Was Jūbei really a match for the Third Hokage?
Of course not!
Although the Third looked old, as though he were a flickering candle in the wind, the moment he entered battle, his physique and sheer presence made it clear that he was far from helpless.
At the very least, like Orochimaru, he deserved to be called a "Kage-level gatekeeper."
"Summoning Jutsu: Monkey King Enma!"
Faced with Jūbei’s sneak attack, the Third Hokage was still able to attack while simultaneously defending himself. From this alone, it was clear that in a one-on-one battle, Jūbei was not the Third’s equal.
As the smoke cleared, a monkey with an indestructible body appeared behind Hiruzen Sarutobi—the Monkey King Enma. He had blocked the threat approaching the Third from behind.
The demon samurai summoned by Jūbei was instantly torn apart by Enma. The old monkey still had quite a bit of strength.
"It’s been a long time, Sarutobi! What sort of monster have you gotten yourself involved with this time?"
After eliminating the danger behind Sarutobi, Enma stood back-to-back with him and turned his head to ask.
It seemed the two had not seen each other for many years. Enma had thought he had already retired, never expecting that there would still come a day when he would be summoned to continue fighting and making himself useful.
He really had not expected this day to come.
"What exactly is that thing?"
Enma pointed at Jūbei.
"An Uchiha with nothing but a head? Sarutobi, you really went too far! You butchered the Uchiha until they ended up like this?"
There was obvious surprise in the old monkey’s voice.
Enma knew about Sarutobi’s attitude toward the Uchiha Clan of Konoha. Having suddenly been summoned and seeing nothing but an Uchiha who had been reduced to a headless, limbless torso, he assumed that his old friend had finally taken action against the Uchiha Clan.
But this was a little too brutal, wasn’t it?
He had literally cut the poor fellow down to a torso!
Wasn’t that taking things a bit too far?
Enma was still very confident in Sarutobi’s strength.
Hearing the cheerful tone in Enma’s voice, Sarutobi’s face turned grim.
Everyone had overestimated him. Everyone had assumed that victory would inevitably belong to Konoha—including Sarutobi himself.
But reality was always so dramatic.
The course of events always seemed determined to go against the plan.
"Enma, take a good look! The Uchiha rebelled against us! We’re the victims here!"
The Sarutobi Clan had suffered heavy losses, and Sarutobi desperately tried to put himself in the position of the victim.
At the very least, doing so would allow him to gain considerable sympathy after the war.
Hearing Sarutobi’s explanation, Enma finally noticed what was happening.
Although there were numerous shinobi from the Sarutobi Clan surrounding the area, with only a scattered handful of Uchiha among them who seemed to have been surrounded...
Judging from the actual battle, it was the handful of Uchiha who were chasing after the Sarutobi shinobi and hacking at them!
This left Enma completely puzzled.
"Sarutobi, why aren’t your people fighting back? Are they planning to wear those Uchiha down with their lives?"
The Sarutobi Clan’s shinobi, combined with the Konoha shinobi, numbered nearly twenty thousand. There were also countless shinobi from Konoha’s other clans surrounding the battlefield.
Yet all of them simply stood there and watched, allowing this tiny number of Uchiha to run rampant.
Was this really Konoha?
Enma couldn’t understand it.
But Sarutobi had no idea how to answer his sharp-tongued old friend’s question either.
"We don’t have time to discuss this. Let’s deal with this strange fellow in front of us first!"
The question of the Konoha shinobi’s combat discipline could wait. This was not the time to discuss it.
If the current situation dragged on, Konoha’s casualties would only increase, and the situation would become increasingly impossible to control.
"This fellow’s ninjutsu is very strange. Let’s work together and find a way to get close to him."
The Third truly lived up to his title as the Professor. He had already identified Jūbei’s weakness.
Jūbei had no limbs and could only cast his techniques through incantations. Although his ninjutsu was bizarre and powerful, it was ultimately slower than performing hand seals.
At the same time, it exposed the fact that Jūbei’s taijutsu was practically nonexistent.
Close-quarters combat was therefore the best way to defeat him.
But if the Third could figure this out, how could Jūbei not know it himself?
For a shinobi with extremely high attack power but poor defenses, the difference in strength between two opponents determined whether they were even qualified to fight each other.
If the gap was too great, one side would simply be killed instantly.
But if both sides were qualified to fight, that meant that although there might be a difference in strength, it was certainly not as overwhelming as one might imagine.
At that point, information became crucial.
The Third knew nothing about Jūbei.
Jūbei, on the other hand, understood the Third.
From his ninjutsu to his family relationships and even his personality, all of this information had been thoroughly circulated at the Naka Shrine.
Seeing the Third charge toward him, Jūbei retreated while chanting.
"O Ruler! Mask of flesh and blood, all creation, fluttering wings, bearer of the name of man! Heat and conflict, surging waves upon the sea, advance southward! Uchiha Secret Technique: Red Fire Cannon!"
Jūbei had used his Fear Armor to withstand the Third’s Fire Release: Great Flame Technique, and immediately launched a counterattack, refusing to let the Third get close.
As the incantation ended, a large number of blazing projectiles shot toward Sarutobi.
But upon closer inspection, one would realize that although the flames were flying in Sarutobi’s direction, their actual targets were the helpless members of the Sarutobi Clan and the ordinary Konoha shinobi behind him.
It was the classic strategy of forcing the enemy to defend what they cannot afford to lose.
Jūbei’s intentions were obvious.
He had never intended to defeat the Third.
He knew perfectly well that he did not have the ability to take down the Hokage of Konoha.
All he needed to do was firmly tie down the old man and leave him with no opportunity to escape.
Therefore, every one of Jūbei’s techniques was aimed at something the Third absolutely had to protect.
These large-scale techniques meant that if the Third failed to stop them, the surrounding Konoha shinobi would be injured or killed.
With the Third’s reputation as a benevolent man, regardless of whether that reputation was genuine or manufactured, he could not simply allow Jūbei to succeed in full view of everyone.
He had to neutralize Jūbei’s techniques and minimize Konoha’s casualties.
The Third had just finished discussing their strategy with Enma and had not even had the chance to put it into practice when he was forced to deal with the immediate crisis before him.
He could not let the people around him see him stand by and allow them to die.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu—Multiple Earth-Style Ramparts!"
The Third had only taken a few steps forward before hastily stopping and performing Earth Release.
This technique, which raised sturdy earthen walls to block an enemy’s attacks, was especially powerful in the Third’s hands.
The user converted chakra into earth within their body, then expelled it, causing the ground to rise instantly and form multiple layers of barriers.
Earth was highly resistant to both Fire and Water, making it particularly suitable for the current situation.
After blocking Jūbei’s attack, the Third realized that this could not continue.
His opponent’s tactics were simply too shameless, while he himself could not compete with Jūbei in shamelessness in front of everyone.
Therefore, Sarutobi attempted to use talk-no-jutsu to distract Jūbei and create an opening for himself.
"Uchiha brat, I’ve already seen through your scheme. You’re trying to stop me by hurting innocent people. Someone like you is unrighteous, and an unrighteous person can never win this battle."
Victory belonged to the side of justice.
That was what everyone believed.
The Third hoped Jūbei would understand this principle and fight him openly and honorably.
Yet even while speaking, Sarutobi did not stop acting.
During the gaps between Jūbei’s incantations, the Third unleashed Earth Release: Earth Flow River, manipulating the earth and driving the surrounding people away from the battlefield.
The battlefield once again tilted in the Third’s favor.
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