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

Chapter 258 Why do this?

"Phew~"

The wind and snow swept in, and the cold air blew.

Red stood atop the city wall, his right hand placed in front of his chest, exhaling a cold breath that enveloped the wooden figure's massive body.

"Click-clack..."

Ice formed on the wooden figure and spread throughout its body, turning its body blue. Its movements became increasingly slow until it froze in place, motionless.

"Molten Release: Infernal Hell!"

The red handprint transformed, and the freezing breath turned into molten lava, surging like a river and instantly engulfing an area several kilometers in front. The ice and snow melted, turning into rising steam and transforming an area of ​​dozens of miles into a dense fog where no one could see their own hand in front of their face.

Of course, both the First Hokage and Kurenai had entered Sage Mode, possessing sensory abilities beyond their eyes.

The obstruction of their vision did not impede their actions.

The First Hokage stood atop the wooden dragon, maneuvering it away from the wooden figure before Shanks could unleash his freezing breath. Now, as he guided the dragon toward Shanks, he clasped his hands together, preparing to unleash another ninjutsu.

But halfway through the flight, Ryuji descended from the sky, holding a rapidly spinning, burning chakra dumpling, and pressed it down on his head.

At the critical moment, the First Hokage took a step back, and Ryuji's body fell in front of him.

"Boom!"

With a roar, the wooden dragon trembled, and a violent vortex of flames erupted, engulfing everything nearby.

"Wood Release: Forest Technique!"

The First Hokage's voice echoed from the wave of flames, accompanied by tree roots and thick, bowl-sized wooden vines. These vines coiled around Ryuji's body, lashing against the city wall like whips.

"Boom!"

With a deafening roar, the tilting city wall trembled violently once more, and Ryuji was sent flying, spitting out blood, before... "Bang!" he vanished into smoke.

It's a shadow clone.

The First Hokage was startled and immediately became even more vigilant in his surroundings. But as soon as he made a move, he sensed a change in the steam above his head, and a beam of light as thick as a thumb fell from above, instantly piercing through his body from his head to his right leg.

Immediately afterwards, the fog surged, and Ryuji piloted the mechanical bird, swooping down from the sky at supersonic speed, unleashing a high-speed burst of five-element Gatling guns.

"hateful!"

The First Hokage attempted a defensive counterattack, but due to his damaged brain, his commands couldn't be fully transmitted to his body; only his fingers twitched. Unable to take any effective action, he was riddled with chakra bullets.

Then, the mechanical bird crashed in.

"Bang!"

Wood chips and paper scraps flew everywhere.

The mechanical bird even broke the wooden dragon in half.

However, the First Hokage did not die. It wasn't because of the Impure World Reincarnation technique, but because the Second Hokage arrived at the last moment and saved the First Hokage.

but.

Although he didn't know where the First Hokage came from, he was still a step too slow, and the First Hokage's right arm was smashed apart.

Watching the scraps of paper drift away into the thick fog, Ryuji chuckled softly, "Over there!"

After telling Kurenai the location of the First Hokage through the Ocean of Spirit, Ryuuju conjured a Rasengan in his hand, then aimed it at the direction the paper scraps were flying and clenched it tightly.

The Rasengan was instantly squeezed shut like a water-filled balloon, transforming into a laser the size of a thumb that shot out.

"Boom!"

A violent explosion echoed in the distance, followed by even more intense sounds of fighting. Although the view was obscured, one could still imagine the scene of Red battling her opponent.

"Speed ​​up!"

Ryuji issued commands to everyone in his mental ocean, then piloted his mechanical bird towards the direction of battle.

Suddenly, an unusual fluctuation arose in the ocean of consciousness.

Ryuji paused for a moment, then quickly turned the mechanical bird around, temporarily abandoning his idea of ​​joining the battle.

He focused his mind and quickly noticed the anomaly in his mental sea. His expression darkened. "That Mukai guy, he's fallen for it after all!"

Ryuji probably guessed that the Allied Shinobi Forces would send elite troops to infiltrate the Mechanized Castle and seize control of it.

Although he couldn't guess who the other side would send, considering that the enemy had the Mangekyou Sharingan and that Mukai lacked the ability to resist the Mangekyou Sharingan's genjutsu, he left a backdoor in his eye that connected to his spiritual ocean.

