Hyuga Kagetsu thought to herself. But when she heard Uchiha Haruno and Tensei calling her name loudly, a smile returned to her face. "Whatever," she thought, "at least I still have my comrades waiting for me."

In the morning, the sun rises.

Three girls walked along the streets of Konoha, chatting and laughing. Sunlight shone on them; this was their memory of youth.

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Dark Guard and the Sky-Piercing Drill

Three months later, at the main gate of Konoha, an ANBU member wearing a bull-head mask threw his pass against the wall and then strolled into the village.

The new gatekeeper asked his senior with curiosity, "Senior, this ANBU mask looks really creepy."

"Shh, keep your voice down, don't gossip, it'll be trouble if she hears you."

"Her?" The newcomer's curiosity grew even stronger. "Is she a woman?"

"That's right. The recently famous Anbu member, codenamed Void, is one of the few members of the Anbu who can carry out missions alone. In the past, it would have taken a whole team of Anbu members to handle an S-rank mission, but she can do it all by herself."

"Wow, that's amazing! But you're amazing too, senior, to know such high-level information as an S-rank mission." The newcomer quickly flattered him. As a newcomer, flattering the senior was a survival skill in the workplace.

"Hahaha, I'm a Jonin specializing in intelligence gathering, of course I know all about such a small rumor." The senior patted the newcomer on the shoulder and laughed. Flattery never fails, and the friendship between the senior and the newcomer deepened even further.

Ignoring the commotion at the entrance, Tian Qing walked into the Dark Division's stronghold and handed over the mission scroll.

"You've completed another mission? This is your third A-rank mission this week, isn't it?" The person in charge looked at the Minotaur ANBU member with curiosity. Due to secrecy requirements, apart from the first test mission, the persons in charge of all other missions did not know the true identities of the ANBU members who carried out the missions. However, Tian Qing's mask was so unique that the person in charge of the mission had a very deep memory of this ANBU member codenamed Xu.

Tian Qing nodded: "Next, I'd like to take on a mission near the Land of Thunder."

"Oh? Do you have any special requests?" the person in charge asked. Normally, ninjas don't have the right to choose missions; they can only wait for assignments from their superiors. However, no matter where you are, the strong possess certain privileges. Given Tian Qing's demonstrated strength, as long as the request isn't too unreasonable, the person in charge will handle it accordingly.

"There is a rare metal material near the Land of Lightning that can be used to make puppet cores."

"Oh, I see. Well then, we happen to have a reconnaissance mission to the Land of Lightning." The person in charge said readily. Hollow was very skilled in puppetry and often collected materials related to puppetry, which was no secret within the Anbu.

After receiving the mission scroll, Ameyoshi left the Dark Side's base and headed directly towards the Land of Lightning.

Three days ago, Tian Qing received news that the Second Hokage had led a team away from Konoha to the Land of Lightning. So Tian Qing immediately finished her current tasks as quickly as possible and rushed back to take on a mission to the Land of Lightning as a cover for rescuing the Second Hokage.

After leaving the village, Tian Qing made sure there was no one around, then untied a scroll and released a puppet from inside.

"Heaven and Earth Drill No. 1" is the name of this puppet. The puppet's shape resembles a giant drill bit, with numerous nozzles installed at the rear. The front of the puppet has a compartment that can barely accommodate a petite girl, while the rear section contains numerous wind-style propulsion devices. Wind-style techniques are automatically released through the puppet's core and then concentrated and ejected from the rear nozzles, achieving a rocket-like propulsion effect.

After drilling into the Heaven and Earth Drill No. 1, Tian Qing laboriously pulled the hatch shut, adjusted the angle, and began to activate the chakra core: "Heaven and Earth Drill No. 1, launch!!"

"Boom!" A drill bit shot into the sky, as if it wanted to break through the sky and tear through the clouds, piercing into the distance.

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Death of the Second Raikage

The Land of Thunder.

The Hidden Cloud Village was bustling with activity. Besides the local residents of the Land of Lightning, envoys from many other villages had also arrived to witness the ceremony. When the bell rang, signaling the start of the ceasefire agreement signing ceremony, everyone surged towards the plaza.

There were no annoying speeches from leaders; the two Kage went straight to the peace talks after taking the stage. Finally, as the Second Hokage and the Second Raikage signed the ceasefire agreement, the villagers below erupted in cheers. This damned war was finally over; peace had arrived!

Kinkaku, draped in a cloak that concealed his figure, stood in the crowd, coldly watching the Second Hokage and the Second Raikage clasping hands on the stage. His eyes were filled with rage. Raikage, do you think that by signing this agreement in such a grand manner, we will be forced to accept a ceasefire? Impossible!

Jinjiao lowered his head slightly and said in a low voice, "Let our people prepare to begin."

"Yes," a man who looked like an ordinary villager quickly squeezed out of the crowd behind him.

Two hours later, the Second Hokage, having signed the agreement, led his group away from Kumogakure. Although a ceasefire agreement had been signed, the Hokage and his party were unwilling to linger in the Land of Lightning unless absolutely necessary; they might just run into one or two people with a blood feud with Konoha while they were out and about.

After watching the Second Hokage leave the gates of Kumogakure, the Second Raikage headed home. He had been too busy with other matters lately and hadn't been home for a long time. When he arrived at his doorstep, he even felt a strange sense of unfamiliarity in his familiar home.

The moment he stepped into the entryway, the Second Raikage suddenly realized that the quietness in his home was somewhat unsettling.

"Son? The child's mother?" the Second Raikage asked tentatively.

"What a pity, they just went out, and we couldn't find them either," a voice replied, and then several figures walked out of the room.