Sensing that the Modified Ninja was continuously absorbing Natural Energy from the atmosphere, Danzo narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke:
"Perhaps this guy won't need to fight for long before he collapses on his own!"
But the Third Hokage, who had gone further in the field of Ninjutsu and also had some understanding of Natural Energy and Sage Transformation, had a slight change in expression: "No... he will indeed collapse on his own, but the powerful Natural Energy won't disappear; instead, it will completely erupt in an instant!"
"This ability is almost like the Tsuchigumo clan's Fury! Even if the Natural Energy he absorbs is far less than that of the Tsuchigumo clan, it's enough to destroy most of Konoha!"
"What?!" Hearing this, the surrounding Ninjas' expressions changed drastically. The Modified Ninja before them, who was constantly growing stronger, was actually going to self-destruct?
"Hmm... judging by his current situation..."
The Third Hokage carefully observed the Ninja, whose veins were now bulging all over his body, his eyes rolled back, and his appearance was nearly identical to the state of the Seventh Gate of the Eight Gates. The Natural Energy had become incredibly chaotic and intense, enough for most Ninjas to sense it. He then drew a conclusion:
"In 5 to 10 minutes at most, this guy's body won't be able to withstand this much Natural Energy, and it will completely explode!"
"Damn it, why didn't you say so sooner!" Danzo roared. The Third Hokage brandished his adamantine staff, barely blocking the Modified Ninja's attack again, and replied, "I couldn't tell at first... Don't say more! We must drive him out of Konoha! Otherwise, it's over!"
While speaking, the Third Hokage let out a wild roar, his adamantine staff dancing wildly, actually forcing the Modified Ninja back step by step.
The Third Hokage had long noticed the abnormality of this Modified Ninja; the guy seemed to have completely lost his personal emotions, only using logic to judge the battle situation. The combat state guided by his logic had the ultimate goal of causing the maximum destruction to his opponent.
On the surface, he still dodged various attacks, but in reality, he didn't value his own life much. The reason he avoided damage was only to cause greater lethality and destruction.
Therefore, the Third Hokage knew very well that it was impossible to force him out of Konoha Village this way. If pushed into a corner, even if he hadn't fully absorbed the energy, he could probably trigger a certain level of self-destruction, which would blow up several Konoha blocks and kill thousands of people.
So his round of fierce attacks was merely to restrict the opponent's movements.
At the end of his swings, he threw it out, and the adamantine staff suddenly transformed back into Enma, grabbing the Modified Ninja's arms and tightly restraining him.
As for the real countermeasure... "Danzo, activate the sealing barrier!"
Danzo, who was beside the Third Hokage, narrowed his eyes slightly. Having been partners with this old friend for decades, he understood Hiruzen Sarutobi very well and naturally knew how to cooperate.
He casually performed the Shadow Clone Jutsu, with four Shadow Clones standing at each corner, then immediately cast a Sealing Technique: "Four Violet Flames Formation!"
Four purple lights turned into walls, trapping the Modified Ninja. Just as the Sealing Formula was established, the continuously strengthening Modified Ninja broke free from Enma's restraint and sent him back to the Summoning Realm with an elbow strike.
Looking at the Sealing Formula before him, the Modified Ninja frowned slightly and then quickly performed Ninjutsu to bombard one side of the seal.
Amidst the rumbling sounds, intense lightning and the Sealing Formula ground against each other, and purple flames instantly surged out.
Standing to the side, Danzo gritted his teeth. "Hiruzen, hurry up and do it. My Shadow Clones won't last long!"
With the sealing power of the Four Violet Flames Formation, sealing a Kage-level powerhouse wasn't actually a big problem, but the Chakra of Danzo's four Shadow Clones wasn't much. Continuously maintaining the Sealing Formula while under attack required a lot of Chakra. Once the Chakra was over-exhausted, the Shadow Clones would automatically disappear, and the Sealing Formula would naturally break.
Not to mention that if the Ninja inside really self-destructed, this ordinary Four Violet Flames Formation definitely wouldn't be able to stop it.
