At noon the next day, the laboratory doors of the Root base finally opened, and a group of Ninjas waiting outside peeked in.
The Third Hokage walked out of the laboratory. He looked no different from yesterday, except that the wrinkles on his face had mostly vanished, and his originally white hair had turned salt-and-pepper. He appeared to have rejuvenated by about ten years.
The only issue was a strange glowing object on his chest, which looked like a mechanical heart.
However, it wasn't a machine, but a power-degraded Replica Rinnegan!
For Vegapunk, cloning a Rinnegan through gene replication wasn't a big problem; the real issue was the lack of sufficient energy to maintain it.
Just as Vegapunk could actually create clones of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, it wouldn't be very useful—the strength of the Ōtsutsuki Clan is built upon massive amounts of Chakra. Without enough Chakra energy, the cloned, weak Ōtsutsuki would be emaciated and frail, with combat power potentially inferior to even an ordinary Ninja.
And if there really were a large amount of Chakra energy, Vegapunk would simply use it himself or give it to Hancock. Why bother cultivating those cloned Ōtsutsuki?
After all, this world values quality over quantity. The same amount of Chakra energy is definitely much stronger when concentrated than when dispersed.
The Third Hokage didn't have a Sage Body, so naturally, he couldn't use an authentic Rinnegan. However, the one degraded by Vegapunk was different; the usage requirements were significantly lowered, needing only seven or eight times the Chakra of a Jonin.
Not only that, but under Vegapunk's modification, this degraded Rinnegan even improved the Third Hokage's body to some extent, making his constitution closer to that of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, which was the reason for his rejuvenation.
As for the source of the Rinnegan genes, it came from the support of his main body—Vegapunk, who had already cracked space-time abilities, might not be able to use them well in combat due to latency, but in non-combat situations, it was very easy to support his clones with some common raw materials.
The reason for making this degraded Rinnegan into such a strange shape was, on one hand, to better fit his modifications—allowing the seven attributes of Chakra to be fused into abilities directly through the heart—and on the other hand, to avoid exposing the Rinnegan.
"Hokage-sama! Was it a success?"
A Ninja wearing sunglasses asked. The Third Hokage looked a bit dazed as he clenched his hands: "Ah... it was a success... I didn't think five attributes of Chakra could be fused in such a way..."
As he spoke, the Third Hokage reached out slightly, and a water cup in the distance was drawn directly into his hand. Then he gave it a push, and the cup wobbled back onto the cabinet.
"This is..." Kakashi said in confusion, "Gravity control?"
"Correct. Gravity, anti-gravity, attraction, and repulsion—all within the scope of the gravitational system—can be controlled. This is the Bloodline Limit formed by the fusion of five types of Chakra."
Vegapunk spoke with a smile: "This can be said to be an ability that naturally counters speed-type Ninjas. Just a slight use of gravity and anti-gravity can put a speed-type Ninja at an absolute disadvantage."
Indeed, although the Fourth Raikage already possessed god-like speed surpassing humans, he still used his own two legs and not Space-Time Ninjutsu. Both gravity and anti-gravity had a tremendous impact on him.
Of course, in Vegapunk's estimation, if the Fourth Raikage fully mastered Current Propulsion, he could use electromagnetic fields to gain flight capability, and then this move would not be very effective against him. Unfortunately, without Vegapunk's help, it would take the Fourth Raikage at least a year or two to master Current Propulsion.
There were even many difficulties involved. After all, Lightning Release Chakra is not the same as lightning in the natural world. Converting it into a magnetic field is not that easy. Vegapunk had only given a rough method; if he got stuck for some reason, it wouldn't be unusual if he couldn't master it even after ten years.
After hearing Vegapunk's words, the Ninjas of Konoha immediately showed expressions of excitement. The Fourth Raikage had been hunting around the outskirts of Konoha Village, causing the morale of the entire Konohagakure to drop continuously during this period. Now, this problem could finally be solved.
It wasn't that the Konoha Ninjas hadn't tried. Even though Kakashi Hatake, an elite Jonin who had truly faced the Fourth Raikage, had warned the others, some Ninjas still wanted to test the Fourth Raikage's strength. As for the result... they were basically all instakilled.
