Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Hanzo's shadow clone stared at Kirito, who was piercing the Water Release Masked Monster's mask with a knife, and murmured, his gaze towards Kirito growing increasingly wary.

The existence of a Kage-level powerhouse whose origins are unknown is even more dangerous.

The five great ninja villages may not be afraid, but for smaller ninja villages, facing such a powerful figure could be a catastrophe.

The Water Release Masked Monster's mask was pierced, and its heart, hidden behind the mask, stopped beating instantly. The Earth Grudge Tentacles on its body quickly lost their activity and died one after another.

Not far away, Kakuzu let out another scream, spitting out a large number of necrotic Earth Grudge Tentacles.

"You can't escape. Just obediently fight me to the death, and maybe you'll have a chance to survive."

Kirito looked at Kakuzu, who had fallen from a great height but stood up as if nothing had happened, pointed his famous sword at him, and said coldly.

As he spoke, he pulled the chakra thread on his left hand again.

But this time, Kakuzu immediately and precisely severed the three chakra threads wrapped around him with a kunai wrapped in chakra.

Then, the Wind Release masked monster on the shoulder used Wind Release: Pressure Damage again.

A huge gust of wind appeared, forming a terrifying storm that blew toward Kirito, who was not far away.

Kirito was hit by a storm and instantly turned into a puddle of water and was blown away.

Upon seeing this, Kakuzu immediately used Earth Release: Earth Spear to harden his entire body for defense.

But a katana wrapped in lightning chakra easily pierced his hardened skin, emerged from behind him, and pierced his earth-style heart.

Kirito unleashed his Water Instantaneous Movement Technique without a seal, successfully destroying one of Kakuzu's hearts once again.

Kakuzu, who still had two hearts left, was not dead. The two masked monsters on his shoulders quickly turned their heads and prepared to use a combination ninjutsu to attack Kirito.

But at that moment, Kakuzu suddenly felt something stick to his back, and then he discovered that his chakra was also suppressed and he could not mobilize it at all.

He looked down and was surprised to find that he was now covered in a large number of sealing spells.

"Do not!!!"

Kakuzu noticed the sealing technique on his body and immediately understood what Kirito had stuck on his back. He cried out in frustration.

Unfortunately, no matter how unwilling he was, the sealing talisman that Kirito had placed on him was still rapidly sealing him.

To conceal the power of his sealing techniques, Kirito crafted a batch of exquisite sealing talismans for his White Zetsu clones. These were all top-quality items, each possessing the ability to seal a Kage-level ace. As long as the White Zetsu clones successfully close in on the enemy, these sealing talismans would be their nightmare.

Numerous sealing techniques rapidly covered Kakuzu's body, completely sealing away his chakra.

Even with his chakra sealed, Kakuzu did not intend to sit idly by and wait for his death. He picked up the kunai in his hand and tried to fight back, but the result was that Kirito cut off his hands and feet with his famous sword, temporarily turning him into a cripple and completely losing the ability to resist.

"What an amazing ninjutsu. You're probably not even human anymore, just a monster in human skin. Otherwise, how could you not bleed at all even after your hands and feet were cut off? This Earth Grudge Fear Forbidden Technique is indeed powerful, but it obviously comes at a great price. However, it has allowed you to live for so long and made you so strong, so it's worth it."

Kirito looked at Kakuzu's current inhuman and ghostly state and sighed.

"Hmph, there's no point in saying more. Just kill me, but you'll never find out where my savings are."

Kakuzu said defiantly.

He'd had enough of life already. The only reason he wanted to keep living was to continue enjoying the pleasure of making money. He didn't have much fear of death.

When Kirito heard Kakuzu say this, his eyes narrowed. He discovered that even though Kakuzu's chakra was sealed by the sealing talisman, the tentacles of the Earth Grudge within his body were quietly beginning to self-destruct.

Clearly, this Earth Grudge Fear technique was more troublesome than he had imagined. Even without chakra, it could still allow Kakuzu to commit suicide without the enemy noticing.

Kirito captured Kakuzu because he certainly didn't want Kakuzu to die so soon.

He immediately placed his hand on Kakuzu's head and quietly activated the Spirit Transformation Technique, instantly causing Kakuzu to faint and preventing him from continuing his suicide attempt.

"The overall situation is settled."

