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

Chapter 430 The time has come for us to put our will into practice.

Before Danzo defected, he planned an experimental project codenamed "Ushi-no-Ten-o" (Bull-Headed King), which was a byproduct of the Hashirama cell experiment.

This creature's ability is simple: it can absorb chakra and grow larger by absorbing chakra, growing from the size of a puppy to the size of a small mountain.

It can inject chakra into other people's bodies to enhance them, and it can self-destruct, with the power of the self-destruction being proportional to its size.

This is the '鵺'.

In the original work, a matching space-time ninjutsu was even developed, which can seal 'Nue' into another dimension and exist as a mark on its back, which can be released at any time.

However, Danzo's research on Nue was interrupted due to the appearance and existence of the Hollow.

Yamanaka Fu, who received a portion of the Root's legacy, only used it as a summoning beast.

But that's enough.

At this moment, the 'Nue's' snake tail, like a giant python, coiled around Shennong, who had just landed.

"What the hell is this?"

Looking at the monster in front of him, which was about the same size as Nagato's summoned beasts, Shennong was shocked and furious when he realized that his chakra had been extracted.

So this was the thing that was draining his chakra?

"Get out of my way!" Shennong roared, his Zero-Tails chakra bursting forth, his bound arms bulging with muscles as he tried to break free from the monster's restraints.

Kaka!

Nue's snake tail tightened abruptly, and the giant mouth that was biting Shennong's chest suddenly increased the speed at which it absorbed chakra, making Nue's size even larger.

"Give up, Shennong."

A calm yet somewhat cold voice came from above 'Nue's' head.

Yamanaka Kaze stood there, looking down at the struggling Shennong, his face expressionless: "This is a weapon specifically prepared to deal with people like you Jinchūriki."

"How dare you spout such nonsense about a mere man-made product!" Shennong said angrily.

“Indeed.” Yamanaka Fu nodded. “After all, it’s only a half-finished product. I’m not confident it can handle a complete tailed beast. It’s a pity…”

"Your Zero-Tails is nothing more than a poor imitation of a Tailed Beast."

Click! Kaka!

As if to prove his words, 'Nue's' snake tail suddenly tightened again, and the sound of bones grinding together was enough to make one's teeth ache.

The giant maw that was biting Shennong suddenly increased its suction force several times, and the chakra in his body was being frantically extracted at an unprecedented speed!
Visibly, Nue's already enormous body swelled even more with the infusion of massive amounts of chakra, emanating an even stronger aura of danger!

"Ah!!" Shennong let out a painful scream as the Zero-Tail Chakra within his body was being rapidly depleted.

However, at the same time, the negative spiritual energy that was originally used as food by Zero-Tails, the pure hatred, violence, and destructive desire in those tailed beast chakra, were no longer restrained!
"Oh no!" Shan Zhongfeng's expression changed slightly.

Nue can indeed absorb chakra, but it cannot absorb negative spiritual energy.

If Zero-Tails' chakra is drained by Nue, this negative spiritual energy might cause Shennong to transform into Hollow!
"Senior Zhiwei!" Shan Zhongfeng shouted, simultaneously forming hand seals to control the 'Nue'.

Two slightly thinner fleshy tubes suddenly split off from the base of the snake tail that was wrapped around Shennong, and like tentacles, they pierced into the back of the necks of Aburame Shiki and Mitarashi Anko!

A surge of chakra instantly flowed into their bodies, and Aburame Shiki raised her hand without hesitation.

With his wide sleeves billowing, even larger parasitic insects surged towards Shennong, who was being eroded by negative spiritual energy, like a tidal wave.

However, just as the swarm of insects was about to overwhelm Shennong.

"You...all deserve to die!!"

A hoarse roar filled with resentment and madness rang out.

Shennong suddenly raised his head, and bone protruded from under his skin on his face, half of his face was pale and hideous, and it was growing at a speed visible to the naked eye!

boom! !

A chilling and terrifying aura materialized into a shockwave, erupting from Shennong's center!
The parasites that first swarmed in fell from the sky in droves, swept away by this aura.

"Roar!" Shennong let out a non-human roar, and jagged, sharp bone spurs suddenly burst out from beneath his skin, piercing into the snake tail that was tightly wrapped around him.

With a painful howl, the binding force loosened, but at that moment, Mitarashi Anko rushed to Shennong's side.

puff!

Ignoring the grotesque bone spurs on Shennong's body, she rushed to Shennong, who was about to break free of his restraints, and placed her hands on his shoulders covered with bone spurs, causing blood to flow freely!

