Just as Ebizō was about to touch the Ring of Zhurong, a hand grabbed his shoulder.
He struggled violently but failed to break free. Just as he was about to forcefully exert more strength, Chiyo appeared behind him and wrapped both arms around her younger brother.
"You can't go!"
"Little brother, you cannot get any closer."
Chiyo extended one finger and manipulated a puppet to fire a senbon.
The instant the needle passed through the Ring of Zhurong, it turned crimson red and softened until it bent out of shape.
Ebizō was immediately startled.
His outstretched right hand recoiled as if struck by electricity.
In only that brief instant, the senbon had been heated until it glowed red and softened.
The temperature had to be at least six hundred degrees.
A human body obviously couldn't withstand such an absurd level of heat.
The most terrifying part was that Ebizō had already approached close enough to touch the ring, yet he hadn't sensed any heat radiation at all.
However, hatred and bloodshed made him believe this was an opportunity.
He turned toward Chiyo.
"Elder Sister, as long as I don't touch those rings, there won't be any danger."
"I'll go inside and kill him!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Chiyo gave him a vicious slap across the face.
Ebizō's cheek instantly swelled, and the blow left him completely stunned.
Chiyo growled, "Look carefully!"
"This covers an area several hundred meters wide. How do you plan to cross it?"
"And even if you manage to get through, then what?"
"You don't possess any intelligence about this mysterious man. How could you possibly defeat him?"
Ebizō refused to accept it.
"He killed my son!"
"I searched for him for more than a year, and I've finally found him!"
"I must kill him!"
"You can't kill him!"
"I can!"
Chiyo finally concluded that her younger brother had completely lost his mind.
She manipulated a puppet and struck him with another violent slap.
The previous slap had hurt her hand.
Blood seeped from Ebizō's gums, but instead of calming down, his eyes became bloodshot as he began roaring and shouting.
Chiyo was helpless.
She followed with several more heavy slaps.
In any case, the puppet's palm was carved from cypress wood and wouldn't be damaged by striking him.
She would rather beat her brother half to death than allow him to throw his life away.
Amid the continuous smacking sounds, the Ring of Zhurong rapidly contracted.
By the time the golden ring shrank beneath Uchiha Yoru's feet, Chiyo had finally beaten the grieving old man back to his senses.
Blood covered Ebizō's mouth and nose.
He reached out, caught the puppet's palm, and said, "I won't act impulsively anymore, Elder Sister."
"I understand."
"I cannot kill him today."
"I'll wait for another opportunity."
Suddenly, Uchiha Yoru appeared behind Chiyo.
"Hmm?"
"Who are you planning to kill?"
"Me?"
Chiyo and Ebizō both shuddered violently in fright.
Chiyo nearly launched an attack on instinct.
Fortunately, she stopped her puppet in time and used her own puppets to restrain the three puppets controlled by her brother.
Uchiha Yoru looked at the puppet blade less than half a foot from his mask.
He extended his right hand and flicked the gleaming tip of the blade.
With a regretful smile, he said, "Jie-jie-jie-jie. It was only the slightest distance away."
"What a pity."
He looked Ebizō up and down.
Then he suddenly clapped his hands together and said in delight, "So it was you!"
"You're the father of that ninja who tried to kill me in the Land of Rivers."
"Jie-jie-jie-jie! A mere ant actually wishes to kill me, the Natural Sage?"
"Good!"
"Excellent!"
Uchiha Yoru spread both arms and exposed his chest and abdomen to Ebizō.
"Come."
"Do it."
"Attack me!"
Uchiha Yoru's voice was filled with temptation.
"Jie-jie-jie-jie. I guarantee that I won't block or dodge the first strike."
"I promise to let you hit me."
"Come!"
Ebizō clenched his fists tightly.
His eyes stared fixedly at the Adam's apple visible beneath Uchiha Yoru's mask, and his teeth ground together with a creaking sound.
However, under Chiyo's anxious shouts, he ultimately restrained himself and didn't attack.
The moment he decided to give up, all strength left Ebizō's body.
He covered his eyes with both hands and silently began to cry.
Uchiha Yoru spat to the side and turned away in disappointment.
As he walked, he cursed, "What a spineless coward..."
"There were too many of you last time, and I was too weak to kill you."
"So why won't you attack me now?"
"If you don't attack, how can you count as my enemy?"
"And if you aren't my enemy, how am I supposed to kill you?"
The Sunagakure ninja heard his words.
