Yuri and Naruto walked into Tsunade's office to see her sitting at her desk. They saw Kakashi and Sakura was there as well.
"Hey, Grandma! You figured out a plan for defeating the Shirogane Clan?" Naruto asked Tsunade.
"We don't have anything concrete yet. We're still working out our strategy." She spoke. "For now, just prevent the clan from collecting all of the Spirit Orbs. On top of that, I want you to find the last Spirit Orb before they do."
"In order to ensure they can't revive the Master Puppet, right?" Kakashi asked.
"Yes. Also, regarding this particular mission. A fire has erupted in Kisaragi Village, east of our land. There have been numerous reports of puppet sightings near the village. I think we can safely assume, that the clan set the village ablaze to cover their search for the Spirit Orb." Tsunade told them when she finished, explaining.
"That's terrible." Yuri spoke.
"Those jerks! They're really asking for it this time!" Naruto growled.
"Worry about saving the villagers, first, you dummy!" Sakura shouted, putting her hands on her hips.
"Like Sakura says, protecting the villagers in the priority. After you've rescued them, find the Shirogane Clan and strike them down." Tsunade said.
"Got it. Let's go, you guys." Kakashi spoke.
Right!" Naruto nodded.
"We're on our way, ma'am." Sakura saluted her.
The group quickly headed over to the village only to find the whole town completely up in ablaze. They moved to help evacuate the people, getting them out of the burning houses. Kakashi looked over several areas making sure there was nobody else that got left behind.
"Wow, they really went to town on this place." Kakashi spoke.
"Kakashi sensei, I was able to evacuate everyone." Sakura said, running over to him.
"I've managed to evacuate several people as well." Yuri told him.
"There isn't anyone left over here, either!" Naruto shouted.
"Let's try to put out the fires!" Yuri shouted.
"Leave it to me!" Naruto shouted and he made several clones and punched a water tower. The water sprayed, dousing out a little bit of the fire. Yuri quickly grabbed a bit of water when Naruto broke the tower and maneuvered it over to the remaining fires putting them out. Naruto watched in awe.
"Wow! I didn't know you could do that!"
"Secret family jutsu." Yuri shrugged, smiling.
"Good. So, all the villagers have gotten out. Only one thing left to do." Kakashi spoke before he glanced over into one of the ruined buildings. "Come on out! Don't even think of running now!" The group saw a man step out, narrowing his eyes at them.
"Who are you guys!?" the bandit shouted.
"Why did you attack the village!?" Sakura demanded.
"What do you care!?"
"Well, actually, we're on a mission to figure that out." Kakashi hummed. "You're not connected to the Shirogane Clan, are you?"
"H-How did you know?!" One of the bandits sputtered.
"Aha! So, you guys ARE connected! Fess up, already!" Naruto shouted. The bandit ran.
"Hold it!" Naruto quickly chased after him.
"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Sakura shouted, chasing after the bandit as well. Yuri pulled out some water from her canteen and made a whip and shot it out to the bandit, grabbing them by the ankle. The bandit fell, tripping to the ground.
"Well, I wasn't expecting him to come clean easily." Kakashi spoke.
"Finally got you! There's no escaping now! Hey, wait!" Naruto shouted. Suddenly, a puppet jumped down from one of the buildings and cut the whip, freeing the bandit. Yuri was surprised to see that it was the same lizard puppet that attacked the Leaf Village. The man quickly ran and Naruto lost track of him. "Ah! Where'd he go!?"
"This is no time just to be standing around!" Sakura shouted before she noticed the puppet. "W-What is this!?"
"I'm betting its the Shirogane Clan's puppet!" Naruto spoke.
"Careful, here it comes!" Kakashi shouted. The puppet lunged at the four, attacking them. Naruto made some shadow clones and began to kick and punch, repeatedly. Sakura landed a hard punch as well, knocking the puppet back a little. Kakashi quickly charged at the puppet, landing a chidori into its center. Yuri made a few clones and charged at the puppet, throwing some punches as well. The puppet whipped its tail, smacking into two of Yuri's clones, destroying them. Yuri quickly moved her hand shooting some water straight up at the puppet, knocking it away. The puppet rolled and flipped on the ground, facing the group.
"There was supposed to be a Spirit Orb in this village." A voice spoke through the puppet. "But all my efforts were for nothing." The puppet vanished and disappeared into thin air, escaping.
"It disappeared!" Naruto exclaimed.
"The bandit's gone too! They got us..." Kakashi frowned.
"Man, they're asking for it! Just wait!" Naruto shouted, furiously, and stomped his foot in frustration.
"Kakashi sensei, there's something that's bothering me." Yuri spoke. "The Shirogane Clan used puppets to launch their first attack, right? So why would they use bandits for this one?"
"Good point." Kakashi spoke. "We should report back and begin analyzing what's happened." Naruto, Sakura, and Yuri nodded, and the group headed back to the Leaf and reported to Tsunade what had happened.
"A group of bandits, huh? Yes, that is strange." Tsunade frowned.
"Here's my take on the situation. They had already fought several other nations before the Land of Fire. And they lost even more puppets by attacking the Hidden Leaf Village." Kakashi spoke.
"Yeah, because I busted up so many of them!" Naruto grinned.
"Don't be so full of yourself!" Sakura shouted.
"So, the reason they teamed up with this group of bandits was to compensate for their losses while they work to create new puppets." Tsunade said.
"Maybe." Kakashi replied.
"Well done. This is a very useful piece of information. If it's human opponents we're dealing with, we can form a plan. I'll call a meeting later until then, you're all on standby." Tsunade told everyone.
"What? Aw, that's so lame!" Naruto whined.
"You have something you'd like to say?" Tsunade twitched, a little more irritated.
"S-sorry, ma'am! C'mon, Naruto, let's go!" Sakura shouted and she dragged him out and Yuri followed behind them as they left the Hokage mansion.