This puppeteer is a bit... well...

Chapter 104, Part 103: Ready to Go (10,000 words, please subscribe)

Ryuji's speech was arrogant, but the villagers' reaction was completely different from before.

Instead of being angry or disgusted, they were stirred by these arrogant words and cheered with great enthusiasm.

Even those who had previously questioned him and disagreed with him were now convinced and spontaneously wanted to follow his lead.

Because Ryuji has the right to be arrogant.

The things he said that sounded like bragging were actually things he had done himself, and many people had witnessed them.

Unlike Minato Namikaze, almost everyone who witnessed his swaggering is dead; his awesomeness can only be understood through hearsay.

Even though their own film studio issued an order that "anyone who sees him is allowed to abandon the mission," some people still didn't believe it and wanted to try it out whenever they encountered him.

He died as a result of trying it.

The Sand Village is indeed in a very critical situation and needs a confident, strong, and capable leader.

Just like Ryuji said before, only the weak have hope that someone will help them, while the strong are always helped by others.

No, saying "help" isn't quite right.

It should be changed to "follow".

Because the strong do not need help.

If it weren't for his strength, which was enough to intimidate the entire village, he would have been torn to pieces by the enraged village ninjas the moment he saw the corpses of the former high-ranking officials, without even having the chance to explain or give a speech.

……

Round table conference room.

Around the cleaned-up round table sat young members of parliament and several elderly men.

These elderly people were the ones who helped establish the village alongside the First Kazekage. They retired shortly after the Third Kazekage took office, much like Chiyo and Ebizo, who had already retired in the original story.

After the speech was a great success, Ryuji released the young members of parliament who had been imprisoned.

However, a few unlucky individuals were made an example of by the former higher-ups, resulting in vacancies in the current higher-ups.

Long Er had no choice but to visit them one by one, asking them to come out of seclusion again.

Although many people didn't give him face and remained unmoved, there were also those who valued the village above all else.

When the village was in crisis, these people returned to their posts to help manage the village.

Then, Ryuji launched a massive purge.

All those who had colluded with the former high-ranking officials and participated in this rebellion, totaling more than 600 people, were eliminated.

Launching such a large-scale purge after the defeat in the war against Amegakure was actually a very unwise thing to do.

Many people, including Kurenai and Yoshikura, tried to dissuade him, but Ryuji did it anyway.

He didn't want to see any more accidents happen.

This time, when we go to deal with Amegakure, we may not only face Nagato's outburst, but also encounter Madara Uchiha's backup plan to protect the Rinnegan. We cannot leave any openings.

Who knows if Madara Uchiha planted anything in Sunagakure?

If I were to reach a crucial moment on the battlefield in Amegakure, but an accident were to occur in the village, ultimately causing all my efforts to be in vain, then I would truly be finished.

"Ye Cang, you will lead a thousand men to defend the coastal cities!"

At the meeting, Long Er gave the final instructions.

But this instruction was inexplicable, leaving everyone baffled.

"Why deploy defenses in coastal cities at this time?"

The one who raised the question was an elderly man who was almost 70 years old, whom Long Er had invited back.

His body was bony and emaciated, and he could die at any moment.

Therefore, they were not afraid of Long Er, who had just carried out a major purge and was still full of murderous intent.

To speak frankly and fearlessly about what is unreasonable.

The only enemy that the coastal region of Sunagakure needs to guard against is Kirigakure.

However, the Hidden Mist Village is currently embroiled in internal strife and has no time to concern itself with matters far away on the mainland.

After suffering a defeat on the battlefield in Amegakure and having their forces reversed by the enemy, instead of sending troops to support the battlefield in the direction of Amegakure, they were sent to the opposite direction, to the coastal areas where there was no need for them.

He had to find out the truth about something that was clearly problematic.

But Ryuji didn't know how to explain it.

Could it be that Kirigakure is now very likely under the control of Madara Uchiha, while Amegakure has a very important pawn of Madara Uchiha, the kind that he would spare no effort to save at a critical moment?

If I really say that, I don't know what people will think.

After a moment's thought, he came up with a lie.

"I have special intelligence sources. The internal strife in Kirigakure has ended, and they could join the Fourth Shinobi World War at any time."

Kirigakure is located overseas, where it is shrouded in fog year-round. The village also maintains a policy of secrecy and isolation, so there is very little information about Kirigakure from the outside world.

Even if Long Er is lying, they cannot confirm it in a short time.

Moreover, he wasn't talking nonsense all of a sudden.

Although it's not mentioned in the original work, Kirigakure did participate in the Third Shinobi World War and fought against Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure.

Obito has already graduated this year, and when Kakashi becomes a Jonin, the battle at Kannabi Bridge will break out.

By then, the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War will not be far off.

If Kirigakure doesn't join in soon, there won't be enough time to fight each of the three ninja villages separately.

"I see." The old man nodded slightly and said, "If that's the case, we really have to be on guard, but there are no reinforcements we can send from Amegakure."

Sunagakure has a small population, with around six thousand ninja of Chunin rank or higher.

