Naruto and Sasuke are doing nothing; Madara and I will set an example.

Page 109

Before the battle with Chen, Naruto fought Delta in the Kara Inner Formation, giving Konoha ample time to evacuate civilians and non-combatants below the level of Chunin.

Even the Chunin who later went into battle against Chen were among the most outstanding Chunin, hence there were only a few thousand of them.

After the war, all the Konoha ninjas, including those who had been evacuated and taken refuge, moved from their previous shelters to the Konoha Orphanage on Mount Hida to reunite with the main force.

All the chunin and genin of Konoha were present, and even the trainee ninjas still studying at the Ninja Academy were here.

That's why we have this massive number of 20,000 people right now!

Regardless of how much stronger this mixed force of 20,000 men is compared to the main force of several thousand men, they have at least managed to hold their ground on the battlefield.

Cixian stood alone in white. Amidst the throng of soldiers, he appeared quite frail and isolated.

Numbers may not have a practical effect, but they can certainly embolden people.

Especially those ordinary Konoha ninjas who knew nothing about Jigen's strength.

"Only one person? Well, you're out of luck."

"We could drown him with just one spit from each of us!"

"We're just waiting for the Hokage to give the order!"

"Strange, why haven't they given any orders yet?"

Naruto and Sasuke appeared calm on the surface, but they were actually on the verge of exploding with tension.

Their understanding was superior to that of ordinary ninjas. Their previous doubts about Jigen were only about whether he was really as powerful as Uchiha Chen had claimed.

But his true form is, after all, an Otsutsuki!

If they were to unleash their ultimate attack without considering the consequences, who knows how many of those 20,000 people would die!

Worst of all, during the Battle of Kurama, Shikamaru was captured by Chen, leaving Shikamaru without a commander to strategize on the spot.

Ino, who was able to efficiently convey enemy intelligence and the current situation to all ninjas using the Mind-Reading Technique, has not yet woken up due to the intense mental trauma she suffered.

This army of over 20,000 men was mostly sitting ducks, their Achilles' heel... utterly useless except for making a show of force.

Naruto wasn't really stupid. When he said he was gathering all the strength to fight the enemy, he didn't include those chunin and genin who didn't even meet the standards to participate in the battle.

Seeing Naruto's face covered in cold sweat, he was almost about to shout for everyone to evacuate and take refuge immediately.

Sasuke lowered his voice and made a decisive statement: "Naruto, calm down! Don't panic! Since things have come to this, let's take advantage of the situation to make Jigen back down! Don't show any fear, and definitely don't shout for everyone to retreat!"

"Once morale collapses, the army will truly become a rabble!"

"Ah, I know." Naruto calmed down as well. He raised his voice in a powerful tone, "Jigen! You're not in your complete form right now! You're using a Karma seal to parasitize the body of an ordinary monk! The reason you can handle the threat of ninjutsu is because of the absorption activated by the Karma seal! If these 20,000 people release their ninjutsu at the same time, do you think you can withstand it!"

Jigen completely ignored Naruto's clamor. From the moment the 20,000 people formed their battle formation, his Byakugan in his left eye acted like a scanner, searching for Kawaki's figure among the troops.

But after scanning around twice, they still couldn't find Kawaki.

"Kawaki isn't among these people. Was he hidden away separately, or...?"

Indeed, the techniques I can unleash with Cixian's body are mostly point-to-point kills, and they are not really suitable for dealing with a large-scale siege like this.

However... it's more than enough to deal with this rabble.

But then again, Cixian is already a vessel on the verge of destruction, and unless absolutely necessary, I still don't want to waste my limited lifespan on unimportant people.

Kawaki has only been gone for half a month, and I don't know why the Hokage is protecting him so much, but given Kawaki's personality, it's impossible for him to be liked by everyone in Konoha.

I doubt most of the Konoha ninja present even know who Kawaki is.

"Heh." Thinking of this, Cixian's lips curled into a frivolous smile, and she actually lifted herself into the air in full view of everyone!

"No way? It can fly?"

"Could it be the Light and Heavy Rock Technique of the Hidden Earth Shadow!?"

