"It's a good thing the forbidden jutsu stopped in time. Otherwise, the excessive strain would've caused partial necrosis of the nerve conduction system, which might have prevented him from ever being a ninja again."
A Medical Ninja said this, applying Medical Ninjutsu to Might Duy's body with one hand, after a further examination of his injuries.
Another Medical Ninja was applying medicine to Might Duy, then retrieved bandages and splints to stabilize his body.
"What about now?"
Yūhi Shinkō asked anxiously.
Might Duy had unexpectedly proven to be incredibly valuable in this battle, and no one present wanted anything bad to happen to him.
The Medical Ninja replied:
"He's doing a bit better now. We can treat the superficial wounds and surface muscle damage, but some of Mr. Duy's leg muscle fibers have torn due to excessive strain, and his right arm bone has a hairline fracture. He needs to be sent back to camp as soon as possible for treatment by a higher-level Medical Ninja."
Yūhi Shinkō immediately made arrangements:
"Hyuga, take a small team and a Medical Ninja to escort Duy back to camp and report to Lord Hokage. Shiro and I will stay here to monitor the movements of this Sand Hidden unit."
…
…
That afternoon.
Rasa, who had only departed a few hours earlier, returned to the Sand Hidden Camp with his troops.
Inside the command center's meeting room, the atmosphere was tense.
"You're saying… you were defeated by a Genin who suddenly appeared from Konoha, and he even broke the Mechanism Shield Seal I installed on your Puppet arm?"
Sasori examined the cracks on Rasa's prosthetic Puppet arm, his expression strange.
Rasa gnashed his teeth:
"That was Konoha's conspiracy! Orochimaru's conspiracy, a hidden move left by that old monkey Hiruzen Sarutobi! They deliberately disguised a master of powerful forbidden jutsu as a Genin, to catch us off guard at a critical moment!"
Qingshui rested a few fingers on his chin, pondering deeply.
Recently, they had engaged in several battles with Konoha, and both sides had a certain understanding of each other's strength.
Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Minato Namikaze were Konoha's primary high-end combatants on this front.
Among them, Jiraiya could temporarily hold him off when using Sage Mode, especially with Minato Namikaze assisting him with Flying Thunder God, allowing him to keep up with Qingshui's speed.
However, Qingshui still held a clear advantage, even able to spare some effort to assist Pakura against Orochimaru. Overall, he could steadily suppress Konoha's forces.
He could even spare some effort to assist Pakura against Orochimaru.
Even without Pakura, he could still block these three Konoha masters. It just meant he couldn't use the advantage of Blood Demon Art and Flying Thunder God to ambush and kill someone like Hiruzen Sarutobi, as he had before.
Information played a huge role in ninja battles. Izuna Uchiha was known as a flawless, perfect ninja, yet he was ambushed and killed by Tobirama Senju, who had just developed the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, by exploiting the advantage of initial information.
However, once precautions were in place, ambushing someone with this method wasn't as easy, unless you had overwhelming power.
But if you already had overwhelming power, why bother with such tactics?
Now, however, things were a bit troublesome.
Eight Gates Formation…
He almost forgot about that.
Konoha was Konoha after all; its foundation was incredibly deep. In this regard, it was truly beyond the reach of a newly emergent major power like Sand Hidden, which had only developed for a few years.
Might Duy opened seven gates, plus three Elite Jonin-level powerhouses, managing to repel Rasa.
Rasa didn't seem to have suffered any particularly severe injuries.
This was Rasa's good fortune amidst misfortune; he wasn't kicked to death by the Eight Gates.
And it was highly likely that Might Duy's seventh gate wasn't as powerful as Might Guy's would be in the future, possibly a bit weaker. Otherwise, even if Rasa had survived, it wouldn't have been so easy. At the very least, he would have been thoroughly beaten, and his subordinate forces wouldn't have remained as unscathed as they were now.
If he himself encountered the Eight Gates Formation…
The first seven gates shouldn't be an issue, but the eighth gate would be problematic.
If it were just missing limbs or a blown-up head, with his Perfect Demonization body, he should be fine. He could even recover like Six Paths Madara, who regenerated despite losing half his body.
But what if the eighth gate instantly annihilated him, leaving not even a speck? Could he still revive then?
Qingshui wasn't sure.
What about using spatial abilities to evade?
He wondered if Might Duy's Eight Gates could distort space like Might Guy's.
