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

Chapter 172 A Battle of Super Kage Levels (Please Subscribe and Vote)

Konoha Hospital has returned to tranquility—no, calling it tranquility is a bit inappropriate, it should be more like silence.

By the time the battle began, the area outside the hospital building had already been evacuated, leaving only the hospital building with hundreds of wounded hostages held by fifty elite puppeteers from Sunagakure.

Nearly a kilometer around the hospital building, they were surrounded and confronted by five hundred Konoha ninja.

That's how it should have been.

But at this moment, the puppeteers inside the hospital building disappeared, while the Konoha ninjas outside the hospital building lay sprawled on the ground.

"How... how can there be someone so strong!?" Orochimaru lay in a pool of blood, his snake-like eyes trembling uncontrollably.

The woman known as "Red" suddenly appeared, displaying overwhelming power and swiftly killing everyone.

Even he, one of the legendary Sannin, only managed to hold out a little longer against him.

"This power is definitely no weaker than Sarutobi-sensei's. We must get the information over there in time." Orochimaru trembled as he recalled the horrific battle.

He showed absolutely no contempt for Hong.

After all, Hanzo, who had once defeated the three legendary Sannin, died at the hands of this woman.

Although they have all become stronger now, they cannot underestimate Hanzo's strength.

The ability to kill Hanzo is no small feat.

Even though he overestimated the opponent's strength as much as possible, when the opponent's strength was revealed, he couldn't help but feel despair.

Orochimaru painstakingly wiped some blood from his wound, then summoned a small snake. After writing the words "Beware of Red" on the snake, he finally couldn't hold back and fainted.

The little snake understood Orochimaru's intention and quickly disappeared into the haystack.

The only sound in the hospital disappeared, and it fell into complete silence.

……

"I'm fine."

In response to everyone's concern, Ryuji replied.

but.

Despite this, his physical condition was at its worst.

His sternum was completely shattered, and his internal organs were also damaged to varying degrees.

At this point, even sitting up was so painful that he could hardly breathe, and he would cough up blood if he exerted any force.

This level of injury is tantamount to defeat.

If Hong and the others don't arrive in time, he'll have to switch bodies and fight again.

Fortunately, Hong arrived in time.

They arrived with a force of over forty Sand Village envoys and fifty puppeteers interning at the hospital.

That's right, it also includes those fifty puppeteers.

Before Ryuji separated from the main force, he sent them to meet up with Yashamaru and the others at the hospital.

Otherwise, Orochimaru would have already fled back to report the situation, discuss countermeasures, and led a team to besiege the hospital's puppeteers half a day ago, and Kurenai and her large force of over forty people should have arrived long ago.

"Black has lost contact, and Silver seems to be in a tough fight as well," Red reported, kneeling down in front of Ryuji.

Although her heart was already filled with rage, and she wished she could go out and kill the murderer who hurt her master, she remained calm and reported the situation to Long Er, thinking that she was happy for her master and worried about her master.

"..."

Long Er paused for a moment, then closed his eyes to comprehend the situation. In his spiritual ocean, the black energy had indeed disappeared.

"Did you make a mistake?"

Although he had been focused on the battle and hadn't paid attention to the specifics, he instantly understood the situation through the memory transmission records in his mental ocean.

"Most of the high-level combatants left in Konoha have already made their moves. The only ones left with Black are Mitokado Homura and Uzumaki Kushina, but they haven't even intervened in the battle here, so it's impossible for them to have gone that far to look for Black..." Ryuji pondered for a moment, then seemed to realize something. "Could it be that Konoha's top fighters on the front lines have just returned, or are there other top fighters still hidden in Konoha?"

Mitokado Homura is an advisory elder whose duty is to provide advice to the Hokage.

These elderly people who hold high positions but are not involved in combat generally won't take action unless they are in dire straits.

Because if retired elders in a village take action, people from other villages will think that the younger generation is incompetent and that the village has no future, thus attracting contempt or even invasion from other villages. Even the client might feel that the village lacks strength and consider placing the commission in another village.

