Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 227 Hiruzen Sarutobi: Orochimaru?!
call!
A moment later, the raging air currents gradually subsided, and the pervasive smoke and dust gradually dissipated.

The Fourth Raikage stood in the center of the massive crater, slowly raising his muscular arm, casually brushing the dust off his Raikage robe, and sweeping his gaze over the chaotic battlefield around him.

The area around the crater was densely covered with shattered stones, the remains of the stone statue soldiers that he had utterly destroyed with a single blow.

"Hmph!" The Fourth Raikage let out a disdainful snort, his voice echoing like muffled thunder across the silent battlefield. "Is that all you've got?"

However, just as he finished speaking, a sharp whistling sound suddenly came from high above.

The Fourth Raikage subconsciously looked up and saw Deidara standing on the back of a giant bird made of white clay in the sky.

His long golden hair flew wildly in the wind, and he wore a morbidly fanatical and excited smile as he suddenly swung his hands downwards!
Swish!Swish!
Several white clay bombs, no bigger than a thumb and resembling miniature spiders, rained down from the sky, scattering among the stone statue soldiers that had not yet been destroyed.

“Art is an explosion!”

Deidara let out an excited cry, raised his hands to form a hand seal, and shouted, "Katsu!"

boom! !

A series of explosions erupted instantly among the stone statues, blinding flames engulfing large areas, and debris and smoke once again filled the air!
The Fourth Raikage leaped out of the flames and landed a short distance away. Although he reacted quickly, he was still covered in soot and dirt, and his face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.

"Hey! Onoki!"

He looked up at Onoki, who was flying in mid-air using "Earth Release: Light-Heavy Rock Technique," and couldn't help but curse, "Are you Iwagakure people trying to blow me up too?"

Upon hearing this, Onoki looked up at Deidara in the sky and said in a mocking tone, "Hey brat, go easy on him, that guy's from Kumogakure..."

"Stop nagging, old man!"

Before Onoki could finish speaking, Deidara impatiently interrupted, "You promised me that if I came with you, I could have a good time blowing things up!"

As he spoke, he threw out several more clay birds, which once again caused a violent explosion. The terrifying power made everyone present narrow their eyes slightly.

Although they had long heard of a person named "Deidara" in Iwagakure, they knew more about Deidara's reputation as a bombing terrorist.

It is said that this guy even dared to bomb the Tsuchikage building in his own Iwagakure village, and Onoki, covered in dust and dirt, was so angry that he cursed at him more than once.

Unexpectedly, this guy's secret technique is so powerful, and he even has the mobility to fly.

If this guy suddenly flew over their village, dropped a bunch of bombs, and left without hesitation, probably no one would be able to stop him.

Onoki withdrew his gaze from Deidara, looked down at the Fourth Raikage whose expression had darkened slightly, shrugged and smiled, "Sorry, Raikage, you've seen it too."

"Sigh, that's how young people are these days. They just won't listen to an old guy like me."

When he said this, Onoki spoke with a completely boastful tone, without the slightest hint of anger.

The Fourth Raikage couldn't help but feel a vein throbbing on his forehead. Just as he was about to explode in anger, Rasa, who had arrived, interrupted him again.

"Stop arguing." Luo Sha's voice was tinged with seriousness. "Haven't you realized yet? Your attacks are ineffective against those stone statues."

Upon hearing this, the Fourth Raikage and Onoki both looked towards the areas affected by the explosion.

The shattered and scattered fragments of the stone statues seemed to tremble and converge as if drawn by an invisible force, reforming themselves into intact stone soldiers.

"Huh?" Deidara frowned in annoyance, looking at the restored stone statues. "These bastards aren't artistic at all!"

“These stone statues cannot be destroyed by brute force alone.”

Yagura Karatachi, who had also come to catch up, said something, then looked up at Onoki and said politely, "Lord Tsuchikage, thank you for your trouble."

"Tsk."

Upon hearing this, Onoki muttered in dissatisfaction, raised his hands in front of him, clasped them together, and slowly opened them, forming a transparent cube-shaped barrier that emitted a faint light between his palms.

"Dust Escape·The Art of Original Realm Peeling!"

With Onoki's low shout, the transparent cube-shaped barrier shot out suddenly, enveloping the stone statues and soldiers in an area.

呲! !

A cloud of smoke rose from within the barrier. When the smoke and the barrier dissipated and disappeared, the stone statues had completely vanished, leaving only a neatly shaped, cube-shaped pit.

"feasible!"

Upon seeing this, the tense expressions of everyone present relaxed.

"Hey! What's with that expression?" Onoki immediately complained, "You don't expect an old man like me to dismantle all these statues, do you?"

"Who knows how many of these things there are? I could kill them all even if I worked myself to death!"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at the seemingly boundless stone statue and realized that it was indeed impossible for Onoki to do it alone.

"Dust Release" is formed by the fusion of three nature transformations: wind, earth, and fire. It is a "bloodline elimination" that surpasses "bloodline limit".

Although it can separate the opponent into atomic states and annihilate them, making it incredibly powerful, each use consumes a lot of chakra.

"Father!"

"Lord Raikage!" The voices of Huang Tu and the two Yugito rang out almost simultaneously, drawing the attention of everyone present to the two of them.

Huang Tu stood steadily, gripping a simple, ancient-looking, single-handed giant axe whose blade gleamed with a cold, sharp light.

His arms were bulging with muscles as he swung his giant axe with tremendous force, the whistling wind accompanied by a heavy whistling sound as he cleaved through the air, striking several stone statue soldiers.