While feeling deeply relieved, their minds also filled with question marks.
They were all elite ninja and quickly sorted out the strange man's meaning.
Someone who wasn't an enemy couldn't be killed.
Someone who didn't attack him wasn't an enemy.
And someone who had been an enemy in the past didn't necessarily count as one now.
As ninja, they couldn't understand this bizarre logic.
This was a special principle Uchiha Yoru had established for the persona of his alternate identity:
Never fire the first shot, but never give the enemy the chance to fire a second.
The theoretical explanation was that Zhurong, as a Natural Sage, strictly followed the commandments of Heaven and diligently accumulated merit.
He refused to lose merit through indiscriminate killing.
Therefore, Immortal Zhurong would proactively save people, but when killing, he would only kill enemies.
However, the Immortal also enjoyed killing.
That was why he preferred enemies who attacked him first and successfully struck him.
Such enemies could be killed without any concern about losing merit.
Of course, the shinobi world didn't even possess a Heavenly Dao, much less anything resembling merit.
But that didn't prevent Uchiha Yoru from using the concept to fool people.
If he deceived everyone in the shinobi world into believing in merit, then that itself would truly be a great merit.
Besides, in a supernatural world like the shinobi world, why couldn't the concept of merit eventually become real?
As long as Uchiha Yoru continued growing steadily, anything was possible.
After walking some distance away, he turned toward the Sunagakure ninja.
"Jie-jie-jie-jie. Out of kindness, let me remind you to stay farther away from me."
"Don't get burned to death by the aftershocks of my power."
"I've already warned you."
"If some unlucky fool still gets burned to death, it won't have anything to do with me."
"Jie-jie-jie-jie!"
On the other side, the Konoha ninja heard his words.
Nara Shikao immediately shouted, "Retreat!"
"Retreat immediately!"
Yamanaka Hiroguchi and Nara Shikao had worked together for many years.
The moment he heard those words, he understood just how urgent the situation was.
He immediately issued an order.
"All units, retreat!"
Yamanaka Hiroguchi was the captain of the highest-ranked Ino–Shika–Chō formation on the Land of Rivers front.
He was also the most senior jōnin stationed there and had long served as acting commander.
Konoha's senior commanders rarely remained in their positions for long.
In practice, Yamanaka Hiroguchi had shouldered command responsibility in the Land of Rivers for far longer than any officially appointed commander.
As a result, his prestige among Konoha's southwestern forces was extremely high.
The moment he issued the order, everyone began withdrawing from the sea as quickly as possible in squads, alternately covering one another.
In contrast, the Sunagakure ninja whom Uchiha Yoru had directly warned hesitated and dragged their feet.
Even after half a minute, they still hadn't left the five-hundred-meter range.
But by then, the forest of waves from the second tsunami had already approached.
Uchiha Yoru no longer hesitated.
He once again expanded the golden Ring of Zhurong, sweeping it across the entire sea.
The Sunagakure ninja were all agile.
Some leaped high into the air, while others used ninjutsu.
Every one of them avoided the golden ring of fire.
However, because Ebizō was being restrained by his sister and was also dispirited and unable to concentrate, his reactions were several beats slower.
One of his puppets failed to evade in time and was struck by the Ring of Zhurong.
In only that instant, the top-grade puppet made from carefully selected materials collapsed onto the surface of the sea and transformed into a fiercely burning bonfire.
All the painstaking fireproofing measures applied to it proved completely useless.
Chiyo's eyes contracted sharply at the sight.
She grabbed her younger brother and escaped the range of the Ring of Zhurong at maximum speed.
Even after leaving, Chiyo didn't feel reassured.
She dragged him several thousand meters away in a single breath before finally relaxing.
"What happened to the puppet?"
"How did it lose control in an instant and burn like that?"
Ebizō's face was filled with fear.
"That ring of light is extremely strange."
"The fire didn't burn inward from the outside."
"The entire puppet heated up simultaneously, both inside and out."
"The first parts to fail were the metal joints."
"The material softened and jammed the puppet's movements."
"Only afterward did it begin burning from within."
Chiyo was horrified.
"Are you certain the inside and outside heated simultaneously?"
"And that the flames began burning from within?"
Ebizō thought back carefully and answered with certainty.
"Yes."
"The inside and outside heated at the same time."
"The flames also began burning from within."
"The fire-resistant coating I applied to the exterior probably delayed it somewhat."
Chiyo's expression changed dramatically.
