Chapter 133: Sage Mode
"Izayoi-kun, Hinata, Shino-kun, thank you."
More than two hours later, outside a damaged steel warship, Temari bowed to Team Eight in gratitude.
Izayoi looked at the ape-man and werewolf sealed by the Sand Shinobi and asked knowingly, "Is this enough?"
"Yes, as long as we capture these two, we'll have a way to extract the location of that army's main base from their mouths," Temari nodded confidently. "These armored figures aren't ninjas. Although these two cadres can transform into monsters and use powers similar to ninjutsu, they are ultimately just ordinary people and can't possibly be a match for our Sunagakure."
"Since you don't need any more help, we'll go back and report to Hokage-sama," Izayoi said.
"Izayoi-kun, please come back with us and let our Sunagakure fulfill our duty as hosts," Temari sincerely invited.
"No, maybe next time," Izayoi shook his head and gave a reason, "Our Konoha's Chunin Exams for the first half of the year are about to begin, and Shino still needs to participate."
Seeing Izayoi's firm attitude, Temari could only nod and smile, "Alright then. If Izayoi-kun wants to visit Sunagakure in the future, you can have the gatekeeper contact me."
"Definitely. See ya, Temari~~"
Izayoi smiled and made a sword finger gesture, then disappeared with Hinata and Shino Aburame in a Body Flicker.
...
The battle on the other side had also ended.
The already damaged steel warship was caught in the crossfire and blown to pieces.
On the yellow sand, debris littered the ground.
There were remnants of the steel warship, Sasori of the Red Sand's puppet army, and Izayoi's human puppets.
"You two are useless. Why didn't you summon your BOSS just now?"
Only five of the dozen or so human puppets, their bodies riddled with black rods and capable of drawing chakra from the original body at any time, remained.
One of them, with dark skin and strong muscles, obviously a human puppet made from a Cloud Shinobi corpse, sat on a puppet and teased Sasori of the Red Sand and Deidara, whose limbs were pierced with black rods, rendering them unable to move their bodies or circulate chakra.
"Hmph, losing is losing. Skill inferior to others," Sasori's original body said arrogantly. "My art is inferior to yours. You can kill me however you want."
Deidara beside him shouted unconvincingly, "Toneri-bro, if you have the guts, pull out the black rods in my body! This great artist still has a self-detonation technique, an ultimate art even more magnificent than C4: Garuda. Even your Lightning Release won't find any weaknesses! It's definitely no worse than your meteor shower!"
"Aren't you afraid of death?" the human puppet asked curiously.
"Toneri-bro, who do you think you're looking down on?!" Deidara shouted as if offended, then his expression turned fanatical. "The me after death will transform into art! That unprecedented explosion, even if this is a desert, will leave traces that won't disappear for a long time! And then my art will be praised by everyone! Including you, Toneri-bro, your original body will definitely remember this great artist forever... um!"
At the end, Deidara closed his eyes and nodded with a look of infatuation.
"No need to look, I won't forget you in the future," the human puppet said gloomily.
"Yeah, it's indeed hard to forget such an idiot," Sasori of the Red Sand agreed, nodding.
"If you don't believe me, release me, and I'll show you the ultimate beauty of an instant!" Deidara struggled hard, but it was futile.
The human puppet stood up and said, "I had a lot of fun today. You guys try your best to pull out the black rods in your bodies."
"You're not going to kill us?" Sasori of the Red Sand and Deidara were slightly stunned.
"If you had summoned your BOSS just now, you would be dead by now," the human puppet smiled. "But I admire your personalities. Consider this a sparring match and a thank you for last year's gift."
At the same time, thanks for your entries.
The human puppet, having completed its mission, disappeared without a trace.
Looking at the place where the human puppet had disappeared, Deidara said excitedly, "So cool! Toneri-bro, as expected of an artist recognized by this great artist!"
"We got our lives back, but next time might not be so lucky," Sasori of the Red Sand said calmly. "The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is in the leader's hands. The final battle between the two of them will happen sooner or later. If we can't even defeat his human puppets, when the final decisive battle comes, even if he doesn't kill us, we will most likely die in the aftermath."
"Such a stage... just thinking about it is exciting!" Deidara said with anticipation in his eyes. "When that time comes, this great artist must self-destruct in advance and let the two strongest individuals in the ninja world witness this great artist's ultimate art!"
Sasori of the Red Sand instantly had black lines all over his forehead.
...
The incident in the Land of Wind started inexplicably.
With the intervention of the two strongest individuals in the ninja world, it also ended inexplicably.
By the time the Sand Shinobi's interrogation department extracted the location of the main base from Ranke, who could transform into an ape-man, and Fuuto, who could transform into a werewolf, and led a large army to the Land of Rivers,
The mobile fortress embedded in the mountains had already been taken away by Nagato.
The Sand Shinobi thought the enemy had learned of their approach in advance and relocated, continuing to search everywhere.
