"Darn it! We weren't even invited to the illusion game!"
Tsunade immediately understood what the so-called "virtual reality game" really meant when she saw the Daimyo and others falling into unconsciousness.
"With so many people involved, this must have consumed enormous chakra for him. Not to mention ninja."
"Do you want his death?"
The Third and Mito Uzumaki glared at her, causing Tsunade to shrink back and dare not say anything more.
Truth be told,
She was simply curious about what exactly existed inside the illusion.
"Red Feather, where's your virtual game?"
Jiraiya dispelled his Transformation Jutsu.
He'd thought he could get in too, but so far… nothing had happened at all.
"Fool! This kind of illusion technique, genjutsu, takes a heavy toll."
Shishio stood up and punched Jiraiya hard on the head.
"Jiraiya, how could I forget about you? Look, aren't you already inside?" Akaba said, moving the painting closer for Jiraiya to see.
Looking closer, Jiraiya spotted a towering, powerful figure riding atop a toad inside the painting—its presence radiated immense strength.
"Wahaha! This great man is indeed impressive."
He became extremely happy without realizing Akaba was making fun of him.
Sakumo wanted to say something, but Shishio shook his head to stop him.
After hesitating for a moment, Sakumo sighed, "What a moron."
"You bastard, Sakumo!"
"Nothing much, just enjoy yourself then."
Shishio shrugged.
Akaba smiled faintly while concentrating on controlling the illusion's direction.
All abilities within this illusion were granted by him. In fact, if he wished, even the Daimyo could experience being a Kage-level expert momentarily.
Still, it would be about as exciting as typing "whosyourdaddy" into a single-player game—cheap and boring.
Inside the illusion:
[Everyone can initially exchange for one skill only. For every wave of enemy attacks you survive, you'll gain another opportunity to acquire a new skill or equipment.]
[Additionally, defeating enemies will make you stronger.]
"Go fight, rookies!"
The "Jiraiya" character was wildly arrogant, showing no respect even toward the Fire Shadow played by the Daimyo himself.
The Daimyo turned around.
As a national leader, even though not a ninja himself, he still possessed basic leadership and command capabilities.
After thinking briefly, he declared, "I order half of you to exchange for ninjutsu, and the other half for equipment. Then hand over the gear to those who've learned skills."
As the leader, the Daimyo's thinking was straightforward.
A bunch of weaklings couldn't really fight. They needed both jutsu and gear to stand a chance.
If these were real ninja, the Daimyo wouldn't have been able to command them so easily.
But since most of them were ordinary individuals, out of reverence for him as ruler, they dared not oppose his orders—no matter whether they were personally selected to receive equipment or not.
"This essentially means creating my own ninja army."
The Daimyo secretly mused in his heart.
He climbed onto the Hokage Tower and observed the village condition from its highest point.
Then
"Everyone form four teams and defend Konoha from four directions."
"People without equipment or techniques will take care of collecting enemy gear."
The Daimyo continued issuing commands.
Among the crowd here, nearly 400 individuals strong, he ensured 200 of them acquired ninjutsu and equipment, thus possessing enough strength to resist the enemy.
He had to admit—his choices had been pretty much spot-on.
Three minutes later, the enemies arrived.
Under his command, over two hundred ninja swiftly wiped out the attackers—and pushed their counterattack all the way past the village gates.
Outside the village, they discovered numerous wild creatures.
The Daimyo hadn't noticed them, overlooking these resources. After the first wave, he ordered everyone back to replenish supplies.
This time, he still followed the previous approach.
Half gear, half ninjutsu.
"Grandpa, seems like it's not difficult at all!"
Erika looked extremely pleased.
Thanks to the guards' help, she started with two ninjutsu skills and a single kunai. So after killing a few enemies, by game standards, she was already at genin level.
As for the two hundred ninja who received equipment and training, they were now on par with genin.
"No, it isn't that simple."
The Daimyo shook his head thoughtfully.
He felt he had overlooked something but couldn't remember what just yet.
The second wave arrived.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu]
[Lightning Release: Thunder Ground]
One after another, the ninjutsu techniques eliminated the enemies in no time.
In under a minute, all enemies were wiped out. Yet...
"I'm out of chakra."
"Same here, almost drained."
"How do we recover chakra?"
At the end of the second wave, the first thing everyone did upon returning wasn't to exchange for gear or techniques—it was asking how to restore chakra.
Jiraiya gave a knowing smile and said, "Fresh meat's always gonna be fresh meat. Chakra naturally recovers with rest."
"What? Chakra?"
The Daimyo was momentarily stunned. He finally realized what he'd forgotten.
Using ninjutsu required chakra.
"Everyone, take some time to rest quickly. Also, during battle, make sure to manage your chakra wisely."
Without enough chakra, how could they survive the third wave of enemy ninjas?
A sense of panic slowly rose within him.
One minute later, the third wave arrived.
"Princess, the enemies have suddenly become much stronger!"
"Don't retreat. We must hold our ground!"
Until now, Erika had dared not use her ninjutsu casually, relying mostly on kunai for close combat.
But even so,
the low-level AI modeled merely after genin appeared significantly stronger in combat ability than they were.
Unable to use techniques freely, all the ninja fought while retreating—from the main gate back into the streets.
After several minutes, the battle finally ended.
Yet one look at the battlefield was enough to see—their fighting force had taken a serious hit.
The Daimyo felt despair creeping in.
"Grandpa..."
"We won't survive the next wave."
The Daimyo sighed bitterly.
Without chakra, they were completely defenseless against the enemies.
Fourth wave.
"Everyone, fight with our backs against the wall!"
Some ninja had died, and reserves without techniques stepped forward to replace them.
At this moment, everyone participated in the battle—there was no longer any distinction between ninja and ordinary people.
The fighting was brutal.
Erika barely made it out alive, but emotionally, she was shattered.
Even without pain, and with the bloodshed toned down in black and white, the horror of watching comrades fall stayed burned in her mind.
This sensation made her suddenly understand—war wasn't a game. It never was.
The fourth wave ended, and out of more than four hundred people, only a few remained. Erika had also fallen in battle.
The Daimyo stood there dazed.
Previously, though he hadn't said it outright, deep down he thought commanding ninja in battle wouldn't be difficult.
But now?
The enemy's pattern was very rigid. Though most of their forces were regular troops, they were well-equipped with both ninjutsu and gear.
In terms of command ability and understanding of ninja, he was far too inexperienced.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar melody played, and despite this being only the fifth wave, the Daimyo couldn't help but feel that the decisive battle had arrived.
After a minute passed, according to usual patterns, the enemy should've arrived.
"Where is the enemy?"
The Daimyo was puzzled. He didn't see any enemies coming; it seemed as if the enemy had canceled their attack altogether.
At that moment, however, a figure appeared from Konoha's main gate.
"That's…"
"It's Zabuza! It's really Zabuza!"
The ninja guarding the main gate shouted. Yet just as they finished shouting and prepared for combat, they saw the figure instantly swing his Cleaver Sword, and his form suddenly accelerated.
In an instant, three figures vanished.
These people were all Chunin!
[Hiding in Mist Technique]!
Thick mist spread everywhere. He felt a killing intent locking onto him, but within the thick fog, there was no way to locate the enemy's figure.
Only when facing him directly did he truly understand how powerful a Jonin could be.
He hadn't even reacted when he felt the world spin, and suddenly everything changed in an instant.
"Whoa, that was one hell of a move!"
Jiraiya's voice rang out.
It sounded like a friendly remark, but it immediately set the Daimyo's teeth on edge—he wanted to kill someone right then.
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