Won, Izayoi's Sage Mode

"Izayoi-kun, Hinata, Shino-kun, thank you."

More than two hours later, outside a damaged steel giant ship, Temari bowed to the Eighth Squad in gratitude.

Izayoi looked at the Ape Man and Werewolf sealed by the Sand Ninja and asked knowingly, "Is this enough?"

"Yes, as long as we capture these two, we will have a way to extract the location of that army's main camp from their mouths." Temari nodded, confidently saying, "These armored people are not ninja. Although these two leaders can transform into monsters and use powers similar to ninjutsu, they are ultimately just ordinary people and can't possibly be a match for our Sunagakure."

"Since you don't need any more help, we'll go back and report to the Hokage," Izayoi said.

"Izayoi-kun, please come back with us and let our Sunagakure fulfill its hospitality," Temari offered a sincere invitation.

"No, maybe next time," Izayoi shook his head and refused, giving a reason, "Our Konoha's Chunin Exams for the first half of the year are about to begin, and Shino still has to participate in the exam."

Seeing Izayoi's firm attitude, Temari could only nod and smile, "Alright then, if Izayoi-kun wants to visit Sunagakure in the future, you can have the gatekeeper contact me."

"Definitely. See you, Gaara~~"

Izayoi smiled and made a sword gesture, then disappeared with Hinata and Shino Aburame.

...

Meanwhile, the other battle had also ended.

The already damaged steel giant ship was shattered into pieces by the impact.

On the yellow sand, debris was scattered everywhere.

There were pieces of the steel giant ship, Sasori of the Red Sand's Puppet army, and Izayoi's Human Puppets.

"You two are not good enough. Why didn't you summon your BOSS earlier?"

Of the dozen or so Human Puppets, their bodies filled with Black Rods, able to draw Chakra from the main body at any time, only five remained.

One of them, with dark skin and strong muscles, obviously made from the corpse of a Cloud Ninja, sat on a Puppet and teased Sasori of the Red Sand and Deidara, whose limbs were pierced with Black Rods, unable to move or mobilize Chakra.

"Hmph, losing is losing. My skills are inferior," Sasori of the Red Sand's main body said arrogantly, "My art is not as good as yours. You can kill me or do whatever you want."

Deidara, who was next to him, shouted unconvincingly, "Toneri, if you have the ability, pull out the Black Rods from my body. This great one still has a self-destruction technique, which is an ultimate art more magnificent than C4 Garuda. Even your Lightning Release won't find any weaknesses. It's definitely not worse than your meteor shower."

"Aren't you afraid of death?" the Human Puppet asked curiously.

"Toneri, who are you looking down on!" Deidara shouted as if he had been offended, then his expression became fanatical, "The me after death will be transformed into art. That unprecedented explosion, even if this is a desert, will leave traces that will not disappear for a long time, and then my art will be praised by everyone. Including you, Toneri, your main body will definitely remember this great one forever... um!"

At the end, Deidara closed his eyes and nodded with a fascinated look.

"No need to look, I won't forget you in the future," the Human Puppet said quietly.

"Yes, this kind of idiot is indeed hard to forget," Sasori of the Red Sand agreed, nodding.

"If you don't believe me, let me go, and I'll show you the ultimate beauty of a moment," Deidara struggled hard, but it was all in vain.

The Human Puppet stood up and said, "I had a lot of fun today. You guys try to pull out the Black Rods from your bodies."

"You're not going to kill us?" Sasori of the Red Sand and Deidara were slightly stunned.

"If you had summoned your BOSS earlier, you would be dead now," the Human Puppet laughed, "But I admire your personalities. This time, I'll treat it as sparring, and by the way, thank you for last year's gift."

At the same time, thank you for your entries.

The Human Puppet who completed the mission disappeared without any warning.

Watching the place where the Human Puppet disappeared, Deidara said excitedly, "So cool! Izayoi-kun, you truly are an artist recognized by this great self!"

"You've got your life back, but it won't necessarily be the case next time." Sasori of the Red Sand was quite calm, "The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is in the hands of the leader, and the two will have a final battle sooner or later. If we can't even beat his Human Puppet, when the final battle arrives, even if he doesn't kill us, we will very likely die in the aftermath."

"That kind of stage, just thinking about it is exciting." Deidara said with anticipation, "When that time comes, this great self must self-destruct in advance, so that the two strongest people in the Shinobi World can witness this great self's ultimate art."

Sasori of the Red Sand instantly had black lines all over his forehead.

...

The Wind Country incident started inexplicably.

With the intervention of the two strongest people in the Shinobi World, it also ended inexplicably.

By the time the Sunagakure Torture Department obtained the location of the main camp from Ranke, who could turn into an Ape Man, and Kazekage Outer, who could turn into a Werewolf, and led a large army to the River Country in a mighty manner.

The mobile fortress embedded in the mountains had already been taken away by Nagato.

Sunagakure thought that the enemy had learned the news in advance and transferred their camp, so they continued to search everywhere.

