Framing and Crisis
"Not good!"
With just one glance at the battlefield, the Third Hokage immediately sensed something was wrong. "Where did these ninjas come from?! How did they infiltrate Konoha?"
However, he quickly realized that now was not the time to think about that, and without hesitation, he began to gather his subordinates from the Anbu and go to support the Root ninjas.
However, by the time the main force of Konoha Ninja arrived at the scene, it had almost become a ruin. The Modified Ninja had already left, leaving only the Root ninjas who had been beaten and scattered.
"Danzo, what exactly is going on?"
The Third Hokage glared at Danzo through gritted teeth, but Danzo simply wore a long face and coldly said, "What else could it be? Before we could even make a move, ninjas from other villages had already beaten us to it!"
Why are you throwing all the blame at me? Can't you see that my Root have also suffered heavy casualties?
"You mean to say that at least a dozen Jonin other ninja villages easily infiltrated Konoha, and your Root knew nothing about it!"
Danzo immediately shut up. Not only Danzo, but also the Anbu and the Uchiha Military Police Force ninjas all looked ashamed.
A dozen Jonin! That's almost a sixth or seventh of the leadership of a ninja village! It's simply unbelievable that so many ninjas could enter Konohagakure and go unnoticed!
"The other person must have used some other methods to become Jonin!"
A ninja with a scar on his face and a pineapple-shaped haircut examined the corpses on the ground and said, "These people were not Jonin at all. They just used some method to stimulate their life force and became much stronger in a short period of time. Even if they are left alone, they will probably only live for a year or two."
Upon hearing this, Danzo and the Third Hokage's expressions grew even more grim. One or two years is not a short period of time. Although such a cruel method could not possibly spread on a large scale, it was a trump card for any major ninja village.
"If I'm not mistaken, the other party should be from Iwagakure and Kumogakure!"
Danzo walked over to the Modified Jonin who had been killed by the Nano Poison Bugs, gently turned the corpse a few times with his cane, and spoke coldly.
As the leader of Root, Danzo possessed information on almost all the ninjas from other villages whose strength reached or exceeded that of Special Jonin. Even though these ninjas belonged to organizations similar to Root and had hardly left their names in the outside world, Root, which had long been entangled in battles with such organizations, must have had some records of them.
Danzo couldn't determine these guys' names, but he could at least tell which ninja village they belonged to, which fueled his rage.
It's important to know that this time, the two allies, Kumogakure and Iwagakure, completely shifted the blame onto Konoha, while they themselves escaped with Vegapunk as their biggest prize!
"Hiruzen, this is the ally you were talking about! How 'friendly' you are to us!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was grim. After hearing Danzo's words, he gritted his teeth and said, "There's still a chance! Before they escape the Fire Country, let's start pursuing them!"
"All Anbu and Security Division ninjas, listen up! All pursue! We must rescue Dr. Vegapunk!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the group of ninjas standing behind the Third Hokage responded and then disappeared in a flash, preparing to give chase.
"Boom!" With a loud bang, the Anbu and other ninjas who were chasing each other all stopped in their tracks and looked into the distance in surprise.
The iconic Hokage Rock of Konoha collapsed amidst a violent explosion, crushing several buildings below and even causing the entire Hokage Tower to tilt.
"What's going on?!" The Third Hokage roared and charged forward. A group of Anbu Ninja and Security Division ninjas exchanged glances and eventually followed the Third Hokage toward the Hokage Rock.
When they arrived there, it had become a brutal battlefield, where a ninja radiating powerful and ominous Chakra was fighting against Konoha ninjas.
A single punch can unleash a storm; his physical speed is almost supersonic; a casual kick can topple skyscrapers; every Ninjutsu can be unleashed instantly and is no less powerful than an A-rank Ninjutsu ...
The ninja in front of me is undoubtedly the pinnacle of all ninjas, Kage-level Ninja whom the ninjas believe has the qualifications to become the Kage of a village!
