Chapter 615: Overwhelming Legendary Power

Sarutobi Hiruzen had originally thought Yusuke was a slightly stronger Hanzō.

Now it seemed, this was no Hanzō at all; he was practically another Uchiha Madara.

Moreover, unlike Muyue, who was still a growing potential stock, Yusuke's strength was already close to those two legendary ninja.

At this moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart was full of bitterness—with this kind of strength, why didn't you ruthlessly start a war for the benefit of the Land of Rain, to become famous and established, instead of holing up in Rikudō City as the head of a small ninja organization.

If he had known Yusuke had this strength, Sarutobi Hiruzen absolutely would not have wanted to stand opposed to Yusuke before Muyue grew up.

"It actually just disappeared like that!" Mitokado Homura's eyes bulged, his face full of shock.

Yusuke's ability gave him a feeling that they were not ninja from the same era.

No matter how powerful the Third Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode attack was, Mitokado Homura could understand that it was the effect of Lightning Release chakra activating the body, but he truly could not comprehend Yusuke's ninjutsu.

Either it was an all-encompassing unknown defense, or it was an incomprehensible erasure out of thin air.

From beginning to end, he had never seen Yusuke form a single hand seal—was this still a ninja?

"This is dangerous." Orochimaru's expression also turned unpleasant.

Not to mention building an advantage, this wave of attack by Sarutobi Hiruzen had no effect at all.

Actually, it did have an effect—they had learned another piece of information about Yusuke—but the problem was that Yusuke's displayed strength was too great; knowing the information could not change the battle situation.

"What is going on? If this is how it develops, how did the Ninja Sect disappear, and how did the evil Akatsuki organization appear?" Shisui frowned.

He had originally thought the battle would result in Sarutobi Hiruzen killing Yusuke, and then the Ninja Sect would decline, with some members forming the evil Akatsuki organization to continue being active in the ninja world.

But with Yusuke's current displayed strength, even if Shisui used his dojutsu on Sarutobi Hiruzen, he might not be able to turn defeat into victory.

At this moment, the ninja of the Ninja Sect finally understood the true value of their leader's words that he would be back soon.

What "Third Hokage, Professor of Ninjutsu"? He was no match for their teacher Yusuke at all.

"Confidence really does come from raw strength." Kakuzu marveled inwardly.

Earlier, he had been curious why Yusuke was not afraid of Konoha, curious what trump card Yusuke had; now he understood completely.

If he had this strength, he wouldn't be afraid either.

At Yusuke's level of strength, whether it was pursuit by an elite squad or encirclement by a ninja force, it would likely be like throwing a meat bun at a dog—never to return.

Once Konoha realized Yusuke's true strength, Shimura Danzo's death became insignificant.

Because the little face they lost was like a sesame seed compared to the watermelon of losses from going to war with Yusuke.

"I have no choice but to find an opportunity to use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal; that invisible shield should not be able to defend against the Death God." Sarutobi Hiruzen grabbed the retracted Adamantine Staff and made a decision in his heart.

The Dead Demon Consuming Seal was different from ordinary ninjutsu; it was a soul-level attack, theoretically impossible to be blocked by defensive ninjutsu.

Of course, although it could not be blocked, it could still be dodged, so Sarutobi Hiruzen had to choose an appropriate timing to perform it.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen rapidly formed hand seals and created two shadow clones.

Whoosh!

After the two shadow clones appeared, they immediately dashed at high speed toward the charging Yusuke, while Sarutobi Hiruzen's main body followed behind at a slightly slower speed.

Swish swish!!

Sarutobi Hiruzen took shuriken from his tool pouch and flung them at Yusuke.

But before Sarutobi Hiruzen's shuriken shadow clones could multiply the shuriken, Muyue swept his gaze over the incoming shuriken and directly shrank them to the point of being invisible to the eye.

"Wind Style: Air Current!"

One of Sarutobi Hiruzen's shadow clones, while running, rapidly formed hand seals and spat out a huge storm.

The other Sarutobi Hiruzen shadow clone was secretly gathering chakra, preparing to use Earth Style to trap Yusuke.

Whoosh!

Muyue switched from Fire Breathing to Rock Breathing, then concentrated his breathing to the extreme to enter Rock Breathing Chakra Mode, greatly enhancing his physical abilities across the board and dramatically increasing his speed.

Bang!

