CHAPTER 217: CHAPTER 217: MADARA: KYOHIKO, YOU DELIGHT ME!

The Chikamatsu Collection of Ten, and three other puppets...

Rasa guessed they were likely Sasori of the Red Sand’s "Father" and "Mother," and the last one, he had heard from Ebizo, was a puppet made in the image of Chiyo. He had never seen it. But without a doubt, these three puppets represented the pinnacle of Sasori’s puppet-making technology and were very good samples for Sunagakure. As for the Human Puppet technique, Sunagakure had no intention of researching in that direction, so obtaining it didn’t seem to have much meaning.

Of course—this was purely Rasa’s way of comforting himself. If he could have gotten all the puppets, Rasa would certainly have hoped to obtain all of Sasori’s legacy. The problem was, it was impossible now; even Sasori himself was killed by the other party. Hanzo couldn’t possibly offend Konoha to help Sunagakure... The two villages had been hostile back then, their relationship not good enough for that. Naturally, he had to take whatever these people said at face value.

Rasa resigned himself to his fate in his heart. He sighed inwardly, then composed himself.

"Kyohiko-kun, thank you very much for your help. Otherwise, Sunagakure might not have been able to punish this traitor!"

Ryoho Kyohiko looked at Hanzo.

"By killing Sasori, the ninjas and civilians of our countries can also be spared from death. So for everyone, Sasori’s death is a gain. Of course..."

In private, he could be disrespectful to Hanzo and not give him face, but in front of Rasa, the respect that should be given must be given.

"If not for the magnanimity of Your Excellency, the leader, we would not have been able to kill Sasori."

Hanzo answered faintly.

"Sasori attacked our Amegakure tower. Even if you hadn’t made a move, I would have killed him. So for this matter, I am happy to see it happen."

Then, he looked at Rasa.

"Since Sunagakure has already killed the rogue-nin, is it possible for you to withdraw your troops and leave the Land of Rain?"

Rasa nodded.

"Of course, that’s as it should be."

Hanzo nodded lightly.

"I will give you half a day."

Rasa proposed.

"No problem. Thank you again for your accommodation, Your Excellency. Also, our Sunagakure hopes to trade more with the Land of Rain. I wonder if we can discuss this further in the future?"

Hanzo was taken aback, then chuckled lightly.

"Trade, business, I don’t understand it. Perhaps you should go find the Land of Rain’s Daimyo, not me."

Rasa glanced at Ryoho Kyohiko and swallowed the words he was about to say.

"This... alright."

Of course, what he was talking about was not simple trade, but cooperation in certain fields. Then, he looked at Yahiko. This person... according to intelligence, he was from Amegakure. His current forces should logically be in conflict with Hanzo’s side, but unexpectedly, Hanzo could tolerate him coming over with Konoha. It seems, compared to Sunagakure, Hanzo thinks more highly of Konoha! That was normal. As a small ninja village, they often didn’t have many choices, and this was true even for Amegakure. What’s more, even their Sunagakure had to rely on Konoha, let alone them... Hanzo was still a rational person. Rasa sighed inwardly.

However, even so, after leaving the Amegakure tower, he still quietly made a trip to the east. When Rasa saw the traces at the scene, he was completely stunned, a look of horror unconsciously appearing on his face. The high walls, the deep trenches, and the traces of various ninjutsu destruction were all present at the scene, not completely destroyed. From these traces, he could imagine the battle situation at that time. A very terrifying battle!

"These traces..."

"It looks like a one-sided battle!"

Rasa looked at the traces and sighed in his heart. The people from Konoha had still destroyed a lot, but just the existing traces and information were enough for him to imagine a part of the battle scene.

***

"Kazekage-sama, how is it?"

"Let’s go."

Rasa didn’t explain, but silently led his men away.

Leaving Amegakure, all the way to the outskirts, crossing the high mountains, and back to the border of the Land of Wind, only then did Rasa take out the puppets that Kyohiko had returned to him. Thirteen puppets. There was indeed a lot of damage. One was very heavily damaged, looking as if it had been cut in two by a ninjutsu. Judging by the traces, it should be a Lightning Style ninjutsu.

"What a terrifying Lightning Style ninjutsu! This, was this done by Ryoho Kyohiko?"

"I’m afraid so."

Rasa was silent.

These puppets... on one hand, Konoha didn’t want to do things to the extreme and have a complete falling out with Sunagakure—it wasn’t worth it for Konoha for a few puppets. On the other hand, through the traces on the puppets, they could roughly understand how powerful the enemy was! These thirteen puppets, placed here, were a huge pressure on Sunagakure. Even Sasori of the Red Sand was brutally beaten... can you do it?