Just now, due to the Third Hokage's orders, almost all the elites of Konoha had rushed to Vegapunk's inn. The rest were just ordinary Chunin and Genin maintaining order. They had almost no power to resist the ninja in front of them and were risking their lives to stop him from causing destruction.
The ground was covered in blood, and corpses lay everywhere. At least several hundred ninjas had died at the hands of that ninja with the ashen face.
The ninja's expression wasn't due to anger or anything like that; it was simply the result of being modified.
"You bastard, stop right now!"
With a roar, the Third Hokage summoned his Summoning Beasts. With a casual clench of his hand, the Summoning Beasts, known as Enma, transformed into a giant Adamantine Staff, which he smashed directly at the Modified Ninja in front of him.
With a loud bang, the Modified Ninja was knocked back more than ten steps, each step leaving a deep footprint. After regaining his footing, he raised his head and stared coldly at the Third Hokage in front of him. Without hesitation, he clapped his hands together and unleashed Ninjutsu.
Water Release - Great Exploding Water Wave!
A terrifying volume of water, comparable to a lake, was instantly summoned. With the support of powerful Natural Energy, this Water Release, already renowned for its vast range, pressed down on the numerous ninjas with overwhelming force in an instant, causing everyone's expression to change drastically.
The modified ninja 'Chakra had already increased five or six times, and with the added boost of Natural Energy, especially after nearly half an hour of fighting, the Natural Energy content in the Modified Ninja's body was extremely high. The power of the Ninjutsu they unleashed was becoming more and more like Senjutsu, making it impossible for ordinary ninjas to withstand.
"Use the combined Ninjutsu!" the Third Hokage roared, taking the lead in Hand Seals. Among the remaining ninjas, those who reacted quickly immediately began Hand Seals as well.
"Earth Release - Ten Thousand Mile Earth Flow Rampart"
Taiseki, resembling a cliff, rose up, barely managing to block the tsunami-like waves. After a brief impact, the terrifying water flow finally dispersed helplessly to both sides, destroying more than a dozen houses nearby.
However, just as the many ninjas breathed a sigh of relief, a violent Lightning Flash flashed, instantly piercing through the Earth Style Wall and transforming into a tree-shaped Inazuma that struck seven or eight ninjas directly.
"Ughhhhh!" Amidst the agonizing screams, the seven or eight ninjas were instantly reduced to charred remains, while many others scattered in terror.
"Damn it! What's wrong with this guy? How can he use Ninjutsu so fast?"
"Even if you optimize Ninjutsu to its limit and become so proficient that you can perform it without hand seals, it's still impossible to perform it continuously like this!"
Like most Ninjutsu, they are performed by controlling the flow of one's Chakra through hand seals. Therefore, in addition to Hand Seals, how to control the flow of one's Chakra is the true secret of Ninjutsu.
However, human physical and mental control are limited. Generally, after performing a Ninjutsu, one must wait until one's Chakra flow calms down before performing another Ninjutsu. Otherwise, not only will the body be harmed by the chaotic Chakra, but also no one can control that chaotic Chakra.
In reality, these Modified Ninja do not feel pain, and their bodies have been strengthened, so they naturally do not care about the damage that Chakra causes to their bodies. Another point is that this is because their Brain Chip have a strong ability to control Chakra, which is why they are able to control that chaotic Chakra.
The Root ninjas who had fought against Cyborg before knew this information long ago. However, due to the nature of those Root ninjas, they naturally did not remind the other ninjas, which led to some careless ninjas being taken down in an instant.
Of course, the most important reason is that the power of this Modified Ninja's Ninjutsu is too strong. Otherwise, even though Lightning Release is effective against Earth Release, ordinary Lightning Release would not be able to penetrate this combined Earth Release Ninjutsu.
Just after the Earth Release wall was breached, the Modified Ninja flashed through the Earth Release, snatched a long sword from some corpse, and slashed it directly at an Anbu.
The Anbu member raised his Kunai to defend himself, but it was instantly cut in two. The enhanced Senjutsu Chakra greatly increased the sharpness and durability of the weapon, allowing him to unleash a devastating attack right through the crowd.
