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

Chapter 254 Infiltrating the Mechanized City (Part 2)

The Naruto world contains many overpowered skills and items, but Sage Mode is among the most powerful. Mastering Sage Mode, depending on one's level of control, can significantly enhance one's overall strength.

In the original work, Naruto, whose level was barely at the Jonin level, was able to fight against Pain after learning Sage Mode and even surpass Jiraiya's achievements.

While Pain's recent destruction of Konoha and the inability to use his Deva Path abilities played a role, such an outcome would not have been possible without sufficient skill.

This was demonstrated later during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

When fighting the Third Raikage, Naruto's Nine-Tails Golden Body Mode was unable to hit the Raikage even when he attacked from behind, but when he used Sage Mode, he was able to hit the Raikage's hands and knees in a head-on confrontation, forcing the Raikage to attack himself. The difference in strength between the two was considerable.

The Sage Armor developed by Ryuji Ayaki can help people enter a Perfect Sage Mode at the same level as Naruto.

Furthermore, the ninjutsu markings on the cloth armor automatically absorb external natural energy to replenish the host's energy consumption, allowing the host to maintain Sage Mode indefinitely.

It's no surprise that the skilled fighters of Sunagakure, wearing such gear, would achieve such results.

Furthermore, the reason why Ryuji did not mass-produce the Sage Cloth Armor was not due to material limitations, as Gin said... Although it was indeed due to material limitations at the beginning, as the technology matured further, the required materials were improved, and this limitation was eliminated.

However, Sage Mode has very high requirements for users, with having a large amount of chakra being the most basic requirement.

The Sage Armor is only for those who cannot control Sage Mode. If someone cannot even meet the requirements to use Sage Mode, forcing them into Sage Mode will only result in them being overwhelmed by the immense power.

Even though Granny Chiyo is very strong, we couldn't make her a set of Sage Cloth Armor because of her scarce chakra.

However, having Gin, Kuro, Chino, Yekura, Banri, and the Third Kazekage is enough.

With the blessing of the Sage Cloth Armor, they are absolutely peak Kage-level powerhouses, with Gin and Chino barely reaching the Super Kage level in terms of combat strength.

Such a level of strength is definitely no less than that of the Allied Shinobi Forces—except for the First Hokage.

As the Allied Forces' top fighters began to falter, their morale plummeted. Conversely, Sunagakure's morale soared, allowing them to reverse the situation and suppress the Allied Forces' offensive.

but……

"Rumble..."

With a violent tremor, the giant wooden figure slammed its hand against the city wall, turning the puppets and Sand Village ninjas who were about to rush up and kill the enemy into their own dead souls.

Immediately afterwards, several Tailed Beast Balls that created mushroom clouds converged and blasted away swarms of puppets and Sunagakure ninja... Although some Allied Shinobi Forces were accidentally injured, most of them were Sunagakure ninja.

The sudden turn of events brought everyone on the battlefield to a halt, and they all turned to look at the scene of the incident.

Clinging to the city wall, with his head sticking out from the top of the wooden dummy, the First Hokage stood against the wind.

Further away, the Eight-Tails and the Three-Tails crouched in the distance, with several Jinchuriki who had entered half-tailed beast form beside them... They were the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and the other Jinchuriki who fought against the Twelve Golden Men on the open battlefield.

...Although each of the Twelve Golden Men possesses power comparable to the Wood Release: Wood Release technique, it is only on par with the Wood Release: Wood Release technique, not on par with the First Hokage...Although the most powerful technique the First Hokage can use now is the Wood Release: Wood Release technique, he can also use other techniques while using the Wood Release: Wood Release technique, and his combat power is incomparable to that of a single Wood Release: Wood Release jutsu.

In a one-on-one fight, the Golden Man was no match for the First Hokage.

With his teammates helping to hold off the other golden figures, the First Hokage defeated and sealed the golden figure he was fighting, and then helped seal all the other golden figures one by one.

Although this process was extremely arduous, and his body was even torn apart many times, he and the Second Hokage were resurrected using the Impure World Reincarnation technique, possessing unlimited chakra and regenerative abilities.

The others are Jinchūriki, and their recovery abilities are beyond those of ordinary people.