In this way, as long as someone with the Mangekyou Sharingan casts a genjutsu on him, they will eventually enter his mental ocean through the connection.

"Shisui, now that you're in, don't even think about leaving." Ryuji smiled after recognizing the intruder. "My spiritual ocean holds secrets for dealing with Kaguya and the Otsutsuki clan. Once you're in, don't even think about leaving."

……

"Impossible. If this is Mukai's mental space, then he couldn't have been hit by my Kotoamatsukami, and I couldn't have entered his mental space either."

Just as his consciousness was immersed in the ocean of his mind, Ryuji heard these words.

He looked at the figure standing in front of him, with his back to him, and couldn't help but chuckle softly. "You guessed right, this is indeed not Xiangjing's mental space, this is mine."

"who!?"

Shisui shouted and quickly turned around. When he saw Ryuji Ayaki's figure, his face suddenly turned ugly.

He asked incredulously, "Why...why did I end up in your mental space when I used illusion magic on Kohinata?"

"Well, it's just a little trick."

Ryuji gave a vague answer.

Shisui didn't care. He stared intently at Ryuji, and his expression suddenly improved.

Seeing this, Ryuji couldn't help but ask curiously, "What good thing have you thought of?"

"It's not just that I've encountered something good, it's that something incredibly good has happened!"

"Oh, what is it?"

"So that's you!" Shisui looked at Ryuji calmly and said, "If we were outside, I would be no match for you, but as a consciousness, it's a different story."

"puff!"

Ryuji couldn't help but scoff, "You're so confident you can defeat my consciousness?"

"I know your mental strength is very powerful, even beyond my understanding of human mental strength. But while mental strength is closely related to consciousness, it doesn't mean that a strong mental strength equates to a strong consciousness. The Sharingan of the Uchiha clan, on the other hand, makes the consciousness even stronger." Shisui said confidently, his eyes turning into a kaleidoscope. "As long as I destroy your consciousness here, your body will become a vegetable, and the war will end."

"……I see."

Long Er listened for a long time before giving his answer.

He took a deep breath, then looked calmly at Zhishui, "So what are you waiting for?"

"I hope you will surrender."

"?"

"I hate war, and I hate death, even if it's the enemy." Shisui stared at Ryuji and said, "The First Hokage said that as long as you surrender, he will not make things difficult for the others, and you will not die, but will be sealed and imprisoned."

"If you hate war and death, then why don't you surrender?" Ryuji couldn't help but sneer. "Don't give me that nonsense about you having the advantage and us being at a disadvantage. The real question is, why start a war in the first place? The Allied Shinobi Forces have been planning this war against Sunagakure for five years!"

"..."

Shisui lowered his head, his eyes dim.

Seeing this, Long Er couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "Aren't you going to defend your own people?"

"There's no point in making excuses."

Shisui let out a deep sigh, raised his head, and looked directly at Ryuji. "I know this isn't a just act, but there are too many helpless situations in this world, so please forgive me!"

After saying that, he suddenly rushed towards Long Er.

However, after taking only two steps, it stopped.

He watched as consciousness entities continuously materialized in the ocean of his mind... there were puppets, people, and more...

It was densely packed, a dark mass, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Shisui's face turned deathly pale.

At that moment, he finally understood why people have such a powerful mental space.

Because this is not just one person's mental space, but the space of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, or even more people.

And that group of people at the very end...

Because it was too far away, even the Mangekyou Sharingan could only see a rough outline.

And those outlines...

"Impossible, impossible, impossible!" Shisui roared in disbelief. "If that's the case, then what is this war all about?"

"What a joke!"

Upon hearing the calm reply, Shisui stopped roaring.

He stared at him blankly, his eyes red... Although the Sharingan is originally blood red, one could still see madness in his eyes and bloodshot veins.

"Child's play?"

"You actually treat war like a game?"

"You actually treat this largest war in the history of the ninja world as a child's play?"

"What exactly do you value human life?"

Zhi Shui's questioning grew louder and louder, and the last sentence even caused ripples in the mental space like the sea.

Long Er closed his eyes, and after a while opened them, calmly replied, "A human life is a human life, nothing more."

"Then why did you do this?!" Shisui continued to question loudly. "Faced with such power, even if you wanted to unify the ninja world, no one would dare to resist, so why did you show weakness and start this war?!"

