Uchiha Xuanjing flashed forward like a black bolt of lightning, appearing at the edge of the battlefield in an instant.
A cold arc of steel cut through the air.
With one clean sweep, several allied shinobi fell.
The sudden strike flipped that pocket of the battlefield on its head, and Konoha's morale surged.
Chiyo saw it and barked, "Uchiha Xuanjing! You dare act so arrogantly?!"
She moved at once, appearing in front of Xuanjing. Her hands blurred through seals as she prepared to strike.
Thoughts raced through Xuanjing's mind. Chiyo was Sunagakure's strongest puppet master—someone you couldn't underestimate for even a heartbeat.
But backing down wasn't an option.
He vanished again, meeting her head-on.
Their clash turned vicious immediately.
Chiyo's puppet arts were terrifyingly refined. One puppet after another moved like living warriors, hammering Xuanjing from every angle.
Xuanjing relied on razor-sharp swordsmanship and sheer agility, slipping through the attacks while searching for the opening that would end it.
Nearby, Rōshi and the others frowned.
"We're not going to step in?"
"No need. Let the others swarm him," Ōnoki said, raising a hand to stop them.
"Chiyo is strong. Uchiha Xuanjing won't be her match. We kill Xuanjing first—cut off one of Shuoye's arms. Shuoye is the real threat!"
"Outnumbering us?" Shuoye let out a soft, amused laugh from the wall.
"You're naive."
Then, in a calm voice that carried across the field, he called, "Minato."
The next moment—
A golden flash flickered through the battlefield.
Minato Namikaze moved like a phantom, appearing and vanishing again and again.
Any allied shinobi who tried to close in on Xuanjing found Minato behind them—too close, too fast, too lethal.
"Cut."
With Minato covering him, Xuanjing stabilized. He seized the rhythm of the fight and struck back, cleaving one of Chiyo's puppets clean in two.
"Damn it!"
Chiyo's face went dark.
The pressure from Minato Namikaze was suffocating—and she could see it now.
Shuoye had been using her as free training.
Who could rescue faster than Flying Thunder God?
On the battlefield, Xuanjing and Chiyo reached their most brutal exchange.
Chiyo finally revealed her trump card—Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets.
Ten distinct puppets surged out around her, each gripping different weapons. They moved with frightening coordination, like ten independent killers, and they tore into Xuanjing all at once.
Powerful. Fast. Relentless.
Xuanjing inhaled slowly and forced his chakra higher, meeting them head-on.
His swordsmanship was exquisite—each strike heavy with intent and precision—but even so, the Ten Puppets were overwhelming.
To endure the pressure, Xuanjing coated his blade in Armament Haki, hardening the steel with a brutal, defensive sheen.
Then he cast a large-scale Water Release. A towering wall of water erupted from the ground, trapping the puppets for a breath.
But Chiyo's craft wasn't for show.
The puppets broke through and came again.
"Chiyo's going to win," Ōnoki and the others thought, satisfaction flickering in their eyes.
On the verge of being crushed, Xuanjing's mind turned chaotic.
Am I going to lose? Shuoye-sama is watching… am I worthless?
How can I disgrace the Uchiha?
Even if I die— I have to win!
His eyes hardened.
"Kill!"
In a single breath, Xuanjing abandoned defense entirely.
He smashed through three puppets in a furious burst and forced his way out of the encirclement—
And paid for it immediately.
Blood spilled. His body screamed.
Am I… going to die?
His vision blurred.
Then snapped sharp again.
Don't joke with me.
I'm Uchiha Xuanjing.
I'm going to be Shuoye-sama's sharpest blade.
In that instant—
An invisible force of chakra surged into his pupils.
Mangekyō… awakened.
"Damn it—why now?!" Ōnoki's eyes widened in shock.
He roared, "Chiyo! Kill that brat, now!"
He could not accept Konoha gaining another Mangekyō Sharingan user.
"You don't need to tell me!"
Chiyo's face twisted as she drove her fingertips.
Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets lunged for Xuanjing in a single, murderous wave.
Xuanjing lowered his stance, both hands tightening on his sword.
His chakra condensed—compressed—crossing a threshold.
"This strike… Lightning Release: Divine Severance!"
Lightning wrapped his blade.
A flash.
Clang!
The puppet in front of him split in half, lightning exploding outward in jagged, blinding sparks.
"Damn it!"
Chiyo's expression changed.
She hadn't expected a Mangekyō awakening—nor that kind of explosive leap.
"I don't believe you can hold that state for long!"
She adjusted immediately, shifting her rhythm to grind him down.
On the wall, Shuoye watched with calm approval.
He had seen Xuanjing rising for a long time.
Now he had reached Kage-level strength—perhaps even a shade beyond an ordinary Kage.
At least this wasn't wasted effort.
"Xuanjing," Shuoye ordered, voice low.
"Finish it."
Xuanjing stepped forward—
And vanished.
Six Powers: Shave + Flash Step.
"That speed?!" Chiyo's face drained as killing intent stabbed into her back.
"Die!"
Xuanjing appeared behind her and brought his blade down.
"In your dreams!"
At the edge of death, Chiyo made a ruthless choice.
She threw up a hand—
Splurt.
