After saying this, Aoki's eyes widened and his short, thick eyebrows twitched continuously.
It was clear that Rikuya's words had upset him.
Aoki had tried hard to avoid problems like this before, trying to hypnotize himself that being a Kazekage was much better than being a Jonin.
But now the day has finally come, facing Rikuya as a competitor.
He suddenly realized that he was actually a little scared!
He was afraid of what would happen if he became Kazekage.
Just like the first and second generations, they will die in battle against other powerful enemies!
He was even more afraid that one day while he was safely on duty as the Wind Shadow, he would suddenly be discovered and killed by a mysterious enemy.
Just like the third generation, even his body has not been found.
It was as if he had evaporated from the face of the earth, as if this person had never existed in this world!
The more he experiences war, the more he fears. Aoki originally thought that he would move forward bravely, but now he finds that he is afraid of the coming war!
Rikuya stared at Aoki expressionlessly.
He shook his head slowly. This Aoki didn't have enough awareness to take on the role of Kazekage.
Even the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, who has the worst reputation among Naruto fans, is willing to give his all for Sunagakure Village.
Whether it was sacrificing Pakura, transplanting the One-Tail into Gaara's body, or risking himself to launch a plan to overthrow Konoha with little chance of success.
Although the results are not very good.
But the initial intention was also for Sunagakure Village.
But in front of him, Rikuya could not see Aoki's awareness, who was willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of Sunagakure Village.
Even though Rikuya himself couldn't do that.
But at least, he will serve Sunagakure Village with all his heart, and he is sure he can do tens of times better than Aoki!
Thinking about this, Rikuya looked straight into Aoki's eyes and said word for word:
"It seems you only want power, but you are not aware enough to shoulder the responsibilities of being Kazekage."
"You are not worthy of being Kazekage."
"What nonsense are you talking about? How dare you, a brat who has never experienced war, question my awareness and qualifications?!"
Hearing this, Aoki's anger and fear that he had been trying to suppress, instantly disappeared due to greater anger and self-esteem.
He stretched out his rough left hand and patted his chest hard.
"At the end of World War I, I went to the battlefield myself, braving the stench and various risks to collect the bodies of my compatriots. I was only five years old at the time, and you weren't even born yet!"
"When World War II had just begun, I personally led a team deep behind enemy lines and personally cut off their retreat, killing ten Chunin and two Jonin!"
At this point, Aoki raised his head and spread his hands, looking at the people on the surrounding sand dunes, and said in a hoarse voice:
"That's why I was personally bestowed the title of Jonin by the Second Kazekage back then. I was only seventeen years old at the time! You weren't even born yet!"
"You who were born at the end of World War II, tell me, am I qualified to carry out the responsibility of Kazekage, am I qualified to lead Sunagakure Village?!"
There was silence in the dunes.
A large number of young ninjas stared at Aoki with fierce expressions and wide eyes, as if this was the first time they had met Aoki, a senior ninja.
The middle and old jonin who had experienced World War II stared at Aoki with wide eyes and excited expressions.
They seem to see a new sun!
They couldn't wait to see Rikuya, wanting to see if the young man was overcome with shame, or if he would say that he would resign voluntarily!
But unfortunately, all they saw was Rikuya's calm face.
Rikuya showed a hint of helplessness on his face and he shook his head slowly:
"So what? At the end of World War I, the number of men in Sunagakure Village was already very low. I've seen the documents. The Second Kazekage had just taken office at that time, and he ordered all boys over the age of five to go to the battlefield to collect corpses."
"This is an order, but you imply that you went there voluntarily."
"Of course it may have been a long time ago, and you may be remembering it wrong, but I remember there are still some copies of documents from that time in the documents room, and the originals are still there as well."
Hearing this, the ninjas on the sand dunes were all stunned.
They never imagined that the truth behind what Aoki said so passionately would be like this!
But since Rikuya said this, it must be true.
Because they could go to the document room at any time to look for information to confirm Rikuya's statement.
Aoki was stunned.
At first he bragged like that because decades had passed and there were not many ninja left who had participated in World War I.
Even for the ninjas who survived to this day, their memories were already somewhat hazy, and they would not express their doubts directly.
