Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

"Shinto-sama has drawn his sword! Retreat! (?д?)ノ"

“…”

While everyone was still confused as to why they should move aside when he unleashed his ultimate attack, the Sand Ninja underlings, being more experienced, immediately retreated frantically upon seeing Shinto draw his golden greatsword. Their home had been destroyed by a barrage of indiscriminate sword energy blasts when they were driven to madness; they even turned on their own people. Chiyo's five waist-severed puppets served as a lesson...

"Huh??? What's wrong with these Sand Ninja? Why did they run away when Shiki drew his sword? (⊙_⊙)?"

"Has he gone mad? (⊙_⊙)"

"Wow! That's amazing, what an incredible aura! σ(⊙▽⊙a)"

"Okay... let's back out too. I have a bad feeling about this..."

The others around them looked at each other in bewilderment as they saw the Sand Ninja underlings and even the younger brother of Golden Lion, the Sand Ninja genius puppeteer, retreating rapidly. However, when they saw Golden Lion, whose aura suddenly changed after drawing his sword and who exuded a sense of oppression that made them want to call him "father," some of them swallowed hard and said to their companions.

Unexpectedly, the Golden Lion who drew his sword was so terrifying. His mere aura made their legs go weak. He was a completely different person from when he was arguing with the Tsuchikage.

Is this the World Ninja Master...?

"This is the real Golden Lion... We're retreating too!"

The Raikage, Mizukage, Onoki, and Hanzo of the Salamander also sensed Shinto's aura. With serious expressions, they led their subordinates back. The change in Shiki's aura actually gave them a creepy feeling. The Raikage, in particular, looked at Shiki, who had drawn his sword, with intense fighting spirit emanating from his body.

To be honest, sometimes he really wanted to fight Shiki. He was most famous for his defense and attack, and Shiki was rumored to be able to withstand a Tailed Beast Ball without getting hurt. Now, seeing Shiki's changed aura, he figured that Shiki's attack must be just as amazing. This gave him a feeling of finding an opponent and a kindred spirit. However, he was, after all, the Raikage. He wasn't as shameless as Onoki. He represented the image of Kumogakure. In the past few years, Kumogakure had become weak due to the coup that year and had been supported by his reputation for fighting the Eight-Tails.

After more than a decade of stealthy development, the village was basically on the right track. If he didn't have other important business to attend to, he really wanted to find a place to fight the Golden Lion and see who was tougher and whose attack was stronger.

"Watch out! The Sand Village's Golden Lion is about to make his move!"

Inside the barrier, the fiery old man, over a hundred years old, became serious. Although he was isolated by the barrier and couldn't sense the Golden Lion's aura, the name of the Sand Village's Golden Lion was renowned throughout the ninja world. Although he had never seen him, the fact that he had been able to go toe-to-toe with Konoha's White Fang for so many years was certainly not something to boast about.

Moreover, the unknown is the most dangerous thing. Having been around for decades, he knew this better than anyone. He wasn't worried about Onoki's map attack before because he knew that it would take at least a dozen or twenty shots with the power of the final shot to break through their barrier. The map attack looked powerful, but it also consumed a lot of mana. With Onoki's mortal talent, let alone twenty shots, five or six shots would have exhausted him.

So he wasn't flustered at all. But this Golden Lion was different. The entire ninja world knew about the Golden Lion's three main abilities: Magnet Release, swordsmanship, and strange taijutsu. Many people had witnessed the lion's head created by Magnet Release and the taijutsu that made his body as hard as a rock. But since the end of World War I, very few people had seen the Golden Lion draw his sword. At least he had never seen it. But now, the great golden sword in the Golden Lion's hand had turned completely black, emitting a faint chill, which made him feel a little uneasy...

"Armed. Lion's Might. Super Slash Wave!!!"

"Shh!"

Just as he finished preparing, Shindou suddenly opened his eyes and unleashed a massive sword aura hundreds of meters long at the barrier in front of him.

"Holy crap!! What is that! Ninjutsu? Sword energy? σ(⊙▽⊙a)"

"That's outrageous! Such a huge sword aura! (⊙▽⊙!)"

"Wow... Wow... Amazing!"

"So this is the Golden Lion....σ(?д?lll)"

"..."

Those who had run away saw the Golden Lion swing his sword and unleash such a massive sword aura; even from a distance, they could feel the sharpness of the sword aura.

