Malphegor
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HSU: Ch. 142
🕑 Added 2025-01-17 12:17:54 +0000 UTCWatching the Iron Prometheus actually flying in the sky, the onlookers were completely shaken.
The difference between being able to fly and not was vast.
Take Kitsuchi as an example. As long as the enemy was grounded, he had ways to deal with them. But if they could fly…
The Third Tsuchikage was a user of the Light-Weight Rock Technique. Thanks to this ability, he wandered wherever he pleased when he was young.
After all, if worst came to worst, he could just fly away.
In the shinobi world, most were ground-based units.
"Most," because there were some who specialized in water techniques.
But aerial combatants? Very few.
When the spectators realized that this terrifying creation from the White Ghost could actually fly, they felt as though the times were truly changing.
Before the First Great Ninja War, ninjas didn't perceive much of a shift in the times. Ninja villages were just larger gatherings of ninjas; the structure hadn't fundamentally changed.
It was still mostly just watching Hashirama and Madara showing off.
Only after both of them left the stage did the "Era of the Ninja Villages" truly begin.
But now, everyone felt a shift—this White Ghost wielded the power to single-handedly alter the course of events.
He didn't even need to do much. Just park this creation outside the village, and it would be enough to make nations tremble.
Given its destructive power, a single lap around a country's capital could single-handedly revitalize the real estate market.
For example, the Fourth Kazekage was thinking, if this thing strutted through Suna, I might just drop dead on the spot.
Yes, Gold Dust could solve Suna's financial problems—but only as a patch for budget shortfalls, not as a solution for the monumental funds this level of destruction would require.
The White Ghost—his terror knew no bounds!
However, at that moment, neither Sasori nor Masashi was paying any attention to the panicking onlookers.
In the air, two cone-shaped constructs of iron sand began spinning rapidly. This was a technique the Third Kazekage had devised for siege warfare.
Using a siege technique against the Susanoo? Sasori thought it was a reasonable approach.
If this didn't work, he'd make a tactical retreat.
Masashi's ninjutsu was far too effective against puppetry. Sasori still had other tricks, but there was no point dragging this out. Too many ninjas had already gathered nearby, and there was no way to escape with Deidara.
In the sky, the Susanoo also began to transform.
Under everyone's gaze, it shifted into the shape of a flying creature with two heads.
This caught Sasori's attention.
"No wonder the structure is so complex. But what's the point of transforming into this form?"
He often incorporated transformation mechanisms into his puppets, but creating a design that could shift from humanoid to animal-like seemed superfluous to him.
Still, he would find out soon enough.
Inside the Susanoo, Masashi created a shadow clone, and both his main body and the clone began forming different hand signs.
Now in its two-headed dragon form, the Susanoo opened both mouths.
From these gaping maws, flames and wind converged into singular points.
Sasori, meanwhile, manipulated his chakra threads.
Both sides unleashed their attacks simultaneously.
The spinning iron sand cones clashed with the fireball and wind sphere launched by the twin-headed dragon.
The brilliance of ninjutsu illuminated the sky.
Smoke and clouds billowed, vast and boundless, like an ocean stirred by waves.
The clouds turned fiery red, the flames seemingly igniting everything. The once-white sea of clouds churned, collided, and surged across the sky.
When the shockwave from the explosion reached the spectators, even though they knew it was just the residual force, some of the weaker ninjas instinctively shut their eyes, overwhelmed by the terrifying red light and roaring winds.
As the chaos subsided, the sky was almost entirely cleared, with only a few wisps of white clouds remaining like trails of silk.
The iron sand had completely vanished, leaving only the Susanoo soaring in the sky.
As for Sasori and his puppet, they were nowhere to be seen.
"Sasori used the Reverse Summoning Technique to escape," Rasa's voice broke the silence. "Expand the search perimeter. Turn the Land of Wind upside down if you must, but find him!"
"Yes, Kazekage-sama!" the Suna ninjas replied in unison.
Sasori, once the pride of Suna, was now its disgrace and mortal enemy. Moreover, his actions had far-reaching consequences.
Suna would now face Konoha with significantly diminished confidence.
After all, Suna had been flirting with Kumo recently without raising eyebrows, partly due to the suspicion that Konoha had killed the Third Kazekage.