Until the Chunin Exams for the first half of the year in Konoha ended, the Sand Shinobi still found nothing.
However, seeing that the enemy was no longer attacking the Land of Wind, the Sand Shinobi reluctantly withdrew their troops, putting the incident behind them.
And Team Seven, whose client had been snatched away, was not punished upon returning to the village.
After all, the person who snatched the client was Otsutsuki Toneri, a visitor from the moon.
The leader of that mobile fortress had also forced Nagato to personally take action.
It was easy to guess that after the two wielders of the Sage's eyes couldn't determine a winner through force, they began to play a game of wits in the dark.
Even Minato Namikaze and Sakumo Hatake had the privilege of abandoning their missions without punishment if they encountered certain individuals during their tasks.
Nagato and Otsutsuki Toneri, these two super-standard combatants, were even more so.
Tsunade was already very grateful that Team Seven had returned safely, so she wouldn't blame them.
And the truth was as Tsunade had thought.
After the Sand Shinobi withdrew their troops, Izayoi and Nagato continued their game of wits in the territories of the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers.
The mobile fortress was obtained by Nagato, and the remaining Gureiru Stone from Hyde had been completely plundered by Nagato.
Timothy, the key, was also imprisoned in Amegakure.
Nagato didn't know what kind of key Timothy was. He only knew from Hyde's soul memories that Timothy was a descendant of that empire and could perfectly fuse with the power of the Gureilu Stone without transforming into a monster.
And Izayoi, who had obtained the old man and the ferret, knew that Timothy's blood could activate a summoning array for a space-time hole, summoning the space-time hole and sucking the Gureilu Stone mine, which could destroy half a continent, into the void.
This was a contingency plan left by that empire, and it was extremely outrageous.
The game of wits between Izayoi and Nagato was very simple.
It was... to endure!
Izayoi had already found the location of the Gureilu Stone mine from the old man's memories.
Before its demise, that empire had used their special method to seal the mine underground in the mountains of the Land of Rivers.
This empire, which could engrave the summoning array for the space-time hole, possessed extremely advanced sealing techniques. Even Izayoi's Tenseigan's farsight and X-ray vision couldn't see those ores, and Kagura Shingan couldn't sense that energy either.
Clearly, Black and White Zetsu's Mayfly Technique couldn't find that mine either.
After all, the Land of Rain was right next to the Land of Rivers. If they could sense it, Black and White Zetsu would have long ago discovered that terrifying energy that could destroy half a continent once it erupted.
However, just in case, Izayoi still sent several Wood Clones to take turns monitoring the location of the Gureilu Stone mine.
On Nagato's side, he also had Black and White Zetsu send out a large number of White Zetsu clones to check underground in the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers for mineral veins similar to the Gureilu Stone.
After all, the characteristics of the Gureilu Stone were too obvious: a stone containing natural energy and life force, shimmering with a blue light.
If such a mine existed underground, it would definitely be a patch of blue.
White Zetsu clones, capable of merging with the earth and plants and moving at high speed by utilizing plant roots and underground water flow, could definitely quickly search all the underground mineral veins in the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers.
At the same time, Nagato also created a large number of Wood Clones, using Wood Transformation to disguise themselves as ordinary people, scattered throughout the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers, using their powerful senses to lock onto those strong chakra signatures.
Once these chakra signatures changed, or if Otsutsuki Toneri's chakra or powerful chakra appeared in their senses, he would immediately take action.
However, a month passed, and neither Black and White Zetsu nor Nagato had any gains.
"Could I have guessed wrong?"
Receiving Black and White Zetsu's coded scroll, learning that they had searched the underground of the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers several times without finding the Gureilu Stone mine, Nagato thought inwardly, "Or is the Gureilu Stone mine hidden by seals and barriers, so even my and Zetsu's senses can't detect it? Is that Otsutsuki Toneri guy actually waiting too?"
Unwilling to give up, Nagato sent a coded scroll to Black and White Zetsu, ordering them to continue leaving a portion of White Zetsu clones to cooperate with the Wood Clones in monitoring the chakra in the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers.
Once unfamiliar chakra entered, they were to immediately send White Zetsu clones to monitor it.
He planned to continue to wear down Otsutsuki Toneri.
Little did he know that his order was precisely giving Izayoi an opportunity to exploit.
When the Wood Clone responsible for monitoring the Gureilu Stone mine occasionally used Flying Thunder God Technique with Ranmaru to go over and inject Wood Release chakra underground, sensing that fewer and fewer White Zetsu clones were passing by that area,
Izayoi immediately determined that Black and White Zetsu and Nagato didn't know the location of the Gureilu Stone mine.
And they seemed to have given up the idea of searching for underground mines.
However, to avoid them setting a trap for him, Izayoi still didn't act immediately but probed further.