"Give it to me, come here!"

Mitarashi Anko roared, and the curse mark on her neck instantly became scorching hot, writhing wildly and emitting a powerful suction force.

The spiritual energy surging from Shennong's body seemed to have found a more attractive outlet, flowing wildly through Hongdou's hands into the curse mark behind her neck.

The bone growth on Shennong's face suddenly stopped, and cracks appeared. The bone spurs that had pierced into the body of the 'Nue' also became fragile.

The strength to struggle and resist quickly faded, the frenzied crimson light in his eyes dimmed, and finally his head lolled to the side as he completely lost consciousness, the bone spurs and bone fragments falling off his body in a flurry.

Pfft!
Mitarashi Anko knelt on the ground, clutching her neck tightly, her expression contorted with pain.

After absorbing Zero Tail's spiritual energy, the bone on her right cheek began to spread uncontrollably towards her intact left cheek, eroding the normal skin.

Intuition tells Mitarashi Anko that once the mask fully grows and covers her entire face, she will completely lose herself and become a mindless monster.

"Sealing Formation!"

Aburame appeared beside Red Bean and unhesitatingly threw out four sealing talismans.

The talisman glowed faintly, forming a small sealing barrier that temporarily suppressed the growth rate of the bone surface, but the talisman itself was losing its effectiveness at a visible speed.

"No, ordinary sealing formations can't suppress her curse mark. We need to use the evil-sealing formation."

Aburame Shiki's expression was solemn as she looked up at the mountain wind above 'Nue's' head.

At this moment, Yamanaka Kaze manipulated 'Nue' to split off another fleshy tube, which pierced into the severely injured and unconscious Uzuki Yugao's body, injecting chakra and barely stabilizing her injuries.

Sensing Aburame's gaze, he instantly understood what she meant.

The Sealing Seal is a high-level sealing technique that is mastered by very few people, including Jiraiya, Kakashi Hatake, and Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Yamanaka Fu glanced at Uzuki Yugao, who was barely clinging to life, and then at Mitarashi Anko, who was kneeling in pain, half of her face already eroded by bone.

And Shennong, though unconscious at this moment, still harbors hidden dangers.

"Senior Shiwei, take Mitarashi Anko, Uzuki Yugao, and Shennong and retreat immediately to rendezvous with the outside support forces."

The mountain wind's tone returned to its usual calm, even colder than usual.

Aburame's gaze lingered on Yamanaka Kaze's face for a moment, and she understood Yamanaka Kaze's plan. She didn't say anything more, but just took one last look at Yamanaka Kaze.

With a flick of his sleeve, a large number of parasitic insects surged out, lifting up Uzuki Yugao, Mitarashi Anko, and Shennong, and then turned to retreat at top speed along the pre-dug escape route.

Watching Aburame Shiki's figure disappear from sight, Yamanaka Fu slowly looked up at the hole in the wall. "A ninja from one of the Five Great Nations!"

"Damn it! Put down Lord Shennong!"

Looking at the Akatsuki ninjas roaring and surging like a tidal wave, Yamanaka Fu's calm expression remained unchanged as he sensed the vibrations coming from deeper beneath his feet.

Clearly, Jiraiya's side has also begun fighting.

"The more it yearns for the sunlight above, the deeper its roots must extend into the darkness."

The mountain wind murmured to itself, "Take the root. The time has come for us to put our will into practice."

"The Art of Ninja: The Art of Shinran Martial Arts!"

He suddenly raised his hands, releasing his spirit. The Akatsuki ninjas who were originally attacking him suddenly froze, turned around and attacked each other, killing one another.

"Roar!" The Nue roared and pounced on the chaotic enemy.

------

Inside the deepest part of Rainbow Fortress.

The emaciated and enormous demonic statue of the Outer Path sat cross-legged, its hands raised in front of it, its ten fingers spread upwards, and four of its ten eyes, which were originally closed, were now open.

From the tips of its ten enormous, upward-opening fingers, tens of thousands of pale blue chakra threads extend.

Some extend beyond the fortress, while others radiate outwards to every corner of this space, connecting all the active units here.

Centered around the golem, the entire space is divided into several areas.

In the raw materials and semi-finished products area, there were piles of recycled puppet parts, as well as black rods that were clearly running low in number.

Several bulky puppets with multiple mechanical arms are sorting the raw materials.