He didn't even get involved in the battle here, which was closer and more important, so there was absolutely no way he would go and obstruct the Black forces located in the suburbs.

As for Kushina...

Because of Konoha's overwhelming strength, they did not treat Jinchuriki as immediate combatants, but rather protected them as nuclear weapons to deter enemies.

Even though Kushina became a Jonin early on and her strength surpassed that of an ordinary Kage, no one allowed her to go out and fight.

Although her situation was different from Mitokado Yan's, it was impossible for her to escape in a situation of this magnitude.

No, even if she couldn't resist running out to fight, she would participate here, not go looking for the Black forces that are irrelevant to solving the incident.

but……

"It doesn't matter." Ryuji's cold gaze pierced through the hole, meeting the silent eyes on the other side. "If Hei dies, I'll make them pay ten, a hundred, a thousand times the price to be buried with him. If he doesn't die, then he'll return to me unharmed. Yin, that's enough. Go to the shopping street with Wanlijiang to meet up."

There was no reply from the other end, and it was unclear whether they had even heard the message.

But Ryuji hesitated for a moment and still did not continue to pass on the message.

Given Yin's respect for him, it was impossible for her not to respond after hearing this.

The reason they didn't reply is probably because they were caught up in a fierce battle and didn't have time to respond, or their attention was so focused on the fight that they simply didn't hear it.

Continuing to send messages could affect her chances of winning or losing.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!!"

The sound of something cutting through the air rang out one after another.

The Third Hokage leaped onto the front rooftop, followed closely by four Anbu guards.

Hong stepped forward and stood at the front to face him.

An invisible aura erupted from the two, making it difficult for those around them to breathe.

Then, dozens more figures leaped over.

It was Garura and ten other teachers, along with the Konoha ninja who were surrounding and attacking them.

After seeing Long Er swept away with a stick and Hong and the others arrive, she put away the sand barrier and led her people to break through and arrive here.

Upon seeing Kurenai and the Third Hokage facing off, the two groups instinctively separated and took their positions behind their own.

"boom!"

A wall on the right collapsed, and the steel fortress, covered in blood and riddled with holes, crashed out violently.

Behind it, countless pursuers followed closely.

At this point, both sides had assembled their full forces here.

The two sides stood on opposite sides, staring at each other. The atmosphere in the air became increasingly tense, and even the Jonin were sweating profusely.

"kill!"

At the command, Sarutobi was the first to charge out.

He leaped off the roof, his legs tapping against the wall to accelerate, and the moment he landed, his golden cudgel aimed at the Sand Village camp, suddenly surging.

boom!

The air itself seemed to be pierced by that single blow.

The golden cudgel, as thick as a large bowl, grew at a speed exceeding ten times the speed of sound, instantly piercing the Sand Village camp.

His crimson eyes gleamed faintly as his hardened fist, gleaming with a metallic sheen, slammed out with ferocity.

"Bang!"

The fists collided with the tips of the clubs, unleashing a violent shockwave. The powerful force transmitted to their feet, causing the ground beneath them to explode, and anyone nearby was blown away by the immense force.

"Don't go near those two!"

Ryuji spoke up in time to warn them, not wanting the people he had worked so hard to protect to be killed by the aftermath of Kurenai's battle.

In fact, he didn't need to remind me.

After Kurenai and the Third Hokage clashed once, they both estimated the other's approximate strength, then put away their fists and sticks and rushed towards each other at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

Both of them were very fast.

Although the Third Hokage's speed was slightly inferior to Minato Namikaze's, his power far surpassed it, and his instantaneous burst speed was much faster (referring to the speed without using the Flying Thunder God Technique).

The same applies to red.

Although she possessed Minato Namikaze's abnormal level of neural reflexes and talent in Body Flicker Technique, she had only had it for half a year and could not yet reach Minato Namikaze's level.

But she also possesses Tsunade's superhuman strength.