Cixian hovered twenty meters in the air, his gentle yet powerful voice echoing throughout the entire camp square.

"Everyone in Konoha, my name is Jigen. The reason I'm here is to take away my rebellious child, Kawaki. That's all."

The Konoha ninja were immediately in an uproar.

"Kawaki? Who's that? I've never heard of him before!"

"Ah, I remember now! It's the child that Jonin Konohamaru brought back from the airship crash incident half a month ago! It's said that Jonin Mugino and several Chunin died in that mission!"

"That brat was originally locked in the interrogation room, but then, for some reason, the Hokage took him back to his home and took him in!"

"I also know something else. In the last attack, that guy named Delta came for Kawaki! Not long after Delta was repelled, Uchiha Chen followed!"

"What?! It was all that brat's fault! Hurry up and take him away, why are you leaving him in Konoha?!"

Amid the doubts, another voice emerged.

"Don't believe their side of the story! Leaving Kawaki is the Hokage's decision! The Hokage must have a reason for doing so!"

“That’s right! If the Hokage considers Kawaki a member of Konoha, then he is our comrade! Betraying a comrade is not the way of Konoha!”

The chattering below did not move Cixian.

"As Konoha ninjas under the leadership of the Hokage, you have your own beliefs and principles, which I fully understand and respect. The purpose of what I just said was simply to let you know why I am here, and also to give you all another option."

"Should I obey the Hokage's orders and risk my life for someone I have no connection with, or... think more about my family and children, keep my body healthy, and live my life well?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jigen stretched out his palm in full view of everyone, and his chakra extended into a long sword, drawing a perfectly regular circle on the open ground below!

The chakra was withdrawn from his palm, and Jigen's voice rang out again.

"Fifty meters is the dividing line; it's a matter of life and death."

"Don't cross the line, tonight's events have nothing to do with you."

"Those who cross the line shall die."

In a deathly silence.

Kakashi Hatake was sweating profusely beneath his mask: What a ruthless move! He seized the moral high ground, precisely controlling people's hearts and human nature, and pushed Naruto into the fire.

If we can win this battle to protect Kawaki at a small cost, then everything will be fine.

If we lose, or even win a Pyrrhic victory, the recognition Naruto has gained through his hard-fought comeback and the prestige of the Hokage will likely suffer a fatal blow.

But I think he wasn't interested in ruining Naruto.

His real purpose was to use this price to coerce Naruto into handing over Kawaki!

"Otsutsuki Isshiki is even more terrifying than what I saw in the genjutsu!"

"Naruto, what will you choose?"

They intended to use their numerical advantage to coerce the other side into backing down! But instead, they were attacked by the other side and became the coerced party!

Naruto wished he could tear Isshiki to pieces with his eyes!

Even so, I remain steadfast in my belief!

Kawaki, I would never entrust him to someone like you!

Naruto took a deep breath and shouted, "Listen up, everyone! I've chosen Kawaki. I will protect his principles, not as a Hokage, but as a father!"

"So, so, I'll fight this battle alone from now on..."

Before Naruto could finish speaking, he was interrupted by enthusiastic cheers: "Hokage-sama! No need to say more! We firmly support your position!"

"The person you are meant to protect is the person Konoha is meant to protect!"

"That's right...! Let's fight! The enemy is only one person! I really don't know where he gets such an arrogant tone from!"

"Take him!"

"I refuse to believe that there's another monster like Uchiha Chen!"

Seeing the Konoha people united in their hatred of the enemy, Jigen's lips curled up.

"Naruto Uzumaki, it seems your influence as Hokage is stronger than I thought... Fine, then let you experience how worthless human life is."

—His childhood name was Bikanna!

Chapter 152 In the face of death, all beings are equal.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!" In just an instant, the two hundred Konoha ninjas who had entered the enclosed area, whether Chunin or Jonin, were all pierced through the body by stakes that appeared out of nowhere and fell to the ground dead!

In a single encounter, Cixian inflicted casualties far exceeding those of Chen!

Everyone in Konoha, including Naruto and Sasuke, was stunned. Death came too quickly, too easily, too hastily, to the point that it felt unreal.

