Chapter 70:
The area was filled with the enemy's shadow clones. The weakness of shadow clones was their low durability against physical blows.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's hands moved rapidly to form seals. His chest swelled: "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A large-scale Wind Release ninjutsu was the perfect tool for eliminating shadow clones.
Seeing this, Senju Hashirama's shadow clones could only retreat quickly.
But four of the shadow clones struck the nearby walls, instantly breaking them into several pieces.
Then, two shadow clones — one from the south and one from the north — each lifted a large section of the broken wall and smashed them toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The scene was like two giant hands trying to swat a flying mosquito to death.
"BOOM…!"
The two wall sections collided. Hiruzen Sarutobi kept retreating, barely avoiding the attack.
"Damn it, this massive amount of chakra… and this kind of power and speed… How can the daimyō's residence have such experts?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was bitter. He bit his thumb, drew a line of blood across his palm, and slammed it on the ground.
"Summoning Technique: Monkey King — Enma!"
The moment the white smoke exploded, a white giant ape over two meters tall appeared beside him, finally giving Hiruzen Sarutobi a shred of security.
"Hiruzen, this is…?" Enma's voice was full of vigilance.
"No time to explain! Transform into the Adamantine Staff!"
The Monkey King Enma spun and transformed into a black staff over two meters long, flying into Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand.
The Adamantine Staff extended continuously — 20 meters… 40 meters… 60 meters… Hiruzen Sarutobi swung it forward with force. More than a dozen nearby houses were instantly cut in half and collapsed.
Watching from the sidelines, Uchiha Sanpō calmly commented: "This move is pretty good for demolition… but it's too slow for hitting people…"
Four of Senju Hashirama's shadow clones ran to the rooftops nearby, picked up roof tiles, and hurled them at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
A sky full of tiles poured down like a rainstorm.
Hiruzen Sarutobi felt his scalp go numb. The speed at which those tiles were flying was practically like cannonballs!
Many tiles that Hiruzen Sarutobi dodged struck the nearby walls, punching large holes through them.
At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi was as agile as a monkey, constantly dodging and shifting while using the Adamantine Staff to deflect the incoming tiles.
But prolonged defense was bound to fail — especially when it was four against one.
Seeing that he was about to be overwhelmed, Hiruzen Sarutobi threw the Adamantine Staff into the air and shouted: "Enma, Adamantine Prison Wall!"
In an instant, the Adamantine Staff split into dozens of Adamantine Staffs, forming a cage-like wall that protected Hiruzen Sarutobi inside.
As expected of the indestructible Adamantine Staff, dozens of flying tiles struck it, producing crisp sounds like rain on plantain leaves. Fragments flew everywhere, but the staff remained completely unharmed.
"Who… exactly are you…" Hiruzen Sarutobi gasped heavily, his face flushed from lack of oxygen.
Senju Hashirama's shadow clones immediately changed tactics upon seeing this.
Two of the shadow clone samurai suddenly charged toward the outer edge of the Adamantine Staff defense.
They raised their right fists high and slammed them down on the ground at the same time!
"BOOM… BOOM!"
Terrifying brute force instantly transmitted into the ground. The earth within a ten-meter radius began to shake violently.
The stone slabs beneath Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly collapsed. He fell downward along with the sinking ground!
"Extend!" In the critical moment, one Adamantine Staff rapidly lengthened and deeply embedded itself into the still-intact ground in the distance.
Hiruzen Sarutobi gripped it tightly and, at the last second, pulled himself out of the sinkhole.
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead. His hands trembled slightly from excessive force.
The remaining two shadow clone samurai each grabbed a several-ton stone lion statue. They spun their bodies and hurled the stone lions toward the Adamantine Staff in the air!
Before Hiruzen Sarutobi could even catch his breath, the sound of breaking air came rushing toward him!
"BOOM!"
The first stone lion slammed heavily into the Adamantine Staff. The terrifying impact caused the staff to bend slightly!
"BOOM… BOOM… BOOM!"
The second, third, and fourth stone lions followed one after another. The Adamantine Staff trembled violently and finally turned into a puff of smoke and disappeared!
Hiruzen Sarutobi fell from the air, but after flipping once mid-fall, he landed steadily on the ground.
He continued gasping for breath, cold sweat dripping from his forehead: "Perhaps… we can talk about this…!"
However, it was useless.
Two of Senju Hashirama's shadow clones used Body Flicker to close in. They alternated between punching Hiruzen Sarutobi's left cheek and right cheek.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was quickly beaten until his face was unrecognizable.
Watching the fight between the two, Uchiha Sanpō took a deep breath: "Too brutal. This should help Hashirama vent some anger."
Tonight, he had finally witnessed the real fighting style of the Warring States era.
No rules. No bottom line. Using anything that could be used to kill the enemy. No unnecessary movements — only survival and death.
As Hiruzen Sarutobi was forced back, the sounds of resistance from the Sarutobi clan gradually faded.
Large numbers of shadow clones began to gather. Bag after bag of cash was counted. The total came to 39.14 billion ryō in cash — 1.78 billion ryō more than they had embezzled.
Of course, Hiruzen Sarutobi's 110,000 taels of gold and 1.59 million taels of silver did not escape this time. They were all taken by Uchiha Sanpō.
After tying up the last sealing scroll, Uchiha Sanpō said softly: "We should go."
Senju Hashirama nodded. The two quickly disappeared without a sound.
But the entire daimyō's residence was in an uproar. Because the Sarutobi clan was the last one, Senju Hashirama had not used a silencing barrier.
The aftermath of the battle at the Sarutobi mansion quickly attracted many onlookers.
As more information spread, everyone in the daimyō's residence learned that the four ninja clans the daimyō had just recruited had been robbed by two people dressed as samurai.
What did this mean? The forces the daimyō relied on were worthless in front of true experts.
Discussions about this incident spread throughout the daimyō's residence.
Inside the study, the daimyō of the Land of Fire smashed his most beloved teacup: "Useless! A bunch of useless trash!"
The daimyō's roar echoed in the room.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face remained expressionless, but the other three clan heads were scolded so badly they didn't dare raise their heads.
"Four ninja clans, over three thousand people, beaten by just two people without any ability to fight back. What use do I have raising you?!"
Hearing this, the new Koharu, Mitokado, and Shimura clan heads trembled like quails.
Looking at the three of them cowering, the daimyō sneered: "Ninjas who can't even protect themselves are not worth my heavy investment. The salaries of the four clans will be cut in half."
Since it concerned their own interests, Hiruzen Sarutobi had no choice but to step forward.
He said in a deep voice: "I fought the enemies myself. Their power is enormous. The tiles they casually threw could punch large holes through walls. With one hand, they could throw several-ton stone lions seventy to eighty meters. And there were a thousand such enemies. That's why we lost."
After listening, the daimyō finally gained some understanding of the strength of the two mysterious individuals.
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