She turned and carefully observed the burning remains of the puppet.
After a long while, she asked, "Little brother, what different materials did you use for the torso and limbs?"
During this time, Ebizō had also recovered his reason.
He was a top puppet master himself and understood deeply what it meant for the opponent to instantly disable and rapidly ignite one of his puppets.
Hearing his sister's question, he immediately answered, "I used crystalwood for the torso and resin pine for the limbs."
Chiyo released a breath.
"Fortunately, the crystalwood didn't ignite."
"The puppet can still be reused."
Ebizō agreed.
"Yes."
"We'll need to prepare several specialized puppets."
"They cannot contain any metal materials, and the entire body must be constructed from fire-resistant wood."
"Such puppets will be extremely expensive."
"The greatest difficulty will be manufacturing the joints."
Chiyo nodded.
"That isn't a problem, little brother."
"I remember that there are ready-made puppets in the warehouse."
"The final puppets created by Senior Monzaemon all satisfy those two requirements."
At this point, Chiyo suddenly shuddered.
Her expression filled with horror.
"Could it be that Monzaemon considered the threat of fire?"
"Was that why he insisted on building his puppets entirely from wood?"
"Senior..."
"Did he also encounter an enemy who possessed such terrifying Fire Release?"
...
Uchiha Yoru paid no attention to the Sunagakure ninja.
All his focus remained on the tsunami.
This was the second tsunami formed at the original location when the first wave spread outward and its reflected waves collided.
Its power and height were both greatly reduced.
To Uchiha Yoru, dealing with this second tsunami was far easier than handling the first.
However, he remained completely focused.
The volcano was still building toward another eruption, which meant the matter was far from over.
In the worst-case scenario, he might have to continue enduring until the day of the Winter Solstice.
Therefore, he had to use every portion of his strength as efficiently as possible and minimize his expenditure to the greatest extent.
After careful calculations, Uchiha Yoru confirmed that this wave was only twelve meters high.
As long as he destroyed five kilometers of its front, the River Capital's safety could be guaranteed.
The Chariots of Kagutsuchi charged once more.
Although the width of the formation was less than one-quarter of the previous one, and there were only two assault lines of chariots, their thunderous charge still resounded across the sky.
The ninja who witnessed the scene remained pale with fear.
As acting commander, Yamanaka Hiroguchi was constrained by his position.
He could only forcibly suppress his fear, tightly close his mouth, and say nothing.
As a strategist, Nara Shikao didn't possess as many restrictions.
He sighed emotionally.
"Terrifying."
"If this were aimed at us Konoha ninja, how could we possibly deal with it?"
He patted the plump Akimichi Chōgen.
"What do you think?"
"Can you block it?"
Akimichi Chōgen narrowed his eyes and smiled.
He raised one finger.
"I'm confident I could deal with one flaming chariot."
"But two consecutive attacks would be difficult."
"Three would be completely impossible."
Nara Shikao nodded and relaxed slightly.
"As long as it can be handled."
"Don't be deceived by its overwhelming scale."
"It's effective because it's being used against an inanimate tsunami."
"This isn't necessarily suitable for fighting ninja."
"Even if we were forced into a direct clash, as long as we tore open a gap in the front, we could avoid the most dangerous portion of the charge."
Yamanaka Hiroguchi said, "We still don't know whether this mysterious man is an enemy or an ally."
"Perhaps we can coexist peacefully."
Nara Shikao quickly nodded.
"He isn't necessarily an enemy."
"His objective after appearing has been extremely clear."
"He came to confront a natural disaster, not to deal with ninja like us."
"Moreover, I noticed that he approached Chiyo and Ebizō earlier."
"At the very least, they appeared to have argued."
"Yet he still didn't suddenly attack and kill them."
After hearing Nara Shikao's reasoning, the Konoha ninja found it logical and well supported.
They relaxed and no longer felt as panicked.
The Sunagakure ninja were also discussing the situation.
The Natural Sage was the enemy who had killed Ebizō's son.
No matter how they viewed it, he was an enemy of Sunagakure.
As a result, their discussion carried a much stronger sense of hostility, and they never considered reconciliation.
However, the Sunagakure ninja also didn't consider directly surrounding and attacking the Natural Sage.
Such an attempt couldn't possibly succeed.
In the shinobi world, once an individual's strength far surpassed the average and reached the so-called Kage level, they gained absolute initiative.
They could fight whenever they wished and leave whenever they wished.