"I know!" The Third Hokage also gritted his teeth, a bitter smile on his face. "I never thought there would come a day when I'd use this move in Konohagakure..."
As he spoke, he had already created five Shadow Clones, surrounding the entire Sealing Formula from a distance. His main body then commanded, "All Ninjas, retreat immediately! Get out of this area!"
Hearing the Third Hokage's command, all the Ninjas retreated rapidly. Including the Third Hokage and Danzo, only their nine Shadow Clones remained on the battlefield.
The Third Hokage's five Shadow Clones looked at each other and simultaneously formed hand seals: "Five Release: Great Combo Technique!"
At the same time, Danzo's Shadow Clones released the Four Violet Flames Formation simultaneously. With a thunderous boom, five different elemental Ninjutsu merged together, triggering a terrifyingly powerful explosion!
In an instant, the horrific explosion not only engulfed the Modified Ninja and Danzo's four Shadow Clones but also caught the five Shadow Clones of the Third Hokage, turning them into ashes. The shockwave, like a tsunami, swept through the nearby blocks, leaving only a crater dozens of meters deep and a blast radius of hundreds of meters turned into ruins.
Fortunately, when the battle began, the ordinary residents had already fled under the guidance of the Konoha Ninjas; otherwise, a single strike like that would have likely killed hundreds of people.
Exhaling a long breath, both the Third Hokage and Danzo were teetering. The feeling of Shadow Clones being instantly swallowed by an explosion was not pleasant, not to mention both had consumed a large amount of Chakra, which was now nearly depleted.
However, a gratified smile appeared on the Third Hokage's face. Although the destructive power of the Five Release: Great Combo was immense, he had intentionally arranged the five clones in a circle to compress the destructive range with all his might, so in the end, only buildings were destroyed, with no casualties.
In comparison, if that Ninja had been allowed to self-destruct directly, that would have been a disaster for the entire Konohagakure.
"It's finally settled... my old bones are about to fall apart!"
The Third Hokage breathed a long sigh of relief. If it weren't for the fact that the Ninja, despite being modified and possessing decent combat skills, lacked spiritual flexibility, he estimated that winning would have been even more troublesome.
In fact, in a one-on-one duel, the aging and frail Third Hokage might not have had a high chance of winning.
"The Chakra and physical strength of the Ninjas present are almost exhausted..." Danzo said with a dark expression. "Should we continue to pursue and retrieve Vegapunk now?"
This battle had dragged on for nearly 20 minutes. With the Anbu's search and obstruction, the other party shouldn't have run too far, but since the Konoha Ninjas were not in their best state, Danzo asked this question.
"We must pursue!" In this situation, the Third Hokage was the one who remained firm. "Regardless of whether we succeed, we must show our stance first!"
"Vegapunk went missing in Konoha, so most of the responsibility lies with us. If we don't even put effort into the pursuit, we won't be able to convince the Land of Sea and the Land of Wind."
"Even if a war breaks out because of Vegapunk, Konoha cannot be the first target! Therefore, this operation is of utmost importance!"
"Even if we have to chase them to the Land of Earth or the Land of Lightning, we must get him back!"
Even if they couldn't get him back, the blame couldn't fall on them! What the Third Hokage didn't say out loud was exactly that.
In this regard, Danzo, who was used to being the scapegoat every day, wasn't as sensitive, but as a high-ranking member of the Ninja village, he quickly understood.
"Fine, I'll give the orders now!"
...In the dense jungle, eight or nine Ninjas with grim, deathly expressions were moving rapidly through the trees, carrying a comatose Blond Youth.
But just then, a sound like a thousand birds chirping erupted, and a figure like a bolt of lightning suddenly charged from the side, instantly piercing the chest of an outer-circle Ninja.
With a bang, that Ninja turned into a pile of wood. Simultaneously, several Ninjas on the opposite side reacted; one Ninja wielding a chain-sickle swung it out, binding the figure that had suddenly charged in.