Relying on his limitless defense, Mu Yue directly crashed through the storm mixed with sharp wind blades and punched out the Shadow Clone of Sarutobi Hiruzen who was using Wind Release.

"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"

Another Shadow Clone that had been prepared long ago immediately erupted the chakra it had gathered in advance, turning the ground under Mu Yue's feet into a swamp from which escape was difficult.

"Reaper Death S—"

Sarutobi Hiruzen also seized this opportunity to form hand seals and gather chakra, wanting to use the Reaper Death Seal to exchange his life for Yousuke's.

"Explosive Fist!"

Mu Yue erupted with terrifying power, instantly flashing to appear beside Sarutobi Hiruzen's main body, and fiercely punched at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Being trapped by the Swamp of the Underworld earlier was only because Mu Yue, following his plan, wanted to show his power; he really thought this ninjutsu would be effective against him.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Mu Yue, who was in the Rock Breathing Chakra Mode, already possessed incomparably powerful strength, and with the massive amount of chakra he had gathered, his strength rose another level.

Under this terrifying power boost, even the punch wind generated by Mu Yue simply swinging his fist hit Sarutobi Hiruzen's face, causing him sharp pain.

Swish!

At this critical moment, the Adamantine Staff standing beside Sarutobi Hiruzen rapidly grew longer and thicker, shielding Sarutobi Hiruzen behind itself.

Bang!!

But this overwhelmingly powerful force sent even the Adamantine Staff flying backwards rapidly, and also knocked Sarutobi Hiruzen back.

"Hiss, this guy's strength is even greater than yours," said Enma, who had been knocked to the ground, as he drew in a cold breath.

The weight of the Adamantine Staff increases as it grows larger, and Sarutobi Hiruzen could wield such an Adamantine Staff as if it were an extension of his arm, naturally possessing extraordinary strength.

And that punch of Yousuke's just now was so powerful that Enma felt as if he had been hit by a meteorite.

"Cough, cough." Sarutobi Hiruzen quickly got up, and then uncontrollably coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Although the Adamantine Staff transformed by Enma had blocked Yousuke's attack for him, he was also struck by the heavy Adamantine Staff, and his body was not feeling good.

"Huff." Sarutobi Hiruzen panted heavily. Before he could think about how to fight next, he found that the Shadow Clone that had been stopping Yousuke's pursuit was quickly destroyed by Yousuke.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart sank to the bottom.

He realized that he had still underestimated Yousuke. The Reaper Death Seal was indeed powerful, but once the gap in strength was too great, it would be extremely difficult to achieve mutual destruction.

"Go!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen swung the Adamantine Staff, hurling it at Yousuke.

No matter how difficult, as the Third Hokage, he could not give up.

Forcing a conflict with the Ninja Sect was a major mistake of his, but what was done was done and could not be changed; all he could do was die together with Yousuke.

If Yousuke lived and he died, then the Leaf's path to its peak would once again be shrouded in mist.

Sarutobi Hiruzen believed that as long as Mu Yue was given time, he would not be inferior to Yousuke, and might even be stronger, but the problem was that Yousuke might not give Mu Yue time to develop.

The Adamantine Staff grew thicker and longer during flight, and in the blink of an eye turned into an extremely thick giant rod smashing toward Yousuke.

"Lightning Release: Sixteen Pillar Binding!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen ran while gathering chakra and swiftly forming hand seals to use ninjutsu.

He had already given up using offensive ninjutsu; facts had proven that even his strongest Five Elements Unison could not do anything to Yousuke.

On the contrary, sealing techniques and barrier techniques—if they could work—then Sarutobi Hiruzen would have a chance to use the Reaper Death Seal to achieve mutual destruction with Yousuke.

And the Adamantine Staff, after approaching Mu Yue, quickly performed a split, and dozens of huge Adamantine Staves smashed toward Mu Yue.

At the same time, the ground continuously rumbled, and a large number of thick stone pillars carrying lightning rose up.

"Daikokuten!"

Mu Yue ignored the large number of giant shuriken flying in, glanced faintly at the incoming Adamantine Staff, and instantly seven or eight huge black cubes crashed down around Mu Yue, pressing the Adamantine Staff's main body and its splits all to the ground.

Boom!!

A huge roar sounded; Enma, who was struck, suffered heavy damage and was forced out of his transformation state. Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately severed the summoning technique, and Enma turned into white smoke and disappeared before everyone's eyes.