This was also why the Third Hokage had been keeping his head down. Although the Third Hokage had the side of a politician, he still had the responsibility of a Kage-level Ninja. If he hadn't judged from the Fourth Raikage's speed that he would also be instakilled if he appeared, he wouldn't have been so hesitant to fight.
Even if he wasn't afraid of death himself, if even the Hokage were instakilled, the morale of Konohagakure would likely collapse completely... On the outskirts of Konoha Village, the Fourth Raikage lay on a thick tree branch, resting with his eyes closed.
More than two days had passed since Vegapunk was abducted. The Fourth Raikage had first used the Heavenly Transfer Technique, which put great pressure on his body, and then rushed non-stop from the Land of Lightning all the way to Konoha Village, experiencing over a dozen battles in between. Even if those battles were only at a warm-up level, by now, the Fourth Raikage was already a bit exhausted.
Ninjas are generally trained to enter a shallow sleep in non-combat states to quickly recover their stamina. The Fourth Raikage was currently in such a state.
Suddenly, the Fourth Raikage opened his pair of large eyes and looked toward Konoha Village. He saw a short Ninja wearing a hat with the character for 'Fire' and a Hokage cloak walking out of the gates of Konoha Village.
"Third Hokage!? He dares to come out just like that?" The Fourth Raikage was surprised for a moment, then immediately became excited.
"As long as I take him out, there will be no suspense left in this battle!"
Immediately, the Fourth Raikage turned into a bolt of lightning and charged straight at the Third Hokage. In almost the blink of an eye, he had crossed hundreds of meters and arrived within twenty to thirty meters of the Third Hokage.
Then, a sudden surge of gravity pressed down on the Fourth Raikage, causing him to stumble and fall directly to the ground, carving a deep trench in the earth.
This gravity was about 3 to 5 times normal—not too strong, but for the current Fourth Raikage, who had no way to perfectly control his speed, it was definitely a huge counter.
Having accelerated to his limit, the Fourth Raikage, who lacked sufficient control when suddenly encountering a change in gravity, naturally had no way to maintain his balance.
However, the Third Hokage also took a sharp breath. One must know that he hadn't even seen the Fourth Raikage's shadow just now, yet with only a flash of lightning, the opponent had suddenly appeared near him. If he hadn't been maintaining a gravity field around his body, that single strike would likely have cost him his life.
Fortunately, the Third Hokage was also a veteran of a hundred battles. Without a word, he reversed the gravity. The Fourth Raikage, who had just climbed up, suddenly floated into the air. In this weightless state with nowhere to gain leverage, his god-like speed was suddenly neutralized.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Spear Technique!"
After struggling a bit, the Raikage immediately understood his current situation and cast his Ninjutsu. Although he was famous for his Nintaijutsu, as the Raikage, his Lightning Release Ninjutsu level was at least above that of an average Jonin.
Of course, compared to the Third Hokage, it was far inferior. In terms of Five Elements Ninjutsu, the Third Hokage could be called the number one person in the Ninja World. Even if you counted all the Ninjas of past generations, few could surpass him in this regard.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Bullet!"
Without a word, the Third Hokage countered with a Vacuum Bullet, instantly dispersing the Lightning Spear. There was already a gap in their Ninjutsu levels, not to mention that the Third Hokage was using Wind Release, which counters Lightning Release.
However, the Wind Release that dispersed the Lightning Spear didn't break through the Fourth Raikage's defenses at all; instead, it pushed him back quite a bit.
The Fourth Raikage immediately felt that as he moved back, the anti-gravity seemed to weaken slightly. His eyes lit up, and he formed hand seals again: "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough can be said to be the most basic C-rank Wind Release Ninjutsu. It is essentially similar to the fire-style Great Fireball or the lightning-style Grudge Wave. It blows out a strong gale without cutting properties from the front; its lethality isn't high, and it's mostly just disruptive.
In the hands of the Fourth Raikage, the power of this Wind Release move might be inferior to some Jonin who specialize in Wind Release. After all, although the Fourth Raikage had a wind attribute, he certainly hadn't practiced Wind Release much.