Apart from Minato Namikaze, who initially cooperated with the Second Hokage to take away four golden figures using the Flying Thunder God Technique and was paralyzed until the end of the battle before recovering his chakra and reappearing, the others were all in good hands.

When they arrived at the city wall together, the city had already recovered to about 70-80%.

"Let's end it here!"

The First Hokage looked down at the people on the city wall and said, "If you are not strong enough to match the power of me and the seven Jinchuriki, then surrender. I promise that I will only seal and imprison the instigator of this war, 'Ryuji Ayaki,' and forgive the rest."

The Sand Village members looked at each other, completely bewildered.

……

"Established in the name of the Daming Prefecture?"

On the ground, Nagato stared at Ryuji in shock.

Are you sure they'll accept it?

Although the daimyo of various countries appear to hold a higher status than the leaders of the ninja villages, in reality, the relationship is merely one of equal employment and cooperation. The reason the ninja villages adopt a humble attitude is simply because the daimyo are their benefactors.

However, Ryuji now wants to establish an organization in the name of the Daimyo Prefecture to supervise the various ninja villages in order to achieve the goal of peace... Putting aside whether this will achieve the goal of peace, it will certainly break the equal employment relationship between the countries and the ninja villages, making one side dominant over the other.

The ninja village would definitely not agree to this.

"No, it's just oversight in certain matters; it won't give this organization the power to interfere in the internal affairs of the ninja village."

"Like the relationship between various ninja clans and ninja villages?"

"...Similar, I suppose." Ryuji seemed surprised that Nagato would use this example, so he paused for a moment and then pondered, "The supervisory organization is only responsible for supervising unfair competition between ninja villages, such as threats of force and war. It cannot directly interfere in the internal affairs of each ninja village, nor is it related to their interests."

"Of course, even so, there will definitely be opposition, so I need to crush all the disobedient ones and make them obedient. Finally, I will use a weapon that can instantly wipe out any ninja village as a deterrent to maintain the relationship between the organization and the various ninja villages."

"..."

Nagato remained silent.

Ryuji's plan was simple and easy to understand. Nagato instantly grasped the underlying principles and had to admit that it was a feasible plan.

However, there are also many problems.

Let's set aside the details of the side branches for now, but who will supervise the power of this oversight organization?

It must be understood that wars are caused by human desires, which are various conflicts of interest... The organizations that set up oversight bodies are also human beings, who also have desires, interests and stances. Who can guarantee that they will be fair and impartial?

Don't be fooled by the fact that the supervisory organization doesn't interfere in the internal affairs of the ninja villages, but only has the power to supervise unfair competition between the ninja villages... What are the standards for unfair competition?

And who gets to decide?

These are all vague statements.

If a member of the oversight organization dislikes a certain ninja village or has a good relationship with it, and thus favors one side in a ruling, how can the rights of the other side be guaranteed?

If a capable and ambitious individual emerges from the supervisory organization, wielding a weapon capable of instantly destroying any force, would he then use the organization's power and that weapon to unify the ninja world?

If an organization were to emerge that could oversee all the ninja villages, then all of the above scenarios could potentially occur.

After listening to Nagato's concerns, Ryuji chuckled and said, "I've considered these possibilities. While we can mitigate them to some extent, we can't eradicate them completely, so I can't guarantee anything. However, people are constantly evolving. If the ninja world becomes as I've described, the organization will also reform itself to adapt to the changing times."

"If you don't have a way to eradicate these drawbacks, then I'm afraid I can't agree to your plan!" Nagato replied calmly.

If the ninja world truly becomes a place regulated by supervisory organizations and the situations he fears occur, then the victims will be powerless to resist. This is a situation far worse than war.

After all, one can only secure rights when power is in one's own hands.

Rather than consolidating power under the supervision of a single organization, Nagato's approach was to distribute power equally among all countries, allowing them to fight for their own rights.

Hearing Nagato's answer, Ryuji was not surprised and smiled, "Then only the third option remains."

Tell me about it!

After hearing Ryuji's first two plans, Nagato had come to believe that Ryuji was a like-minded person with the same goal as him. Even if they came up with different methods, they were both moving towards the same objective.