"Even Enma can't withstand it?" Orochimaru speculated that the cube Yusuke had summoned was no ordinary thing.

In Orochimaru's understanding, Enma was a top-tier summoning beast, even stronger than his Manda.

Boom!!

Under the barrage of countless black cubes, the lightning pillar created by Hiruzen Sarutobi shattered in many places.

Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately dodged back and gathered chakra.

"He can actually use this many at once." The more he fought, the more Hiruzen Sarutobi realized how unfathomable Yusuke was.

"No choice—I have to gamble!" Knowing he had no other option, Hiruzen Sarutobi moved his hands rapidly.

Even if forcibly using the Reaper Death Seal might not be enough to seal Yusuke, he had no choice but to use it now.

Because if he didn't use it now, his condition would worsen, making it even harder to take Yusuke down with him.

But if he used it now and let Orochimaru and the others join the fray, there might still be a chance to kill Yusuke.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was glad that Homura Mitokado had come along; otherwise, just Orochimaru, Shisui, and a group of jonin might not be able to achieve anything.

Because on the Ninja Sect side, there were also Kakuzu and Nagato.

Even though he had proposed the one-on-one fight, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't care about that now; taking some blame was better than letting Konoha suffer.

"Reaper Death Seal..."

Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to complete the final hand seal, Yusuke's speed suddenly increased by several levels, and this unexpected change disrupted Hiruzen's plan.

According to his estimate, the distance between them should have allowed him to make three more hand seals without issue.

Bang!

An incredibly heavy force swept over, and Hiruzen Sarutobi was sent flying backward, spitting out a large mouthful of blood in midair before collapsing to the ground.

"Lord Third!" The Konoha jonin looked on in disbelief.

Their overwhelmingly powerful Third Hokage had actually been defeated like this, losing a one-on-one fight to a ninja from the Rain Country.

Swish, swish!

The Konoha jonin could no longer remain calm; they all drew their weapons and gathered chakra.

Their own Kage was about to die—how could they care about rules anymore?

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!

Homura Mitokado directly pulled out the scroll he had prepared earlier, summoning a bunch of shuriken attached with explosive tags and hurling them at Yusuke to stop his pursuit.

"Summoning Technique!"

Orochimaru gathered chakra and summoned Manda.

Shisui silently activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and stealthily moved toward Hiruzen Sarutobi, ready to use Shenhuang Chanlingzun on Hiruzen in time to save his life.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Nagato, who had been closely watching the battlefield, flashed forward at top speed and deflected all the explosive-tag shuriken with a burst of repulsive force.

"Haha, so what Konoha calls a one-on-one fight is you ninjas ganging up on our leader alone?"

Kakuzu formed hand seals, and a mass of thin black tentacles burst from his back, with two Jiongu masks moving onto his shoulders.

Roshi silently stepped forward, gathering chakra and ready to act at any moment.

His identity was rather special, and acting rashly might cause trouble for the Ninja Sect, so he had to wait until a full-scale battle truly broke out.

The other Ninja Sect ninjas also pulled out their weapons without fear, preparing to fight the Konoha ninjas.

For a moment, the atmosphere became tense; both Konoha ninjas and Ninja Sect ninjas were ready to fight to the death.

Muyue ignored the moving Konoha ninjas and quickly walked toward the fallen Hiruzen Sarutobi.

A barrage of attacks flew at Muyue, but they were all blocked by Ninja Sect ninjas.

Manda used its massive body to break through the line and lunged at Muyue, but was driven back by a huge cube that fell from the sky without warning.

Seeing that battle had officially begun, Roshi acted directly, spitting out a large stream of Lava Release fireballs at the Konoha ninjas.

"The Ninshu actually has a powerful Lava Release ninja?" Mitokado Homura frowned deeply.

This caught him off guard; he had only counted Nagato and Kakuzu as the two strong ones, never expecting Ninshu to silently produce another Lava Release powerhouse.

Mitokado Homura was baffled—why were all the ninjas from this faction so good at hiding?

As Yūsuke and Sarutobi Hiruzen drew closer and closer, Mitokado Homura grew extremely anxious.

Whether he considered it from the perspective of status or personal relationships, he did not want Sarutobi Hiruzen to die.

"No, it seems he has no killing intent." Shisui, who had already gathered a large amount of chakra in his Mangekyo Sharingan, suppressed the urge to use his dojutsu.

He felt that Yūsuke might not necessarily kill Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Because if Yūsuke wanted to kill Sarutobi Hiruzen, he wouldn't need to walk over; he could just use a ninjutsu.

