In the Sand Village, the clones are everywhere, and the Arkham game begins

Chapter 422 Fulfillment
Several kilometers away from the battlefield where Shimizu and the Senju brothers were located.

Orochimaru's Konoha ninjas have already begun close combat with the Sunagakure ninjas.

However, the scenario that was envisioned—the Sand Village being leaderless and defeated by the Konoha ninja led by Orochimaru—did not occur.

"Sandaime!"

A Konoha Jonin stared at a figure on the battlefield whose movements were stiff and mechanical, yet incredibly swift, and his expression changed drastically.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet."

With a wicked smile on his face, Sasori extended a finger and manipulated the Third Hokage puppet to unleash a fire jutsu at a giant purple snake in the distance.

"Water Release: Water Pillar".

A water column appeared, colliding with the fire dragon and evaporating.

Orochimaru, his face grim, leaped from the top of Manda's head, and countless pythons flew out from his right sleeve, attacking Sasori's face.

Sasori's act of turning the Third Hokage into a human puppet was a resounding slap in the face to all the Konoha ninjas.

This is especially true for Orochimaru, the current Hokage of Konoha.

He must do everything in his power to retrieve the body of the Third Hokage.

However, it seems difficult at the moment.

The Hidden Shadow Serpent Hand was cleaved into pieces by the Black Ant beside the Scorpion, while the Thousand Serpents were entangled by the Silver Bull and Scarlet Flow Amber, two top-tier puppets.

As for Sasori himself, under the double protection of the black ants and the salamander, he manipulated the Third Hokage's puppet and frantically attacked Orochimaru and all the Konoha ninjas he could reach.

Black Ant and Salamander were both products created shortly after Scorpion and Shimizu met.

At that time, the power of these two puppets was naturally not very strong, but Sasori was a top noble scion of Sunagakure. Even during his chunin and genin period, the materials used to make the puppets would not be bad, and they could be used until he became a jonin.

As Scorpion's strength increased, and after further modifications to the puppetry techniques of both the old and new systems, the power of these two puppets became quite formidable, enough to protect Scorpion completely.

The black ant is alright, but the salamander's puppet, which was originally modeled after Shimizu, was made with great care to protect itself.

Even after receiving the Divine Refinement Techniques from Shimizu, this puppet has already largely completed its transformation into a magical artifact, making it the strongest puppet in Sasori's possession besides the Third Hokage's puppet.

Orochimaru had absolutely no way to deal with Sasori sitting on the salamander.

Neither the Ten Thousand Snake Formation nor any other powerful ninjutsu could break through Sasori's defenses.

Orochimaru's survival skills and overall combat strength are quite good among Kage-level shinobi, and his offensive methods are sufficient most of the time.

His base stats are actually decent, but he's half a level below his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi. He's not a mechanic-driven monster like Minato Namikaze, and he doesn't know Sage Mode as a way to unleash his power in a short period.

While he could gain more initiative in the battle against Sasori, Sasori was not entirely passive. When the two, as high-level combatants, were evenly matched, the winds of war would shift to the lower-level ninjas.

The Sand Village lost a portion of its forces to Rasa and Pakura, leaving only about half of its main force. However, the situation was similar for the Konoha Village.

In order to stop Rasa and Pakura, Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze also took away a significant portion of Konoha's elite forces.

Sunagakure still holds the upper hand.

Even though Orochimaru tried many methods to counter it, he still couldn't completely limit most of Sunagakure's methods.

The initial version of the fear gas sample was sent to Konoha headquarters, where Tsunade analyzed and deciphered it. Sunagakure quickly produced a new version, so Konoha, like Amegakure, began to wear breathing masks during battles.

However, Sunagakure can still inject liquefied fear gas into Konoha ninjas using weapons like senbon needles.

As for other methods such as freezing bombs and integrated new puppet armies, the Konoha ninja still have no good way to limit them.

After a fierce battle, the Konoha ninja who launched the attack not only failed to gain an advantage, but were also gradually losing strength.

Their confidence in attacking stemmed from the fact that two top-tier fighters, Rasa and Pakura, were absent, and Shimizu was tied up by the First and Second Hokage. They believed that there were no fighters capable of stopping Orochimaru, and thus felt certain of victory.

