"This is bad!"
With just one glance at the battlefield, the Third Hokage immediately sensed something was wrong: "Where did these Ninjas come from?! How did they sneak into Konoha?"
However, he quickly realized that now was not the time for such thoughts. Without hesitation, he began summoning his Anbu subordinates to support the Root Ninjas.
By the time the main force of Konoha Ninja arrived, the place had already been reduced to ruins. The Cyborg Ninjas had long since departed, leaving behind only the scattered and fleeing Root Ninjas.
"Danzo, what on earth is going on?"
The Third Hokage glared at Danzo through gritted teeth, while Danzo simply kept a straight face and said coldly, "What else could it be? Before we could act, Ninjas from other hidden villages had already beaten us to it!"
Why is everything being blamed on me? Can't you see that my Root has also suffered heavy casualties?
"Are you saying that at least a dozen Jonin from other villages easily infiltrated Konoha Village, and your Root knew nothing about it?!"
Danzo fell silent. Not just him, but the Anbu and the Ninjas of the Uchiha Police Force all wore expressions of shame.
A dozen Jonin! Such strength accounted for nearly one-sixth or one-seventh of a hidden village's high-level forces! For so many Ninjas to enter Konohagakure without anyone noticing was simply unheard of!
"The enemy must have used some other means to become Jonin!"
A Ninja with a scar on his face and a pineapple-style haircut examined the corpses on the ground and spoke up: "These people weren't Jonin to begin with. They just used some method to stimulate their life force, becoming much stronger for a short period. Even if left alone, they would likely only live for another year or two."
Upon hearing this, the expressions of Danzo and the Third Hokage darkened further. A year or two was not a short time. Although such a cruel method certainly couldn't be spread on a large scale, it would be a trump card for any major hidden village.
"If I'm not mistaken, the opponents must be from Iwagakure and Kumogakure!"
Danzo walked over to the Cyborg Jonin who had been killed by nano-poisonous insects and used his cane to gently flip the corpse over, speaking coldly.
As the leader of Root, Danzo possessed intelligence on almost all Ninjas from other villages whose strength reached or exceeded the Special Jōnin level. Even if these Ninjas belonged to organizations similar to Root and had rarely left their names in the outside world, Root, having long clashed with such departments, certainly had some records.
Danzo couldn't determine their names, but he could at least confirm which hidden village they belonged to. Because of this, his heart burned with even greater rage.
To think that this time, their two allies, Kumogakure and Iwagakure, had directly pinned a massive blame on Konoha while they escaped with the greatest prize, Vegapunk!
"Hiruzen, these are the allies you spoke of! They've certainly been 'friendly' enough to us!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was grim. After hearing Danzo's words, he just gritted his teeth: "There's still a chance! Start the pursuit before they escape the Land of Fire!"
"All Anbu and Police Force Ninjas, listen up! Pursue them with everything you've got. We must rescue Dr. Vegapunk!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the group of Ninjas standing behind the Third Hokage responded and vanished with a whoosh, heading off to pursue the enemy.
"Boom!" With a loud explosion, the Anbu and other Ninjas who were about to give chase stopped in their tracks, looking into the distance in surprise.
They saw the iconic Hokage Rock of Konoha collapsing amidst violent explosions, crushing several buildings below. The force of the collapse even impacted the Hokage Building, causing the entire structure to tilt.
"What's happening?!" the Third Hokage roared and rushed over. A group of Anbu and Police Force Ninjas looked at each other and eventually followed the Third Hokage toward the Hokage Rock.
When they arrived, the area had already turned into a brutal battlefield. A Ninja, radiating a powerful and ominous Chakra, was slaughtering the Konoha Ninja.
A swing of his fist could stir up a storm, his physical speed was nearly supersonic, and a casual kick could demolish tall buildings. Every Ninjutsu he performed was instantaneous and no less powerful than an A-rank technique... The Ninja before them undoubtedly stood at the pinnacle of all Ninjas, a Kage-level Ninja deemed worthy of leading a village!
