Konoha's Tag-System Ninja

Chapter 156: Chapter 156: Lord Kazekage, You Don't Want To...

After sealing the One-Tail, Shūichi dispelled all his shadow clones and turned his gaze toward Chiyo.

He first stored away her puppets. As for Chiyo herself...

Shūichi glanced northward, a smile forming on his lips.

He deactivated his Fire Release Chakra Mode, sealed Chiyo, and then carried her back to the Land of Rivers. There, he sat down to rest in the forest.

"Hmm?"

Chiyo slowly regained consciousness, and upon seeing Shūichi sitting calmly, her expression shifted immediately. "Bunpuku and Shukaku..."

Shūichi opened his eyes. "The outcome is already obvious."

"How... how is this possible?"

Chiyo found it hard to accept.

Shūichi turned his head slightly to look at her, his voice calm: "There's nothing impossible about it."

"Years ago, the First Hokage divided the Tailed Beasts among the villages, and now I'm simply reclaiming what's rightfully ours."

Chiyo's eyes darkened, shocked, as she warned, "Do you realize what the consequences of this will be?"

"You're disrupting the balance of the shinobi world!"

Shūichi couldn't help but laugh. "Chiyo-senpai, may I ask how many wars have broken out since the death of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju?"

Without waiting for her to answer, Shūichi answered his own question: "Including the current one, this is the third."

"Even disregarding the present, weren't the previous two wars far larger in scale than any during the Warring States period?"

"Ever since the death of the First Hokage, the so-called balance of the shinobi world has been shattered."

"And the Tailed Beasts have long since become nothing more than tools of war for the great villages."

Chiyo looked at Shūichi and asked in a low voice, "So, do you want to return the world to the Warring States period?"

Shūichi chuckled. "Senpai, you give me too much credit. I don't have such grand ambitions."

"From my perspective, you're the invaders, and I'm merely defending myself. That's all."

"Besides, I despise war."

"Senpai, you should remember—I'm only twelve years old."

"That's why I want to end this war as quickly as possible."

Shūichi's words were a mix of truth and lies, but Chiyo remained silent, realizing how young Shūichi truly was.

After a brief pause, Chiyo asked, "What exactly do you intend to do?"

"Stealing the village's One-Tail—there's no way peace can follow."

"Do you plan to use me as a hostage, like you threatened the Third before, to pressure the Fourth Kazekage?"

"Your plan won't work. My life isn't worth the outcome of this war."

Shūichi smiled. "While you are indeed my hostage, you're only one of them."

"On your own, you may not be able to threaten the Fourth Kazekage, but what about the entire Sunagakure?"

Chiyo's heart trembled at the suggestion but then quickly calmed down. "You can't do that."

Shūichi gave a playful grin. "You witnessed my battle with Shukaku."

"I possess the means to counter a Tailed Beast Ball. Now, how many in the Sunagakure can withstand such a technique?"

"With the One-Tail in my possession, only the Fourth Kazekage could oppose me. But even then, he'd only have an advantage in the desert."

Chiyo immediately understood: "So you plan to hold off the Fourth Kazekage?"

"Do you think Konoha can secure a quick victory with only the Fourth Kazekage standing in the way?"

Shūichi shook his head. "Do you think the Fourth Kazekage can face me alone?"

"He's not enough!"

"I can move freely in the air, and I can draw on the One-Tail's chakra for my own use."

"Can the Kazekage outlast me?"

At that moment, Shūichi appeared supremely confident.

Once again, Chiyo fell silent. Although she didn't want to admit it, this young boy standing before her was already on par with the Kage of the major villages. Ordinary shinobi stood no chance against him.

Shūichi said no more, closing his eyes as he quietly recovered his chakra, drawing on the One-Tail's chakra through the Eight Trigrams Seal to restore his stamina.

He could easily handle sealing a small Four-Tails and still use the Yin Seal on his abdomen. But with a fully captured One-Tail, things were different.

Still, it didn't matter. With the One-Tail acting as a massive chakra reserve and with the Yin Seals on both his forehead and chest, while not at the level of someone like Hashirama Senju, it was more than enough for his current needs.

Time passed slowly.

Around 4 AM, Shūichi opened his eyes again.

His shadow clones had returned their memories— the Fourth Kazekage was approaching with his army.

Shūichi stood up, knocked Chiyo unconscious, and picked her up. He ascended into the sky, lotuses forming beneath his feet as he moved to meet the approaching forces of the Fourth Kazekage.

...

As the Fourth Kazekage marched with his army, his brow furrowed suddenly. He stopped in his tracks and raised his hand.

The Sand Ninja army behind him immediately halted as well, turning their eyes toward the figure walking through the air.