Upon hearing Shisui's question, Ryuji's expression turned cold. "Are you mistaken about something?"

"Um?"

"I didn't start the war, you did!"

"But this is you, it's you..."

"Is this a form of entrapment?"

Long Er provided the answer for Shisui, who was at a loss for words. He looked at Shisui, who was stunned for a moment and then immediately came to his senses and nodded, and said, "So what? This is still a war that you started first. If you didn't have that kind of desire, no matter how much I tried to lure you in, no one would take the bait."

"But, but, but..." Shisui stammered, unable to find a reason to refute the argument. So she simply gave up and changed the subject, asking, "Then what's the point of doing this?"

"In order to strengthen Sunagakure, in order to leave Sunagakure with a stable and peaceful living environment, well, you can also think of it as for the peace of the ninja world."

"But you could have obtained all of this effortlessly simply by demonstrating your power!"

"If only it were really like that," Ryuji couldn't help but sigh. "This ninja world isn't as simple as people think. The hidden dangers left to the world by the Sage of Six Paths' family are far greater than what the Allied Shinobi Forces can handle."

"The Sage of Six Paths?" Shisui asked in astonishment. "Isn't that a myth?"

"Myths and legends also have prototypes. Although the idea of ​​him creating the world is a bit far-fetched, it is true that he saved the world and founded the Ninja Clan."

"this……"

"Alright, there's no point in saying all that. Just accept the seal! If things go smoothly, we'll release you afterwards."

As he spoke, Ryuji stretched out his right hand toward Shisui, and a tremendous suction force was generated from it.

Shisui hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not resist. He transformed into a ball of soul light and fell into Long Er's hands.

"Keep an eye on him!"

Ryuji sealed the soul orb and casually tossed it to one of the consciousnesses behind him before approaching Mukai, whose consciousness was in a daze.

"Fortunately, the subconscious hasn't had time to be modified yet." Ryuji checked Mukai's consciousness and, after confirming there were no major problems, took him out.

Then, he left the mental space.

……

"Phew~"

The biting wind blew the steam away.

Ryuji glanced at Kurenai and the First Hokage, who were standing in a group in the distance, then brushed off the ice on his body and rode his mechanical bird toward them.

He must deal with the First Hokage before Nagato joins the battle, otherwise the situation could easily spiral out of control.

……

Inside the city of government offices.

Mukai, who had been standing there in a daze, suddenly opened his eyes.

He glanced at the unconscious Shisui in front of him, kicked him away with a sudden kick, and then slowly walked towards Obito lying behind him.

"No matter how much you plan, you still capsized in the end. You really can't let your guard down at all!" Mukai said as he walked, his words a mix of praise and criticism.

"What's wrong with Shisui!?"

Obito looked grim, but he didn't give up and asked about his companions' condition.

"He'll never come back!"

Mukai told Obito a lie that would hurt him deeply, and then struck him on the head with his right hand without mercy.

If this palm strike lands, he will die instantly, without any further complications.

But the prerequisite is that you have to hit the target.

The moment his right palm struck, a huge skeleton appeared beside Obito, blocking the attack.

"This is……"

Mukai stared wide-eyed, still reeling from the sudden turn of events, when he was slapped away by the enormous bone palm and sent flying like a cannonball into the opposite wall.

Blood tears streamed from Obito's eyes, his face contorted with pain. Yet, his gaze grew ever more resolute.

"I will definitely kill you!"

As he spoke, flesh and a lower body grew from his bones, transforming him into a giant over twenty meters tall.

Obito had the giant's hands carry him as he walked step by step toward Mukai.

"Bang!"

A dark shadow burst out from the ruins of the wall and smashed the giant's right leg.

The giant staggered and knelt down.

The shadowy figure struck successfully, then rose up from behind and raised both hands to strike the giant's head.

Obito didn't panic; instead, he looked up at the figure that jumped up behind him.

He recognized the figure; it was Kohinata Mukai.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Clearly, he wasn't unharmed after that slap.

In addition, there were some white markings near his left eye.

"It's probably some kind of amplification technique!"

Obito recalled Kohinata's sudden burst of speed, far exceeding that of the previous battle, and the answer came to him.

But it didn't work.

A person cannot use leverage to generate force when in the air.

In the end, I am the victor!

"Kamui!"

(End of this chapter)