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

Chapter 85 The Worried Sarutobi

Have you... admitted defeat?

The room fell silent.

The audience members who were cheering for their favorite contestants were all bewildered.

what does it mean?

Didn't you just roll your eyes?

Aren't you going to unleash your ultimate move?

Why did they admit defeat before even making a move?

And just a moment ago he looked like he couldn't accept defeat, but now he looks so relaxed?

Not only were the Sand Village ninjas bewildered, but even the people of Konoha were confused.

"What is this!?"

Suddenly, a young Hyuga follower exclaimed in surprise.

Everyone looked over at the sound and saw that he had also activated his Byakugan, staring at Gin with a shocked expression.

"What's wrong?"

The old clan chief of Hyuga asked the question.

Although he was very concerned that Kohinata and Mukai possessed the Byakugan but had kept it a secret, Kohinata's sudden withdrawal and relaxed demeanor made him temporarily abandon his thoughts on the matter.

All he wanted to know was what could make a Byakugan user, who had mastered Gentle Fist to its peak, surrender without a fight.

This concerns the survival of the Hyuga clan.

If Sunagakure develops something that renders the Byakugan and Gentle Fist ineffective, then the Hyuga clan will have an invincible nemesis.

"Clan leader, the one from Sunagakure, she, she..."

"What's wrong with her?"

"Her body structure is different from ours."

"Different?" The old Hyuga clan chief was taken aback and asked, "What's wrong... Never mind, I'll see for myself."

The old patriarch formed a hand seal, his eyes widened, turning bluish-white, with veins bulging around his eyes and black marks appearing in his pupils.

"What is this!?"

The old clan chief stared wide-eyed, his mouth agape, looking so surprised he couldn't speak.

Under the scrutinizing gaze, nothing can be hidden.

Yin's extraordinary physical structure was also laid bare before his eyes.

The skeleton made of unknown material, the human body structure made of muscles that are clearly composed of some kind of fiber mixed with gears, screws and other props, the ambiguous organ tissues, the messy meridian system... but these are not the most crucial things.

The key is the source of chakra.

All people's chakra originates from the cells of the body and mind.

However, Gin's chakra comes from an unknown component made of an unknown material in his lower abdomen.

That component contains powerful chakra, but it cannot produce it.

This silver isn't...

"Gin is not a normal human." Seeing the people nearby looking over, Ryuji smiled and continued, "Gin is an artificial human I created using puppet technology. He doesn't have the organs and meridians of a normal human. Gentle Fist techniques that attack internal organs through muscle defense or cut off the flow of chakra are naturally ineffective."

It turned out to be the case.

No wonder Kohinata surrendered so readily after activating her Byakugan, and even looked relieved.

Everyone suddenly understood after hearing this.

Gentle Fist made Kohinata Mukai who he is today; it was Gentle Fist that brought him to where he is now. For Kohinata Mukai, Gentle Fist is his faith, his everything.

If it's because they're less skilled, then so be it.

He had already mastered the art of Soft Fist to its peak, yet his opponent stood there and couldn't be moved by his attacks, which meant that Soft Fist was useless.

How could he not go crazy?

That's why he'd rather expose his Byakugan than lose Gin.

If he doesn't do this, his beliefs will collapse, and he will live in a state of doubt, degenerating into a useless person.

But when he activated his Byakugan and saw Gin's body structure, he realized that it wasn't a problem with Gentle Fist, but rather with his opponent.

Gentle Fist is a martial art developed specifically for the human body and is not good at causing damage.

But what can he do if his opponent isn't human?

Therefore, he felt relieved and readily admitted defeat.

"The winner of this duel is... Gin from Sunagakure." As Minato announced the result, the audience erupted in cheers once again.

For the average viewer, while they might find it impressive that Gin is a manufactured puppet, they don't delve into the deeper meaning behind it.

They quickly became engrossed in the exciting battle between the two duelists and cheered for the winner.