Even with Shimizu's inventions, the role of Kage-level shinobi on the battlefield remains unchanged. They are still the kind of powerful figures at the top of the shinobi world's pyramid who can fight against thousands single-handedly and change the course of local wars.

Unfortunately, they encountered Sasori, who had just turned the Third Hokage into a human puppet, and Orochimaru's original battle plan failed.

Therefore, after realizing that the objective could not be achieved and that Konoha's losses were greater than Sunagakure's, Orochimaru took the initiative to lead his troops in a retreat.

He was in no hurry.

Snakes are among the most patient animals.

He had experienced even worse situations before, such as losing almost a quarter of the Land of Fire's territory and the Sand Village's advance reaching a point just a mountain away from Konoha, where they could besiege the city at any moment.

With the First and Second Hokage still around, it's already a great blessing that the situation can at least be stabilized.

Currently, Hanzo is being held back by Kumogakure, and Kirigakure has suffered several major defeats at the hands of Fugaku Uchiha. If either side can free up their strength later, the situation could still change.

Orochimaru felt that everything was developing in a positive direction, and the course of the war was changing in the direction that Konoha was best at.

In the two previous Shinobi World Wars, Konoha also faced crises in the early stages, but after withstanding them, it relied on its strong foundation and ability to generate new blood, as well as the abundant resources of the Land of Fire, to wear down the enemy.

The Second Shinobi World War is a prime example.

Konoha survived the Second Shinobi World War thanks to its exceptionally high survival rate, abundant talent and resources, and rich heritage, which allowed it to produce the White Fang of Konoha and four Kage-level ninjas, the Sannin.

……

……

The battle between Shimizu and the Senju brothers ended when Orochimaru led his team to retreat.

He agreed to Hashirama Senju's request for negotiations, but did not agree to end the war.

What you can discuss at the negotiating table must be what you can achieve on the battlefield.

The greater the advantage on the battlefield, the more bargaining chips you have at the negotiating table.

Shimizu feels that negotiating now is acceptable.

The Thousand Hands Brothers are currently able to stop him, and there's also Might Guy, who for some reason hasn't appeared in this battle.

He also dreaded the Death Gate of the Eight Gates Formation.

This thing might actually kill him.

Techniques like the Impure World Reincarnation and the Eight Gates are things Konoha would never use in a regular war, but they can be used as trump cards in critical moments. Of course, this is on the premise that Konoha can accept that nearly a quarter of their territory will be ceded to Sunagakure.

Shimizu would never give up the benefits he had already gained; at worst, the stalemate would continue.

The Sand Village hadn't exhausted its resources accumulated in the past few years, and it could easily hold out for another year or two against Konoha. In fact, the development of the military-industrial complex had boosted related industries, leading to a temporary boost in the economy.

The internal development of Sunagakure will not be significantly affected within the next one to two years.

Furthermore, given that Sunagakure now controls a large amount of wealth and administrative power acquired from the daimyo, it wouldn't be a problem to go back several times over this period.

Whether it's continuing the stalemate with Konoha for another year or two, or negotiating a period of stable development in exchange for the same amount of time, Shimizu is confident that he can further improve his strength during this period.

We can just sweep through Konoha when the time comes, it'll be the same.

As for the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, Shimizu believes that after this battle, all forces in the ninja world will follow the example of Sunagakure and make changes.

Because Sunagakure has demonstrated its immense strength after the reforms, and in this war, it proved with overwhelming power the superiority of the new system over the old ninja village-daimyo system.

If other ninja villages don't want to be eliminated, they will be forced to imitate Sunagakure and obtain a large amount of resources, wealth, and administrative power from the original ruling class, namely the daimyo and nobles, in order to expand their military strength and improve the strength of their ninjas.

Just as after the first ninja village was established, other ninja clans in other countries, facing the collective power of multiple ninja clans united at a higher level, took the initiative to band together and formed multiple ninja villages within a year.

Because of the threat they felt.

Besides, after this battle, those ninja villages will definitely use a series of other means to spy on all the new puppet techniques and related technologies, as well as information about the Sand Village's growing strength. At the same time, they will try every means to engage in an arms race to increase their strength.

The reason is simple: Sunagakure is too strong. Konoha, which also has many Kage-level shinobi, has also developed the Impure World Reincarnation technique.

Both of these villages possess the strength to easily overwhelm any other major ninja village in a one-on-one battle. If other ninja villages do not want to fall behind in the future, they will definitely strive to develop further.