At least, the other party's proposals are the result of thorough research and consideration.

Perhaps the other person's answer will be better than yours.

However, Ryuji's next answer shattered Nagato's idea...

"The third option is to perish together!"

"To perish together?"

Nagato stared blankly at Ryuji, unable to react for a moment.

What happened to the promise of peace in the ninja world?

Why did the conversation suddenly change and turn into talking about mutual destruction?

"Whether you believe it or not, I have a way to take all life on this planet down with me. If you fight the Sand Village and the Allied Shinobi Forces to a standstill, and then come to pick up the spoils, I will make you and all life on this planet perish with you." Ryuji smiled as he spoke words that sounded like those of a demon. "In other words, if I lose, I will make everyone a loser."

Upon hearing this, Nagato fell silent.

After a long while, he finally raised his head and stared intently at Ryuji. "...You really haven't changed at all. You'll do anything to win."

"Well, I'm a realistic guy by nature."

"Aren't you worried that you'll anger me, causing me to side with the Allied Forces and completely crush Sunagakure, leaving you no chance to even take someone down with you?"

"In that case, your dream will never be realized."

"you……"

"Don't rush to give me an answer. Think it over carefully. At least, you'll have time to consider it before the battle between Sunagakure and the Allied Shinobi Forces is decided."

After speaking, without waiting for Nagato's reply, her consciousness detached from Konan and returned to her body.

……

Opening his eyes, looking at the eerily still battlefield and the target everyone was looking at... the First Hokage above the wooden figure's head, Ryuji's lips curled up slightly.

"Let's clean this up before Nagato realizes what's happening!"

The battle unfolded as expected, with both sides suffering heavy losses.

Furthermore, as the battles continue, casualties will increase further, making the act even more convincing.

"Hopefully Black Zetsu can step up his game. Without your help, it will take me a lot of effort to release Kaguya from her seal!"

……

Inside the city of government offices.

All the ordinary people had been sent to shelters by the genin, and the entire city was empty and silent.

Suddenly, the air somewhere began to distort.

Within that distorted vortex of space, a person was released.

He instinctively hid behind the nearest house, cautiously peeking out to check the outside... but there was no one there.

"Phew~"

He breathed a deep sigh of relief, then peeked out from behind the wall again... Steel buildings of varying heights stood in rows, arranged in a certain pattern, with various overpasses and roads connecting them, along with alleyways, forming a complex terrain.

"Which path leads to the control system?"

He circled his head, his brow furrowed.

Suddenly, he clapped his fist, an idea forming in his mind. "We can ask Kakashi!"

As he spoke, his pupils turned crimson, filled with markings resembling those of a shuriken. A tremendous suction force was released from his pupils, and four men of varying sizes were unleashed.

It was Kakashi and the others.

While the Allied Shinobi Forces stormed the city walls and engaged in a direct offensive and defensive battle with the Sand Village defenders, they also launched their own operation.

……

"Just as I predicted, the ordinary people have already gone to take refuge..." After Kakashi came out and checked the situation outside, he pondered, "Now the battle to defend the city walls is about whether the city will fall. The ninjas should all be defending it. Except for the important areas that are still guarded, there should be no one in the rest of the place."

"But we still need to be careful of the genin teams that go out to search for the lost children," Shisui added from the side.

Although the city of the mechanical city launched the attack first, the people must have been evacuated to shelters in advance.

But accidents can happen at any time.

If a mischievous child gets restless and runs around outside the shelter, and the genin guarding it discover that someone is missing and come out to search for them... such an accident is rare, but not impossible.

"That's right, we definitely need to pay attention to that."

Kakashi nodded slightly, then looked at the large, fat man beside him, "Nakayoshi, can you sense it now?"

"Okay." Zhongji nodded. "Except for some areas that are blocked, we can basically sense everything, but we can't sense the situation outside the Mechanical City."

"The art of telepathy has also been severed. It seems that a barrier has isolated the perception and connection between the inside and outside of the city."

"It should be to isolate them from outsiders' perception and communication," Shisui added again. "If they themselves cannot perceive or contact the outside world, how could the allied forces be attacked by the defense system while still outside?"

(End of this chapter)