An arm flew, blood spraying high.
She sacrificed it to buy time, forcing a puppet into the path of the strike to take the hit for her.
"That lunatic…"
Even the battlefield faltered for a heartbeat. No one expected that kind of decisiveness.
On another flank, Yagura was still circling with his forces, not yet seeing the main clash directly.
But the waves of chakra were unmistakable.
"So they've started," he muttered, excitement lighting his eyes.
He quickened his pace, calculating greedily.
Fortune turns. This time it's my turn.
I'm going to squeeze Konoha dry—and make them remember Kirigakure.
Far away, the Acting Raikage's group watched as well.
Xuanjing's performance left them shaken—especially Dodai.
"Isn't that our village's technique?" Dodai stared, voice hollow. "How is it this strong?"
Even A felt sick.
He had assumed Konoha wasn't anything special in swordsmanship. That was why he'd traded away two precious techniques so generously.
Now, watching Xuanjing reach Kage-level with them—
He realized just how badly he'd misjudged Konoha.
What a loss…
Back on the battlefield, Chiyo and Xuanjing continued to clash.
Even down one arm, Chiyo refused to fold.
Her experience was deep. Her puppets moved with cruel intelligence, dragging the fight into ugly angles again and again.
After a brief exchange, they separated.
Chiyo used a puppet to retrieve her severed arm, then stared at Xuanjing with a cold smile.
"Kid, I should thank you."
"You bought me so much time… and you still haven't noticed?"
Xuanjing froze, brows drawing in.
He didn't understand.
And that made him wary.
Chiyo didn't drag it out. She formed seals, eyes gleaming.
"Using me as a whetstone? Don't make me laugh."
"Poison Burst!"
Green poison mist rose in sheets and swallowed Xuanjing whole.
She had planted a poison trap mid-slaughter—quietly, patiently—using her puppets as cover.
This was Chiyo's real specialty.
Poison.
Dirty tricks.
The kind that killed even when the blade missed.
"Chiyo… you never change."
A sharp voice cut through the chaos.
Tsunade appeared on the battlefield.
She took one look at the poison mist and understood instantly.
She moved straight to Xuanjing, checking him and beginning detoxification without hesitation.
"Tsunade?! You're here?!" Chiyo stared, stunned.
With Tsunade present, Xuanjing's life was no longer in danger.
Even her poison mist would be rendered useless.
Chiyo's face turned livid.
"Hahahaha! Konoha—pay for your arrogance!"
At that moment, Yagura arrived with his forces, laughing as he stepped onto the battlefield.
He took in the scene—Chiyo missing an arm, Tsunade detoxing Xuanjing—and the atmosphere turned awkward in the strangest way.
"Haha… looks like I'm late. I…"
He forced out a laugh, trying to smooth it over, but his smile was stiff.
This wasn't what he'd imagined at all.
This isn't how this was supposed to go…
Chiyo, however, felt a tiny breath of relief.
An idiot arriving to share the pressure was still better than dying alone.
"Yagura," she said, "at least you've got some backbone."
Ōnoki and Shuoye looked at him with expressions that were… strange.
They hadn't expected Kirigakure to show up now, and certainly not like this.
Yagura cleared his throat.
"Move!"
He launched jutsu. His subordinates poured into the fight.
And then—
Shuoye chuckled softly and triggered his hidden pieces.
"Kill."
Konoha shinobi surged out like a flood, smashing into Yagura's forces with overwhelming momentum.
"Konoha's shinobi?! Why are there so many?!" Yagura's face twisted.
Only then did he understand.
He'd walked straight into Shuoye's trap.
"…I got played."
He gritted his teeth, fury boiling, but he had no choice except to endure it.
At that moment, Fugaku stepped forward.
"Shuoye."
"Let me go next."
"I want to become a Hokage who truly deserves the title."
He measured his own strength—still only near Kage-level—but after seeing Xuanjing break through, the fire in his chest refused to stay quiet.
Then a cold system tone rang in Shuoye's mind.
[System Notification]
Option 1: A Hokage must prioritize the bigger picture. Oppose Fugaku entering battle.
Reward: Puppet Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets.
Option 2: Let him go. A father is always your support. Support Fugaku entering battle!
Reward: First Hokage Cells.
"Option 2."
Shuoye didn't hesitate.
First Hokage Cells—this was a leap.
And he had already seen enough.
Chiyo's Ten Puppets had been smashed apart; fancy tricks meant nothing against absolute force.
"The Fourth Mizukage," Fugaku said, stepping out, eyes hard.
"Show me what you're worth."
He walked straight toward Yagura.
On the wall, Shuoye stood with hands behind his back, expression distant, controlling the entire board.
"Obito," he murmured, almost amused, "I don't believe you can keep holding back."
"Oh?" Yagura sneered when he realized Shuoye wasn't the one stepping in.
"The former Uchiha clan head? What a joke."
He grew careless.
And in that careless moment—
Clang.
A shuriken streaked past like lightning and carved across his cheek, tearing a deep line.
"Ah!"
Yagura recoiled, rage detonating. Violent chakra surged up around him.
"Good."
"Uchiha Fugaku…"
"…You've made me angry."
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