But Sarutobi and the others couldn't laugh.

Originally, these two duels, in which each side spared the other's life, had already eliminated the rift between the Sunagakure delegation and Konoha Village, and he should have been happy.

But now I can't laugh at all.

Silver is manufactured...

If one silver is already so powerful, what if Ryuji creates a second, a third, or even thousands of them? Who could stop Sunagakure from dominating the ninja world?

but.

Although troubled, he did not do the foolish thing of killing Ryuji to nip the crisis in the bud.

After all, technology isn't like ninjutsu; it doesn't have as many learning requirements. Anyone can do it as long as they can understand the underlying principles.

Even if Ryuji is killed, someone else will acquire this knowledge. Sarutobi doesn't know if this technology is unique to Ryuji or if it was developed jointly with Sunagakure.

But he preferred the latter.

Even if Ryuji is a genius and capable of developing such technology on his own, research requires a large amount of funding. Without the village's support, he alone cannot develop such technology.

Therefore, Sunagakure must have a backup of the knowledge.

In that case, killing Ryuji wouldn't make a difference.

Secondly, the current situation in Konoha is very bad.

Killing Ryuji here would inevitably provoke the wrath of Sunagakure. If Sunagakure were to launch an attack on Konoha at this time, Konoha would be doomed.

The fact that Sunagakure still maintains its alliance with Konoha and even sends people to Konoha to study indicates that Sunagakure's strength is not great enough to dominate the ninja world.

Ryuji's technology is not enough to mass-produce experts like Yin... Although it is unknown whether it will be possible to mass-produce them in the future, it is not possible at least for now.

But if we kill Ryuji now...

The potential hidden dangers of the future have turned into a life-or-death crisis in the present.

To actually do that would be the mark of a true fool.

At this moment, Sarutobi only hoped that the war would end as soon as possible.

Ideally, this should end before the technology reaches the point of mass-producing silver. Then, whether by sending spies to steal data or destroying the technology, this crisis must be eliminated.

In fact, Sarutobi was worrying unnecessarily.

Mass production of silver is impossible.

It's not that the technology isn't mature enough, but rather a material issue.

Leaving aside the otherworldly materials that can only be obtained through system check-ins, even the materials that already exist in this world cannot be provided on a large scale.

Or rather, they don't have the money.

Just think about how in Kara no Kyoukai, Touko gave Ryougi Shiki a prosthetic limb, and as a result, they had to eat dirt for months. That shows how expensive those materials are.

Although Orange is penniless, it's only because her research into magic is expensive. As a Grand Doll Maker, she also makes ordinary dolls and sells them as works of art to high society, making money very quickly.

At such a price, Sunagakure simply cannot afford it.

Many people may not know Kohinata Mukai. He's a character from Itachi's True Story, a high-ranking member of the Anbu, and Hiruzen Sarutobi's right-hand man. He was incredibly strong, even surpassing Shisui Uchiha, and held high prestige among lower-ranking ninjas. He was a man with a very high chance of becoming the Fifth Hokage.

However, he was a spy recruited by the Hidden Mist Village.

The original work doesn't say why he was turned, but it does hint at it, most likely related to his sickly child who was a few years old.

In addition, I made up his resume; the original work didn't mention these things.

The author created this resume to help everyone better appreciate Mukai's abilities.

In addition, some people say that Gin Station's decision to let Mukai hit him was a forced attempt to show off.

However, Mukai's taijutsu is already top-notch. In the original work, even Shisui and Itachi, who both had Sharingan activated, did not dare to fight him in close combat and instead tried to kite him.

As a result, he cleaved the fireball in two with a palm strike, closed the distance, and instantly crushed it; they were simply not on the same level.

Gin's methods mainly rely on superhuman strength, supplemented by earth-based techniques. When fighting Mukai, he didn't retaliate, and the effect was the same: he was unilaterally and thoroughly defeated.

(End of this chapter)