Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Regardless, there is only one voice within the Sarutobi clan.

It just so happens that he was too embarrassed to deal with the Sarutobi clan before because of his relationship with them, but now that they dare to do such a stupid thing behind his back, they must be severely punished.

It's time for the Sarutobi clan to make a change.

After the Third Hokage made his move, just as he was about to reach Sarutobi Takashi, an Anbu ninja wearing a tengu mask suddenly appeared and blocked Sarutobi Takashi's path.

When the Third Hokage saw this suddenly appearing ANBU ninja, a sense of danger instantly arose in his heart, making him highly vigilant.

Then he saw a pair of peculiar Sharingan eyes, with a circle in the center of the pupil and three neatly arranged lines around it.

"Kaleidoscope Sharingan!"

The Third Hokage was shocked when he saw the abnormal pupils of the Sharingan here and quickly closed his eyes.

But he was a step too late. By the time he met the Mangekyou Sharingan of the Tengu Mask, the opponent's genjutsu had already been activated.

In an instant, the Third Hokage found himself in a strange, unknown space, with a pair of enormous Sharingan eyes in front of him—the same Mangekyou Sharingan he had seen before.

He hurriedly formed hand seals, trying to break the illusion on his own, but found that he could not break the illusion in a short time.

"As expected of the Mangekyou Sharingan series, its eye power is far superior to that of the ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan."

Seeing this, the Third Hokage was not too disappointed. He was simply amazed and deeply wary of the Mangekyou Sharingan's genjutsu. He then decisively used other methods to break the genjutsu.

Like Danzo, he was wary of the Uchiha clan, and naturally, he also had the ability to specifically study how to break Sharingan genjutsu.

The principle of illusion is to deceive other people's five senses, that is, to interfere with the human brain with chakra.

Under normal circumstances, disrupting the flow of chakra within the body can expel the foreign chakra from the brain.

However, the genjutsu of the Mangekyou Sharingan is significantly stronger than that of the ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan. It is impossible to expel the foreign chakra by ordinary means; only strong medicine can do so.

Therefore, the Third Hokage decisively released a sealing technique he had placed within his body.

Sealing Technique - Yin Seal - Incomplete!

The Yin Seal—the Third Generation has coveted this sealing technique for a long time.

However, since Mito Uzumaki never taught him, he was too embarrassed to ask Mito to teach him, so he had to learn on his own.

Unfortunately, the Yin Seal is a very advanced sealing technique. He could not learn the complete Yin Seal by simply collecting some information about sealing symbols from the Uzumaki clan. In the end, he only managed to develop an incomplete version.

This incomplete version of the Yin Seal can store very little chakra, and it cannot store it for a long time.

But that's alright, the fact that it can store chakra alone made the Third Hokage find it very useful.

For example, it can be used to absorb foreign chakra within the body, thereby successfully breaking the current Mangekyou Sharingan's genjutsu.

The entire process, from the third generation being ensnared by the illusion to breaking it with the incomplete Yin Seal, took only a second or two, but in that very second or two, he lost.

He looked at the kunai around his neck, then at the mysterious Mangekyou Sharingan ninja in front of him, and finally at Sarutobi Ryu, saying with a livid face, "When did you begin cooperating with the Uchiha clan?"

"As expected of Father, you were able to break through the Mangekyou Sharingan's genjutsu so quickly. But you're wrong. I've never cooperated with the Uchiha clan. How could those arrogant guys possibly look down on a mere elite Jonin like me?"

Sarutobi Takashi smiled with some surprise at how quickly the Third Hokage had regained consciousness.

When the Third Hokage heard Sarutobi Takashi's answer, he was immediately confused about the connection.

If Sarutobi Takashi didn't cooperate with the Uchiha clan, then where did this Mangekyou Sharingan ninja in front of him come from?

Moreover, as Sarutobi Takashi just said, the Uchiha clan shouldn't have looked down on him, so how did he manage to get this Mangekyou Sharingan ninja to obey him?

For a moment, the third generation was completely confused, but one thing was certain: the Sarutobi clan had gone out of control.

