Capture the Flag

Hmm, these three brats were really quite skilled. They had actually forced me to use four puppets! Akasuna Hideki clicked his tongue inwardly. This was already close to his limit.

Hidan was still locked in a contest with "White Impermanence," but White Impermanence no longer looked as imposing as it had at the start. Its hat had been knocked off, its white robes were tattered, its mourning staff had been reduced to half a length, and its body was covered in wounds.

"Black Impermanence" was no better off. Its clothes had been completely corroded away by Han no Sho's Boil Release, exposing the wooden structure beneath. The soul-hooking chain in its hand had also lost its metallic sheen. It would probably need a thorough polishing after this fight.

"Horse Face," on the other hand, had not suffered much damage. It was still tightly bound beside the flagpole by the Blue Crystal Coiling Dragon, and Wuzhong Pheobe clearly had no intention of releasing it anytime soon. After all, the fewer puppets involved in battle, the more favorable it was for their flag-capturing team. What kind of material was this blue crystal? Horse Face could not break free at all.

The puppet confronting Wuzhong Pheobe was "Ox Head," one of Akasuna Hideki's combat puppets known for its offensive power. Against Pheobe's Crystal Release attacks, Ox Head met her head-on, raising its horns without the slightest fear. For now, the battle was evenly matched.

Akasuna Hideki took out his last remaining scroll and considered whether to use his final two puppets. A puppeteer's strength was determined by how many puppets they could control. The strongest puppeteer in the village was Akasuna Hideki's grandmother—Chiyo—who could control ten puppets. Second was his husband, Akasuna Guimu, who could control eight. Akasuna Hideki ranked third and could control six. But did he really need to use the Six-Finger Technique against three children who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy?

The performance of these three children had already satisfied him greatly. He even felt that they were nearly at Chunin level. All they lacked was actual combat experience and technique. Given time, the three of them would surely accomplish great things!

With that thought, Akasuna Hideki tucked the final scroll back into his clothes. He made up his mind. Just four. If you can win, you pass!

At that moment, the evenly matched battle changed. The one who broke the deadlock was Hidan.

He leaped backward several times to leave the battle zone, tossed his triple-bladed scythe aside, and pulled two Damascus Steel knuckledusters from his pocket. (As the Kazekage's disciple, of course he picked the best equipment.) As he slowly put them on, he said,

"Teacher Akasuna Hideki, sorry, but the sun's about to set, and I still need to get home for dinner. Excuse me. Eight Gates, First Gate, Gate of Opening—open!"

"Gate of Rest—open!"

"Gate of Life—open!"

"Gate of Pain—open!"

Looking at Hidan after opening four gates in succession, his face was flushed red, his eyes flashed like lightning, and chakra surged wildly around his body.

"Ah!" Hidan roared, his speed becoming too fast for the naked eye to follow. His fists smashed toward "White Impermanence" like hailstones! At first, White Impermanence could still raise its arms to block, but before long, its arms were broken.

Hidan's movements could not be seen—only a blur of afterimages—but the rapid chopping sounds rang out like rain. In an instant, White Impermanence, made of hard wood, was dismantled into scattered pieces at a visible rate.

Before Akasuna Hideki could recover, Hidan flashed to the flagpole and delivered a whipping kick.

"Crack!" The ten-meter-tall flagpole toppled over.

Hidan struggled to tear down the flag, waved it at Akasuna Hideki, then collapsed headfirst.

Without a word, Wuzhong Pheobe stepped forward to inspect him and immediately cast Palm Healing Jutsu on Hidan's chest.

"He's fine. It's just the backlash from the technique. He's exhausted, that's all." (After all, Hidan was still young and not as monstrous as he would be later. Fainting for a while was perfectly normal.)

Only then did Akasuna Hideki relax after hearing Pheobe's words.

Before long, Hidan slowly woke up. Holding the red flag in his hand, he proudly showed it off to everyone.

"You really are reckless, kid. You opened four gates right away. It would be stranger if you didn't pass out." Having participated in the Triumphant Valley Ambush, Hideki naturally knew Might Dai.

Then he looked at the ruined "White Impermanence" and said helplessly, "It was completely wrecked. Forget it. I'll take some useful parts back and piece together another one."

As he spoke, he took out a scroll. "Poof!" "Poof!" Two clouds of white smoke appeared, revealing two combat puppets over three meters tall. One wore golden helmet and armor, held a mountain-splitting axe, and bore the three words "Sun Patrol Deity" on its chest. The other wore silver helmet and armor, held a demon-subduing vajra, and bore the three words "Night Patrol Deity" on its chest.

Night Patrol Deity walked up to Horse Face and struck the coiling dragon around it with its vajra. In an instant, the crystal dragon shattered into powder.

Sun Patrol Deity gathered up the remains of White Impermanence and piled them bit by bit into a blank scroll.

Clearly, these two puppets looked stronger than the previous four in both attack and defense. Only then did Hidan and the other two understand that Akasuna Hideki had held back in the earlier battle. If all six puppets had attacked together, the three of them would undoubtedly have lost.

"All right, to celebrate the three of you officially becoming ninja, I've decided to treat everyone to hot pot!"

"Awesome!"

"It wasn't easy, was it? How did you manage to catch him?" Jing Hang looked through the one-way glass at White Zetsu, stuffed inside a leather sack and hanging in midair. He praised them from the bottom of his heart.

"This is the treasure of our Xuanyuan Mound—Leather Wonton. If I hadn't been carrying it with me, he would have escaped long ago. But once my treasure wraps around him, no matter what heaven-reaching abilities he has, he won't be able to run." Buck spoke proudly.

"Oh, a fine treasure, a fine treasure. I'll make sure there's plenty of chicken-blood tofu later." Jing Hang repeatedly praised Buck. After hearing Tsunade's account, Jing Hang had been terrified in hindsight. Luckily, before leaving, he had secretly asked Buck to protect Nawaki and Tsunade. Otherwise, who knew what the outcome would have been?

"What should we do with this guy?" Tsunade looked at White Zetsu with a hint of excitement.

"What, you want to slice him up again? No rush, no rush. I'll interrogate him first." Jing Hang said.

"There's something else." Jing Hang took out a small notebook.

"Take a look. Is this Madara Uchiha's handwriting?"

"I've never seen Madara Uchiha's handwriting. If you want to compare it, we'll have to go back to the Hidden Leaf Village archives." Tsunade took the notebook and looked it over. Then she suddenly realized something.

"You met him! He's really still alive!"

"I met him. He was so old he barely looked human, but it was definitely him. If I hadn't had this thing, I probably would've fallen under his genjutsu and become a walking corpse." Jing Hang tugged at his Tiger-Gall Jade pendant.

"Let me see it." Buck said.

Jing Hang quickly took it off and handed it over.

Buck carefully examined the jade pendant in his hand, then suddenly said,

"What a domineering genjutsu! It even loosened the formation personally set up by the Great Immortal. I need to take it back for the Great Immortal to repair. Otherwise, it'll shatter next time."

"Much appreciated, much appreciated. When you leave, remember to take the two chickens from my villa kitchen with you. They're Dawn-Crowing Golden Roosters I specially bought from the Land of Rain, meant as a tribute to my godfather. You can't buy them anywhere else." Jing Hang said politely.

"You've got some sense, kid." Buck turned and left.

"This is impossible... At the Valley of the End, my grandfather clearly..." Tsunade murmured.

"Dear, in the ninja world, nothing is impossible. The reason you think it's impossible is because you know too little." Jing Hang said, putting an arm around Tsunade's shoulders.