'Surrendered?'
The arena fell silent.
The spectators who had just been cheering for their respective sides were all stunned.
'What did that mean?'
'Didn't he just reveal the Byakugan?'
'Wasn't he about to unleash a killer move?'
'Why did he surrender without even fighting?'
'And he was acting like a sore loser a moment ago, now he looks completely relaxed?'
Not only were the Sunagakure's Shinobi confused, even the Konoha's side couldn't understand.
"What is this?!"
Suddenly, a young Hyuga attendant exclaimed in shock.
Everyone turned to look. He had also activated his Byakugan and was staring at Gin in utter disbelief.
"What is it?"
The elderly Hyuga Clan's Clan Head asked.
Although he was deeply concerned about Mukai possessing the Byakugan and hiding it, Mukai's sudden surrender and relaxed demeanor made him temporarily set that aside.
Right now, he just wanted to know what could possibly make a Byakugan wielder who had mastered the Gentle Fist to its peak surrender without a fight.
This concerned the very survival of the Hyuga Clan.
If Sunagakure had developed something that rendered both the Byakugan and the Gentle Fist ineffective, then the Hyuga would have an unbeatable hard counter.
"Clan Head, the Sunagakure's person, she, she..."
"What about her?"
"Her body's structure is different from ours."
"Different?" The Hyuga Elder was taken aback. "Where is it dif… never mind, I'll see for myself."
The Elder formed a hand seal, his eyes widening and turning pale with a bluish tint, veins bulging around them, a black mark appearing in the pupils.
"This is!?"
The Elder's eyes went wide, his mouth hanging open in speechless shock.
Under the Byakugan's gaze, nothing remained hidden.
Gin's unusual physical structure was laid bare before his eyes.
A skeleton of unknown material, muscles composed of some kind of fibers interspersed with gears, screws, and other mechanical components, organs that were similar but not identical, a chaotic network of Chakra Pathways... But these weren't even the most crucial parts.
The key was the source of her Chakra.
For everyone else, Chakra came from Physical and Spiritual Energies.
But Gin's Chakra originated from an unknown component of unknown material located in her abdomen.
That component contained immense Chakra but didn't produce it itself.
'This Gin is not...'
"Gin is not a normal human." Seeing the nearby people looking at him, Ryuji smiled and continued. "Gin is an artificial human I created using puppet techniques. She lacks the normal organs and Chakra Network of a human. Techniques like the Gentle Fist, which bypass muscle defense to attack internal organs or sever Chakra Flow, naturally have no effect."
'So that's it.'
'No wonder Mukai surrendered immediately after activating his Byakugan and looked so relieved.'
Everyone had a moment of realization.
The Gentle Fist had made Mukai who he was; it was the path he walked. For him, the Gentle Fist was his faith, his everything.
If he lost due to inferior skill, so be it.
But he had mastered the Gentle Fist to its pinnacle. If his opponent just stood there and he couldn't harm her, it meant the Gentle Fist was useless.
How could he not go mad?
That's why he was willing to reveal the Byakugan to defeat Gin.
If he didn't, his belief would shatter, and he would live in self-doubt, falling into ruin.
But when he activated the Byakugan and saw Gin's structure, he understood. It wasn't the Gentle Fist's problem. It was the opponent's.
The Gentle Fist was a Taijutsu developed specifically for the human body; it wasn't skilled at destruction.
But if the opponent wasn't human, what could he do?
Therefore, he let go and surrendered openly.
"The winner of this duel is... Gin of Sunagakure." As Minato announced the result, the stands erupted in cheers once more.
For the ordinary audience, while they thought Gin being a manufactured puppet was amazing, they didn't dwell on its deeper meaning.
They quickly immersed themselves in the exciting fight the duelists had provided and cheered for the victor.
But Hiruzen and the others couldn't smile.
Originally, these two duels, where both sides spared each other's lives, should have removed the barriers between the Sunagakure's delegation and Konoha. He should have been happy.
But now, he couldn't smile at all.
'That Gin was manufactured...'
'If one Gin was this strong, what if Senki Ryuji made a second, a third, even thousands? Who could stop Sunagakure from dominating the Shinobi World?'
However,
Though troubled, he didn't entertain the foolish idea of killing Ryuji to eliminate the threat in its infancy.
After all, technology isn't like Ninjutsu; it doesn't have strict learning requirements. Anyone who understands the knowledge can do it.
Even if he killed Ryuji, someone else would master this knowledge. Hiruzen didn't know if this technology was unique to Ryuji or developed jointly with Sunagakure.
But he leaned towards the latter.
Even if Ryuji was a genius capable of solo-developing such technology, research requires vast funds. Without village support, one person couldn't possibly develop such a thing.
Therefore, Sunagakure must have backups of the knowledge.
In that case, killing Ryuji would be useless.
Secondly, Konoha's current situation was precarious.
Killing Ryuji here would inevitably provoke Sunagakure's fury. If Sunagakure attacked Konoha now, Konoha would be doomed.
The fact that Sunagakure still maintained its alliance with Konoha and sent people to study here meant their strength wasn't yet at the level to dominate the world.
Ryuji's technology also couldn't mass-produce experts like Gin... While he didn't know if it would be possible in the future, at least it wasn't now.
But if he killed Ryuji now...
A potential future threat would become an immediate life-or-death crisis.
Doing that would make him the true fool.
Hiruzen could only hope the war would end soon.
'Best to end it before this technology advanced to the point of mass-producing fighters like Gin. Then, whether by sending spies to steal the data or destroy the technology, this crisis could be erased.'
In truth, Hiruzen was worrying for nothing.
Mass-producing Gin was impossible.
Not due to immature technology, but material issues.
Setting aside the otherworldly materials only obtainable through system check-ins, even the materials existing in this world couldn't be supplied on a large scale.
Or rather, they couldn't afford it.
Just think of Kara no Kyoukai, where Aozaki Touko gave Ryogi Shiki a prosthetic arm and had to live on instant noodles for months… it shows how expensive such materials are.
Though Touko was perpetually broke, that was mainly due to her magecraft research expenses. As a top-tier puppet master, she also sold ordinary puppets as art pieces to high society, earning money quickly.
At those price points, Sunagakure simply couldn't afford it.
(A/N: Many might not know Kohinata Mukai. He is a character from the Itachi Shinden novels, a high-ranking Anbu's member, Hiruzen's right-hand man at the time. He's extremely powerful, even above Shisui, and held high prestige among lower-ranked Shinobi. He's a man with a high probability of becoming the Fifth Hokage.
However, he was a spy turned by Kirigakure.
The original work doesn't state why he became a spy, but there are hints, most likely related to his young, sickly child.
Also, his background details are my invention; the original work doesn't cover it.
I created this background to help readers better appreciate Mukai's prowess.
Also, some say Gin standing there letting Mukai hit her is forced arrogance.
But Mukai's Taijutsu is already top-tier. In the original work, both Shisui and Itachi, with their Sharingan active, didn't dare engage him in close combat and tried to kite him.
Result? He sliced through a Great Fireball with a palm strike, closed the distance instantly, and overwhelmed them… completely different levels.
Gin's methods are primarily monstrous strength with Earth Release support. Against Mukai, fighting back or not, the result is the same: she'd be utterly dominated.)