The Third Kazekage attacked Amegakure, taking three thousand men with him, leaving the village with only about three thousand men.

Long Er killed another 600, leaving 2,400.

Loulan also dispatched more than 300 people, in addition to ninjas who went out on missions.

If Ye Cang were to take another thousand men with him, only seven or eight hundred men would be left, barely enough to defend the home, let alone send more troops to support him.

To this question, Ryuji replied seriously, "I will take the puppeteer army with me."

The fighting strength of Sunagakure cannot be compared with that of other ninja villages on the same scale.

Because the puppeteer class excels at fighting outnumbered opponents, it can largely compensate for a lack of numbers.

Except for Sunagakure, almost every one of the five great ninja villages has around 10,000 ninjas, except for Sunagakure, which only has around 6,000.

This size is not the largest among the mid-level ninja villages, but it does not prevent Sunagakure from having combat power equivalent to the five great ninja villages. However, villages like Amegakure, which are even larger than Sunagakure, are not.

The Third Kazekage did not bring many puppeteers with him to this war against Amegakure.

Because the profession of puppeteer is difficult to learn and there are very few of them.

With fifty puppeteers sent to Konoha to learn medical ninjutsu and related training systems, and dozens more sent to Loulan to oversee and build the mechanical castle, Sunagakure's puppeteers were running out.

Furthermore, given that the forces left behind by Amegakure were relatively weak, the Third Kazekage felt there was no need to bring along the puppeteers.

As the Sand Village's elite force, the Puppet Masters Unit consists of ninjas who can control at least two puppets simultaneously. Combined with their use of poison, they can kill almost any enemy they encounter.

A force of one hundred men is comparable to an ordinary force of one thousand or even two thousand men.

If Long Er and Hong's combat power are added, their force can directly confront an army of tens of thousands of people in a siege battle, and the outcome is still unpredictable.

However, considering that the opponent has the Rinnegan and Madara Uchiha, a master who is unpredictable, Ryuji cannot include himself and Kurenai in the calculation of ordinary combat power.

They might run into some trouble and get bogged down, unable to help the main force.

But Amegakure's side isn't a particularly powerful force either.

With the addition of the two thousand men from Luo Sha's side, this hundred-man puppeteer force provides enough support to create an overwhelming advantage in combat power.

Of course, Ryuji is a guy who believes in absolute firepower suppression.

If he had more power to command, he would never consider things like reasonable allocation or that a certain number of resources would be sufficient.

War is unpredictable; who knows what will happen?

Only absolute power is the invincible truth.

But he still had to leave Yekura a considerable number of puppeteers.

Otherwise, it would be too difficult for a thousand people to defend Kirigakure.

……

Outside the gate of Sunagakure.

One hundred elite ninjas, exuding an astonishing aura, stood in rows of ten.

Long Er and Hong stood at the front of the line, giving their final instructions to the roundtable meeting that had come to see them off.

Especially that old man who was nearly seventy years old and looked like he could leave this world at any moment.

"Everyone, I'm entrusting the village to you all while I'm gone."

Ryuji wasn't too worried about either the battlefield in Amegakure or the potential war with Kirigakure in the coastal areas.

Only Sunagakure itself has only a few hundred people, and no powerful figures are stationed there.

If something unexpected were to happen to the village at this time, that would be truly dangerous.

This is why he invited the elders who followed the first generation to come out of seclusion.

These elderly people who survived the First Shinobi World War and are still alive today were once top-notch masters.

Although his chakra and physical functions have greatly declined due to age.

However, if one is willing to risk their life and burn their life force at the cost, they can still unleash tremendous power in a short period of time.

In fact, Ryuji could have easily given them younger bodies, thus allowing the village to gain immense power in a short period of time.

However, if the concept of rejuvenation were made public, the drawbacks would be too great.

Humans are inherently greedy.

When you have something, you'll want to pursue something better.

These elderly people don't covet power and put the village first because they are already nearing the end of their lives and don't care anymore.

But if they were to be rejuvenated, that would be a different story.

If the technology of replacing bodies with younger ones were truly used to strengthen Sunagakure, it might make Sunagakure even stronger in a short period of time.

In the long run, however, it will allow the power center of Sunagakure to be in the hands of the same group of people, which will lead them to do even more foolish things.

Don't those high-ranking officials who were purged by Ryuji love Sunagakure?

No, they love.

But loving the village and coveting power are not mutually exclusive.

When they have something they desire more, they will make judgments with selfish motives, thereby harming the interests of the village.

Perhaps they didn't intend to harm the village's interests, but the fact that they did it means it did.

Just like Danzo.

It's impossible for him not to love Konoha.

But he also has his own ambitions, and every action he takes cannot be based solely on the interests of the village.

In particular, replacing one's body with a younger one cannot actually make a person young again.

Even if the body becomes younger, the soul remains the same.

If one is young, that's fine, but an aging soul cannot be restored through physical changes.

The technology of changing bodies is ultimately not the same as reincarnation.

It is a terrible thing to give a decaying soul a young body (see Insect Lord for details).

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(End of this chapter)