Because of the Third Hokage's earlier order, almost all the elites of Konohagakure had rushed to Vegapunk's hotel. Those left behind were just ordinary Chunin and Genin maintaining order. They had almost no power to resist the Ninja before them and were sacrificing their lives just to slow down his destruction.
The ground was drenched in blood, littered with corpses. At least several hundred Ninjas had already died at the hands of that Ninja with the iron-blue face.
That Ninja's complexion wasn't due to anger or any such reason; it was simply the result of being modified.
"You bastard, stop right there!"
Amidst his roar, the Third Hokage directly summoned his contract summon. With a firm grip, the summon known as Enma transformed into the massive adamantine staff, which he swung directly at the Cyborg Ninja.
With a loud crash, the Cyborg Ninja was knocked back a dozen steps, leaving deep footprints with every stride. Once he regained his footing, he looked up, staring coldly at the Third Hokage. Without hesitation, he clapped his hands together and unleashed a Ninjutsu.
Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!
A terrifying volume of water, comparable to a lake, was instantly summoned. Empowered by Natural Energy, this Water Release technique, already known for its vast range, bore down on the Ninjas with overwhelming force in an instant, causing everyone's expression to change.
The Cyborg Ninja's Chakra was already five or six times its original amount, and with the added boost of Natural Energy—especially after nearly half an hour of combat, where the Natural Energy within his body had reached an extremely high level—his Ninjutsu was becoming increasingly similar to Senjutsu. Naturally, ordinary Ninjas found it impossible to withstand.
"Use a combined Ninjutsu!" the Third Hokage bellowed, taking the lead in forming hand seals. Among the remaining Ninjas, those with quick reactions immediately followed suit.
Earth Release: Great Mud Wall!
A massive stone wall, like a towering cliff, rose up, barely blocking the tsunami-like wave. After crashing against it for a moment, the terrifying torrent finally dispersed to the sides, sweeping away a dozen nearby houses.
However, just as the Ninjas breathed a sigh of relief, a violent flash of lightning streaked across, instantly piercing the mud wall. It branched out like a tree, striking seven or eight Ninjas directly.
"Aaaagh!" Amidst agonized screams, those seven or eight Ninjas were instantly charred to a crisp, while the others scrambled away in terror.
"Dammit! What's with this guy? Why is he performing Ninjutsu so fast?"
"Even if a Ninjutsu is optimized to the limit and one is so proficient they can cast it without seals, it shouldn't be possible to cast them in such rapid succession!"
Generally, Ninjutsu is performed by controlling the flow of one's Chakra through hand seals. Thus, besides the seals themselves, how to control that internal Chakra flow is the true secret of Ninjutsu.
However, human physical and mental control are limited. Usually, after performing a Ninjutsu, one must wait for their Chakra flow to stabilize before casting another. Otherwise, not only would the body be harmed by the chaotic Chakra, but few could even control such turbulence.
In reality, these Cyborg Ninjas felt no pain and their bodies were reinforced, so they naturally didn't care about the damage chaotic Chakra caused to their flesh. Furthermore, the chips in their brains provided powerful Chakra control, allowing them to manage that chaos.
The Root Ninjas who had previously fought the Cyborgs had long known this information. However, due to their nature, they didn't bother to warn the other Ninjas, which led to several careless ones being taken out in an instant.
Of course, the most important reason was that this Cyborg Ninja's Ninjutsu was too powerful; otherwise, even if Lightning Release counters Earth Release, ordinary lightning wouldn't have been able to pierce such a combined Earth Release technique.
As soon as the Earth Release wall was pierced, the Cyborg Ninja flickered and passed through it. With a long sword he had scavenged from some corpse, he slashed directly at an Anbu.
The Anbu raised a Kunai to block, but was instantly cut in two. The reinforced Senjutsu Chakra significantly enhanced the weapon's sharpness and durability, allowing him to cut through the crowd like a god of war.