He first placed a mental probe into an ordinary person, letting them wander around that area for a few days, while the Wood Clone took Ranmaru over to invisibly monitor the surface and underground.
Seeing that no White Zetsu clones were lurking nearby, the Wood Clone left Ranmaru behind, letting that ordinary person carry Ranmaru on their back and invisibly enter the underground ruins where the Gureilu Stone mine was located.
Such underground ruins were not uncommon in the ninja world. Many tombs were built in this way.
In the mountainous area of the Land of Rivers, there were also many naturally formed caves and volcanic caves.
This underground ruin was just a facade.
The real mine was hidden in an even deeper location.
Ranmaru used his Red Eye ability to create a mirage that looked unchanged, then opened a certain mechanism and entered a deeper underground secret chamber with the ordinary person carrying him.
There, numerous ancient texts and seals were engraved, describing the abilities and dangers of the Gureilu Stone, as well as the rise and fall of the empire.
In the middle of the secret chamber was also a seal array, precisely the summoning array for the space-time hole that required Timothy's blood to activate.
Ranmaru first left the Flying Thunder God Technique's seal in the secret chamber, then began to set up a barrier to shield against sensing.
Finally, he followed the method in the old man's memory and removed a floor tile.
Below was soil, and within the soil was the Gureilu Stone mine.
Ranmaru's Red Eye and the Wood Clone's Tenseigan still couldn't see the stones and energy under the soil, indicating that the effect of the seal was still in place, but he could dig out the stones below.
Thus, Ranmaru used Earth Release ninjutsu to liquefy this part of the soil.
Then, this part of the soil, as well as the portion of Gureilu Stone below, instantly disappeared into thin air.
Ninja Art: Heavenly Transfer Technique!
After sending away part of the Gureilu Stone, Ranmaru immediately closed the floor tile, and a green light flashed through the gap.
Immediately, Ranmaru disappeared with the ordinary person using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
"Won!"
In the underground base of the traditional building, Izayoi looked at the Gureilu Stone that had suddenly appeared in front of him, the corners of his mouth slightly curving upwards, revealing a smug smile.
This was the difference in intelligence!
Nagato obviously couldn't imagine that Izayoi's Tenseigan possessed a mental probe similar to but completely different from the Human Path ability, which could not only read others' thoughts but also control their will and actions.
As well as Ranmaru, a trump card that even Byakugan and Kagura Shingan couldn't sense unless the Tenseigan and Rinnegan were present.
In terms of configuration and trump cards, Nagato, the transplant recipient of the Sage's eyes, was ultimately no match for him, the self-evolving cheat.
Even if Izayoi had no advantage in this plot, he could still achieve victory.
"Is this the Gureilu Stone?"
Izayoi picked up a blue stone the size of a billiard ball. If it were a ball of light and circular, it would be very similar to the Tenseigan's mental probe.
No one would have thought that this stone actually contained powerful natural energy and life force.
If one didn't know how to extract it, the energy within this stone could very likely turn a person into a monster, a mindless beast.
But if one knew how to extract and utilize it, the energy within this stone could grant others powerful strength, and even create inexhaustible water wells, livestock that grew overnight, and even prevent aging...
"Let me see just how miraculous this natural energy, which even the Tenseigan and Kagura Shingan can't sense, truly is," Izayoi muttered to himself with interest, but he didn't rashly use the Tenseigan and Wood Release chakra to absorb it.
His right arm wriggled, extending a branch that quickly transformed into a Wood Clone.
The Wood Clone didn't take the Gureilu Stone from Izayoi's hand but picked up a larger blue stone from the ground, about the size of a basketball.
Immediately, it used the Tenseigan's chakra absorption.
Green chakra surged out, enveloping the blue stone like a giant ball of light, radiating a dazzling glow.
But soon, the green chakra returned to the Wood Clone's body.
The blue stone also turned into a transparent crystal.
The energy of the blue light inside had completely disappeared.
And the expression of Izayoi's Wood Clone suddenly became ferocious. Its mouth widened, revealing sharp fangs, and its face and skin showed faint signs of beastification.
However, in less than two seconds, these features disappeared.
In their place, red eye shadow appeared in the Wood Clone's eyes.
If the Tenseigan was closed, even the pupils would change from blue to gold.
Under the power of the Tenseigan, more accurately chakra absorption and the creation of Yin-Yang Release, and with the assistance of Wood Release, the Wood Clone instantly conquered the natural energy, fusing it with chakra to form Sage Art chakra, instantly entering Sage Mode.
"Is this Sage Art chakra?"
Receiving the real-time transmitted information, Izayoi placed his hand on the Wood Clone's shoulder, absorbing the Sage Art chakra. Red eye shadow immediately appeared at the corners of his eyes.
Feeling the changes within his body, Izayoi slightly curled the corners of his mouth and said, "Heh... just this? No difficulty at all."
(End of this chapter)
....
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