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

Chapter 235 Didn't Tell Me

With the order issued, all the ninja villages sprang into action.

Disorganized personnel, randomly assigned teams, integrated logistics and weapons, and even searched for the relics of deceased powerful figures in their respective villages... Each village kept this in mind, providing only enough relics for one use.

Clearly, they were still wary of Konoha.

but.

The fact that they were already wary of their teammates even before defeating the enemy shows their confidence in winning this battle.

Their confidence stemmed not only from their massive army of reanimated puppets, the "death row inmates" used as living sacrifices for the reanimation, their overwhelming military strength compared to Sunagakure, their sky city which also possessed the ability to fly, but also from the weapons they had developed over the years specifically targeting undead puppets.

—Sealed Weapon!

Five years ago, the Kaiju Castle descended upon Konoha, and the Land of Whirlpools clashed with the Hidden Mist Village... Although both wars ended in victory for the Hidden Sand Village, the enemy captured several complete puppets.

Through disassembling and studying the puppet, they have learned the principle behind the puppet's resurrection using the Dragon Vein Chakra, and based on this, they have developed a weapon to suppress the puppet's resurrection... By engraving a sealing formula on the weapon, the formula will be activated when the weapon pierces into the puppet's body, forming a seal that isolates external chakra, thus preventing the puppet from resurrecting.

They are so confident precisely because such weapons exist.

……

Rain-Hidden Village.

Payne stood on the edge of the tower, overlooking the entire village, completely unaffected by the torrential rain pouring down on him.

Suddenly, a pitcher plant sprouted from the wall on one side.

Immediately afterwards, the pitcher plant opened its mouth, revealing its head, which was half black and half white.

"Pain, things are settled. We'll launch our attack on Sunagakure in three days."

"Three days..."

Payne stretched out his hand, staring blankly at the water droplets hitting his hand, lost in thought.

She stared at him silently for a long while before asking, "Are you alright?"

"...No!" Pain snapped out of his daze, turned to look at Zetsu, and said, "I'm all ready. I'm just waiting for the opportunity to capture all the Tailed Beasts."

Nagato's legs were not blown off, and his life force was not drained by the Gedo Mazo.

His chakra reserves far exceed those of the original character, so much so that while the original character was only nine years away from being able to prepare for the sealing, he is already ready now.

but.

Because all the ninja villages were in a state of war preparedness and the guards on the Jinchuriki were very tight, and the Akatsuki members had not been fully recruited, the operation had been delayed.

"The war three days from now is the opportunity..." Black Zetsu said, "Aerial combat is different from ground combat. The defeated side has no room to escape, so the war between the Allied Shinobi Forces and Sunagakure will definitely be a decisive battle from the very beginning."

"So what?" Pain looked at Zetsu calmly and said, "If it were just the Allied Forces, that would be fine, but you also helped Orochimaru perfect the Impure World Reincarnation, and the powerful figures born from each of the various ninja villages throughout the ages... especially the First Hokage. Even if he only had 70% of his former power, he would still be an unstoppable force in this era. The war three days from now will only be one-sided, and there is no plan to reap the benefits."

Although the entire Sand Village has been relocated to the Mechanical Castle, the nature of a ninja is to accept commissions, complete missions, and earn money to support their families.

Therefore, even though Sunagakure was in the sky, it did not sever its ties with the ground.

Not only does Sunagakure have bases for commissioned missions in various cities of the Land of Wind, but the Kaminari Castle also randomly travels to a different city every month for trading.

In addition, in recent years, Sunagakure has been recruiting outside ninja clans and wandering ninjas... While this strategy has greatly expanded Sunagakure's strength in a short period of time, it has also given other ninja villages the opportunity to plant spies.

Therefore, the various ninja villages also knew quite a bit about the mechanical city.

At this time, Sunagakure had about 13,000 soldiers of Chunin rank or above. Each person was equipped with three to five autonomous puppets. Some wealthy people even had enhanced puppets or custom-made puppets... to the point that each person was a squad.

This level of military strength is enough to rival the Allied Shinobi Forces.

but.

If a group of reanimated ninjas with unlimited chakra and an invincible army were added, the scales of victory would tip in favor of the Allied Shinobi Forces. The imagined scenario of both sides suffering heavy losses and then the other side reaping the benefits would simply not happen.

But is that really the case?

Black Zetsu chuckled inwardly and asked Payne, "Is that what you think?"

"Don't you think so?" Payne stared at Black Zetsu, trying to read something from his face.

Aside from White Zetsu's surprised face, Black Zetsu's expression remained unchanged, making it impossible to guess his true thoughts.

"If that were my opinion, I wouldn't have helped Orochimaru perfect the Impure World Reincarnation technique," Black Zetsu chuckled. "While the power of Sunagakure may be such, what about Ryuji Ayaki?"

"He's a genius, in every way."