But he never expected that Rikuya actually went to the document room to look at the information at that time.
He thought these young people would not like going to the document room.
Rikuya of course never went to the document room.
But all of this was recorded in Aoki's information that Benizuki conveyed yesterday.
Everything Aoki had done from childhood until now, as long as their Shadow Guards could find out, was recorded in it.
Benizuki also wrote his own opinion on the back.
Just as Aoki was about to continue speaking, Rikuya spoke first:
"I admit that you did go deep behind enemy lines during World War II and personally stopped their retreat and killed two jonin, but are you the only one with such a record?"
"Besides, I wasn't born then. If World War III happened now, I could do this too, and I would be much better than you!"
All of his inner thoughts were revealed, and Aoki couldn't think of a way to refute them for a moment.
Suddenly he became furious and roared so loudly that his voice could be heard several kilometers away!
"Bastard! How dare you insult me like this!!"
"Do you think you can defeat me by deliberately provoking me and making me angry?"
Aoki didn't care whether a crowd had gathered or not. He pulled his left hand back, and all the scrolls on his back flew into the air!
With a "bang" sound, thick mist floated out from the scroll.
In less than half a second, the scroll in the air and Aoki himself disappeared in thick smoke!
Rikuya stared at the thick fog in front of him. He moved his left hand slightly, but then immediately released it.
However, he decided to summon the golden sand first for defense, and left the ace for last.
"Magnetic Force. Golden Sand!"
As Rikuya shouted softly, the surrounding sand quickly gathered into dozens of rectangular yellow shields two meters thick and three meters high, which quickly rotated around Rikuya.
At the same time, the sand beneath Rikuya's feet gradually condensed and lifted Rikuya into the air.
An ugly-faced jonin watched Rikuya's operation and nodded in agreement:
"Not bad, not bad. The sand gathers into a shield, and the shield rotates rapidly around you, so it can perform automatic rotation defense. It can indeed defend against 90% of attacks."
A younger Chunin nearby added:
"Not only that, Rikuya Jonin's speed in manipulating sand is also much faster."
"In one breath, he manipulated the sand within a range of several tens of meters to form a shield. This speed and range is at least three times faster than before!"
"Then it's no wonder Rikuya Jonin is confident enough to face Aoki Jonin in a sparring match."
Rikuya stopped ten meters above the ground, and he stared intently at the thick fog below him that was gradually clearing.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Suddenly, hundreds of rapidly spinning shuriken flew out of the thick fog.
Hundreds of shuriken were seen flying faster and faster, gradually turning into shadows and flying towards the shield that was continuously rotating beside Rikuya!
Rikuya frowned slightly. This was a victory based on numbers. Even if his shield flew faster, there would always be a gap.
Is Aoki planning to take a risk like this?
Thinking of this, Rikuya smiled. A senior jonin would never rely on luck to win easily.
But I will do what you want and see what you want.
"Crash! Crash!"
As Rikuya's thoughts moved, the rapidly spinning shield in front of him suddenly stopped.
Then with a loud bang, everything connected together to block the hundreds of shuriken flying above.
"Zheng! Bang!"
Hundreds of shuriken quickly flew to the shield. When the sound of the collision between the two was heard, the shuriken only penetrated half a meter into the sand shield and did not move at all.
"Explosion!"
Suddenly, the shuriken closest to the top among the hundreds of shuriken let out an explosive sound!
When the smoke cleared, they all turned into six humanoid puppets of different shapes, which emitted a jet black color all over their bodies!
In an instant, these puppets, holding various weapons, used their power to jump over the shield and fly towards Rikuya!
Rikuya silently watched the six puppets flying above him. He moved his left hand slightly, and the sand around him immediately attacked the puppets at a faster speed!
Soon all six dolls were wrapped in cocoons!
At first, various banging sounds could be heard from inside the sand cocoon, but as the sand cocoon gradually shrank, no more sounds could be heard from inside!
"Explosion!"
Suddenly, an ear-splitting sound came from the originally calm sand cocoon!
As the sound was heard, cracks began to appear on the outside of the sand cocoon.
Rikuya was a little confused by this situation. Didn't Aoki know that he could continue to strengthen him?