As for why others hadn't thought of this, Shisui figured it might be because they were too anxious?

Of course, it could also be that others thought Yūsuke intended to get close to kill him.

Shisui silently watched the two.

With the insight of the Mangekyo Sharingan, he should be able to use Kamimusubi on Yūsuke before he made a move.

Sensing Yūsuke approaching, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was struggling to get up, instinctively took a kunai from his ninja tool pouch and stabbed it toward Yūsuke.

Under Muyue's watch, the kunai in Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand rapidly shrank, and in an instant, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt his hand become completely empty.

At that moment, an indescribable feeling of powerlessness surged within Sarutobi Hiruzen.

This feeling of powerlessness was even stronger than when he had seen Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju fight as a child.

Not that Yūsuke's strength surpassed theirs, but back then Sarutobi Hiruzen only needed to watch, whereas now he was personally fighting against Yūsuke.

Suddenly, Sarutobi Hiruzen laughed.

It was not a fawning, ingratiating laugh, nor a content, relieved laugh, but a self-deprecating smile.

How ridiculous—he realized he was truly ridiculous this time.

He had confidently sought out Yūsuke to fight, and ended up not even touching him once.

He said it was for the sake of the Leaf's honor, but in reality, it was mainly due to personal enmity.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was not afraid of death; decades ago, during the Warring States period, the average lifespan of a ninja was only thirty years, and he was now fifty-four—the combined lifespan of two shorter-lived Warring States ninja.

What he couldn't feel at ease about was that in the last stretch of his life, he had still made such a grave mistake.

His death was a small matter; if the Leaf suffered because of it, he would have no face to meet the First and Second Hokage in death.

"I'm sorry, Muyue." Sarutobi Hiruzen apologized to Muyue in his heart.

Muyue could have steadily trained as the Hokage's Assistant for a few years, then ascended to Hokage, leading the Leaf to a new peak.

But as a result of his willfulness and poor judgment, Muyue would now be forced to succeed as Hokage immediately, and might even have to face Yūsuke's retaliation and a chain of consequences triggered by his mistake.

Even Muyue's proud disciple Shisui might die because of him—how could Sarutobi Hiruzen not feel guilty?

At that moment, Muyue reached out and grasped Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand.

Sarutobi Hiruzen made his final resistance and struggle; he was the Hokage, and as long as he still had an ounce of strength, he would fight to the end—only then would he not disgrace the title of Hokage.

Shisui, who was fighting the Ninshu ninjas, had densely packed fine sweat on his forehead, his tension reaching its peak.

There was no helping it—once Kamimusubi was used, it might be years or even longer before it could be used again. He had to use it carefully; what if Muyue encountered danger afterward?

"Hiruzen!"

Mitokado Homura was extremely anxious but could not shake off Kakuzu's entanglement or get close to Yūsuke.

"Hmm?"

Orochimaru, who was fighting Nagato, cast a sidelong glance at Sarutobi Hiruzen, noticed something, and held back some of his strength.

"Hokage, you shouldn't just lie on the ground to rest after such strenuous exercise."

Muyue pulled Sarutobi Hiruzen up in one motion and pressed a Palm Medical Technique onto his shoulder.

Despite various factors, no matter what, Sarutobi Hiruzen had helped Muyue a great deal; he had never had any intention of killing Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Of course, since Hiruzen Sarutobi was the one who initiated this confrontation, Muyue didn't mind using him to his advantage.

In truth, if Muyue wanted to defeat Hiruzen Sarutobi, the latter wouldn't even be able to use many of his ninjutsu.

The reason he let Hiruzen Sarutobi continuously unleash powerful ninjutsu to showcase his abilities was to make Hiruzen and the others realize one thing—Youjie was strong, not just ordinary strong.

This would make it easier for Muyue's subsequent plans to unfold.

"Youjie, you..."

Feeling his body being healed, Hiruzen Sarutobi froze, staring at Youjie in confusion and disbelief.

What the hell? The enemy he was just fighting to the death suddenly healed him.

Seeing this, the huge stone weighing on Shisui's heart finally fell—the dojutsu was saved.

"What's going on? That guy actually...?"

The Konoha jonin, witnessing this, wore expressions of utter bewilderment.

Though they were all fighting, everyone was more or less keeping an eye on Hiruzen Sarutobi's situation, since the battle had started because of them.