"Is that...?"

"Konoha's Blue Flash!"

"That brat, Shūichi Hoshita!"

Shouts of surprise rippled through the Sand Ninjas. Sharp-eyed ones soon noticed the figure Shūichi was holding, and their eyes widened.

"That's... Lady Chiyo!"

"He captured Lady Chiyo!"

In an instant, a wave of shock surged through the army, causing an uproar.

The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, narrowed his eyes, hiding his anger. "This guy..."

Shūichi soon arrived in front of the Sand Ninja army, smiling as he addressed Rasa and the crowd of shinobi. "Good evening, Lord Kazekage!"

"Didn't expect you'd already become the Kazekage since the last time we met."

Rasa glared at Shūichi. "I also didn't expect that the kid from back then would reach this level."

"Release Chiyo. Whatever your conditions are, we can negotiate."

Shūichi chuckled and asked, "How about a retreat?"

Rasa's expression darkened. "You know that's impossible."

Shūichi nodded. "Of course I know."

"That's why one Chiyo as a hostage isn't enough."

"So, Lord Kazekage, how about the entire Sunagakure as a hostage?"

At this, a Sand Ninja shouted angrily, "What nonsense is this brat spouting?"

"Release Lady Chiyo right now, or we won't let you get away with this!"

Shūichi's gaze shifted toward the Sand Ninja who spoke, his face turning cold. "I was speaking with the Kazekage. Who gave you the right to interrupt?"

"You don't know your place!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a scream erupted.

The surrounding Sand Ninja were horrified to see their comrade engulfed in terrifying blue flames. Although the fire was quickly extinguished with a Wind Release technique, the ninja's skin had already suffered severe burns.

Suddenly, waves of golden sand shot into the air, attempting to capture Shūichi, but he easily dodged.

Hovering high above, Shūichi looked down at Rasa. "Lord Kazekage, I suppose I should show you a glimpse of my power."

With that, he raised his right hand. Chakra began to condense and expand, accompanied by a sharp, piercing sound.

Then, he infused it with Fire Release chakra.

Wind-Fire Rasenshuriken!

"The sheer amount of chakra..."

"This must be the technique from the intel—one that can rival the power of a Tailed Beast!"

The Sand Ninja jonin were visibly shaken, and they quickly ordered their subordinates to prepare Wind Release techniques.

In the air, Shūichi swung his arm, launching the Wind-Fire Rasenshuriken diagonally toward the Sand Ninja army below.

Under the jonin's command, the Sand Ninja responded:

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

Wind Release: Net!

Wind Release: Great Wind Net!

Wind Release: Sickle Weasel!

A massive storm of wind techniques converged, but to the Sand Ninjas' horror, Shūichi's Rasenshuriken easily sliced through the winds, completely unaffected.

Competing with Wind Release?

The Rasenshuriken was the pinnacle of Wind Release nature transformation!

Realizing this, Rasa immediately shouted, "Use kunai and explosive tags!"

The Sand Ninja quickly threw kunai laced with explosive tags into the air toward the Rasenshuriken.

Boom!

The series of explosions shook the Rasenshuriken, destabilizing it and causing it to expand in midair.

A blinding light formed a sphere, surging toward the Sand Ninja army. Rasa quickly raised his hands, and massive waves of gold dust shot upward, forming a protective shield.

At the same time, the Sand Ninja proficient in Earth Release raised walls of stone around the perimeter.

However, as the brilliant light engulfed the area, the walls began to crack and crumble.

Soon, the Rasenshuriken's power clashed with Rasa's gold dust, cutting through it with the wind's force and melting it with fire. Molten gold dripped to the ground as Rasa struggled to maintain the defense, constantly reinforcing it with more gold dust.

"The combination of Wind and Fire nature transformations... this guy is terrifying."

Rasa felt a heavy weight in his heart.

The attack hadn't even directly hit, and yet it was this powerful. If it landed a direct blow, it would be far more devastating.

"This brat said he'd use the entire village as hostage... Does that mean he plans to unleash this jutsu on the village?"

"I can't let that happen!"

Rasa withdrew the gold dust and looked up at Shūichi, but he felt a sense of helplessness. At this distance, there was no way to launch a sneak attack.

"And there's Shukaku... could it be..."

Rasa felt overwhelmed by the situation. "This bastard!"

"Lord Kazekage, you've seen it for yourself."

Shūichi grinned. "If I release this jutsu in the Sunagakure, it would be quite the spectacle, don't you think?"

"You bastard!"

"Absolutely not!"

"This brat has to be stopped!"

"Lord Kazekage, kill him!"

...

The Sand Ninjas were seething with rage.