As Rikuya waved his hand, more sand was added to strengthen the outer surface of the sand cocoon.
Suddenly another voice was heard.
Rikuya looked towards the sound and saw a doll flying towards him from the ground at high speed!
Rikuya frowned.
Wasn't it said that Aoki only controlled 6 puppets? How could there be one more puppet?
Despite having that thought in his mind, Rikuya didn't stop moving at all.
He clenched his left hand, and the solid shield in front of him immediately shattered into pieces into a lump of sand.
The scattered sand immediately attacked the puppet that was attacking from below.
At the same time, the sand within 400 meters of the ground also lifted off the ground and chased after the doll.
The ground immediately sank more than five meters, although it was soon filled with more sand.
Among the people who had been closely observing the battle situation on the top of the dune.
A Chunin couldn't help but exclaim, breaking the silence on the sand dunes.
"That's impossible, right? How come Rikuya has so much chakra?"
"And can control so much sand at once? Just by looking at it, it must weigh at least 3,000 tons!"
As Chunin said this, a Chunin next to him also frowned and saw Rikuya's actions, and agreed with a strange expression on his face:
"According to the data, the last time Rikuya Jonin attacked was half a year ago."
"At that time he could only control more than a thousand tons of sand within a radius of about 200 meters."
"Even if there has been progress in the past six months, it is impossible to increase it five or six times at once!"
The other female Jonin looked at Rikuya with a smile on her face. She opened her red lips slightly, narrowed her already blurry eyes, and muttered to herself:
"Even in the heyday of the Third Generation, he was only able to control tens of thousands of tons of sand in an area of a thousand meters at a time."
"And judging from Master Rikuya's performance, it is clear that he can control sand with great ease. If Master Rikuya is serious, I am afraid he will have no trouble controlling twice the distance and weight!"
Because Rikuya's appearance was truly extraordinary.
The surrounding ninjas didn't even have time to sigh that Aoki could actually control the seventh puppet, but only talked about Rikuya.
The puppets flying towards Rikuya were quickly caught in the sand from both sides and trapped.
However, the doll suddenly turned into smoke before being trapped to death, and thousands of fine needles flew out of the smoke in an instant!
Right behind those fine flying needles, there was another identical doll following behind!
Dozens of kunai also flew from the doll's hands.
Both flying needles and kunai flew towards Rikuya accompanied by the sound of rushing wind!
Seeing this, everyone finally admitted their admiration for Rikuya and began to admire Jonin Aoki's ability to operate.
He can control 7 puppets at the same time and attack in multiple directions at the same time. His real body has not been seen yet.
He can also use substitution techniques on puppets. With such great puppets, he can be called the best person under Chiyo!
As the kunai flew towards us at high speed, a large amount of black mist suddenly came out of it, and it was clear that the black mist was poisonous!
Seeing this, Rikuya frowned slightly, but quickly calmed down.
In general, battles between ninja who knew each other from the same village were peaceful.
However, the competition between him and Aoki was only superficial, but they both knew what the real situation was.
So it was only natural that he used poison mist. Thinking about this, Rikuya shook his head slightly towards the sand dune.
At this moment, on top of the sand dune that Rikuya was looking at, Benizuki clenched her left fist tightly while her right hand was stretched out above her head.
After the competition started, he wanted to send the Shadow Guards to defeat Aoki more than once, but he was forced to hold back.
But after seeing the poisonous mist, Benizuki couldn't hold it in. As she was about to wave her hand, she saw Rikuya shaking his head at her.
Seeing this, Benizuki bit her white teeth and forced herself to hold back her urges.
Several blue veins appeared on Benizuki's smooth forehead, then he slowly retracted his right hand that was extended above his head, which was an action of canceling the order.
Rikuya let out a sigh of relief when he saw Benizuki withdraw her hand.
Rikuya turned his attention to the mist that kept coming, the weapons hidden in the mist, and the doll that he didn't know whether it was the real body or not.
He roughly understood what Aoki was planning.
Aoki's real body might be hiding in the poisonous mist, or perhaps the doll in the poisonous mist was just a decoy to attract attention.
