Chapter 145: Kage-Level Battle
Thump!
A dozen giant shuriken directly knocked down the iron spears.
Seeing this, the Third Kazekage's calm expression finally changed completely.
"This ninjutsu is..." He turned his head with a grim expression, trying to prove his thoughts wrong.
Unfortunately, the middle-aged man in battle armor not far away had completely shattered his last shred of hope.
"Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi," the Kazekage forced out the words.
As the Kazekage had said, the newcomer was indeed Hiruzen Sarutobi.
After receiving Orochimaru's secret report, he had thought it over and finally decided to go to the battlefield himself.
For this, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado had tried their best to stop him, but in the end, they could not dissuade the insistent Hiruzen Sarutobi.
After all, the situation on the southwestern front had always been unfavorable. In addition, with the Third Kazekage, Chiyo, and the others personally taking the field, how could he, Hiruzen Sarutobi, just sit back and do nothing?
Especially that man, the Kazekage. If there were no strong individuals to restrain him, with his abilities alone, he could probably turn the entire Southwestern Army upside down.
So, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that his decision was not wrong. This was even more so when he saw the scene before him.
"Kazekage, why must your Sand Village insist on provoking a war?" Hiruzen asked, walking slowly toward him.
Although Hiruzen had not made any special moves, the sheer force of his presence made the Kazekage's brow furrow subconsciously.
"...My aura has been locked on. If I were to rashly ascend, what awaits me would probably be a fatal blow." The Kazekage was secretly worried and at the same time cursed the cunning Hiruzen Sarutobi in his heart. "To watch your own ninja die without rescuing them, was it all to wait for this moment when I descended? What a cold-blooded and cunning old bastard."
Countless thoughts raced through his mind, and then the Kazekage looked at Hiruzen with a cold smile and said, "What's the point of saying all this now, Hokage?"
"Of course it's useful," Hiruzen said with a chuckle.
Just as the Third Kazekage was frowning and secretly pondering the deeper meaning of his words, several other figures walked out from around him. They were Hiruzen Sarutobi's four shadow clones.
"At least it can distract you."
With that, without waiting for the grim-faced Kazekage to react, his real body and the four shadow clones began to quickly form hand seals.
Instantly, a ninjutsu attack of five different elements—Wind, Lightning, Fire, Earth, and Water—thus shot toward the surrounded Third Kazekage.
"Five Elements Combo: Great Combo Jutsu."
In this moment of crisis, the Third Kazekage directly released his strongest defensive ninjutsu.
"Secret Technique: Asura's Shield."
This was a jutsu that gathered a large amount of iron sand and then, using the magnetic resonance of his Kekkei Genkai, combined them at high density.
Asura's Shield had an extremely high absolute defense and could reflect all metal ninja tools. It was a defensive secret technique that was both offensive and defensive.
At this time, the Third Kazekage was confident that he could definitely defend against the enemy's extremely powerful ninjutsu.
Boom!
A sound like the shaking of the earth and mountains suddenly echoed across the plain. Many of the heavily injured ninja in the vicinity were directly knocked unconscious by the aftershock of the two's exchange.
"Move the injured ninja to a safe place," Hiruzen Sarutobi said faintly to the Kage Guard behind him, then stared at the Kazekage.
After a long while, the smoke dissipated. In the place where the Third Kazekage had been, a crater, dozens of meters deep, had appeared.
Hiruzen Sarutobi focused his vision and found that in the center of the crater, a broken iron ball was teetering.
After a long while, the Third Kazekage struggled to walk out of it.
"Wah." He spat out a mouthful of blood, and the Kazekage finally felt much better, but the ringing in his head was a long time in fading.
But at this time, he had no mind to care about such things.
"As expected, cough... as expected of the Professor of Ninjutsu, to be able to develop all five elements to this extent is unheard of, but..."
"Don't underestimate me! I am... the Third Kazekage!!!"
The moment his words fell, a series of weapons of various shapes, all made of iron sand, thus shot toward Hiruzen.
"Secret Technique: Iron Sand Drizzle: Speed."
At the same time, a pair of black wings once again appeared behind the Kazekage, and with a burst of chakra from his feet, he thus quickly rushed toward the sky above.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the oncoming attack with a calm expression, took a deep breath, and his hands suddenly slapped the ground.
"Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu."
"Appear, Monkey King: Enma."
Poof!
At the critical moment, a giant monkey suddenly appeared in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi. It then, with its "indestructible" body, directly swatted away the oncoming iron sand weapons.
"Hiruzen, this opponent is not simple. Can your old bones still handle it?" Enma said, turning to his old friend with a smile.
"Haha, although I'm not as good as before, I can still teach a lesson to the younger generation," Hiruzen Sarutobi replied with a loud laugh.
Enma smiled and shook his head, then formed a hand seal.
"Transformation Jutsu."
"Adamantine Staff."
After Hiruzen Sarutobi took the staff, he directly stuck one end into the ground. In an instant, it extended at an exaggerated speed, carrying Hiruzen's body and directly catching up to the Kazekage, who had not yet flown to a high altitude.
"What?!" The Third Kazekage heard the whistle from behind, subconsciously looked back, and his expression changed drastically.
However, before he could react, Hiruzen, holding the staff, struck at him with the force of a thousand pounds.
With a loud thump, the Third Kazekage was sent flying like a baseball, crashing back to the ground.
Although both were Kage of a village, and their strength was at the Kage level, after such a short exchange, the Third Kazekage didn't even have the strength to fight back. He was directly pressed to the ground and rubbed by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
This showed that even among the top Kage-level powerhouses, there was still a huge gap in strength. And this gap was even greater than the gap in strength between a new jounin and a top elite jounin.
So, it was not surprising that the Third Kazekage was suppressed to this extent.
"...How humiliating," the Kazekage said, spitting out another mouthful of blood. He then waved his hand and created a giant triangle, dozens of meters long, above his head.
"Ninja Art: Iron Sand Great Triangle."
"You, go to hell!!!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the still-struggling Kazekage and sighed. "Why can't you just learn your lesson?"
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