But as a Kage of a village, his Chakra reserves were sufficient, and a powerful blast of wind rushed toward the Third Hokage.
This kind of power naturally couldn't hurt the Third Hokage, but similarly, the Fourth Raikage didn't intend to use this move to fight; he was just using the massive recoil of the Great Breakthrough to blow himself away.
However... "adamantine staff, Extend!"
Amidst the violent gale, the Third Hokage first formed a seal with one hand to block the Great Breakthrough, then the adamantine staff in his hand rapidly lengthened. When it reached the Fourth Raikage's side, a hand suddenly sprouted from it and grabbed his ankle.
The adamantine staff in the Third Hokage's hand was transformed from the summoned beast Enma. Compared to the iron staff of the true Great Sage, it was naturally worlds apart, but it also possessed some characteristics of the original staff—at least its length could change, and because it was a summoned beast itself, it could perform more flexible movements, like reaching out a hand to grab the opponent.
The Fourth Raikage was still maintaining his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, which was equivalent to having a layer of Lightning Armor. However, Enma was a summoned beast known for his hard body, so he completely ignored this bit of damage.
"Very good. Come back, adamantine staff!"
The adamantine staff retracted instantly. The Fourth Raikage's movement in the zero-gravity area was naturally rendered completely useless, and he was dragged back quite a bit.
Then, the Third Hokage stopped using Ninjutsu—using other Ninjutsu while simultaneously using the Rinnegan to control gravity puts a massive strain on one's energy and body.
He simply raised his adamantine staff high and then swung it down!
The adamantine staff smashed down with a terrifying whistle. Although the Fourth Raikage found it difficult to move due to being airborne, he still crossed his arms over his head in a standard blocking posture.
However, at the same time his hands blocked the opponent's attack, his expression couldn't help but change drastically. He felt as if the adamantine staff carried gravity as heavy as a mountain. With the sound of a crack, he was smashed directly into the ground!
"Did he use gravity manipulation to increase the power of the adamantine staff?"
The group of Ninjas observing from the walls of Konoha quickly saw the secret behind it. Don't look at Hiruzen Sarutobi as a withered old man; in reality, his Taijutsu, especially his staff techniques, was definitely at the Kage level and not much inferior to his Five Elements Ninjutsu.
Clearly, after gaining the ability to manipulate gravity, this old man had quickly integrated it into his own Taijutsu. At least he was very skilled at this simple trick of increasing weight to boost lethality.
However, although it was just a small trick, the power brought by this trick was not small at all. The Fourth Raikage was smashed directly into the ground like a meteor, and then, amidst a loud boom, he was smashed into a large crater over ten meters wide. He spat out a large mouthful of blood amidst the cracking sound of breaking bones.
This was only because of the protection of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode that the Fourth Raikage only suffered this much injury; otherwise, a normal Ninja would have been turned into mincemeat by this strike.
But because of this, the Fourth Raikage's feet finally touched the ground. Although he could only stay on the ground for a brief moment under anti-gravity conditions, his naturally sharp combat instincts allowed him to endure his injuries and kick off with both feet. He retreated dozens of meters like a meteor, finally exiting the range of the anti-gravity space.
After escaping the anti-gravity space, the Fourth Raikage spat out another mouthful of blood. At this moment, the bones in both his arms had broken into several pieces, hanging limply at his sides, and several ribs in his chest were also broken, making his breathing difficult.
After taking a deep look at the Third Hokage, the Fourth Raikage didn't say any harsh words, nor did he continue to fight. Instead, he turned around and disappeared before everyone's eyes as a bolt of lightning.
Admittedly, the biggest reason for the failure in this battle was that the Fourth Raikage had no intelligence whatsoever. Therefore, he was severely hindered by the Third Hokage's gravity and anti-gravity, resulting in a near-total inability to fight back.
But similarly, gravity control indeed countered the Fourth Raikage's abilities significantly. Added to the fact that he was already seriously injured, he naturally wouldn't be stubborn enough to continue fighting the Third Hokage. Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, he retreated immediately.
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