If that were to hit someone...

"Truly impressive!!"

While everyone was distracted, Hanzo, the salamander, secretly took a nitroglycerin pill and stared wide-eyed at his good brother who had previously stood up for him and argued with Onoki.

Although he was more than ten years older than Golden Lion, he debuted relatively late. While he was still developing his skills, Golden Lion had already become famous at a young age during the battle. His peak performance upon debut was only in recent years. He achieved his current success because of the poison sac in his body. Poison is always the thing that people fear the most. He originally thought that with his current strength, he could be ranked in the top three in the ninja world.

Although Shiki the Golden Lion and Sakumo Hatake of Konoha are famous, they are still too young and that's about it. As for those Kage, probably only the Raikage who fought the Eight-Tails could fight him. The other Kage are politicians who are good at scheming and plotting, but not good at fighting.

How many years has it been since these people last made a move?

When Onoki launched the attack on the Land of Whirlpools, he originally thought it was a good opportunity for Amegakure to become famous in the ninja world. With him, the king, leading the way, even if the underlings were to fall behind, he could still carry them. After all, among the five great ninja villages, only Amegakure had a Kage-level powerhouse like him.

However, his worldview has expanded several times over along the way, and the Raikage's chakra mode combined with his strong muscles makes him incredibly powerful when it comes to racking up stats!

Onoki's map attack was exceptionally domineering. Although the Mizukage was relatively conventional, his water jutsu was also incredibly sharp. He hadn't made a move in the past two days, but the genius puppeteer Gong Liejie beside him was quite impressive. He had mastered the same ten knights of the Vigorous Pine Sect as Chiyo and was the one who was having the most fun in the entire event.

Now, seeing the Golden Lion make his move, this enormous sword energy completely refreshed his understanding of so-called swordsmanship. This is swordsmanship, for crying out loud!

Can swordsmanship produce this kind of sword energy?

"Watch out! Hold on! (｀?д?′)!!"

The Vortex Clan members inside the barrier turned deathly pale at the sight of the terrifying sword energy that seemed capable of splitting their village in two, while the fiery old man, over a hundred years old, frantically cheered on his younger brother who was holding up the barrier.

184. They were most afraid of this move.

The power of this sword aura is far greater than that of Onoki's super map cannon. It is true that there is an unknown space in the barrier, but the space bearing capacity of this location is also limited. This earth-shattering sword aura, which is hundreds of meters long, is obviously much larger than Onoki's super map cannon!

What if the unknown space is filled with debris? The barrier might not be able to withstand it!

"boom!!!!!"

The hot-tempered old man guessed correctly. When the sword energy saw the barrier, it did not disappear silently like Onoki. Instead, it filled the unknown space and slammed into the rock wall of the barrier with a deafening roar, like a nuclear bomb. People in the distance with weak constitutions were so shocked that their eardrums ached and their jaws fell to the ground and did not come back up for a long time.

"Hiss...! The best!!! (?д?)ノ"

"The Golden Lion is too strong! σ(?д?lll)"

"That's outrageous! It's been split in two..."

"Shouldn't it be broken now? That sword energy is so powerful..."

"It should be able to break through now, the ground has been split in two..."

It took them a long time to recover, and they whispered among themselves, their minds still replaying the terrifying sword energy they had just obtained, which seemed to have split the earth in two. Even thinking about it now gave them a chill down their spines...

"Huh? Holy crap! No way? This barrier is that strong? It didn't break!! σ(⊙▽⊙a)"

After the delay dissipated, everyone saw a bottomless chasm ahead, with seawater constantly gushing out from the sword mark. However, the barrier at the front was still intact. They almost burst into tears. It was one thing that the Earth Shadow's map attack had no effect, but the Golden Lion's earth-shattering sword energy had cleaved this place in two, yet this barrier was still intact. Are the barriers of the Uzumaki clan really that strong?

"Phew... This powerful family with over a thousand years of history is indeed extraordinary."

The Third Raikage and several other key figures took a deep breath, looking at the still intact barrier with genuine admiration. They were also filled with envy. The Uzumaki clan's barrier was simply too powerful. The Golden Lion's sword aura was comparable to a nuclear warhead, yet it couldn't break through this barrier. One could imagine how powerful this barrier was. If they could obtain this barrier, even if they didn't have the Uzumaki clan's formidable chakra, they had the numbers. Even if their chakra reserves weren't as high, they didn't need the range or the hardness. They were a major ninja village; did anyone really want to destroy their village?