Click!Click!
The hard rock body shattered like rotten wood before the axe blade, scattering stones everywhere.

At the same time, the two Yugitos were agile, each holding a long, black mace wrapped in lightning chakra!

With a deft flick of her wrist, the ninja tool that resembled a mace extended into a whip, tracing a sharp trajectory in the air and striking several stone statues with a piercing explosion!

boom! boom! boom!
The stone statue soldier struck by the long whip was instantly shattered by the violent lightning chakra and immense force, sending fragments flying everywhere!

The stone statues that had been shattered by giant axes and whipped apart by long whips did not tremble, gather, or recover as they had before.

Instead, wisps of thin, chilling purple mist emanated from the broken stones.

The giant axe and the wooden doll's long whip, which were being pulled towards the yellow earth, were silently absorbed by the two strangely shaped ninja tools!

After absorbing the mist, the blade of the giant axe seemed to gleam even brighter, and the arcs of electricity leaping on the long whip also seemed to become brighter and more violent.

"Ok?"

"what happened?"

Yagura and Rasa frowned, their faces showing obvious confusion.

Conversely, the Fourth Raikage and Onoki, who were in the know, had a glint in their eyes, and a fleeting look of barely suppressed excitement and understanding crossed their faces.

Without hesitation, the Fourth Raikage clenched his right fist, which was covered by a thick gauntlet, and violent lightning once again enveloped his body, slamming it fiercely into the stone statues that had gathered around him!
boom! boom!
Each punch from the Fourth Raikage contained terrifying power, and a large number of stone statue soldiers were instantly shattered under the ferocious attack.

Similarly, wisps of purplish-black mist escaped from the shattered stones and were absorbed into his arm armor, making the patterns on the surface of the arm armor seem to glow slightly.

"Hahaha!" The Fourth Raikage couldn't help but laugh, "Just as I thought!"

Huang Tu wields a giant axe called the "Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi," Mu Ren holds a long whip called the "God-Slaying Whip," and Huang Tu himself wears an arm armor called the "Thunderous Arm"...

These three ninja tools were obtained from that mysterious underground palace in the Land of Hot Water!
Over time, Kumogakure and Iwagakure have figured out the characteristics of these ninja tools and know that by killing and absorbing souls, the power and abilities of the ninja tools can be enhanced.

After realizing this, they tried killing criminals and enemies to absorb their souls and strengthen their ninja tools, but the resulting increase in power was far from sufficient.

The souls of ordinary criminals and ninjas are not very effective and cannot significantly enhance the power of these ninja tools.

Unless they engage in indiscriminate slaughter to achieve victory through sheer numbers, but they are not indiscriminate madmen like Hidan who don't distinguish between friend and foe and have no scruples, where would they find so many people to kill for them?

I thought it would take a long time to uncover the hidden power of these ninja tools.

However, to their surprise, killing these stone statue soldiers driven by the power of demons would also produce a similar effect!
The enhancement that even a random stone statue can bring is comparable to that of a ninja skilled in illusion techniques!

This is truly an unexpected delight!
"Yumujin!"

"loess!"

The Fourth Raikage and Onoki shouted in unison, their voices filled with barely concealed excitement.

They had realized that the reason those stone statue soldiers were still alive was because of that wisp of power from the demons.

That was actually the spiritual energy of a 'wraith'!

Bang! Bang bang! !
Without hesitation, the Fourth Raikage, Yugito Nii, and Kyoto rushed towards the dense army of stone statues with burning eyes!
In their eyes, these troublesome things that were originally impossible to kill have now become excellent nourishment for their ninja tools and to enhance their power!

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kakashi Hatake also appeared instantly at the edge of the battlefield.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was stunned for a moment when he saw the scene on the battlefield, but then he watched the three of them frantically harvesting the stone statue soldiers, and the purplish-black mist being absorbed by their ninja tools...

Knowing the properties of those ninja tools as well, he instantly realized something, looked at Kakashi Hatake beside him, and said in a deep voice, "Kakashi, you go and 'help' too!"

Upon hearing this, Kakashi's eyes narrowed slightly, and without hesitation, he drew the wakizashi 'Jealousy' that was slung across his waist.

The moment the blade was drawn, a chilling light seemed to pierce the air. He flashed, transforming into a swift silver streak, and joined the reaping feast against the stone statue soldiers!
The atmosphere on the battlefield instantly shifted from heavy and oppressive to an almost frenzied struggle!
"what are they doing?"

What are those purple mists?

Only the six people from Sunagakure and Kirigakure watched this scene with furrowed brows, puzzled.

However, just as the four were vying to attack and absorb spiritual energy!
Two figures appeared behind the two Yugito and the Fourth Raikage without warning, as if by ghosts!

The Fourth Raikage's beast-like, keen fighting instincts were instantly aroused the moment he sensed the presence behind him.

"court death!!"

Sensing the killing intent coming from behind, he roared and, without even having time to think, his body spun around like a taut spring!
The left arm, crackling with violent lightning and without any gauntlets, slammed down with terrifying power and a shriek, enough to shatter mountains, towards the figure that suddenly appeared behind it!
However, when he saw the face under the hood of the figure behind him, and that pale, bony face with a strange smile, he couldn't help but be stunned.

Sensing something amiss, Hiruzen Sarutobi abruptly turned around. Seeing that familiar figure and sensing that familiar presence, he instinctively called out the name that had been missing for so long:
"Orochimaru?!"

(Still 8,000 words, and I still have 2,000 words left. I'll keep going and try to save up tens of thousands of words so I can release a big batch at the end or beginning of the month and give you all a real treat!!)
(End of this chapter)