If Qingshui had a certain chance of withstanding it, then Pakura and Rasa definitely couldn't.
Currently, the only solution seemed to be to eliminate Might Duy before he could open the eighth gate.
Under normal circumstances, this guy was just a Genin who was good at Taijutsu.
However, if he could think of this, Konoha would surely think of it too. They would definitely strengthen Might Duy's protection, only allowing him time to open the gates at critical moments.
Could they find a scapegoat to exhaust Might Duy's life?
The first thing Qingshui thought of was the Seven Ninja Swordsmen from the Hidden Mist Village, on the other side of the continent's diagonal coast.
They were the ones who took out Might Duy, but at the cost of turning into the Three Treasures.
It just seems that the Hidden Mist Village isn't doing so well right now.
At the beginning of the war, they had some good results, even managing to steal a Byakugan from the Hyuga Clan's main family.
But now, Uchiha Fugaku has been pushing them back repeatedly, almost like an actor, single-handedly spreading the name "Evil Eye" throughout the Ninja World.
Qingshui suspects that this guy might have already awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan.
And unlike in the original timeline, Uchiha Fugaku didn't hold back excessively; instead, he truly displayed the strength expected of a Kage-level expert—on the front lines, he fought to a standstill with the Fourth Mizukage, who is the Three-Tails Jinchuriki.
Perhaps the pressure Qingshui put on Konoha was too immense, causing Konoha to temporarily set aside its internal conflicts under external threat, allowing Uchiha Fugaku to willingly unleash the power of his Mangekyo.
However, the war situation in the Hidden Mist Village is unfavorable, and they are still far from here, so it's probably impossible to shift the trouble their way.
What about Hanzo?
That old man undoubtedly has the qualifications and ability to force open the Eight Gates Formation, but with Rain Hidden and Cloud Hidden Village seemingly clashing, it's difficult to strategize and operate.
Most importantly, Qingshui is worried about what Orochimaru might do if he learns about the power of the Gate of Death in the Eight Gates Formation.
The deterrent power of the Gate of Death is simply too great, so great that it directly disrupted Qingshui's carefully planned war strategy.
For now, he can only adapt as he goes and take things one step at a time.
At worst, he can just swallow up the territories they've already occupied; that would be enough to satisfy the entire village.
But what's the next move?
Rasa, Sasori, and Fukami Senran sat quietly to the side, watching Qingshui close his eyes in deep thought.
Qingshui was the one in charge.
"The initiative is still in our hands; this isn't something that adding another Might Duy can change. We just need to slightly adjust our strategy."
Qingshui opened his eyes and snapped his fingers.
A Genjutsu projection automatically rose from the conference table, displaying the entire Ninja World map.
"We can't rely on those useless guys from the Hidden Mist Village to make a difference. Hanzo from Rain Hidden also has his own agenda. They certainly have the ability to influence the situation, but they cannot dictate the outcome between us and Konoha. The key to breaking the deadlock still lies with us.
If Konoha wants to turn the tide, let them do their thing. As long as we don't give up the initiative, the advantage we've gained won't be lost.
So, to seize the initiative, our next strategic objective needs to temporarily change. Instead of occupying territory, we need to force Konoha to fight at our pace."
Qingshui pointed his hand towards the Land of Fire's most prosperous strategic stronghold.
The capital of the Land of Fire, also where the Daimyo resides.
"I'll take half of the main force and remain stationed here, pinning down Konoha's key high-level combatants. As long as I'm here, they won't dare to make a move.
If they move, then this half-mountain fortress, which Konoha spent considerable resources building, won't be able to stop me. We can then march straight through, reach Kikyō Pass, and lay siege to Konoha Village."
"Rasa, I'll upgrade your Puppet prosthetic arm in a bit. You take your original troops and continue north."
"Pakura, the remaining half of the main force is yours. Both Rasa and I will coordinate with your troops to march directly on the Land of Fire's capital."
Qingshui wanted to force Konoha to make a choice.
He wanted to see if Konoha would choose to protect its village, or protect the Daimyo, or stop Rasa from advancing north to protect their western territory.
"Additionally, if you encounter Might Duy, you can retreat first and then fight. There's no need to clash head-on with that guy. Since it's a forbidden jutsu, he can't possibly use it repeatedly without cost. There will always be a time when he can't sustain it."
Qingshui added, admonishing them.
This was to prevent them from clashing head-on with Might Duy and forcing out the Gate of Death.
