Chapter 433: Konan's Status Skyrockets
"Explosive tags?"
The masked man froze for a moment.
Intangibility could be considered a continuous-state ability.
Once activated, whenever he was attacked, the part of his body being targeted would automatically be transferred into the Kamui dimension, allowing him to avoid damage.
Compared to Flying Thunder God, which required the user's reactions to keep up, this was practically a "wheelchair-level" ability, effortless and overpowered.
However, precisely because it was automatic, it had allowed Senju Tobirama to trick him just now.
Now that the masked man had severed his own arm and removed the Flying Thunder God mark, he remained in an intangible state.
This was to prevent the two Hokage in front of him from attacking while he tried to teleport.
And now it seemed, unsurprisingly, that they truly lived up to their reputation as Hokage. Their reaction speed was incredible.
This must be the Second Hokage's signature forbidden technique, Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags, right?
The masked man took a step back with his right foot.
To teleport, he had to remain tangible. In other words, he couldn't enter the Kamui dimension while intangible.
So… was he cornered?
Not at all.
If he couldn't teleport while intangible, then he could just run with his legs.
With that thought, the masked man immediately turned and bolted. As he fled, any obstacles, trees, rocks, small slopes, were ignored by activating intangibility, letting him pass straight through them.
After a brief delay, the First and Second Hokage began their pursuit.
Hashirama ran at the front. Whenever he encountered trees or rocks blocking the way, he simply smashed them apart with brute force, maintaining a straight path.
As for small hills, punching through them wasn't practical.
Hashirama clapped his hands together, and two massive trees burst out from the ground, splitting the hill apart like it was being pried open.
"Tobirama, was that explosive tag just now yours?"
As he charged forward, Senju Hashirama asked curiously.
He had cooperated with Tobirama in executing the plan against the masked man, but he didn't know the full details.
Perhaps worried that his older brother couldn't handle too much information, Tobirama had only told Hashirama what he personally needed to do.
Now Hashirama found it strange.
He had seen Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags before, shouldn't it result in endless chain explosions?
Why had only one appeared this time?
Did it… fizzle out?
Or was this intentional?
And come to think of it, why wasn't Tobirama using Flying Thunder God to chase?
The more Hashirama thought about it, the more confused he became.
Just as he was about to ask again, Tobirama suddenly smiled.
"We're here."
"Brother, that explosive tag just now had nothing to do with me. It belongs to… half of my disciple."
Senju Tobirama looked at the masked man, who had been forced all the way to the "seaside", and smiled.
"Half a disciple? You mean that female ninja named Konan? Isn't she Jiraiya's student? You've just bumped her up two generations in seniority."
Senju Hashirama couldn't help but complain.
It wasn't surprising that Hashirama guessed Tobirama was referring to Konan.
After the Chunin Exams, Konan had obtained the method to learn Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags.
If that were all, she would merely be a beneficiary of the Second Hokage's forbidden technique, like Orochimaru, Naruto, Dan, and Minato.
But later, Tobirama discovered that Konan's Dance of the Shikigami was essentially a living version of Impure World Reincarnation.
No matter how much damage she took, as long as she had chakra to sustain it, she could regenerate.
It was as if she had willingly placed herself into an Impure World Reincarnation-like state while still alive.
The only limitation was her chakra reserves.
Aside from that, her technique could create transformations so real that even the Mangekyō Sharingan couldn't see through them.
Moreover, Konan had always been wary and hostile toward the masked man.
Even before Shiromo appeared, she had already begun stockpiling explosive tags.
What a perfect inheritor.
She had talent, strength, and a grudge against the Uchiha.
Jiraiya had only taught her the basics. The Paper Technique was something she had developed entirely on her own, proof of her ability.
Since Konan wanted revenge against the masked man, who had killed the original Akatsuki members and destroyed the dawn of Akatsuki, Tobirama naturally had to lend a hand.
Thus, Konan received the complete version of Tobirama's forbidden techniques.
And unlike Naruto, she clearly respected intellectual property, and she didn't resist her sudden rise in seniority. In fact, she welcomed it.
All three of them had feelings for Jiraiya. But after learning about the future, Konan understood that in Jiraiya's heart, they were ultimately still outsiders.
Or rather, in Jiraiya's heart, the Great Toad Sage's prophecy mattered more.
Not to mention Uzumaki Naruto, who inherited Jiraiya's will, ended up digging a massive pit for them in the original future.
Even if Naruto wasn't secretly malicious, he simply lacked the ability and failed to keep his promises, leading to the complete downfall of Amegakure, the result was still the same.
If you judge by results rather than intentions, you have to be consistent. You can't only judge by outcomes when things go well, and then suddenly switch to "good intentions" when things go wrong.
So Konan rejected her teacher-student relationship with Jiraiya.
Now things were perfect.
She had effectively become a junior to Sarutobi Hiruzen's generation, making her Jiraiya's senior.
Naturally, she was happy.
At least now she didn't have to worry about Jiraiya pestering her anymore.
And the explosive tag from earlier had been controlled and released by Konan.
To be honest, even Senju Tobirama didn't know exactly which objects around Amegakure had been transformed from explosive tags.
Konan hadn't told him, and he hadn't asked.
The only exception was this "sea", because he had learned about the masked man's future experiences, he happened to know about it.
So this plan was to drive the masked man to the seaside.
At this moment, Konan was flying in midair, using her Paper Person of God Technique to remain invisible.
Since the Second Hokage's plan was to force the masked man to the sea, that's exactly what they did.
This sea was the first place where Konan had stockpiled explosive tags.
In fact, ever since Shiromo arrived in Amegakure, the village, and even the entire Land of Rain, had begun utilizing its signature steam and machinery for efficient production.
Their income had increased far beyond what it used to be.
Kakuzu no longer needed to go out on bounty missions. Just managing the finances every day kept him overwhelmingly busy.
As a result, the speed at which Konan gathered explosive tags had become something of a mystery, no one knew just how fast it was.
In truth, the small hills they had passed earlier were all transformed explosive tags.
And these disguised tags wouldn't detonate like ordinary ones unless Konan deliberately set them to do so, even if they were attacked.
Which made sense. After all, if an entire sea of explosive tags could be triggered at random, someone practicing Fire Release on the water would accidentally set off a chain reaction and waste them all.
A transformation that could fool even the Mangekyō Sharingan obviously couldn't be exposed by such simple means.
-----
The masked man stood on the surface of the sea, looking at the First and Second Hokage on the shore, feeling a headache coming on.
Even after running for so long, he still hadn't managed to shake them off.
Fortunately, he had managed to create a bit of distance now. He could become tangible for a moment and reset the five-minute cooldown of his intangibility.
(End of this chapter)