Speculation on the Sage Body!

Inside the Bandit Stronghold.

Three bedraggled figures leaped out from the smoke-filled street.

Their clothes were tattered, and their bodies bore several burns from the explosion. If they walked through Qingquan Town like this, they would most likely be mistaken for beggars.

"Damn Leaf Village brat, you actually set a trap and ambushed us!"

"Third Brother, stop talking nonsense. Hurry up and finish this brat. Something seems to have happened on the boss's side!"

"Big Brother, Second Brother, use Ninjutsu!"

"Alright! ×3"

As soon as they spoke, the three of them swiftly began forming hand seals and casting Ninjutsu.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"Lightning Release: Hidden Lightning!"

"Combination Ninjutsu: Lightning Fireball!"

As the three voices rang out.

A fireball two meters across appeared, surrounded by fierce cyan wind pressure and blue lightning.

The fireball continuously expanded from its original two-meter size until it reached ten meters across!

Hyuga Setsuna looked somewhat surprised at the Lightning Fireball hurtling toward him.

"Combination Ninjutsu?"

He had not expected these guys to know how to coordinate their Ninjutsu.

Hyuga Setsuna had originally intended to use the Gentle Fist to shatter it, but when he saw the Blood-Red Short Sword in his hand, an idea came to him.

He continuously gathered his Chakra into the right hand holding the blade. Pale blue Chakra flames flowed along the edge, gradually enveloping the entire sword.

The pale blue and blood-red hues fused into an exceptionally bewitching color.

Watching the Lightning Fireball draw closer and closer, Hyuga Setsuna stood on the rooftop with an excited smile beneath his mask. He leaped into the air, short sword in hand, and slashed at the fireball.

The three men in the distance looked on in confusion as Hyuga Setsuna seemingly sought his own death by jumping toward the Lightning Fireball.

"Is this guy trying to kill himself?"

"Does he think he can split Ninjutsu with a sword? What an idiot. Have Leaf Village ninja become this stupid?"

"Forget him. Let's hurry over and help the boss!"

But they did not know.

The bewitching short sword in Hyuga Setsuna's hand had already carved out a crescent-like slash, directly splitting apart the scorching, violent fireball.

At the same time, the short sword seemed unable to withstand the strain any longer and shattered outright, turning into countless blade fragments in midair that formed a dense net as they flew toward the three men in the distance.

The blade fragments rained down from the sky! There was nowhere for the enemies to hide!

The three men, who had been about to move, stared in terror at the incoming fragments, their eyes filled with disbelief!

"Oh no, there's no time to use Ninjutsu!"

"Is that guy a monster?"

The middle-aged ninja who was their eldest brother watched the rapidly approaching fragments, a vicious glint flashing through his eyes.

I'm sorry, Second Brother, Third Brother.

Big Brother doesn't want to do this either!

Don't worry. Big Brother will kill that brat in a moment and send him down to keep you company!

The middle-aged eldest brother ninja directly reached out, grabbed his unsuspecting second and third brothers, and threw them in front of himself, hoping to use their bodies to buy himself more time.

At the same time, his hands rapidly formed seals as he cast Ninjutsu!

The two men who had been thrown out stared at their eldest brother in disbelief. They had never imagined that, just to survive, he would use them as shields!

Like a meteor shower, the blade fragments engulfed the two men who had been thrown out. Blood-red blades pierced their bodies, dealing explosive damage, and the fragments struck them down onto the ground with immense force.

Blood sprayed from their bodies like gushing springs!

By then, the middle-aged eldest brother ninja's technique was finally complete.

"Damn brat, go join my two brothers in death!"

"Wind Release: Superior Pressure!"

Three violent cyan hurricanes appeared around Hyuga Setsuna, sealing off all his escape routes!

Then, the three cyan hurricanes swept fiercely toward Hyuga Setsuna, who stood in the middle of the street.

Bang!

Suddenly, Hyuga Setsuna, enveloped by the cyan hurricanes, turned into a puff of white smoke and vanished.

Obviously, it was a Shadow Clone!

The middle-aged eldest brother ninja's expression, which had been about to break into wild laughter, froze instantly.

"How is that possible? Why was it a Shadow Clone?"

Hyuga Setsuna had silently appeared behind him. Beneath his mask, his face was filled with disgust and his eyes with mockery. The blade fragment attack had been terrifying, but if the three had worked together, they could still have dodged it.

Though they would inevitably have been badly injured, it would still have been better than abandoning their own brothers to survive.

That was the inferiority of human nature!

"Hey, don't talk as if I personally killed your brothers!"

"You were the one who threw them out yourself."

With that, Hyuga Setsuna assumed a stance as massive amounts of pale blue Chakra flames surged around him.

A terrifying pressure followed, and the street beneath them suddenly cracked and sank.

A mysterious, intricate Eight Trigrams formation appeared, surrounding the middle-aged ninja across from him.

Hyuga Setsuna looked at the panicked middle-aged ninja trapped within the Eight Trigrams formation and said.

"I'll send you down to reunite with your brothers using this move!"

"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!"

"Two Palms!"

"Thirty-Two Palms!"

"Sixty-Four Palms!"

"One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!"

Hyuga Setsuna's figure suddenly appeared beside him. Chakra flames on both palms continuously struck the one hundred twenty-eight chakra points across his body, battering him until his entire body floated in midair!

Bang... Pfft!

The middle-aged eldest brother ninja's body crashed down from the air. By then, he no longer showed any signs of life. He had already failed to hold on and died at the sixty-sixth palm.

Ignoring the corpse beside him, Hyuga Setsuna calmly walked forward. He still needed to help Gekko Baiyue deal with that Elite Jonin!

However, when he had split the Lightning Fireball with his sword earlier, he had finally verified one of his suspicions.

His Chakra was different from other people's.

His Chakra could enhance weapons forged from ordinary iron, giving the short sword hardness and strength comparable to Chakra Metal. Though it would immediately collapse after being used once, it was still terrifying!

This made Hyuga Setsuna think of the Sage Body.

The so-called Sage Body possessed Chakra comparable to that of a Tailed Beast, powerful recovery abilities, extraordinary stamina, and, more importantly, the ability to turn any ordinary Ninjutsu into something miraculous in its user's hands!

Why was Yamato's Wood Release so weak in the original story? Naturally, it was because it lacked the Sage Body's enhancement. From this, one could conclude that Hashirama Senju was powerful, not Wood Release!

Although Hyuga Setsuna's physique had not yet reached the level of a Sage Body like Hashirama Senju's, it was already extremely close.

Now, he could also rely on this enhancement to make the Gentle Fist he performed even more powerful!

First update!