Their families, loved ones, and children were all in the Sunagakure. If such a technique were unleashed, the casualties would be devastating, and ordinary ninjutsu would stand no chance of stopping it.

The magnitude of the potential disaster was unimaginable!

One by one, the Sand Ninjas glared at Shūichi with bloodshot eyes, as if they wanted to tear him apart.

Shūichi remained completely calm.

He enjoyed this—watching people hate him to the core, yet being powerless to do anything about it.

By now, Rasa fully understood that Shūichi was using this tactic to hold him and all the Sand Ninjas behind him at bay.

"Shūichi Hoshita, you have the One-Tail too, don't you?" Rasa asked.

Shūichi nodded honestly. "The One-Tail was originally assigned to the Sunagakure by the First Hokage. Now that the Sand Village has declared war on Konoha, it's only reasonable for me to reclaim it."

Rasa's heart sank. He had lost any leverage he might have had over Shūichi.

This brat had him in a chokehold!

The Sand Ninjas ground their teeth in fury, but there was nothing they could do.

At that moment, Shūichi tossed Chiyo from the air and turned toward the Sand Village. "Lord Kazekage, you don't want the Sunagakure to turn into a wasteland, do you?"

Rasa used his gold dust to catch Chiyo and handed her over to the ninjas behind him, his eyes still locked on Shūichi's retreating figure.

Chiyo quickly regained consciousness, but immediately shouted, "Stay away from me! Shūichi left some chakra inside me, it could explode at any moment."

The Sand Ninjas recoiled in fear and stepped back, their anger directed at Shūichi as he slowly walked toward the village.

"Lord Kazekage, what should we do now?"

"Yeah, are we really just going to let that bastard do whatever he wants?"

One after another, the Sand Ninjas spoke up.

Rasa responded in a deep voice, "For the sake of the village, everyone will return with me!"

"As for Kikyo Mountain, I trust they can handle it!"

The Sand Ninjas fell silent.

At this point, there was no other option.

So, the leading Sand Ninjas followed behind Shūichi, making their way back toward the Sunagakure.

Chiyo, lagging at the rear, couldn't help but glance back. In the morning sunlight, she looked at Shūichi's figure, which seemed almost inhuman, and felt a wave of bewilderment.

...

On the path of Konoha's retreat, Asuka couldn't help but turn back, her face full of worry. "Shisui, are you sure Shūichi won't do something reckless?"

Uchiha Shisui smiled gently. "Don't worry, he knows what he's doing."

"Besides, whether here or in the village, there are still people he can't let go of."

"You know how powerful the Flying Thunder God Technique is, right? No one can stop him."

Asuka silently nodded, though the worry in her heart still lingered.

As the sun rose higher, Kikyo Mountain came into view. Konoha's forward troops had already started engaging with the Sand Ninjas who had surrounded the mountain.

However, Koharu Utatane had received a message from Orochimaru and did not lead her forces to attack Kikyo Castle directly. Instead, they set up camp along the border of the Land of Fire, establishing defensive lines and forming a mutual support position with Orochimaru's forces inside Kikyo Castle.

This strategy not only provided internal and external protection but also ensured the security of their supply routes.

Half an hour later, the Sand Ninja reinforcements arrived, leveling the balance of forces once again, leading to a temporary standoff.

...

Outside the Sunagakure, at a Sand Ninja outpost, Shūichi brazenly took over the area and retrieved supplies, including nutrient water and soldier pills, from his sealing scroll.

Meanwhile, in the skies above the village, a hawk, which was actually one of Shūichi's shadow clones, circled overhead, watching the Sand Ninjas as they set up "anti-aircraft weapons."

They were just heavy crossbows.

But to Shūichi, they were hardly worth worrying about.

...

After a simple breakfast, Shūichi considered his options and sent out a shadow clone to leave quietly.

He needed to keep a close eye on the Sunagakure to ensure that the Kazekage couldn't leave and that the Sand Village lost all support in the ongoing war.

But he also needed to keep tabs on the Stone Ninjas.

In fact, Shūichi planned to ambush them at Kannabi Bridge.

He figured that the Stone Ninjas had likely stationed forces near the border to keep an eye on Kannabi Bridge.

But infiltrating the area wouldn't be particularly difficult for Shūichi.

"First, I'll scout the area. If an opportunity arises, I'll plant explosive tags and sever their supply lines at the right time."

Shūichi silently plotted.

Destroying Kannabi Bridge now wouldn't have much impact.

He needed to wait until the Stone Ninjas deployed their forces, entered the Land of Grass, and made Kannabi Bridge a crucial supply route—then it would have real strategic value!

(End of Chapter)

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