Chapter 204: Danzo's Shadow

“Father, I did all this for the sake of the Sarutobi clan. I admit that there was some selfishness involved, but it was mostly for the sake of the Sarutobi clan. Don’t you know what the consequences would be if you let Kirito Tohsaka continue to grow up peacefully?”

You know perfectly well what's going on, you just don't want to strain the internal relations of Konoha too much. I understand your concerns too; you're worried that internal strife in Konoha will severely weaken you and ultimately lead to your destruction by other ninja villages. But look, our Sarutobi clan now possesses the power to fight back.”

Seeing that the Third Hokage had calmed down and was no longer planning to fight, Sarutobi Takashi changed his attitude and spoke to him in a gentle tone.

The reason he spoke coldly to the Third Hokage was to vent his anger. He had been suppressed by the Third Hokage since childhood and was forced to make sacrifices for Konoha. He hated it, but he had no choice. After all, the Third Hokage was his father, so he had to endure it.

A ninja is someone who learns to endure; that's something he's been learning since he was a child.

The reason for enduring this is because one lacks the strength. A wise person should obediently bow their head at this time and not dare to complain in the slightest.

Now that he has the power, he naturally no longer needs to endure; he will seek revenge.

So, he decisively used this protest letter incident to betray the Third Hokage, slap him in the face, vent his anger, and also disgust Tohsaka Kirito, the Senju clan's most promising future Hokage, leaving a thorn in his heart.

Now that the anger has been vented and the goal has been achieved, it's time to appease the three generations.

Regardless, the Sarutobi clan's ability to maintain its current superior position in Konoha is based on the fact that the Third Hokage is still the Hokage. Once the Third Hokage is no longer the Hokage, it will be extremely difficult for the Sarutobi clan to maintain its superior status in Konoha.

At the very least, the Sarutobi clan needs three more Hokage to remain in that position, since the Sarutobi clan has yet to produce a second Kage-level shinobi.

The Sarutobi clan wasn't like this before. During the Warring States period, the Sarutobi clan was a major clan, with outstanding Kage-level shikigami in each generation, sometimes more than one. However, after coming to Konoha, they only produced one Kage-level shikigami, the Third Hokage, and then their lineage ended abruptly.

Despite possessing the best resources in Konoha and having grown significantly stronger, they still cannot produce any new Kage-level shinobi.

The Sarutobi clan is caught in a vicious cycle: there are many strong members in the middle and upper ranks, but only one top-tier member.

The Sarutobi clan reflected on this and concluded that after the Third Hokage became Hokage, the Sarutobi clan lost its ambition and lived too comfortably for decades under the protection of the Third Hokage and Konoha.

The birth of a Kage-level powerhouse depends not only on talent, but also on opportunity, and even more so on tempering in life and death. Prodigies are an exception.

To put it bluntly, if you don't have monstrous talent and want to become a Kage-level powerhouse, you'll have to honestly endure a very, very difficult period of time.

Unfortunately, the Sarutobi clan is now too old to be rebuilt. They've gotten used to a good life, and it's not right to let the others go back to a life of hardship.

Who would be willing to do that?

Nobody is a fool.

Even though they know it's wrong to continue like this, they just aren't willing to change.

It's all due to selfishness.

To be honest, if you can defeat your opponent fair and square, who would bother to scheme and plot behind the scenes? The right way is to crush them with overwhelming strength.

However, the Sarutobi clan does not currently possess such strength.

The Sarutobi clan now has a large number of Jonin, a huge number of Chunin, and many Jonin under their command. It can be said that the group led by the Sarutobi clan is currently the largest force in Konoha.

But the biggest does not mean the strongest.

The appearance of a Kage-level powerhouse can easily change the ranking of Konoha's strongest forces.

The emergence of the new One-Tailed Jinchuriki, Kirito Tohsaka, has changed hands, with the Senju clan once again becoming the strongest force in Konoha.

Fortunately, there's always a way out. Someone had their eyes on Kirito Tohsaka and the Senju clan behind him, which unexpectedly gave the Sarutobi clan the power to fight back.

Although he knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch, if the Sarutobi clan didn't do something, their future was already sealed. After all, the Sarutobi clan had swallowed too many benefits over the past few decades, and they would definitely become the target of suppression by the new Hokage's new interest group.