He himself might have a small chance of surviving the Gate of Death, but currently, no one else in the Ninja World would possibly survive it.
"Actually, it might not have to be so troublesome. We could also have another option."
Sasori suddenly spoke, drawing everyone's attention.
"Hiruko and Silver Ox have already been upgraded, and the Third Hokage's body has been made into a Human Puppet. It should retain most of his strength from when he was alive. Oh, the monkey Summoning Beast that could only turn into a staff can't be summoned, but I think even without it, it should be enough."
Sasori's face was calm, but his body couldn't help but lean back against the chair.
Tactical lean!
This is what you call a Puppetry genius!
"Oh? Amazing! Sasori, truly the only Puppetry genius I acknowledge."
Knowing that Sasori was fishing for compliments, Qingshui immediately showered him with praise.
In truth, he was genuinely surprised.
How strong was the Third Hokage?
Truly not weak, a genuine Kage-level peak expert.
Even without Enma, the top-tier Summoning Beast, and even if he lost some of his strength after becoming a Human Puppet, it was still enough to elevate Sasori to a top-tier master in the Ninja World.
In all the years leading up to this, the Sand Village had never had such luxurious Human Puppet material.
That was a true Kage, one of the Five Kage!
Even Chiyo's Chikamatsu Collection was only created by Monzaemon and the Second Kazekage, who gathered the strength of the Sand Village to acquire ten bodies of Elite Jonin.
Was it that they didn't want to use Kage-level powerhouses as material? It was because they lacked the ability, and also because they were limited by the then-current cap on Puppetry.
Even if they were given a Kage-level Human Puppet, its strength would be limited.
Because for ninjas, aside from the rare few who train in Eight Gates Formation, almost all of their combat power largely depends on the ninjutsu they master.
It wasn't until Qingshui introduced his new puppetry, and Sasori revolutionized Human Puppets to inherit their former strength, that the lower and upper limits of Puppetry were jointly raised.
Before this, Sasori had already gained some renown. With Hiruko and Silver Ox, two Elite Jonin-level Puppets, and Black Ant, Crow, and Salamander—three Puppets that had been repeatedly modified to possess Jonin-level combat power—he was already one of Sand Hidden's top combatants among its Elite Jonin.
And he was among the more formidable Elite Jonin.
The addition of the Third Hokage Human Puppet would undoubtedly elevate Sasori's strength to a new level.
Even though Sasori, at only fourteen years old, still had shortcomings in some areas due to his age, his ability to manipulate six Puppets meant he had long prepared various tactics to leverage his strengths and mitigate his weaknesses, making him not easily defeated.
He could already be considered a powerhouse comparable to the previous Rasa, with some specialized skills, but whose overall combat power had reached Kage-level.
Unexpectedly, besides Pakura, Sasori also reached Kage-level early because of me?
And at such a young age.
For anyone else, becoming a Jonin at fourteen would already make them the top genius in the Ninja World!
However, considering the unique nature of Puppetry and Sasori's extraordinary talent in this field, it was unexpected yet perfectly reasonable.
"So, should we gather our current forces and fight Konoha here again, then decide our next steps?
If we can't defeat them, then proceed according to the plan Qingshui set earlier?"
After discussing Sasori's increased strength, Rasa steered the conversation back on track.
Sasori also nodded, looking at Qingshui.
"No, we'll stick to the original strategic plan."
Qingshui slowly shook his head.
Him, Rasa, Pakura, plus Sasori, all attacking together?
That's practically begging Might Duy to unleash his Gate of Death.
If that happened, they'd each get a kick, and Sand Village would once again suffer the tragedy of losing its next generation of top leadership.
They had to split their forces to spread the risk.
"I have other secret intelligence channels. Might Duy's Eight Gates Formation isn't as simple as you think, and if we attack forcefully with this plan, our subordinates will pay a greater price. Our current opponent is Konoha, but what about afterward? We're not fighting Konoha to cause more deaths, nor are we after a nice-sounding title like 'Ruler of the Ninja World.' We want tangible benefits.
Achieving the greatest benefit with the smallest cost is what we truly desire. Let's stick to what I said before: split our forces. Rasa, head north to rendezvous with the Third Hokage. I'll stay here with enough personnel to suppress Konoha's main force and put pressure on Konoha Village. Pakura will take the remaining people directly to the capital of the Land of Fire."
Qingshui laid out his arrangements directly.
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