True Experts Don't Need Swords!

"The Third Hokage... Kazekage?!"

Asuma stared at the puppet that had appeared beside Scorpion, his pupils suddenly contracting.

He instinctively turned his head and said in shock to Hatake Sakumo beside him:

"The Third Kazekage, isn't that the one..."

"Ah."

Hatake Sakumo's gaze was fixed on the puppet beside Sasori. He slowly nodded, his voice deepening slightly. "

"The strongest Kazekage, who mysteriously disappeared more than a decade ago, possessed the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai, and was renowned for his ability to control Iron Sand in battle."

He paused, looked at the lifeless puppet, and continued in a complex tone:

"To cover up the assassination of its supreme leader, Sand Village shifted its internal conflicts to external forces, declaring war on Konoha first..."

The entire Third Ninja World War began with his death.

In Hatake Sakumo's eyes as he looked at Sasori, besides the killing intent, there was also a deep sense of wariness:

"I never imagined that the Kazekage, hailed as the strongest Kazekage in the history of Sand Village, would die so quietly at your hands."

"The spark that ignited the Third Ninja World War."

Asuma lowered his head and murmured those words repeatedly.

The images of his comrades who had perished in the Third Ninja World War uncontrollably surfaced in his mind.

That guy, Uchiha Obito, who was always following Kōji around, was a bit slow-witted but always clamoring to become Hokage, but he was actually a good person.

And then there's Rin Nohara, the chestnut-haired girl who's very close to Kurenai and always smiles gently, taking care of everyone around her...

Those familiar faces, those people who should still be alive and smiling, all died in that war.

And the starting point of all this was right in front of him!!

Asuma abruptly raised his head, his eyes surging with barely contained rage.

So... it was all because of you!

He glared at the scorpion, gritting his teeth and growling in a low voice:

Do you know how many lives your actions have resulted in?!

Don't try to pin this on me.

Scorpion slowly turned his gaze to Asuma, as if looking at an insignificant background figure.

His tone contained no anger, nor even any extra emotional fluctuation:

"Even before I killed the Third Kazekage, the situation in the Ninja World had already begun to shift towards war."

The Third Kazekage's "disappearance" merely accelerated this process a few steps.

He paused, then said with a mocking tone:

"In a sense, you should be thanking me."

It is precisely because I killed the Third Kazekage that Konoha has lost such a formidable enemy.

Sand Village declared war after losing its Kazekage, without completing any of its pre-war plans.

If Sand Village had followed its original plan, uniting with the other three great nations before simultaneously launching an attack on Konoha...

"The Ninja World won't just have a few deaths."

"You!!"

Asuma roared angrily, gripping the Chakra Blade tightly in his hand.

"... He's right."

Hatake Sakumo spoke in a deep voice.

Asuma suddenly turned his head, looking at Hatake Sakumo beside him with a puzzled expression.

Sensing Asuma's gaze, Hatake Sakumo continued in a heavy tone:

The Third Ninja World War was a continuation of the Second Ninja World War.

The unresolved conflicts between the Five Great Nations, the uneven distribution of resources among the various ninja villages, and the long-standing territorial disputes along the borders of the nations...

These had already filled the entire Ninja World long before the Third Kazekage's incident.

Even without his disappearance, war... would have broken out someday anyway.

Hearing Hatake Sakumo's calm words, a hint of surprise flashed in Sasori's eyes.

He paused for a moment, as if re-examining the man who had killed his parents.

"But—that doesn't mean you're right!!"

Hatake Sakumo abruptly raised his eyes, his usually gentle and calm gaze now filled with deep rage and murderous intent.

Do you really think Konoha had no idea about the impending war?

Even before the Third Kazekage disappeared, border skirmishes had been escalating, and Konoha's leadership had been preparing for war.

It was precisely because of the Third Kazekage's "disappearance" that this war was brought forward by at least three years!

Because of these three years, we were forced to send children who should have been in the rear to the battlefields they shouldn't have been on!

Hatake Sakumo looked into Sasori's still indifferent eyes, his voice filled with suppressed sorrow and anger:

"Ignoring the sacrifices of war, turning living people into puppets... what do you take life for?!"

life?"

Scorpion's tone remained calm, so calm it was as if he were answering a question so boring it required no thought:

"Life that is not eternal has no inherent value."

Their fleeting, ephemeral bodies were transformed into eternal art in my hands.

No one will ever forget what they look like, and no one can ever destroy their existence.

They, in my hands, became eternal.

Sasori spoke calmly, glancing coldly at Hatake Sakumo, who was glaring at him, his tone even carrying a hint of genuine confusion:

"No matter how you look at it, they're just lucky."

Hatake Sakumo silently stared at Scorpion before him.

In this heavy, deathly silence, he slowly raised the katana in his hand, which gleamed with silver light.

"I'm absolutely certain that someone like you should never continue living in this Ninja World."

White Fang stared coldly at Scorpion ahead, his words filled with profound resolve:

"I'm going to... eradicate you, you scourge, right here!"

As Sasori listened to Hatake Sakumo's pronouncement, which represented "justice," his voice remained completely calm, instead carrying a hint of mocking interest.

"The mighty White Fang of Konoha of Konoha, still can't see the situation before him?"