Even if the hardness is one or two levels higher, it doesn't matter. Judging from this level of hardness, even if it's one or two levels lower, it can completely withstand the Tailed Beast Ball, which is enough for them. The Tailed Beast Sealing Techniques in their village are not very complete, and there is always a risk of Tailed Beasts causing chaos. If there is such a barrier, they won't have to worry about Tailed Beasts going berserk until there is a Jinchuriki.

"Wow! You know what, this thing is actually pretty hard!"

Shinto was astonished to see that he had cleaved the village in two, yet the barrier remained unscathed. However, unlike Onoki's Squib, his sword energy had indeed struck the barrier. He could feel the tactile sensation of hitting something, meaning that although the barrier contained an unknown space that absorbed external attacks, this space had a limit; it wasn't inexhaustible. As long as the energy of the external attack exceeded the capacity of the unknown space, the remaining attack would still hit the barrier. However, the barrier's defense was also very strong. He knew how much damage his sword had caused; even with the sword energy weakened, it wasn't easy to withstand. The fact that even the village had been cleaved in two showed just how ferocious the power was.

"Hmph! You bastards, give up! This is a barrier that our Uzumaki clan has passed down for hundreds of years and perfected by generations of people. Your sword energy may be powerful, but you are seriously underestimating our Uzumaki clan if you think you can break our barrier!"

The centenarian was a master of military strategy. Seeing that the barrier had not been broken, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and felt lucky. At the same time, he did not forget to play psychological warfare. To be honest, what he had just encountered had really scared him to death. He had been hiding for over a hundred years and this was the first time he had encountered such a powerful sword aura. It was hundreds of meters high and came down from above. If it weren't for his relatively good mental fortitude, he would have already gone down to pay his respects to his ancestors!

"...That's true! It's an heirloom after all. If it were so easily broken, it would be a disservice to your ancestors for eighteen generations. Old man, this sword is called the Vajra Great Sword. It is three feet and six inches long and was forged by a team of famous swordsmiths from the Iron Kingdom using gold sand from the Wind Kingdom over three years. Today, let's see if my modern craftsmanship is tough enough or your ancestral barrier is tough enough!"

"Armed. Lion's Might. Super Thousand-Cut Valley!!!"

With a serious expression, Masato introduced his magnificent, not-too-big-but-not-too-small sword to the hot-tempered old man whose eyelids were twitching incessantly. Then, gripping the sword with both hands, he closed his eyes and... cough! He proceeded to unleash a barrage of indiscriminate sword swings. The scene was too much for him to bear...

"Shhhhh!"

"Boom boom boom...!"

"Holy crap! The Golden Lion has gone berserk! Retreat....(?｀?д?′)!!"

"Oh my god! Get out of the way! Is this bastard even going to cut us down...?(?д?)ノ"

"Help... Ah!!!"

"Lord Golden Lion! Don't kill our own people... Ah!"

"Damn it, everyone back up another 500 meters!!!"

"..."

As Shinto continued to swing his sword, countless hundred-meter-long sword energies were unleashed, bombarding the Uzumaki clan's barrier. Although they weren't as astonishing as the previous sword strike that stretched for hundreds or thousands of meters, their sheer quantity made them formidable. The allied forces' underlings, who hadn't retreated far, saw several hundred-meter-long sword energies sweep past them and instantly went weak in the knees. Before they could even cry for help, they were cleaved in two by the sword energies. The leaders watched with gritted teeth. The Raikage, who had just taken a sword energy energy for his underling, looked at his somewhat dimmed chakra armor, cursed under his breath, and then shouted at the crowd, "That damn sword energy almost shattered my chakra mode! A few more and I won't be able to withstand it!"

"Here it comes, here it comes! Whew... thank goodness we retreated far enough. Master Shinto's move is really..."

The Sand Ninja underlings, who had retreated two kilometers away, wiped the cold sweat from their brows as they watched their "own men" who had been cleaved in two by their leader's sword aura due to slow reactions. Although the previous sword strike was earth-shattering, what they feared most was Lord Shinto's move. This was a damn indiscriminate attack; a moment's slow reaction and they'd be dead... (?ω?｀ll).