But now? Konoha had clearly chosen to ally with Suna, putting past grievances aside.
It would take years to fully process this turn of events.
Rasa turned to the other village leaders, "About the Chunin Exams…"
"There's no need for concern, Kazekage-sama," Mei interrupted. "Sasori's actions were clearly his own and have nothing to do with Suna. Kiri will continue to participate in the exams."
"Exactly," Kitsuchi added. "Our trust in Suna won't be shaken by a single rogue ninja."
With support from these two major players, the other village representatives quickly echoed their agreement.
Seeing this, Rasa could only smile.
With such reassurances, the exams had to continue. Yet no one was eager to disperse and resume the tests just yet.
The reason soon became clear. The winds picked up again, and the ground was cast in shadow.
The twin-headed dragon form of the Susanoo descended.
As it landed, Masashi deliberately flapped its massive wings a few extra times for dramatic effect.
He couldn't help it; he enjoyed the flair.
Back on Earth, mecha models were pricey.
But compared to this real-life Susanoo, figurines couldn't even come close in terms of playability!
As the colossal figure of the Susanoo landed, many of the gathered ninjas took an involuntary step back.
This time, they were genuinely impressed by Sasori.
To face such a monstrosity without flinching, even daring to engage it in battle, and then escaping unscathed—he was truly something else!
Rasa, Kitsuchi, and the other leaders remained composed, but they couldn't deny the intimidating presence of Susanoo.
Bigger wasn't always better, but bigger was almost always more overwhelming.
And the earlier battle had proven that this thing was not just big—it was brutally powerful!
The two dragon heads lowered slightly, opening their mouths toward the crowd.
The movement startled everyone.
But before they could react, two small figures were "spat out," landing on the sand with dazed expressions.
In their memory, they'd just been grabbed by Masashi, tossed into the Susanoo, and hurled into its interior.
The experience was… unique.
Behind them, the form of the Susanoo began to fade until it vanished entirely into the air.
Masashi appeared behind the two children, picking them up one in each hand and depositing them into the arms of their respective guardians.
---
Sasori slipped away as quietly as he had arrived.
With the troublemaker gone, the joint exam continued—but with a few fewer participants.
Masashi had miscalculated slightly. Sasori's targets weren't only those with bloodline limits but also included those who practiced secret techniques.
Bloodline users were most abundant in Kiri, while secret technique practitioners were most numerous in Konoha.
Afterward, the villages, together with Suna, conducted a joint investigation and found that, in the first round of exams, around 40 to 50 participants had either died or gone missing. Among the missing, most were from Kiri, presumably captured by Sasori.
The fate of those individuals was grim and obvious.
However, for Mei, as long as Kimimaro was safe, it was acceptable.
It wasn't that she didn't feel pain for the lost candidates from her village, but rather that she had to make a choice between two evils.
Preserving Kimimaro was already a very fortunate outcome. After all, while Kiri had many bloodline limits, few were exceptionally powerful. His Shikotsumyaku was their sole representative of such strength.
On another note, none of Ame's candidates were taken by Sasori—they were killed outright during the exams.
This left the Ame team leader harboring a grudge against Kusa.
He believed that if the Kusa ninjas hadn't spread the story around, Ame wouldn't have been in this situation.
Konoha also suffered some losses among its candidates. However, because most of the participants were civilian ninja without bloodline limits, and with only two or three using secret techniques, they weren't Sasori's primary targets.
Instead, they benefited from him eliminating some competitors, leading to a relatively successful performance overall. The four promising candidates from Konoha all advanced smoothly.
One way or another, the first round of the exam came to an end.
The surviving candidates from each village, whether they passed or not, were taken back by their team leaders to rest.
The second round of exams would take place a month later.
During the interim, those who advanced could take the time to recover and prepare. As for those who didn't make it, especially those with severe injuries such as lost limbs, they could only recuperate in the hospital.
Fortunately, Suna's medical facilities were decent. As long as the injuries weren't too severe, they could usually be treated.
For those with crippling injuries, however, the best they could hope for was survival and an early retirement to live as ordinary people.
No one complained about this. The joint Chunin Exams were inherently a high-risk, high-reward endeavor.