Until the Chunin Exams in the first half of the year in Konoha ended, Sunagakure still searched without success.

However, seeing that the enemy no longer attacked the Wind Country, Sunagakure reluctantly withdrew its troops and turned the page on the incident.

As for Seventh Squad, whose client was snatched away, they were not punished after returning to the village.

After all, the person who snatched the client was Toneri Otsutsuki, a visitor from the Moon.

The leader of that mobile fortress also made Nagato personally take action.

It is not difficult to guess that after these two Sage Eye owners could not determine the winner in terms of force, they began to gamble in secret.

Even Minato and Sakumo Hatake had the special privilege of being allowed to abandon the mission without being punished if they encountered each other during the mission.

Not to mention Nagato and Toneri Otsutsuki, these two super-standard combat forces.

Tsunade was already very grateful that the entire Seventh Squad could return, so how could she blame them.

And the fact was just as Tsunade thought.

After Sunagakure withdrew its troops, Izayoi and Nagato were still gambling in the territories of the Wind Country and the River Country.

The mobile fortress was obtained by Nagato, and the remaining Gelel Stone of Hyde had been looted by Nagato.

Timushi, this key, was also imprisoned in Amegakure.

Nagato didn't know what kind of key Timushi was. He only knew from Hyde's soul memory that Timushi was a descendant of that empire and could perfectly integrate the power of the Gelel Stone without turning into a monster.

And Izayoi, who obtained the old man and the ferret, knew that Timushi's blood could activate a summoning array in a space-time cave, summon the space-time cave, and absorb the Gelel Stone veins that destroyed half of the continent into the void.

This was a backhand left by that empire, which was very outrageous.

The gamble between Izayoi and Nagato was also very simple.

That is... to endure!

Izayoi had already found the location of the Gelel Stone veins from the old man's memory.

Before its demise, that empire had used its special methods to seal the mineral vein beneath the mountains of the River Country.

This empire, capable of engraving summoning arrays for spatial rifts, possessed extremely advanced sealing techniques. Even Izayoi's Tenseigan's farsight and clairvoyance couldn't see those ores, and the Kagura Mind's Eye couldn't sense that energy.

Clearly, the Black and White Zetsu's Mayfly Technique couldn't find that mineral vein either.

After all, the Land of Rain was right next to the River Country. If they could sense it, the Black and White Zetsu would have long discovered that terrifying energy that could destroy half a continent once it erupted.

However, better safe than sorry, Izayoi still sent several Wood Clones to take turns monitoring the location of the Gelel Stone mineral vein.

On Nagato's side, he also had the Black and White Zetsu send out a large number of White Zetsu clones to check the ground beneath the Wind Country and the River Country for mineral veins similar to the Gelel Stone.

After all, the characteristics of the Gelel Stone were too obvious: stones containing natural energy and life force, shimmering with a blue light.

If such a mineral vein existed underground, it would definitely be a patch of blue.

The White Zetsu clones, capable of merging with the earth, plants, and trees, and moving at high speed by using plant roots and underground water currents, could definitely quickly search through the underground mineral veins of the Wind Country and the River Country.

At the same time, Nagato also created a large number of Wood Clones, using Wood Transformation to disguise themselves as ordinary people, scattered throughout the Wind Country and the River Country, using their powerful senses to lock onto those powerful Chakra signatures.

Once these Chakra signatures changed, or if he sensed Toneri Otsutsuki's Chakra, or any other powerful Chakra, he would immediately take action.

However, a month passed, and the Black and White Zetsu and Nagato had gained nothing.

"Could I have guessed wrong?"

Receiving the secret message scroll from the Black and White Zetsu, and learning that they had searched the ground beneath the Wind Country and the River Country several times without finding the Gelel Stone mineral vein, Nagato couldn't help but think to himself, "Or is it that the Gelel Stone mineral vein has seals and barriers hiding it, so even my and Zetsu's senses can't detect it? Is Toneri Otsutsuki that guy, actually waiting as well?"

Unwilling to give up, Nagato, in the form of a secret message scroll, ordered the Black and White Zetsu to continue leaving a portion of the White Zetsu clones to cooperate with the Wood Clones in monitoring the Chakra in the Wind Country and the River Country.

Once a strange Chakra entered, they would immediately send White Zetsu clones to monitor it.

He was prepared to continue to wear down Toneri Otsutsuki.

Little did he know that this order of his was giving Izayoi an opportunity.

When the Wood Clone responsible for monitoring the Gelel Stone mineral vein, occasionally brought Ranmaru to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to go over and input Wood Release Chakra into the ground, using ultra-long-range sensing to detect that area, and discovered that White Zetsu clones were gradually no longer passing by.

Izayoi immediately determined that the Black and White Zetsu and Nagato did not know the location of the Gelel Stone mineral vein.

And they seemed to have given up on the idea of searching for underground mineral veins.

However, to avoid them setting a trap for him, Izayoi still did not act immediately, but instead probed further.