"Don't get too cocky! This is Konoha!"
The Third Hokage roared and swung his staff. With a loud bang, he sent the Cyborg Ninja flying as the latter turned to block. However, the Cyborg Ninja flipped and landed on his feet, refusing to engage the Third Hokage and instead charging at the other ordinary Ninjas.
"Dammit! Is he here just to stall for time so those Ninjas can escape?"
The Third Hokage gritted his teeth, his face flushed with anger. "If we ignore this guy, the destruction to the entire village will be too great!"
The Iwagakure and Kumogakure Ninjas who took Vegapunk were quite strong. Even if they were caught, rescuing Vegapunk would require several Elite Jonin or the Hokage himself. But with this guy wreaking havoc in the village, he couldn't leave.
After all, this was Konoha Village. The opponent could unleash high-powered, lethal Ninjutsu without restraint, while they had to be cautious. Not to mention, the opponent was the kind of Ninja who did dirty work and lacked any sense of humanity.
When he attacked, he specifically targeted the weaker Ninjas, focusing solely on killing and avoiding direct confrontation with the strong ones. The Third Hokage was even certain that if there were ordinary civilians nearby, the opponent would have used Ninjutsu for a wholesale massacre.
Considering the situation, the Third Hokage finally gritted his teeth and ordered, "Danzo! Take your Root members; the two of us will handle this guy! The remaining Anbu, continue the pursuit to rescue Dr. Vegapunk. Kakashi, you take command!"
The Anbu members would have a hard time against a team of nearly a dozen Jonin. In other words, even with an Elite Jonin like Kakashi leading them, this rescue mission was almost impossible to succeed.
But at least it could delay their departure from the Land of Fire... "Are those guys fools? They only saw a clone of you and didn't see me at all, yet they didn't have a single doubt?"
Leaning against Vegapunk, Hancock spoke with a look of unhappiness, her face showing a hint of disdain.
"Ninja techniques are strange and varied, so most Ninjas only look at the result and don't question the process..." Vegapunk said calmly.
"In a situation where one side is calculated and the other is caught off guard, even powerful Ninjas can be stalled by certain techniques."
Besides, in this situation, one couldn't expect the Third Hokage and Danzo to think clearly. "Vegapunk" had been kidnapped, the blame had fallen on Konoha Village, and the village itself was being destroyed.
Under these circumstances, their priority would be to quell the chaos and then find Vegapunk to clear their name. As for why Vegapunk's guards were nowhere to be seen, they would only investigate that thoroughly after things had settled down.
"Sending Kakashi to lead the Anbu in pursuit? Kakashi is about seventeen or eighteen now. After the enhancement in the Land of Snow, his strength is around the Elite Jonin level... but he probably has no chance against my Cyborgs..."
"They're planning to use these people's lives to buy time! Perfect, notify Uchiha Obito that he can make his move."
"And then..."
"I wonder if the Third Hokage can sense the impending self-destruction of the Cyborg Ninja?"
The self-destruction ability of the Cyborg Ninjas requires the continuous absorption of Natural Energy. In fact, Ninjas of a certain level can sense strong flows of Natural Energy.
The Third Hokage's mastery of Ninjutsu is unquestionable. Having reached the Kage-level with ordinary Five Elements Ninjutsu, he should be extremely sensitive to energy flows. As the self-destruction threshold approaches, it likely won't escape his notice.
By now, another ten minutes of battle had passed. Although the Cyborg Ninja had sustained some injuries, the power he displayed was becoming increasingly formidable. His Ninjutsu grew more potent, and his physical strength continued to rise.
"This guy... his Chakra is actually increasing as he uses it? Wait, this peculiar energy flow... could it be Senjutsu?"
The Third Hokage's expression was grim, but he soon realized that the flow of Natural Energy was incredibly violent, clearly having little to do with true Senjutsu.
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