The moment Sasori finished speaking, the Third Kazekage Puppet dressed in a black robe slowly opened its mouth.

Countless Iron Sand rapidly poured out of its mouth.

The Iron Sand were suspended in the air, spreading out into an ever-growing black cloud.

The fine metal particles rubbed against each other in the air, producing a faint humming sound.

"Since you recognized the Third Kazekage, you should also be very familiar with his Magnet Release ability, which made him famous."

Scorpion raised Scarlet Amber's thick arm and gently clenched his fist in the air.

The black Iron Sand cloud suspended in the air responded to his will at the same instant.

Countless Iron Sand blades rapidly materialized, their tips all pointing directly at the two people below!

"The Third Kazekage, who possesses the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai, is the nemesis of ninjas like you who fight with swords in your hands."

Sasori's gaze was icy as he looked down at Asuma and Hatake Sakumo opposite him, then suddenly swung his arm down:

"Iron Sand Drizzle!"

As he finished speaking, countless feather blades formed from Iron Sand poured down from mid-air, covering the sky and covering the earth, densely packed.

Asuma stared at the sky filled with Iron Sand feathers, his heart tightened, and almost instinctively he channeled Chakra into the Chakra Blade in his hand.

However, the two blades, which should have been enveloped in layers of wind-attribute Chakra and radiating a bluish-white light, did not respond at this moment.

The moment his Chakra surged into the blade, it was disrupted by some invisible force, preventing him from even gathering a trace of sharpness.

Asuma instinctively looked up at the rain of Iron Sand pouring down from the sky and instantly understood everything.

It is Iron Sand.

The Third Kazekage's Magnet Release interfered with the conduction ability of his Chakra Blade!

Those suspended Iron Sand were not only creating attacks, but also silently setting up a magnetic field that affected the ability of iron ninja tools to conduct Chakra!

His Chakra Blade, Sakumo Hatake- san's katana, were all rendered useless scrap metal in this battle!

Asuma quickly made the judgment in his mind, without pausing his hands at all.

He decisively withdrew the useless Chakra Blade from his hand, and began to rapidly Hand Seals, preparing to use Wind Release Ninjutsu to counter the rapidly approaching rain of Iron Sand.

But just as Asuma was about to complete the last seal, he caught a glimpse of Hatake Sakumo's actions out of the corner of his eye.

His Hand Seals movements slowed down involuntarily.

Faced with the rain of Iron Sand, White Fang did not retreat even a step.

His expression remained calm, and his tranquil eyes did not even show any extra ripples from the impending rain of Iron Sand.

White Fang did not retract the samurai sword in his hand, which still gleamed with a cold, silvery light in the sunlight.

He simply reversed his grip on the katana and swung it at lightning speed toward a thick pine tree beside him.

With a flash of light, a pine branch, about the thickness of a thumb, snapped in two and was caught firmly in his left hand before hitting the ground.

White Fang calmly sheathed his gleaming silver katana at his waist, then aimed the twig, still fragrant with pine resin, at the rain of Iron Sand pouring down from his hand.

Seeing Hatake Sakumo's completely unexpected action, Asuma's eyes widened instantly, and the speed at which Hand Seals even slowed down by a beat.

Even in Scorpion's eyes, hidden deep within the depths of Scarlet Amber, a deep sense of bewilderment flashed across his face.

Hatake Sakumo did not look at any of them.

He simply held the slender pine branch in his hand, his gaze calmly fixed on the rain of Iron Sand rushing towards him at an incredible speed.

Blue, powerful Chakra surged from his palm in an instant, enveloping the ordinary pine branch from head to toe.

That layer of Chakra wasn't dazzling, and it didn't contain any profound changes in nature.

It simply and purely adheres to the surface of the branches, dyeing every bark texture and every tiny knot a faint blue.

White Fang calmly stared at the Iron Sand Feather Blade in front of him, then with a swift movement, he vanished from his spot.

In the next instant, he appeared in mid-air, facing the rain of Iron Sand head-on.

The pine branch, enveloped in blue Chakra, traced simple, almost unadorned arcs in his hand.

That ordinary pine branch, in his hands, displayed a power no less than that of any famous sword.

The Iron Sand fragments that were hit lost control of the Magnet Release Chakra in an instant, deviating from their original trajectories one after another, colliding with each other and exploding around him.

He slashed down a dense rain of Iron Sand from mid-air, his robes fluttering, yet not a single blade could touch his body.

As the last fragment of Iron Sand shattered before him, Hatake Sakumo calmly landed back where he started.

He stood in front of Asuma, the blue Chakra on the pine branch in his hand slowly dissipating.

Not a single sliver of bark was scratched on the pine branch; only a few drops of clear resin seeped from the cut, gleaming faintly in the sunlight.

Asuma stared blankly at Hatake Sakumo's retreating figure, his mouth slightly agape, momentarily forgetting that he was still in the hand Hand Seals position.

Scorpion remained motionless, staring intently at the Hatake Sakumo's hand. The previous frivolity and arrogance in his eyes vanished instantly, replaced by deep apprehension.

Hatake Sakumo shifted his gaze from Sasori's expressionless Scarlet Amber to Asuma's shocked expression.

He looked at Asuma before him and spoke in a calm tone, as if imparting a profound truth to a younger generation:

"True strength... does not require a sword."