But that figure also instantly turned into a pile of mud; clearly, an Earth Clone had been used at some point.
After the brief interlude ended, the group didn't stay on guard or wait; instead, they maintained their original formation and continued forward.
After they left, a head popped up from the ground. With silver hair and a mask, it was Kakashi Hatake.
"Was my intention seen through? These guys are really troublesome... they have no intention of stopping at all!"
Sighing, Kakashi frowned. "Is that guy Vegapunk really that easy to capture?"
He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but Kakashi, who had the most contact with Vegapunk, always felt some suspicion. He didn't think that cunning and cautious guy would truly be captured by a group of ordinary Ninjas.
Not to mention that the beautiful bodyguard by Vegapunk's side was nowhere to be seen. There were too many points worth scrutinizing.
But there was nothing he could do; his guesses were useless. At seventeen or eighteen, Kakashi's strength had only just surpassed the Jonin level, reaching Elite Jonin. What weight did he carry in Konoha?
Besides, whether or not Vegapunk had other ideas, the situation was right in front of him; he couldn't just not rescue him!
"Troublesome... and I don't have much Chakra left either," Kakashi said with annoyance, a look of hesitation on his face.
Having trained in Vegapunk's Training Pod, Kakashi, after stimulating his body with Lightning Release Chakra, was among the fastest in the entire Konohagakure. The Anbu, whose strength was at most that of Special Jonin, naturally couldn't keep up with him.
He was now constantly using various methods to hinder the opponent's progress, but the effect wasn't great, only slowing them down by about thirty to forty percent. To wait for the main force to catch up, it would probably take at least seven or eight hours.
At a Ninja's pace, seven or eight hours was enough to run through half of the Land of Fire. If the opponent had other members to meet them, it would be even harder to catch up.
While Kakashi was still thinking, he suddenly felt the world spinning. In a state of extreme dizziness, he reached out to hold his head, but halfway there, his vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground.
After a moment, Uchiha Obito slowly walked out from the side, looking somewhat surprised. "He really is completely defenseless... Strange, I didn't feel any Chakra fluctuations at all. What exactly did Vegapunk do to Kakashi?"
After a brief moment of marveling at Vegapunk's methods, Uchiha Obito wasn't the type to pry into everything and quickly began the eye transplant surgery.
Calling it eye transplant surgery, it was actually just gouging out the Kamui Sharingan, pressing it into his own eye, and then applying two drops of the Yin Release Chakra eye drops developed by Vegapunk to fully recover.
As for Kakashi, Uchiha Obito had prepared an ordinary Three-Tomoed Sharingan, installed it directly into his eye, applied a few drops of the Yin Release Chakra eye drops, and then wiped away some blood from his face.
The potion created by Vegapunk was extremely effective and even had a certain effect in mitigating genetic rejection. After switching to the new eye, even without the Kamui ability, Kakashi's normal combat strength would only increase.
After all, Obito's original eye appeared to be a Three-Tomoed Sharingan, but it was actually a Mangekyo. The Chakra consumption for Kakashi could be imagined.
After switching to a normal Three-Tomoed Sharingan, the Chakra consumption was already reduced by more than half. Additionally, using Vegapunk's special medicine during the eye connection further reduced the drain, which was enough to allow Kakashi to unleash more than twice his usual Chakra.
After glancing at the recovered Kakashi, Uchiha Obito took out a remote control, pressed one of the buttons, and then vanished into space.
A moment later, Kakashi woke up and rubbed his head. "Hmm, what happened? Oh, right, I still need to retrieve Dr. Vegapunk!"
Subsequently, as if nothing had happened, Kakashi continued his tracking.
After Kakashi left, Uchiha Obito's ethereal figure reappeared. "Vegapunk's inventions are truly terrifying... No Chakra fluctuations, no need for Sealing Techniques... He easily erased Kakashi's memory without even making him suspicious."
While thinking, Uchiha Obito lightly pressed his forehead. "The thing in my head is probably even more troublesome than the one in Kakashi's!"
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