"Don't be so arrogant! This is Konoha!"
The Third Hokage roared and slammed his staff down, sending the Modified Ninja had turned to defend himself flying. The Modified Ninja then flipped over and landed on the ground, not engaging the Third Hokage in a prolonged fight, but instead charging towards the other ordinary ninjas.
"Damn it! Are they just stalling for time so those ninjas can escape?"
The Third Hokage gritted his teeth, his face flushed, "If we ignore this guy, the damage to the entire ninja village will be too great!"
The Iwagakure and Kumogakure ninjas who took Vegapunk away were quite strong. Even if they caught up with him, it would take at least a few Elite Jonin Vegapunk, or even for him, the Hokage, to take action directly. But with this guy causing trouble in the ninja village, he couldn't get away at all.
After all, this is Konohagakure. The enemy can unleash powerful and destructive Ninjutsu with all their might, while we have to be timid and hesitant. Not to mention that the enemy is the kind of ninja who does dirty work and has no humanity at all.
When he first made his move, he specifically targeted the weaker ninjas, focusing solely on killing them. He didn't engage the stronger ninjas at all. The Third Hokage was even certain that if there were any ordinary villagers nearby, he would have used Ninjutsu to massacre them.
After considering the current situation, the Third Hokage gritted his teeth and ordered, "Danzo! Take your Root members, the two of us will take care of this guy! The rest of the Anbu, continue tracking down and rescuing Dr. Vegapunk. Kakashi, you lead the team!"
It's difficult for Anbu members to be of much use against a team of nearly double-digit Jonin. In other words, even with Kakashi, an elite Jonin the team, this rescue operation would be almost impossible to succeed.
But at least it can delay their departure from the Fire Country...
"Are those guys idiots? They only saw your clone, not me at all, why didn't they suspect anything?"
Leaning against Vegapunk, Hancock spoke with an unhappy expression and a hint of disdain on her face.
"Ninja Ninjutsu are incredibly diverse, so most ninjas ultimately only care about the result and don't bother with the process..." Vegapunk said calmly.
"Even a powerful ninja can be held back by some Ninjutsu if someone is caught off guard by a well-intentioned attack."
Furthermore, given the current situation, we can't expect the Third Hokage and Danzo to think things through carefully. Vegapunk was captured, the blame fell on Konohagakure, and Konohagakure was even damaged.
In this situation, their priority is definitely to quell the chaos first, then find Vegapunk and get rid of the blame. As for why Vegapunk's guards are nowhere to be seen, that will have to wait until things calm down before they can carefully review and investigate.
"Should we send Kakashi to lead the Anbu in pursuit? Kakashi is seventeen or eighteen now, and after the strengthening he received in the Snow Country, his strength is roughly at the level of Elite Jonin... But he probably won't have much of a chance against my Cyborg..."
"They're planning to use these people's lives to buy time, aren't they? I'll just let Obito Uchiha know so he can make his move."
"Then..."
"I wonder if the Third Hokage could sense the self-destruction crisis of the Modified Ninja?"
The self-destruct ability of Modified Ninja requires the continuous absorption of Natural Energy. In fact, ninjas who have reached a certain level of strength can also sense when Natural Energy is flowing strongly.
The Third Hokage's Ninjutsu skills are beyond doubt. He was able to reach the Kage Level with ordinary Five Basic Nature Transformations. He must have been extremely sensitive to the flow of energy. When the time came to be close to the self-destruction threshold, it was probably impossible to hide it from his senses.
At this moment, another ten minutes or so of the battle had passed. Although the Modified Ninja had suffered some injuries, his strength was becoming more and more formidable. The power of his Ninjutsu was increasing, and his physical strength was also growing stronger.
"This guy... his Chakra seems to be increasing with each use? Wait, this strange energy flow, could it be Senjutsu?"
The Third Hokage's expression was somewhat grim, but he quickly realized that the flow of Natural Energy was extremely turbulent and clearly had little to do with Senjutsu.