Even Konoha.

Because their dominant position has been challenged, Konoha's reforms will likely be quite radical for the sake of the future.

Others might hesitate to attack a daimyo, but Orochimaru is definitely not that kind of person.

Shimizu believed that this snake would definitely be the first Kage to overthrow the Daimyo after Sunagakure.

……

……

A world of one's own.

September 30th, night.

Peking University, Clean Water Science Research Center.

At this very moment, a grand celebration banquet is being held.

An hour ago, the news of the advent of the miniaturized condensation fusion reactor was officially announced as a hydrogen-saturated palladium metal was inserted into the basin-sized Ark reactor, causing it to light up with a brilliant, deep blue light.

Whether they were people from the scientific community, important figures from the military, government, and business circles who had received advance notice and arrived here, or news reporters from CCTV, they all participated in this banquet.

However, the atmosphere at the celebration banquet was somewhat tense. Armed police were even brought in to cordon off the scene. Everyone present was required to remain in their positions and not move. All communication devices were confiscated and inspected.

Because the great scientist, the inventor of condensation nuclear fusion, Zhuo Qingshui, was poisoned by foreign spies.

Fortunately, the water's senses were strong enough that it noticed in advance.

Fortunately, there was no live broadcast, so the relevant information was not spread immediately, otherwise it would have caused a huge uproar.

"That thing is not an ordinary poison. It contains Qi, and it is Qi poison. According to the National Security Bureau's test, it is a demon similar to a shaman in Northeast China. It has a cultivation of more than 300 years and is suspected of having undergone genetic modification. We have contacted experts in poison and Gu techniques from the Tang Clan in Sichuan, the Liu Family in Hunan, Qinghe Village in Miao territory, and Tengshan in Fujian to assist in the investigation."

Yue Qian, dressed in military uniform, walked over to Qing Shuidao, who was sitting in a chair with his eyes closed, resting.

"Have you found that person yet?"

"Master Zeng, Master Wang, and Mr. Zhuge Gong of the Wuhou School entered the inner vision to deduce the clues. Then, with the cooperation of the National Security Bureau, they arrested the person."

"who is it?"

"A journalist who infiltrated the area, who had studied abroad in his early years, has had his real identity replaced by a Japanese superhuman with the ability to shapeshift and disguise himself. He has now been captured and interrogated."

Neon man?
Yue Qian answered Qing Shui.

"Old Master Lü."

Shimizu opened her eyes, stood up from her chair, and spoke to an elderly man sitting at a table.

In an instant, everyone's eyes were focused on Lü Ci.

"Could we borrow some more people from the Lü family? Senior Ping, who is most skilled in the Minghun Technique, happens to be here as well."

Yue Qian glanced at Lü Ci and Lü Ping, then opened his mouth to whisper something in Qing Shui's ear.

But it was held down by clear water.

"After all, among all the people here, you are the least likely to be mixed up with the Japanese, so I think you can be completely trusted."

Lu Ci paused, then suddenly stood up, his eyes gleaming.

"Professor Zhuo, you're right. Hey, those little devils, it's been decades since I last met them. Ping'er, let's go lend a hand!"

After saying that, Lü Ci and Lü Ping followed a member of the National Security Bureau.

“Let’s go and take a look. A Gu worm with three hundred years of cultivation, and it has also undergone genetic modification. Hey, it’s really something. It’s a good research subject.”

Shimizu clapped his hands, indicating that Yueqian should take him to see it.

Another officer from the National Security Bureau, accompanied by several others, stepped forward and spoke out:
"Ladies and gentlemen, the suspect has been identified, and it can be confirmed for the time being that this incident is not related to any of you. Next, please follow the relevant personnel to give a statement and collect your returned communication devices. After that, you can return to your respective residences. In addition, please do not leave the capital city before receiving further instructions from higher authorities, and ensure that your communication is uninterrupted so that we can contact you at any time."

"We will definitely cooperate and stay in the hotel. We will not go anywhere. If you need any assistance, please feel free to ask. I think everyone here, including my Feng family, will do their best to help."

Wearing a suit, Feng Zhenghao stood up from his seat, took Feng Xingtong's hand with one hand, and spoke earnestly.

Other dignitaries and researchers present also made similar assurances before leaving the scene with the national security staff.

(End of this chapter)