Rasa was silent. He looked at the Chikamatsu Collection of Ten, which was treasured by Sunagakure, and the creations of Sasori’s peak conventional puppetry, and what rose in his heart was complete despair. Impossible to win! No one can defeat such an enemy.

"Kazekage-sama..."

The other guards spoke with heavy tones, at a loss for words for a moment.

Rasa let out a breath.

"Don’t think too much. We are allies with Konoha now. In the short term... at least, before this guy dies, we probably won’t have any conflict with them."

If it were normal times, he would never say such discouraging words. But the scene today and the puppets before him really made it so that he and his subordinates couldn’t produce any thought of being enemies. Before the fight even started... it felt like it was already over.

His subordinates were speechless.

"Kazekage-sama, you are right."

Such destructive power, they couldn’t imagine the scene at that time. It was clear that the guy privately called "Child of God" by everyone was really very powerful, having already achieved an effect similar to that of Senju Hashirama back then—as long as he was alive, no one in Sunagakure would dare to make a move!

***

At the Amegakure Tower.

Hanzo sat on his chair. Kyohiko sat beside him, without any pressure at all.

"Ryoho Kyohiko, now that it’s just the two of us, there are some more important topics that I think we can discuss frankly. This will be helpful for both our countries!"

Ryoho Kyohiko nodded lightly.

"Yes, I think so too."

Hanzo sat up straight, his face under the mask very serious.

"What exactly does your Konoha want to do?"

"Are you referring to the puppets, or this operation?"

"Both."

Hanzo was no fool. He could naturally see that compared to Sasori, Ryoho Kyohiko seemed to value that mysterious ninja lurking underground more. Many of his plans were aimed at capturing the other party. Regrettably—in the end, he obviously didn’t succeed.

Ryoho Kyohiko thought for a moment and did not hide it.

"Simply put, this person may be a representative of Uchiha Madara, or has some connection with the former Uchiha Madara."

"Who?"

Under the mask, Hanzo’s expression clearly became bewildered. Uchiha Madara? Isn’t that someone who died many years ago? How could this mysterious ninja be connected to Uchiha Madara?

Ryoho Kyohiko said calmly.

"The specific intelligence certainly cannot be told to you, but this is something we in Konoha can be certain of. The fact that the other party could win over Sasori should also be related to Madara."

He and Hanzo had no superior-subordinate relationship or difference in status. He didn’t have to answer whatever was asked.

Hanzo was silent for a moment, then took a deep breath.

"If that’s the case, then... that’s too terrifying!"

Uchiha Madara. Back then, the only person who could defeat this guy was Senju Hashirama! Although the current Ryoho Kyohiko was also very outstanding, there was still a gap between him and Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama.

Ryoho Kyohiko chuckled lightly.

"You don’t have to believe too much in people of the past. The reason why people of the past are invincible is because they are already dead and can’t be pulled out to compare with the people of today."

"You have to believe in the wisdom of future generations!"

"No matter what, I roughly understand. What about the puppets? Sasori of the Red Sand was not tolerated by the shinobi world precisely because of his human puppets. What do you want to do with all his human puppets?"

Hanzo’s face was serious. This question was crucial! If Konoha also wanted to make human puppets, then they could use it as an excuse to unite against Konoha. Him, plus the other Four Great Shinobi Villages, if they all went together, they might not necessarily lose to Konoha!

Ryoho Kyohiko narrowed his eyes. He naturally couldn’t see Hanzo’s thoughts, but he could faintly feel Hanzo’s changing emotions at the moment.

"Leader Hanzo, your thoughts are very dangerous!"

"Oh?"

Hanzo was startled, then quickly hid his emotions, his expression becoming waveless.

Ryoho Kyohiko chuckled lightly.

"Our Konoha is not interested in human puppets, nor in Sunagakure’s puppet techniques. We just want to use this to research some medical arts."

He paused for a moment.

"Many things are interconnected. It’s not that knowledge in this field is completely useless to another field... At your level, you should be able to understand what I mean, right?"

Hanzo smiled. This guy, at a time like this, still wants to mock me... But he did indeed understand what Kyohiko meant. Medical arts. Hanzo thought for a moment and nodded lightly.

"I have no more problems."

"Then, I have a question."

Ryoho Kyohiko sat up a little straighter and smiled. "Leader Hanzo, you’ve learned this information and watched a show today. What are your thoughts?"

"Thoughts?"