185. Even the most ruthless person wouldn't cut off their own brother, would they?

At this moment, on a small path not far from the Uzumaki clan, Hatake Sakumo was leading several carefully selected ANBU underlings at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour, rushing towards the Uzumaki clan.

"Boom boom boom..."

"Minister, there seems to be a sound!!"

One of the ANBU underlings, with particularly keen hearing, spoke to Sakumo Hatake as he listened to the booming sounds coming from beside him.

"...Damn it, let's run! That guy made his move!"

Sakumo Hatake, who was running at high speed, stopped and listened carefully. Amidst the bursts of explosions, he heard an unusually familiar sound of sword energy cutting through the air. Who else could it be but that guy, Shiki? He immediately shifted into fourth gear and sped towards the Uzumaki clan.

He hadn't rested for two days in a row. Fortunately, traveling didn't require chakra, it only tested physical strength. After years of fighting against Shiki, he had completely mastered this skill. Even the guy with thick eyebrows in his village who practiced taijutsu all day might not be as durable as him.

So these ANBU members, seeing that their commander, who had already been traveling for three days, was still able to speed things up, were truly impressed by his reputation as Konoha's World Ninja Master...

Meanwhile, Sakumo Hatake, who was accelerating all the way, was extremely anxious. Two nights ago, his boss and Lady Mito came to his house to find him. He knew that something big must have happened. Lady Mito had not been involved in the affairs of the village for many years. In order to maintain enough chakra and life force to suppress the Nine-Tails, Lady Mito had rarely left the Senju clan. The last time was when that guy Shiki confessed his love to Tsunade.

The fact that he came to see him so late at night, almost closing time, meant something big must have happened. After listening to the boss's story, he realized how serious the matter was. The Uzumaki clan must have done something terrible to be able to get most of the human world to unite and attack their clan. Their ability to attract hatred was even stronger than that of Konoha. No wonder they were Konoha's friendly village.

The Uzumaki clan is not only an ally of Konoha, but also the maternal clan of Mito. They contributed money and effort when Konoha was founded. Moreover, Mito is getting old and it is unknown how many more years he can live. Therefore, in recent years, they have been searching for the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki from the Uzumaki clan. So, the Uzumaki clan is an indispensable strategic ally and good teammate for Konoha.

However, the Uzumaki clan is now being attacked by most of the Allied Shinobi Forces. To be honest, even if Konoha wanted to help, they couldn't do much. But the Uzumaki clan can't really be wiped out, since only the Uzumaki clan can hold off the Nine-Tails in their village. The most important thing is that Shiki is one of the leaders of this Allied Shinobi Forces. The boss and Mito came to find him because of this matter. Who in the shinobi world understands Shiki the most?

Of course, it wasn't Chiyo. The person who knows you best is often your enemy, and that's true everywhere. Mito and the boss came to him hoping that he would not only bring back the next generation of Jinchuriki, but also, if possible, save as many people as possible back to Konoha before the Uzumaki clan's barrier is broken. These were Hiruzen Sarutobi's own words. After all, as Hokage, he not only had to consider the next generation, but also the long term. Bringing back just one child from the Uzumaki clan was not selective. Who knows what kind of person the child would become after experiencing the destruction of his family?

If we can save some people, then we'll have more options, right?

But from the sounds he'd just heard, he was certain that Golden Lion was already bombarding the barrier. In the entire ninja world, aside from their already defeated First Hokage, the only one he could continuously unleash powerful attacks was this guy. When he got carried away, he'd even kill his own people; what was destroying a barrier to him...?

.......

"Boom boom boom...!"

"Quick! Replace them! We must hold him off before the Konoha people arrive!!!"

At the entrance of Vortex Hidden Village, the fiery old man, over a hundred years old, watched as countless hundred-meter-long sword energies bombarded their barrier. With a flushed face and a thick neck, he directed his underlings to take turns, each one energetically replacing the impotent underling to continue reinforcing the barrier.

That's inhuman!

That's absolutely inhuman!

Having survived the war-torn era, he had only ever seen such a fierce attack from two people: his goofy brother-in-law and Uchiha Madara, who was stealing a man from his sister. He never expected to encounter a third one before his death.

Every time a sword aura struck their barrier, the hot-tempered old man's heart skipped a beat, fearing that the barrier would be shattered by this Sand Village beast.