With the support of chakra levels exceeding those of Naruto at age fifteen, the monstrous strength that erupts instantly, while perhaps not comparable to Hashirama's, is definitely beyond Tsunade's reach.

Supported by such superhuman strength, her explosive power was even stronger than that of the Third Hokage.

The others had just gotten up and were about to charge out when the two collided with each other in the middle.

The violent force shook the earth violently, and the resulting shockwave made people dozens of meters away lose their footing, while some dilapidated buildings collapsed on the spot.

The sudden burst of power from the two was truly terrifying.

The two clashed and struck each other, neither gaining the upper hand, and then began to fight.

Kurenai used Steel Release to enhance her fists, using them as weapons to launch continuous attacks. The sky was filled with fist shadows like a machine gun bombardment, each punch causing the air to explode.

Sarutobi continued to retaliate, wielding his golden cudgel with impenetrable force, showing no signs of being at a disadvantage.

"BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!"

The two clashed repeatedly, creating waves of air that caused the ground beneath their feet to explode and the air to churn endlessly.

People around them could hardly keep up with their speed, let alone get close.

This exaggerated battle made Ryuji question his own existence, wondering: Did Hiruzen Sarutobi not use his full strength in his fight with me just now?

This is of course impossible.

Although Ryuji's strength at this time cannot compare with his own when he is wearing the "armor", he is undoubtedly at the peak of the Kage level.

With such combat power, even the Third Hokage, whose attributes are all at maximum, would not be able to win easily.

Moreover, given their similar fighting styles, and Ryuji's greater chakra, he would be more effective at countering Ryuji in using ninjutsu.

The reason why Yuan Fei Ri Zhan did not perform so strongly in his battle with him was because that was only when he was at full strength.

In other words, Ryuji gave him the feeling that he could solve the problem with his full strength, and did not pose any threat to him.

But red is different.

Red gave the Third Hokage a strong sense of crisis.

Both her feat of killing Hanzo and the aura she exuded made the Third Hokage uneasy.

He is the Hokage, the leader of the village.

If we lose, then Konoha is finished.

With no way out, Hiruzen Sarutobi's intense sense of crisis drove him to fight desperately, unleashing two hundred percent or even more of his power.

This led to a completely different level of combat compared to before.

This is already a battle that surpasses the level of a Kage.

"Old man, you dare to hurt Master, you're dead!" Hong was no longer gentle as usual; her eyes and expression were filled with rage.

Sarutobi did not respond, but his movements became even more ferocious and powerful, and he did not fall behind at all as Kurenai's attacks intensified.

This is also normal.

Red possesses the ability to self-regulate her talents.

However, due to limitations in understanding, one must have seen it beforehand and know that human talent can reach such a level in order to make adjustments.

But talent is just talent.

To transform talent into strength, one must also cultivate. Regardless of the length of cultivation time, it is necessary.

But when it comes to unleashing his talent, the Third Hokage has never been afraid of anyone.

Whether it's ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, or mental calculation ability... his talent is top-notch in every aspect.

Aside from rare talents like Minato's abnormally high level of neural reflexes, Sasori's multitasking, and a certain passerby's computer-like brain, he is top-notch in every other aspect.

No matter how much Hong adjusts her talent, she can only reach the same level as him at most, and can never surpass him.

Although she has an advantage in some rare talents that the Third Hokage did not possess, she has only been born for a little over three years, and her training time and number of battles are far less than those of the Third Hokage.

Without the bloodline limit techniques that Ryuji researched, she probably wouldn't be as strong as the Third Hokage right now.

Even with various secret techniques, the odds are at best 50/50.

This was without him using any secret techniques.

My parents are back tonight. I'll chat with them for a while. That's all for the update. It's only 3600 words. I'll add the remaining 400 words tomorrow!

I'll correct any typos and other errors tomorrow.

When my parents came back, someone started taking care of me. If I stayed up late at night, I would get scolded.

(End of this chapter)