"How did that happen?"

How did he launch the attack?

"This can't be true, can it?"

At that moment, Kakashi's shout was like a heavy hammer striking down.

"Don't rush in rashly! The enemy's ability [Sukuna Hikuna] is to shrink objects and instantly restore them to their original size!"

"When he drew that circular array, he probably already scattered countless tiny, dust-like pegs on the ground and in the air. Rushing in recklessly would only result in certain death!"

Everyone was terrified: "What?! How are we supposed to fight someone with this ability?!"

Kakashi clenched his fist: Not fighting is actually the best course of action! At this stage, Konoha simply doesn't have the power to contend with this monster!

Naruto, you really acted impulsively this time! Letting him take Kawaki away doesn't mean you have to abandon him. As long as Isshiki completes the Reincarnation with Karma, Kawaki won't be in any real danger.

We can use this time to find ways to strengthen ourselves and then plan a rescue operation for Kawaki!

Surely you can't be completely unaware of this? I can actually understand your thoughts and actions; you don't want to disappoint Kawaki or let him down.

But to put it bluntly, you still haven't truly taken the existence of the "One Style" seriously at a deeper psychological level!

It's too late to say all this now.

Cixian has completely unleashed his killing intent. If we back down now, we will only die faster!

We have no choice but to go ahead regardless of the consequences, to exhaust Cixian's nearly damaged 'container' as much as possible, and force Isshiki to back down after weighing the pros and cons!

Amidst the chaos and noise, Kakashi's roar echoed: "Overwhelm him with numbers! Ninja tools or ninjutsu, attack him from the outside of this circle!"

His mind raced, his thoughts clear: the absorption of the Karma can ignore ninjutsu, but if it's mixed with ninja tools, then you have to use the 'Sukuna Biguna' to deal with it.

Moreover, shrinking requires more effort than restoring.

Frequent use will accelerate the decay of your container!

"Whoosh!" As if they had found their leader, the Konoha members began to act as Kakashi had instructed.

In an instant... all sorts of ninja tools attacked like black raindrops, and a dazzling array of ninjutsu transformed into a mighty torrent!

They all charged toward Cixian, who had landed in the center of the circular formation!

"Kakashi Hatake, the Sixth Hokage of Konoha, is a legendary strategist who played a crucial role in the battle to seal Kaguya."

"However, you've made a mistake in one thing. An attack launched by a mob, which has quantity but no quality and can't concentrate its power, is meaningless in the face of the power of the Otsutsuki!"

"There's no need to absorb anything, much less to use any special techniques. Just create a simple, ordinary breeze."

"Whoosh!" Cixuan's white robe and long black braid swung in an elegant arc, and with the Byakugan in his left eye, surging chakra burst forth from all the acupoints in his body.

"That, that posture... could it be!"

“You call it [Return to Heaven], but my people call it—[Divine Rebellion]!”

In an instant, a white storm vortex emanating from Cixian filled the circular array with a radius of fifty meters, transforming it into an absolute defense as strong as a broken copper wall!

"Clang clang clang!" Whether it was ninja tools amplified by explosive tags or torrents of various ninjutsu, they were either directly shredded or bounced back the moment they touched the vortex!

"Why is it happening like that!"

Kakashi was sweating profusely beneath his mask: This technique wasn't part of Obito's genjutsu. In the future where Uchiha Chen wasn't involved, Isshiki never showed his full power!

"Damn it, in that case... the number of people really means nothing to him!"

"Your attacks crossed the line, which is equivalent to people crossing the line. Unfortunately, you will die!" As if one misfortune wasn't enough, an even more terrifying scene unfolded in the final moments after the torrent of ninja tools and ninjutsu was dispersed!

Countless ominous black lines shot out in all directions from the vortex!

Kakashi's voice trembled: "He actually used the 'Return of Heaven' storm to launch those stakes!"

"Swish, swish, swish!" The Konoha army's lines fell like wheat being harvested, with more than a dozen rows falling in the blink of an eye, and the casualties were still rapidly increasing.

"Earth Release ninjas! Quickly set up defenses!"