Up until now, every Kage-level ninja who had died in battle had fallen while fighting another hostile Kage-level ninja.
There had never been an instance of one being surrounded and killed by an ordinary ninja army.
The common understanding throughout the shinobi world was that no matter how many genin, chūnin, and jōnin formed an army, they still couldn't surround and kill a Kage.
Instead, the army would eventually collapse under the Kage's repeated harassment and attacks.
This was precisely why Konoha's ninja army in the Land of Rivers, despite possessing fifty percent more troops than Sunagakure, was still firmly suppressed.
Sunagakure possessed Chiyo, a Kage-level ninja.
Konoha could only rely on the deterrence of sealing techniques to ensure its own safety and prevent its army from being completely defeated.
This was the value and deterrent power of a Kage-level expert.
It was also the root of the Kage's exalted status.
The strength displayed by the Natural Sage was extraordinarily great.
Even among Kage-level experts, only the strongest few—those who personally bore the title of Kage—could compare with him.
Suddenly, Chiyo thought of Sunagakure's own Fourth Kazekage and couldn't help shaking her head.
The Natural Sage's strength was probably something only the Hokage, Raikage, or Tsuchikage could match.
If they wished to deal with such a powerful existence, surrounding him with ordinary ninja would definitely be useless.
Most of their discussion focused on how to track him, discover his objective, hidden base, and other intelligence.
After that...
They could decide what to do later.
For now, there was only one thing worth considering.
Avoid conflict.
If they fought the Natural Sage now, even setting aside the likelihood of successfully surrounding and killing him, the Konoha ninja opposite them absolutely wouldn't stand by and watch.
If Konoha established contact with this Immortal and formed some degree of alliance, Sunagakure's advantage in the Land of Rivers would completely disappear.
It wouldn't be long before they were driven out of the country.
When the new round of flaming chariots began charging, Pakura of the Scorch Release secretly touched the fire ring and returned with extremely precise information.
The discussion immediately became even clearer.
Pakura's face was deathly pale.
"That strange man's ring of fire may be the legendary senjutsu."
"I... cannot be certain."
"But it definitely isn't Fire Release."
"Its power is also far greater than any Fire Release I know."
"In any case, I am definitely not his opponent."
Chiyo frowned.
"I already knew you weren't his opponent."
"The question is how long you can endure."
"Or rather, can you hold him back?"
Pakura shook her head.
"No."
"Completely impossible."
"When he came and went earlier, he didn't use the Body Flicker Technique."
"It was most likely space–time ninjutsu."
"I cannot hold him back at all."
Chiyo and Ebizō's expressions instantly collapsed.
They had actually noticed signs of space–time ninjutsu themselves.
However, they had clung to a trace of hope and hadn't dared confirm it.
Only after Pakura said the same thing did they helplessly accept reality.
Space–time ninjutsu was nearly impossible for any ninja to counter.
But which type of ninja suffered the greatest threat from it?
Without question, puppet masters.
In the shinobi world, puppet masters devoted their entire lives to their puppets.
From manufacturing to control, from poisons to mechanisms, they had almost no spare energy to study anything else.
Even the greatest puppet masters faced strict limits.
Chiyo, for example, specialized in poisons and medical ninjutsu while also studying sealing techniques.
That was already an unbelievably extreme challenge.
But no matter how talented a puppet master might be, they couldn't possibly polish their own taijutsu to a high level.
Doing so required far too much time.
An overly muscular body might even produce the opposite effect and reduce the sensitivity required to manipulate puppets.
Outstanding puppet masters would devise every possible method to hide themselves with puppets, protect themselves through puppets, or even go so far as to transform their own bodies into puppets.
But they would never abandon puppetry and instead train taijutsu to completely compensate for their weakness.
That would be putting the cart before the horse.
Therefore, what puppet masters feared most was an enemy getting close and overwhelming them with a storm of taijutsu.
Yet none of a puppet master's methods could counter an enemy who possessed an absolute advantage in speed.
All initiative remained in the enemy's hands.
No matter how excellent the disguise or how powerful the body modifications, repeated attempts would eventually expose and overcome them.
Among all categories of high-speed ninjutsu, space–time ninjutsu was unquestionably the strongest.
It granted an absolute speed advantage.
Combined with the Natural Sage's fire ring, which could easily destroy puppets themselves, even Ebizō's burning desire for revenge couldn't prevent him from admitting one fact.
His enemy was the natural nemesis of puppet masters.
The realization filled him with despair.
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