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

Chapter 242 Activating the Twelve Golden Men

Thirty electromagnetic railgun shots were fired in nearly parallel lines... Although the thickness of the beams prevented the complete clearing of the dense forest, it cleared most of it.

The saplings that miraculously survived grew wildly, trying to regain their previous unstoppable momentum, but were nipped in the bud by the relentless barrage of arrows.

Hashirama Senju paused for a moment, then released his clasped hands.

Although he could do it again without breaking a sweat, so could the enemy.

"Things are getting worse!"

Hashirama sighed deeply, then his eyes sharpened. "Since that's how it is, then that's the only way!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he ran towards the mechanical city.

His speed wasn't fast, at least not as extreme as the Raikage or Minato's, but he still managed to rush into the area within a kilometer of the city wall in the blink of an eye.

"Bang bang bang..."

The Gatling gun roared once more, unleashing a rain of arrows that blotted out the sky.

Hashirama clasped his hands together, and several root-like vines, as thick as buckets, rose from the ground, waving like tentacles. Whether a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand arrows flew at him, they were all easily deflected and intercepted.

The daylight shone brightly once again.

Hashirama's eyes narrowed, and he clapped his hands again, shouting, "Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"

A massive root rose from beneath his feet as he charged forward, growing rapidly and wildly. From this root emerged a powerful old dragon, carrying Hashirama into the air.

The orange beam of light shot out slowly, but was caught in the old dragon's jaws, revealing a metal projectile the size of a fist.

This time, however, there was no vast dense forest, and the electromagnetic railgun swarm was not firing in a spread pattern, but instead aimed directly at Hashirama.

The thirty electromagnetic railgun shells, due to their different firing angles, had extremely short distance differences, resulting in the shells arriving one after another in a very short time.

Just as the old dragon caught the cannonball, three more cannonballs were fired at its left cheek. Then six, eight, and thirteen more cannonballs came from the left and right, hitting the dragon's body, tail, or even the dragon's head.

Instantly, sawdust flew everywhere.

The old dragon that had been suppressing the nine-tailed dragon was beaten to a pulp and fell sideways.

But before it could truly fall, a massive, wrathful Vajra rose from the ground.

He grabbed the old dragon by the neck, wrapped it around himself, and then continued forward with heavy steps.

The old dragon, once entangled, quickly regained its vitality, then swiftly slithered away, rising from the back of the Vajra and roaring angrily at the Mechanized City.

The light of daylight returned, and the Railgun fired once more.

However, even with the powerful Railgun's superior penetration, which could grab and push back the Tailed Beast Ball and cause it to explode without any damage, the giant only managed to embed the projectile into its wooden body, causing cracks to spread nearby and making the giant stagger back a few steps.

But as Hashirama injected chakra, the cannonball was quickly expelled, the cracks instantly healed, and the giant, tens of meters tall, once again took a step forward.

"That's it, charge over and destroy the defensive structures above!" Hashirama watched the city walls getting closer and closer, increasing his chakra output.

With the added power of chakra, the wrathful Vajra's legs moved faster and faster, and its massive body began to run and sprint. Even the next barrage of electromagnetic cannon fire could not slow it down.

In the Sky Castle of Konoha, Shikaku seized the opportunity to plead, "My esteemed seniors, please follow in the footsteps of the First Hokage and take advantage of this opportunity to seize the walls of the Mechanical Castle!"

"The enemy's firepower is concentrated on the first generation, so it is indeed time to launch a general offensive."

"I never imagined that one day I would fight alongside the First Hokage!"

"Don't worry, we'll definitely win!"

People summoned by the Impure World Reincarnation, including the three Kage, all set out.

Seeing this, Shikaku also breathed a sigh of relief.

Although this seemed like the perfect opportunity for a final assault, he worried that the Mechanical City had other tricks up its sleeve.

Sending a coalition force to attack rashly would likely repeat the mistakes of the previous two attacks.

Therefore, sending out an army of reanimated corpses is the best option.

As for the fact that the other side already had methods to counter the Impure World Reincarnation...

The First Hokage has been around for so long. If the opponent had such methods, they would have used them long ago. How could they have allowed the First Hokage to get so close?

……

The city of government offices.

Central building, temporary command post.

Seeing the fierce-looking Vajra approaching the city wall by 500 meters and still closing in rapidly, some people couldn't help but panic.

Especially for elderly people like Granny Chiyo and Ebizo, the panic on their faces was clearly visible.

"Damn it, why is the First Hokage, who died long ago, here?"

"This hellish, karmic power... it really is the First Hokage!"

"With guys like this on the enemy side, can we win?"

"What should we do?"

It's no wonder these old people were flustered; they were born in that era and were deeply impressed by the First Hokage's power.

In particular, the battle at the Valley of the End, where the First Hokage fought Madara Uchiha, shook the entire continent, and the aftershocks of the battle even reached the opposite continent.

That terrifying power is impossible to understand without experiencing it firsthand.

but.

Although they couldn't understand it, the power that the First Hokage displayed at this moment was enough to silence the young people.

Especially when the ancestors who had died in various villages of the ninja world appeared on the battlefield, they couldn't help but panic.

Although only a small part of the defensive system of the Fortress of Agility has been revealed, most of it was designed to cope with war. It is uncertain whether those methods will be effective against the First Hokage or groups of Kage and elite Jonin-level experts.

The Third Kazekage was also quite flustered, but he knew that as the leader, he couldn't show panic, otherwise it would spread the panic.

He forced himself to remain calm and looked at Ryuji Ayaki for help. Seeing that Ryuji was sitting steadily in his chair, seemingly thinking about something, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew~" The Third Kazekage let out a deep sigh of relief and said, "Ryuji, what are your thoughts?"

Ryuji paused for a moment, then looked up and noticed the atmosphere in the conference room. He couldn't help but smile. "This is the Impure World Reincarnation technique developed by the Second Hokage. It's a technique that can summon the dead into the world of the living. The appearance of the First Hokage and others was expected."

Yes.

If it's a war concerning the survival of the enemy or ourselves, then even an inhumane forbidden technique like the Impure World Reincarnation will eventually be used on the battlefield.

Therefore, Ryuji had long anticipated the existence of the Edo Tensei army and had prepared corresponding measures.

However, he did not expect Orochimaru to have perfected the Impure World Reincarnation technique to this extent.

It's worth noting that in the original story, Orochimaru's reanimated First and Second Hokage during the Chunin Exams seven years later were only at the Kage level.

Here, the First Hokage even used Sage Mode and Wood Release: Wood Release, clearly reaching the level of the Fourth Shinobi World War in the original work.

"It should be Black Zetsu. I didn't expect him to have this ability..." Ryuji pondered for a moment. "Heavenly Eye, activate the Twelve Golden Men, and use the sealing arrows!"

"Understood, Master!"

Upon hearing this, Long Er nodded slightly, then turned to the others, "It seems we can't sit in the meeting room and wait for the outcome of this war. Everyone, please return to your positions!"

"yes!"

Today I opened the book I bought last year, "White-Haired Boy" (the one from the Naruto novel, the story that starts in the Land of Waves), and only then did I realize that the official novel says that what was sealed by the Nine-Tails was its soul... Isn't the official setting that the tailed beasts are life forms created by the Sage of Six Paths using the Ten-Tails' chakra?

Aren't their physical forms chakra?

Or is it a being similar to the reincarnation of Asura and Indra?

(End of this chapter)