Hanzo's shadow clone sighed as he watched Kakuzu, a Kage-level shinobi with some renown in the ninja world, being captured.

Capturing a Kage-level expert is far more difficult than killing one, and the value of a living Kage-level expert is immeasurable.

At this moment, Hanzo's shadow clone couldn't help but feel a bit greedy, wanting to snatch Kakuzu from Kirito.

But he dismissed the idea as soon as it came to mind.

No way! The true strength of this mysterious Kage-level expert is still unknown. With his eyesight, how could he not see that Kakuzu hadn't forced out the full strength of this Kage-level expert? If he rashly offends such a Kage-level expert, it will definitely be harmful to Amegakure, which has just finished a battle.

"It's time to leave."

When Hanzo's shadow clone saw Kirito looking in his direction, to avoid any misunderstanding, he decisively formed a hand seal and disappeared into a wisp of white smoke.

"Hanzo, after being educated by Konoha, is still very rational."

Kirito smiled slightly when he saw Hanzo's shadow clone voluntarily dispel the shadow clone technique, and then turned to look at the battle between Iwagakure and Sunagakure.

His battle with Kakuzu was over, but the battle between Iwagakure and Sunagakure continued, and the battlefield had moved to a plain seven or eight kilometers away, which was now the territory of the Land of Birds and not too far from the Land of Wind.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, as long as the people of Sunagakure hold out for a while longer, they will soon receive reinforcements.

"We've already captured Kakuzu. Now let's see if we can capture Chiyo as well."

Kirito glanced at the Iwagakure members, who were simultaneously controlling eight puppets to hold back more than a dozen Jonin-level ninjas, including Huang Tu, and said coldly.

If Chiyo dies here, the war between Konoha and Sunagakure will change drastically, and Sunagakure may even surrender to Konoha sooner.

His perspective was dictated by his position; now that he was a Konoha ninja, he naturally had to consider things from Konoha's point of view.

He would be very happy to see Konoha end its war with Sunagakure as soon as possible and usher in peace.

The Sand Village was the invaders, and as a Konoha ninja, it was perfectly reasonable for him to help Konoha repel the invaders.

With this thought in mind, he immediately picked up Kakuzu and quickly left the spot. He found a temporary place to hide Kakuzu and left several powerful sealing techniques on him before leaving, so that Kakuzu could not wake up on his own for the time being.

He then changed into a Rain Ninja outfit, used the Disguise Technique to transform into Hattori Masanari, and quickly headed towards the battlefield between Iwagakure and Sunagakure.

At the same time, on the battlefield between Iwagakure and Sunagakure.

A gigantic rock giant was launching a fierce attack on the group of Sand Ninja. Countless sharp rocks were constantly being shot out from the mouths of the numerous Rock Ninja on its body, heading towards the Sand Ninja who were trying to escape on the ground.

Meanwhile, some Iwa ninja standing on the rock giant unleashed their signature Earth Release ninjutsu to hinder the Sunagakure's escape.

Through countless experiences of Iwa ninjas using Earth Release techniques on the battlefield, they discovered that Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall and Earth Release: Earth Core are the most suitable techniques for them to use together in battle. They can use these two Earth Release techniques to encircle the enemy and divide the battlefield.

At this very moment, under Huang Tu's command, a group of Iwa ninjas are using these two Earth Release ninjutsu to torment a large number of Sand ninjas, causing them great pain and drastically reducing their escape speed.

Huge, thick earthen walls rose from the ground, blocking the path ahead of the Sand Ninja.

Then, the ground beneath the Sand Ninjas' feet suddenly began to drop, forcing them to desperately climb the rock face to escape as quickly as possible.

At this moment, a large number of rocks fell from the sky; this was the Earth Release: Rock Cannon Technique used by the Iwa Ninja Alliance.

These Sand Ninja who had followed Chiyo all the way to where they were now were all elites, each with their own unique skills. They used various methods to block the enemy's attacks and then continued to break through from another direction.

However, during this breakout, there were always a few unlucky ones who were collectively targeted by the Iwa ninja and died.

Among them, Akasago and Sunagakure were the main targets of the Iwa ninja. A large number of rocks fired by the Rock Iron Cannon Technique were constantly aimed at the two, attracting a lot of firepower from the Iwa ninja.