He first placed a Spiritual Sphere into the body of an ordinary person, letting them wander around that area for a few days, while the Wood Clone took Ranmaru to hide and monitor the ground and underground.

After seeing that there were no White Zetsu clones lurking around, the Wood Clone left Ranmaru behind, letting that ordinary person carry Ranmaru on their back, and stealthily enter the underground ruins where the Gelel Stone mineral vein was located.

Such underground ruins were not uncommon in the Shinobi World, and many tombs were built in this way.

In the mountainous area of the River Country, there were also a large number of naturally formed caves and volcanic caves.

This underground ruin was just a facade.

The real mineral vein was hidden in an even deeper location.

Ranmaru used his Red Eye ability to create a mirage that didn't change anything, then opened a certain mechanism, and with that ordinary person carrying him on their back, entered a deeper underground secret chamber.

There, a large number of ancient texts and techniques were carved, telling of the Gelel Stone's abilities and dangers, as well as the rise and fall of the empire.

In the middle of the secret chamber, there was also a jutsu formation, precisely the summoning array for the space-time hole that required Timushi's blood to trigger.

Ranmaru first left the jutsu formula of the Flying Thunder God Technique in the secret chamber, and then began to set up a barrier to shield perception.

Finally, according to the method in the old man's memory, he removed a piece of the floor.

Below was the soil, and within the soil was the Gelel Stone vein.

Ranmaru's Red Eye, and the Tenseigan of the Wood Clone, still couldn't see the stones and energy under the soil, indicating that the effect of the jutsu formula was still in place, but he could dig out the stones below.

So, Ranmaru used Earth Release ninjutsu to liquefy this part of the soil.

Then this part of the soil, and the Gelel Stone below, instantly disappeared into thin air.

Ninja Art: Heavenly Transfer Technique!

After sending away part of the Gelel Stone, Ranmaru immediately closed the floor, and a green light flashed through the gap.

Immediately, Ranmaru took the ordinary person and disappeared using the Flying Thunder God Technique.

"Won!"

In the underground base of the traditional building, Izayoi looked at the Gelel Stone that appeared out of thin air in front of him, and the corner of his mouth couldn't help but rise slightly, revealing a smug smile.

This is the difference in intelligence!

Nagato obviously couldn't imagine that Izayoi's Tenseigan possessed a Spiritual Sphere similar to his Human Path ability, but completely different, which could not only read other people's thoughts, but also control their will and actions.

As well as Ranmaru, this trump card that even the Byakugan and Kagura Mind's Eye couldn't perceive unless the Tenseigan and Rinnegan were present.

In terms of configuration and trump cards, Nagato, the transplant of the Sage Eye, was ultimately no match for him, the self-evolving cheat.

Even if Izayoi had no advantage in this plot, he could still win.

"Is this the Gelel Stone?"

Izayoi picked up a billiard ball-sized cyan stone. If it were a ball of light, and still round, it would be very similar to the Spiritual Sphere of the Tenseigan.

No one would have thought that this stone actually contained powerful natural energy and life force.

If one didn't know how to collect it, the energy inside this stone could very likely turn people into monsters, becoming irrational beasts.

But if one knew how to collect it and knew how to use it, the energy inside this stone could give others powerful strength, and even create wells that never run dry, livestock that grow up overnight, and even prevent aging, etc...

"Let me see, how magical is this natural energy that even the Tenseigan and Kagura Mind's Eye can't perceive." Izayoi muttered to himself with interest, but didn't rashly use the Chakra absorption of the Tenseigan and Wood Release.

He saw his right arm wriggling, extending a section of branch, which quickly turned into a Wood Clone.

The Wood Clone did not take the Gelel Stone in Izayoi's hand, but picked up a larger, basketball-like cyan stone from the ground.

Immediately, he used the Chakra absorption of the Tenseigan.

Green Chakra emerged, covering the cyan stone, like a huge ball of light, emitting a dazzling light.

But soon, the green Chakra returned to the Wood Clone's body.

The cyan stone also turned into a transparent crystal.

The energy of the cyan light inside had all disappeared.

Izayoi's Wood Clone, however, suddenly wore a ferocious expression, its mouth widening to reveal sharp fangs, with its face and skin faintly showing signs of beastification.

In less than two seconds, all these features vanished.

Instead, red eye shadow appeared around the Wood Clone's eyes.

If the Tenseigan were closed, even the pupils would change from blue to gold.

With the Tenseigan, or more precisely, with the chakra absorption, the creation of Yin-Yang Release, and the assistance of Wood Release, the Wood Clone instantly conquered natural energy, fusing it with chakra to form Sage Art chakra, instantly activating Sage Mode.

"So this is Sage Art chakra?"

Receiving the information transmitted back in real-time, Izayoi reached out and placed his hand on the Wood Clone's shoulder, absorbing the Sage Art chakra. Red eye shadow immediately appeared at the corners of his eyes.

Feeling the changes within his body, Izayoi slightly curled his lips and said, "Heh... is that all? No difficulty at all."

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