On the assembly line, some puppets receive parts and black rods and assemble them. One after another, combat puppets of various shapes emerge and enter the waiting area on their own.

On the other side of the repair workshop, broken puppets, missing limbs or even only half a body, are constantly being brought back here, either following instructions or being dragged by the puppets.

They automatically locate their repair stations, where repair bots inspect, disassemble damaged parts, and replace them with spare parts.

They would often simply remove the still-usable parts from the more severely damaged puppet remains piled up nearby.

At the edge, there are several huge lifting platforms where assembled or repaired puppets are dropped into the battlefield below.

There were no human voices in the entire space, only the silent and efficient cooperation of the puppets.

The scorpion, dressed in a black robe with red clouds, sat quietly on the finger corresponding to the "Jade Maiden," its eyes closed, completely focused on maintaining the operation of the puppet army.

This is why Konan is confident that if she gives Akatsuki another year, it will become even stronger.

They have already achieved semi-automated production of puppets.

However, it is still too early to think that one can fight against the five major powers on one's own.

"The puppets are being consumed too quickly, and the raw materials are almost gone." Scorpion frowned as he 'saw' the rapidly decreasing number of black rods in the raw material area with his eyes closed.

We need more black rods, like those from Nagato and Isshiki Otsutsuki...

Just as he was making his calculations.

An unremarkable humanoid puppet with a damaged chest followed a group of puppets that had just returned from outside, walking somewhat unsteadily towards the repair area.

Its stiff movements were no different from those of other puppets.

However, as it got closer to the Outer Statue, the damaged golem did not turn toward the repair shop it was supposed to go to, unlike the other golems.

Instead, he paused, then deviated from the planned route, and walked step by step toward the Gedo Mazo at the very center where Sasori was located.

Scorpion suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes, his cold, inorganic gaze locking onto the unruly puppet.

"Eternal art should follow my instructions, be uniform and precise, but..."

He showed no rage, no surprise, but simply asked in an icy tone, "Why would such an outcast infiltrate?"

Swish!
Almost the instant he finished speaking, all the puppets that were working or waiting turned their heads sharply towards that puppet, and countless pairs of gleaming eyes focused on it.

Knowing that it had been completely exposed, the alien puppet stopped in its tracks.

Behind him, a figure appeared to rise from the two-dimensional plane in a way that defied common sense.

This is the Toad Shadow Manipulation Technique!

Jiraiya's cheeks bulged high, and chakra gathered in his throat.

"Senjutsu·Fire Style·Great Flame Bomb!"

He unleashed a flame several meters in diameter, scorching and distorting the air, which shot fiercely toward the scorpion sitting on the fingertip of the Outer Path Demon Statue.

boom! !

The air whistled, the heat was oppressive, and even before the flames arrived, the terrifying heat had already caused the hem of Scorpion's clothes to curl slightly.

But Sasori didn't even change his posture. He simply stretched out his hands and plucked the chakra threads extending from the fingers of the Gedo Mazo, as if he were playing a zither.

hum!
Ten puppets flew through the air and formed a wall out of thin air between the scorpion and the fire bullet.

They raised their arms in unison, and the mechanism at their wrists clicked and unfolded outwards, forming a cross-shaped structure.

Chakra extended from the center of the cross, instantly transforming into ten closely connected chakra shields.

Puppet Technique: Mechanical Light Shield Seal!

boom! !

The massive fire surge collided with the combined protective barrier composed of ten "mechanical light shields".

Amidst the deafening explosion, the raging flames and shockwaves were blocked outside the shield, only able to rage wildly in all directions, blowing several nearby puppets to pieces.

The next moment, two puppets appeared on Jiraiya's left and right sides, shooting out five steel wires that were almost invisible to the naked eye from their fingertips. They intertwined and formed a net, strangling him!

scoff!

The sharp steel sliced ​​through Jiraiya's body without any resistance, cutting him and the puppet in front of him used to perform the Toad Shadow Manipulation Technique into several pieces!
However, Jiraiya, who was severed, did not splatter blood. Instead, with a "pop," he turned into a cloud of white smoke that quickly dissipated.

Shadow clone?
With a thought, the scorpion sensed the threat from its side and above without even turning its head.

Suddenly, the real Jiraiya, using the flames as cover, leaped into the air, positioned above and to the side of Sasori.

"Immortal Technique·Super Large Jade Rasengan!"

Jiraiya condensed a giant Rasengan in his hand and slammed it down on Sasori, who remained seated motionless.

(End of this chapter)