"Stop fighting, everyone. It's just a spar," Muyue called out to the battling shinobi.

The battle had only just begun, with only a few shinobi lightly injured and none killed.

With the direct order from their most revered leader, the Ninja Sect shinobi steadily withdrew.

The Konoha shinobi also stopped attacking and turned to look at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Youjie, then sighed and nodded. "Stop. There's no need to fight anymore."

He didn't know what Youjie was up to, but stopping now was indeed beneficial for them.

If the battle continued, Konoha would surely suffer heavy losses. Without him, it would be good enough if Orochimaru and the others could even escape.

Homura Mitokado quickly walked over to Hiruzen Sarutobi, shot a wary glance at Youjie, then asked in a low voice:

"Hiruzen, are you all right?"

"Thanks to Youjie's timely treatment, I'm basically fine for now," Hiruzen Sarutobi replied.

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi out of critical condition, Muyue released him, lest Hiruzen think he was trying to leave something behind in his body.

Homura Mitokado swiftly shielded Hiruzen Sarutobi behind him and retreated, with the other Konoha shinobi also guarding around him.

But soon Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped, forcing the other Konoha shinobi to stop as well.

"Youjie, I am no match for you. You have won this battle," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a complex expression.

As Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi had his own pride. In his entire life, he had only thought himself inferior to three people: Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, and Muyue.

Now there was a fourth—Youjie.

For some reason, peerless geniuses rarely appeared alone; either they didn't show up, or they came in pairs.

Decades ago, there were Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju; now there were Muyue and Youjie.

"Truly, there is always a sky above a sky, and people beyond people. The ninja world has too many strong individuals," Shisui thought to himself.

He had originally thought Muyue was strong enough, but he never expected Youjie to be even more unfathomable than Muyue.

He had even managed to defeat a powerful shinobi like Hiruzen Sarutobi in an almost overwhelming manner.

"That Danzo fellow actually brought such a great calamity upon the village," Homura Mitokado thought resentfully.

He didn't think it was Hiruzen Sarutobi's fault; if Shimura Danzo hadn't acted on his own to assassinate Youjie, how could things have escalated like this?

This was a terrifying existence whose strength approached that of the God of Shinobi.

"I wonder if his cells have any special abilities?"

Orochimaru glanced at Youjie from the corner of his eye, then felt regret—Youjie hadn't sustained a single injury throughout the whole ordeal, and no samples had dropped.

"Hokage, your combination jutsu is quite impressive. I think I won't forget it for a long time," Muyue replied with a faint smile.

Muyue's response only made Hiruzen Sarutobi's mood even more complicated.

He had come with the intent to kill Youjie, but in the end, Youjie didn't kill him and even complimented his ninjutsu.

He seemed to have lost thoroughly in every aspect.

Kakuzu walked over to Muyue, watched Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others leave, then asked in a low voice:

"Are we just letting them go like that? If the Ninja Sect continues to grow, it will inevitably clash with the Five Great Shinobi Villages again. Remember, the Land of Fire is still our neighbor."

Currently, the shinobi world is structured so that the Five Great Shinobi Villages monopolize the vast majority of resources, with the smaller villages and other ninja forces picking over the leftovers the Five Great Shinobi Villages don't want.

If the Ninja Sect keeps developing, Kakuzu believed the Five Great Shinobi Villages would definitely not sit idly by. The emergence of a sixth major ninja force would inevitably have a huge impact on the existing structure.

Given that they were already on bad terms with Konoha, Kakuzu thought killing Sarutobi Hiruzen and his group was a good choice.

Remember, there were two Konoha higher-ups here, one of whom was the Hokage, and Konoha's representative Sannin included Orochimaru as well.

If all of them died, Konoha would not only lose three strong individuals but its prestige would also suffer.

"It's fine. Conflict is good. It would be best if they all came at once—would save us some trouble." Muyue replied with a smile.

"All at once? What do you mean?" Kakuzu looked doubtfully at Youjie.

It couldn't be that Youjie wanted to take down all the major villages in one go, could it?

"Maybe it's exactly what you're thinking." Muyue answered, then quickly swept his gaze over all the black cubes and recalled them back into the Great Black Heaven.

He had tested it—each one he threw out was one fewer, and if he didn't recover them after using them, he might run out one day.

PS:

No writer's block today—I managed to write 6.4k by almost three o'clock. Celebrations are in order; please give me your monthly tickets.