Participants were out for blood. If someone ended up crippled but not dead, it was considered mercy on their opponent's part.
Few would say, "My ninja way has ended, I might as well die."
If one couldn't be a ninja anymore, they would just find another profession. After all, anyone capable of using chakra could easily transition to a respectable job.
During this period, Masashi continued to "protect" Konoha's candidates as usual.
The joint Chunin Exams generated income, mainly from the nobility of various countries.
In essence, the joint Chunin Exams had multiple layers of meaning: For the candidates, it was a chance to earn a promotion.
For the ninja villages, it was a sanctioned opportunity to gather intelligence, form alliances, and settle scores.
For the nobles, it was a way to assess the strength of each village. And for merchants, especially those in gambling, it was a lucrative opportunity.
Although Suna's remote location limited commercial opportunities, gambling still thrived due to the heavy investment from nobles.
In Konoha during the original timeline, gambling around the Chunin Exams reached its peak. Some Kusa ninjas even attempted to intimidate Gaara over it, with predictable outcomes.
In short, the joint Chunin Exams, despite its name, served interests far removed from the candidates themselves.
Merchants who dared to bet on the exams often had strong backing. To manipulate the odds, they frequently harassed the candidates, hiring ninjsa from smaller nations to do their dirty work.
The larger villages didn't interfere with this, as it brought in revenue and also served as a test of the candidates' abilities.
After all, if they couldn't handle situations more complex than this as chunin, they wouldn't survive real missions.
Masashi's attitude toward gambling was unique. He monitored it closely—not to stop participants from being defeated in fair combat, but to prevent underhanded actions outside the exam arena.
The merchants and hired ninjas feared his infamous reputation as the White Ghost, especially after the first round of exams.
No small-country ninjas dared cross paths with him for the sake of a quick buck.
As a result, Konoha's candidates were unusually free from disturbances.
At the same time, Masashi, Pakura, and Kakashi began targeted training for the genin candidates.
Most of this responsibility fell to Kakashi.
However, Masashi specifically took an interest in Anko.
After Orochimaru's defection, she became the only other Konoha ninja to hold a Ryūchi Cave contract, besides him.
That alone was enough for him to offer her guidance.
After all, she currently didn't even have the qualifications to enter Ryūchi Cave. The only reason she managed to sign the contract was that Orochimaru had pulled strings for her.
Getting the White Snake Sage to agree to such a favor was no easy feat.
Masashi's training for Anko focused on taijutsu and clone techniques. His own elemental ninjutsu didn't suit her abilities.
In this timeline, she hadn't been marked with Orochimaru's Cursed Seal, likely because he left before perfecting the technique.
On the flip side, this proved she had the potential to learn Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode. Though it was only potential, Masashi was willing to give her the chance.
Anko seemed to be the only one among her peers who might have been limited by external factors rather than her own abilities.
Building physical strength was foundational, as the Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode required a strong physique.
Every day, he took her into the desert outside Suna for training.
This training served two purposes: to enhance her taijutsu and to teach her how to use the snakes of Ryūchi Cave as a medium for creating clone techniques.
Unlike regular clones, medium-based clones could utilize the unique properties of their medium. For example, in the original timeline, Deidara's clay clones could use the stickiness of the clay to trap opponents.
Anko, who could summon small snakes from Ryūchi Cave, could use them as mediums for her clones. If an opponent tried to attack her clones with taijutsu, they'd be in for an unpleasant surprise.
She cherished Masashi's kindness deeply.
Orochimaru's departure had forced her to mature overnight.
She harbored no resentment toward Masashi. The reason was simple—her anger was directed at Orochimaru.
After all, he had first trained her to be a loyal ninja for the village, only to betray it himself.
In a way, his actions inadvertently protected Anko, though whether that was his true intention was anyone's guess.
After all, with Orochimaru, it was always hard to tell.
Time flew by, and soon, a month had passed.
Suna announced the second round of the exam, which was a straightforward one-on-one duel, much like the third round of the Chunin Exams in the original timeline.
To give the nobles ample time, Suna postponed the final round by two months but held a preliminary elimination round, reducing the number of participants for the final stage to under twenty.
Anko was among those who advanced.