All the sand around Rikuya, except for a few groups of sandworms that bound the puppet, turned into fine sand, forming a sand wave more than 30 meters high, attacking the poisonous mist!
The strong wind brought by the sand waves blew away the poisonous mist, and the fine needles and kunai hidden in the poisonous mist were all buried by the sand waves!
The waves gradually stopped roaring and the surrounding area slowly returned to calm.
Rikuya frowned slightly and looked around. Could it be that his guess was wrong, and Aoki's real body was not hiding in the poisonous mist?
So where is he hiding? As of now, Rikuya doesn't even know where Aoki's real body is.
Logically, the puppet strings are relatively fragile, so the puppeteer's body cannot be too far from the puppet.
But...
Before Rikuya could think further, a rude laugh suddenly interrupted his thoughts!
"Haha! Although your strength far surpasses my expectations, it's a pity that experience is still the best teacher!"
Aoki's arrogant laughter suddenly echoed from the calming remains of the sandy waves.
In the next instant, a blurry silhouette emitting faint ripples emerged from the no longer turbulent sand dune. The figure stomped heavily on the ground, causing the surrounding sand to collapse several meters down in an instant. Then, the body moved as fast as a shadow, charging towards Rikuya with shuriken spinning in both hands.
"A layer of wind chakra as a barrier?" Rikuya muttered, slightly surprised.
Before Rikuya could finish speaking, Aoki Jonin was already right in front of him, both hands outstretched to stab Rikuya's neck.
"Hehe, even if you have abundant chakra reserves, so what? You would never have guessed that I would purposely hide in the sand waves!" Aoki grinned triumphantly. "How could you possibly survive the sand waves and still have this much chakra left?"
Benizuki, Pakura, Karura, and the others watched the scene with wide eyes and pale faces. They managed to run forward a few steps before freezing where they stood, panic-stricken.
The satisfied and happy expression on Aoki's face had not completely disappeared, but was immediately replaced by blood-curdling shock. He stared at his hand holding the shuriken as if he had just seen a ghost. The shuriken that had been spinning at high speed suddenly froze in midair, not moving at all.
"Wh-why... can't I move my hands?" Aoki whispered, his voice choked.
Rikuya just blinked. In an instant, the sandworms in the air around him scattered and disappeared. Seeing this, a glimmer of joy flashed across Aoki's eyes, but it quickly disappeared when he realized that his control over his puppets had also disappeared.
Before Aoki could ask a question, the sand that had been scattered now moved quickly, wrapping around Aoki's body tightly like a giant snake.
On the sand dune, the ninjas stared at Rikuya in stunned silence, their expressions a mix of jealousy, admiration, appreciation, fanaticism, love, joy, relief, and a variety of other emotions. However, despite their inner turmoil, witnessing how Rikuya easily incapacitated Aoki, a senior jonin, left them unable to deny one thing: Rikuya would become the future Fourth Kazekage.
At that moment, Rikuya reached out his hand. Strangely, the previously motionless dolls now floated in the air and walked by themselves towards behind Rikuya, lining up obediently.
Aoki stared at the scene in horror. His eyes were glued to the moving puppets behind Rikuya in disbelief. "I-it's impossible! You... you can't be a puppeteer!" His voice sounded so frightened, it almost lost its intonation.
Rikuya covered his ears briefly, looking at Aoki in disgust. The man's expression truly showed extreme fear. The hoarse voice could even produce a high pitch that pierced the ears.
Aoki's loud shout was of course heard by everyone on the dune, and they all stared at Rikuya with deep curiosity. Some of the braver ninjas, seeing that the outcome of the fight was clear, jumped down from the dune and moved closer to get a better view.
"Aren't you wondering why you can't swing your shuriken at me right now?" Rikuya asked, his tone flat.
Without waiting for Aoki's answer, Rikuya moved his fingers slightly. The shuriken that Aoki had been holding tightly with both hands suddenly flew out of his palms! The two shuriken flew to Rikuya's side, then with a smooth movement, they both headed back towards Aoki at the same time.
Seeing the situation, Aoki slowly swallowed his saliva. His heart suddenly pounded, and a terrifying possibility crossed his mind. His pupils suddenly shrank to a point.
"N-no... that's impossible, right?"