Hanzo chuckled softly, wanting to answer, to mock, but couldn’t bring himself to say it. The young man before him... indeed, in this era, he made all other geniuses pale in comparison. If there really was such a thing as Uchiha Madara’s resurrection, the only one with the ability to deal with Madara was probably this one before him.

He pondered for a long time.

"I can’t be sure if what you said is true or false. So, let’s talk about it then."

Ryoho Kyohiko nodded lightly, stood up to leave, but after taking a step, he seemed to remember something, slapped his forehead, and said as if "just waking up from a dream".

"Can’t believe my memory. If you come into contact with them, you must be careful of genjutsu or similar manipulative ninjutsu!"

"Genjutsu? What do you mean?"

Hanzo frowned.

"Just a friendly reminder. According to our integrated intelligence analysis, Kirigakure’s Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, has very likely been controlled, which is why he presided over the Village of the Bloody Mist."

After Ryoho Kyohiko finished speaking, he smiled. "Just my opinion. Whether you believe it or not is up to you. Farewell!"

Saying that, he left with the Flying Thunder God. Hanzo sat in his seat, not speaking for a long time. Kirigakure... the legend of the Bloody Mist, he naturally knew. But the Fourth Mizukage was controlled? This was really a bit of a fantasy.

However, what if what Konoha said was true? If the other party had the ability to control the Fourth Mizukage, they might have the ability to control him, Hanzo. There’s no harm in being careful!

***

On a distant mountain top.

Obito saw the half-black, half-white figure emerge from the ground and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Senpai, I thought you weren’t coming back!"

"..."

Zetsu glanced at him, not speaking for a long time. He had indeed almost not come back. This guy from Konoha was too powerful, even more excessive than Senju Hashirama back then! After all, at that age, Senju Hashirama was far inferior to Ryoho Kyohiko, and the ninjutsu and abilities he had mastered were not as many as the other’s. It was only later that he slowly rose and became stronger. In comparison, the current Kyohiko was a bit too comprehensive!

What was more terrifying was—that guy was clearly just a descendant of a branch of the Senju clan, not even a pure-blooded descendant. Why did he have such powerful potential? To this day, Black Zetsu still couldn’t figure it out. He even suspected at one point that Kaguya had another descendant in the mortal world.

Obito was also not calm. Kyohiko had been his classmate. Before, he had also heard that Kyohiko’s talent was very terrifying and strong, but he had never had a strong concept of it, let alone seen Kyohiko make a move in person. Today, seeing it, Obito had a rough understanding. Simply put—if they met face to face, he wouldn’t even have a chance to make a move!

Under Madara’s training, Obito once thought he was already comparable to the geniuses in his clan and could be considered a figure in the shinobi world. Today, seeing this, he finally understood why Madara looked down on him. A ridiculous gap! Obito’s mood was low.

Black Zetsu glanced at him and immediately understood his thoughts.

"Even Hatake Kakashi can’t catch up to him now, let alone you!"

"I..."

Obito wanted to refute but couldn’t say a word.

Black Zetsu smiled.

"But the current you is already about the same as Kakashi."

The premise was—the other party didn’t use his swordsmanship and Lightning Release: Rasengan. Black Zetsu added in his heart. For now, there was a not-so-small gap between Obito and Kakashi, but sparring a few rounds wouldn’t be a problem.

He thought for a moment.

"Do you have any thoughts?"

"Me?"

Obito thought for a moment. "I think I should have more practical combat. Blind training is not very meaningful."

Zetsu smiled.

"We’ll go back and ask for instructions from the lord. I think he will agree."

"Thank you, senpai!"

Obito breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that if Zetsu agreed, Madara’s side would basically not object. The premise was that he could make achievements.

"It’s nothing, just a coincidence."

As Zetsu spoke, he grabbed him and quickly escaped into the ground.

After a long while, he and Obito returned to Madara’s base. After meeting, he described the battle between Sasori and Ryoho Kyohiko in detail, and... emphasized Sage Mode.

"Hahahahahaha!"

Uchiha Madara sat on his chair and laughed wildly, leaving Obito below looking bewildered. He couldn’t understand what was so funny.

Zetsu was speechless. When Madara’s mood calmed down, he finally asked.

"Sir, his Sage Mode, has it already reached the level of Senju Hashirama back then?"

Uchiha Madara smiled.

"Just a clumsy imitation. If it were Hashirama, he wouldn’t have needed to open it a second time!"

A slight smile touched his lips.

"However, for this child to be able to instantly activate Sage Mode, it can be seen that he is already trying to find ways to supplement the gap with mortal means. He is indeed the opponent that delights me most in this era!"