So even though he knew the pie might be poisoned, he forced himself to eat it despite feeling nauseous.

This pie was a 'gift' from the mysterious Mangekyou Sharingan ninja in front of him, a gift from the old Root.

Judging from the current situation, this guy is quite good. He's a fighter with Kage-level strength. His father and three generations of his family were all tricked by this guy and had to give up the idea of ​​beating him up.

The power of the Mangekyou Sharingan is indeed formidable.

The Uchiha clan had the confidence to become a top-tier ninja clan during the Warring States period. With just one ninja like that in each generation, the Uchiha clan could thrive in the ninja world.

"It seems you still consider me your father. Answer me truthfully, who is this Mangekyou Sharingan ninja?"

The Third Hokage watched Sarutobi Takashi's face change in an instant, but felt no joy whatsoever. He maintained a cold expression and spoke.

This rebellious son thinks he can control him just by relying on a mysterious Mangekyou Sharingan ninja?

What a joke! Hiruzen Sarutobi is not a coward. He would not forgive anyone who dares to harm Konoha, let alone an ingrate.

"Who is he? I don't really know either. I can only tell you that he comes from the root."

Upon hearing this, Sarutobi Takashi sighed.

He felt relieved to have vented his anger, but he knew he could never return to the relatively harmonious father-son relationship he had with the third generation. It was good enough that they hadn't become enemies.

But it doesn't matter, he doesn't want to live in the shadow of the third generation for the rest of his life.

He didn't really know who this mysterious Mangekyou Sharingan ninja was, but he did know that this mysterious Mangekyou Sharingan ninja was a puppet who obeyed his every command.

Reincarnation in the Pure Land.

This is why the mysterious Mangekyou Sharingan ninja obeys him; he personally placed the talisman that controls the puppet inside.

“Root, you’re playing with fire.”

When the Third Hokage heard that the Mangekyou Sharingan user came from Root, he instantly understood what was going on.

This is not a conspiracy by the Sarutobi clan at all.

It's clear that the Sarutobi clan was being used as pawns by the former Root.

If he wasn't mistaken, the Mangekyou Sharingan ninja in front of him was an impure puppet created by the old Root using the Impure World Reincarnation technique.

No wonder he felt from the beginning that this Mangekyou Sharingan ninja had no trace of human presence.

Because he was already dead.

"This impure world puppet is very strong. It was able to put me under a genjutsu for several seconds, which means that its Sharingan power has reached the level of the Mangekyou Sharingan. Just this genjutsu alone is undoubtedly that of a Kage-level powerhouse. Danzo, that bastard, actually mastered such a powerful forbidden technique without me even realizing it."

The Third Hokage's eyes were transferred to the Edo Tensei Mangekyou Sharingan user, and he once again cursed Danzo, who was already dead.

The Impure World Reincarnation technique is not an ordinary forbidden jutsu; it is a super forbidden ninjutsu that, once used, will inevitably lead to being hated by everyone.

Using dead people to fight, what kind of nonsense is that?

No one wants to be dragged back to earth from paradise after death to become a puppet, especially as a puppet of the enemy, which would be even more tragic.

Therefore, although the Third Hokage was somewhat envious of the benefits of this forbidden technique, he still chose to seal it away tightly.

This forbidden art, which plays with life and death, was inevitably created.

His teacher was good in every way, except that he created too many forbidden techniques that would harm future generations. Perhaps his original intention was to protect Konoha, but it was a mistake in itself.

Although he personally did not learn the Impure World Reincarnation technique, he still had some understanding of this ninjutsu. That is, the success rate of this forbidden technique is very low, and the impure world puppets created are basically just cannon fodder.

In fact, his teacher originally created this forbidden technique to be used in conjunction with another forbidden technique he created, the Multiplicative Explosive Talisman.

However, his teacher clearly underestimated the potential and harm of this impure world resurrection.

The fact that this impure puppet in front of him possessed Kage-level strength was already quite telling, indicating that Danzo's Old Root had made significant breakthroughs in improving this forbidden technique.