"People only see that he spent six years transforming Sunagakure into a dominant force that rivals the entire ninja world, but they are unaware of the fact that he once single-handedly destroyed Kumogakure, when he was only 16 years old."

"Since his battle with the Fourth Mizukage in Kirigakure five years ago, no one has seen him fight again, and everyone's impression of his strength remains stuck five years ago. But will his strength really remain the same as it was five years ago?"

Upon hearing this, Payne frowned.

Humans have limits. Once a ninja's strength reaches a certain level, it becomes very difficult to improve, unless that level of strength is far from reaching their potential limit.

If he hadn't possessed the Rinnegan to increase his potential ceiling, he wouldn't have made much progress in the past few years.

Because his ninjutsu, taijutsu, and even physical attributes have almost reached the limits of human capabilities.

But Ryuji does not have the Rinnegan.

Based on the available information... Ryuji's ninjutsu, taijutsu, and even physical attributes had already reached the limit of a ninja five years ago, and it was almost impossible for him to improve any further.

He has also mastered the Sage Mode, which can rapidly increase overall strength.

Aside from becoming more proficient in Sage Mode, Pain could hardly imagine any other way for Ryuji to significantly enhance his strength.

But even if you become more proficient in Sage Mode, there won't be much improvement.

Therefore, he could not possibly be much stronger than he was five years ago... From a normal person's perspective, that should be the case.

Is Ryuji Ayaki a normal person?

Could a normal person transform Sunagakure into a dominant force in the entire ninja world in just six years?

impossible.

In fact, someone who can destroy a village by himself cannot be described as a normal person; he is a person who transcends the boundaries of worldly "genius".

He is a genius like Hashirama Senju, a talent that can only be found once in the entire history of the ninja world.

Therefore, Payne changed his mind.

"I hope so!"

As long as the two sides are roughly equal in strength, even if there is no mutual destruction or the opportunity to wipe out all the tailed beasts on the spot, the victorious side will definitely suffer heavy losses.

After that, it will become much easier to steal a Jinchuriki.

……

The Sky Castle of Konoha.

In the Hokage's office.

The First Hokage, the Second Hokage, the Third Hokage, and Orochimaru gathered here, their faces solemn.

Suddenly, Tobirama shouted, "With Big Brother here, that's enough. Why summon that guy?"

Hashirama chimed in, "While I don't think I'm anything special, I'm quite confident in my strength."

"No one doubts the strength of the First Generation, and no one doubts the strength of Ryuji Ayaki either."

Looking at Orochimaru, Tobirama said dismissively, "I've also heard you describe the deeds of that Ryuji Ayaki. He is indeed a genius among geniuses, but that level alone is not enough to be a match for my brother. Even if he only had seventy percent of his former power, it would still be the same."

"You can't understand how terrifying he is just from what outsiders say!" Orochimaru retorted. "Others may not know, but I know it very well. Ryuji Ayaki is a ninja who has transcended life and death. He was at that level five years ago, but who can say for sure what he'll be like five years from now?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi echoed with a wry smile, "First Hokage, Second Hokage, while it might sound like I'm boosting the enemy's morale while diminishing our own, Ryuji Ayaki truly cannot be judged by the standards of an ordinary genius. I initially viewed him with the same standards, which is why I repeatedly thought I had victory in the bag, only to be utterly defeated time and time again. Against that guy, you can never prepare too much."

Upon hearing this, Hashirama and Tobirama exchanged bewildered glances.

Although they didn't think that Ryuji Ayaki was really that powerful, they were still familiar with Hiruzen Sarutobi's abilities.

There must be a reason why Hiruzen Sarutobi takes it so seriously.

Furthermore, his student Orochimaru was also an exceptionally talented ninja, and his judgments were highly persuasive.

After a moment's thought, Hashirama said, "Even though you all say that, inviting Madara is really not a good idea!"

"Um?"

"untie!"

Faced with their doubts, Hashirama Senju explained with his actions, directly breaking free from the control that the Impure World Reincarnation had on him.

"this!?"

"Now you know why!" Hashirama said, looking at Orochimaru's shocked expression. "The binding force of the Impure World Reincarnation on the summoner cannot control me and Madara. Summoning him will only make the situation worse."

Orochimaru?

The Third Hokage looked at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's face turned deathly pale.

He completed his research on the Impure World Reincarnation with the help of Black Zetsu, skipping many experimental steps. Therefore, he did not discover the weakness of the Impure World Reincarnation in its insufficient binding force on the strong.

"It seems your research on the Impure World Reincarnation technique isn't thorough enough!" Tobirama said with a hint of pride, "Back then, we couldn't overcome the weakness of the Impure World Reincarnation technique in binding strong individuals, so we sacrificed the strength of the summoning to increase the binding power. But it's already quite remarkable that we've achieved this much. With a little more effort, we might be able to completely perfect this technique."

"That's not the issue. Research in this area has been ongoing, but there was no information about it in his report to me."

(End of this chapter)