Chapter 151: A True Puppeteer Behind the Scenes
The Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, in the original timeline, was improved by Minato Namikaze based on the Uzumaki Clan's Four Symbols Seal. It successfully sealed the Nine-Tails into Naruto shortly after his birth.
It can be considered one of the strongest sealing techniques in the world of shinobi.
Only a sealing technique of this caliber could restrain Black Zetsu.
After all, Black Zetsu was essentially a fragment of Kaguya Otsutsuki herself—a physical manifestation separated from the ancestor of the shinobi world. As far as Heiyan knew, although Black Zetsu possessed self-awareness, he also served as a backup medium for Kaguya's consciousness. In the original timeline, when Kaguya Otsutsuki finally resurrected, she recovered her own consciousness and regained independent thought by merging with Black Zetsu.
In other words, without the consciousness backup inside Black Zetsu, the revived Kaguya would have been nothing more than an empty shell.
Heiyan stared at the black liquid within the sealing scroll.
Over the past year or so, Black Zetsu had repeatedly tried every means possible to kill Heiyan, escaping unscathed each time despite failing.
This time, Heiyan had finally seized an opportunity, slicing off and sealing one of Black Zetsu's arms—dealing him a heavy blow.
Heiyan knew that the black liquid before him consisted of three components:
a fragment of Kaguya's body, Black Zetsu's own consciousness, and the backup of Kaguya's mind.
If studied carefully later, there might be great gains.
At another battlefield not far away.
While Heiyan was locked in fierce battle with Kakuzu and sliced off one of Black Zetsu's arms with his blade, Fugaku and Hiashi had efficiently eliminated the bounty hunters working for Black Zetsu.
Meanwhile, Ashina Uzumaki and others fought fiercely and defeated over a hundred traitors of the Uzumaki Clan, defending the honor of their clan.
By now, enemies were either dead or fled. Although their side had suffered heavy losses, the difficult defense of Uzugakure had ultimately ended in a complete victory!
However, just as Fugaku and Hiashi turned toward Heiyan, still rejoicing from their victory, they suddenly noticed something was off about him.
At some point, Heiyan's three-headed, six-armed form had vanished, his Sage facial markings fading once more. His entire body swayed unsteadily, as if ready to collapse at any moment.
More alarmingly, half of his long black hair had turned completely white.
This was a sign of complete physical exhaustion and depleted chakra.
"Quick, go over there!"
The two exchanged glances and immediately rushed toward Heiyan.
Suddenly, something unexpected happened!
Whoosh!
A mysterious figure cloaked in a robe leapt suddenly from beneath the river surface beside Uzugakure, holding a gleaming ninja blade and rushing straight at Fugaku and Hiashi with an extremely fast Body Flicker Technique.
This mysterious individual had remained hidden underwater since the beginning of the war, patiently waiting until everything settled down before making his move to finish things off.
A true puppeteer behind the scenes.
And not just any schemer — a truly formidable one with unfathomable strength.
"Watch out!"
Fugaku let out a low shout and charged forward with his blazing war fan to meet the enemy. The opponent's Shifting Body Technique was too fast - even with his Sharingan, he could barely follow.
Whoosh!
The shadow shot forward like lightning, clashing with Fugaku in an instant of sparks and steel. Then both figures passed each other, carried by momentum to slide forward some distance.
"What incredible swordsmanship..."
Fugaku wore an expression of disbelief as he dropped with a thud, kneeling on one knee. His armor had been slashed open at the abdomen, leaving a wound that bled heavily. And the blood flowing out was black - the blade had been coated with potent poison.
"Fugaku!"
Hyuga Hiashi became instantly alarmed and enraged upon witnessing this. When the mysterious assailant launched another attack toward him, he unhesitatingly activated his Dojutsu.
[Byakugan: Oppression!]
As the space ahead solidified, the attacker froze just under two meters from Hiashi, maintaining a lunge position. The tip of his shinobi blade nearly touched Hiashi's body.
"Die!"
Coldly declaring judgment, Hiashi compressed the space around his trapped opponent with overwhelming spatial force.
But then, with a splash...
The enemy's body dissolved under Hiashi's ocular attack, revealing only a puddle of water - merely a Water Clone.
He's behind me!
Almost simultaneously, Hiashi's Byakugan detected the real adversary moving from behind, launching another sneak attack.
Hiashi abruptly turned around, preparing to activate [Byakugan: Oppression] again, only to see a massive wave of purple Poison Mist hurtling straight at him, swallowing him whole.
"Cough... cough..."
Violently coughing after inhaling the deadly toxins, Hiashi collapsed to his knees with a thud, following in Fugaku's footsteps.
Whoosh!
From the mysterious attacker's sleeve shot forth an iron chain that bound Fugaku and Hiashi together, dragging them beneath his feet.
From ambush to defeating both adversaries and taking them captive, the entire process flowed with seamless precision.
Though their earlier battles and Chakra consumption certainly played a role, this mystery man easily subduing two masters still sufficiently proved his formidable strength.
After capturing the pair, the mysterious figure turned his gaze toward Heiyan in the distance, calmly waiting for the latter to arrive and rescue his companions.
"What do you want?"
Heiyan stopped ten meters away from the mysterious assailant, emotionless as he asked.
"Surrender all the Uzumaki clan's Sealing Techniques, plus that large Scroll behind you. Otherwise, I'll kill these two."
The enigmatic figure spoke slowly in a deep voice, resting his shinobi blade against the necks of Fugaku and Hiashi as he used them as leverage to threaten Heiyan.
"Are you certain you want to do this?"
Suddenly, Heiyan asked a question whose implications served as a warning about potential consequences.
"Sorry, but I'm the one making threats here - please recognize this fact."
Completely disregarding Heiyan's warning, the mysterious figure coldly reminded him, "You have three minutes. After that, the poison in them becomes irreversible."
After saying those words, the mysterious figure looked supremely confident as he waited for Heiyan's response.
Although Heiyan appeared to be at the end of his strength, the mysterious man remained extremely cautious. He refused to risk fighting Heiyan directly because he didn't want to suffer the same fate as Kakuzu.
Therefore, he exploited Heiyan's greatest weakness—his deep attachment to his allies.
He knew that to rescue Fugaku and Hiashi, Heiyan would definitely follow his instructions.
However, the mysterious man had forgotten one thing—he himself also had a weakness.
At this moment, Heiyan had already identified the true identity of this mysterious person.
Someone who clearly possessed Transcendent Kage-level strength yet resorted to underhanded tactics, attacking weaker and weakened enemies by surprise, even using poison. Someone who would stop at nothing to secure victory.
But in truth, this man embodied the purest definition of a 'ninja.'
A semi-god-like figure in the world of shinobi—Sanshouo Hanzo.
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