As expected of Sunagakure's elite puppeteers, Akasago and Sunagakure, having received Chiyo's true teachings, unleashed tremendous fighting power despite their weakened state after Chiyo helped them remove the sealing techniques on their bodies and obtained several decent puppets from her.

Moreover, the couple worked together flawlessly, blocking all the attacks from the Iwa ninjas in their joint defense. They even had the ability to use the poisoned hidden weapons on the puppets to attack, causing casualties among the Iwa ninjas on the rock giant.

However, prolonged defense inevitably leads to defeat. Although Kirito did not torture the two and even healed their wounds, he starved them for a long time, leaving them extremely weak, even after they had consumed soldier rations.

Now, after a long battle, even with their strong willpower, the two are finding their puppet-controlling movements becoming increasingly distorted and showing weaknesses.

Sandstorm was the first to make a mistake. Due to a sudden dizziness, one of the puppets she was controlling was unable to attack the incoming rock and was smashed into pieces.

After losing one of her puppets, her strength was instantly reduced significantly, and a huge gap appeared in the defense line she was responsible for, allowing many rocks to break through the line and be fired at her.

Seeing that his wife was about to be attacked, Akasuna decisively abandoned his own defense and manipulated the puppet to resolve the crisis for his wife.

As a result, he was besieged by a large number of Iwa ninja using Earth Release: Rock Gun Technique.

At that moment, a puppet dressed in a white robe appeared quickly and used its sharp blade to shatter a large number of rocks that were attacking the red sand.

It was Chiyo who made the move.

She wasn't in the best condition either. In order to restrain the giant rock giant formed by the Earth Release: Gangli Shiki technique used by Huang Tu and more than ten Iwa ninja, she kept manipulating the Chikamatsu Ten Puppet Masters to deal with Huang Tu and the others.

After a series of exchanges, she successfully killed four Jonin from Iwa, but also lost two puppets and sustained some injuries.

"You brat, are you really planning to keep fighting us Sand Village to the death like this? If you keep entangled, I won't be polite."

Chiyo noticed that her son and daughter-in-law were in dire straits, and immediately threatened Hirotsuchi, who was the commander of the group of Iwa ninja, once again.

Before Huang Tu could answer, two enormous water dragons suddenly appeared on the battlefield and rushed toward the positions of Chi Sha and Sha Lan.

Chapter 147: Chiyo's Painful Choice

"What kind of bastard did this?!"

Chiyo had been keeping some of her attention on her son and daughter-in-law, and she immediately sensed the crisis between them, and angrily cursed.

As he cursed, a finger moved instantly, and earth-style chakra waves surged from his body.

As a veteran Kage-level shinobi and a former genius of Sunagakure, Chiyo also possesses the five basic chakra natures and various elemental ninjutsu. However, compared to her powerful puppet techniques, these elemental ninjutsu are somewhat less impressive and are not usually used.

However, thanks to her powerful puppetry skills and the fact that her puppets have chakra pathways similar to those of the human body, she can use a single finger to make them use various elemental ninjutsu. This allows her to combine multiple tactics to defend against and kill enemies during battle.

Chiyo's current goal is to save people, so she naturally makes the puppet use defensive ninjutsu.

One of the Chikamatsu Ten Puppet Masters quickly completed hand seals.

The next moment, two huge, thick earthen walls appeared in front of Akasuna and Sarashima, blocking the two water dragons that were rapidly attacking from different directions.

Earth Escape·Earth Flow Wall!

At the same time, Huang Tu immediately shouted, "Good opportunity! Focus fire on this old woman!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he used Earth Release: Rock Gun Technique!

More than a dozen huge rock projectiles were suddenly spat out of his mouth and shot at high speed toward Chiyo, who was standing on the back of a puppet and temporarily flying in mid-air.

Upon hearing Huang Tu's words, the other Iwa ninja also unleashed Earth Release: Rock Cannon Technique to coordinate their attack.

In an instant, a large number of rock projectiles were fired densely at Chiyo.

"Hmph, they never learn their lesson."

Upon seeing this, Chiyo said coldly, and quickly pulled her seven fingers.

Five Chikamatsu Ten Puppet Masters, each wielding a different weapon, moved swiftly through the air and used their weapons to block all the incoming rocks.

The remaining two puppets spewed out large amounts of purple poisonous smoke from one mouth and emitted a gale from the other.

"Hold your breath!"