The battle between Aka and Kirigakure's high command was completely one-sided, but the fight between the puppet army and Kirigakure's ordinary Shinobi had reached a stalemate.
Although led by elites like Gin, Kana, Kuro, and Pakura, with two hundred elite puppeteers as spearheads, once Shinobi combat reached a certain scale, individual power seemed somewhat insignificant unless one possessed strength surpassing the Kage-level.
Especially Earth Release and Water Release Shinobi.
As long as twenty or more of them gathered and performed Ninjutsu together, they could unleash power akin to natural disasters like earthquakes or tsunamis.
No matter how strong Aka was, facing a collective Water Release from over twenty Shinobi would sweep her away.
No matter how potent Kana's poison was, capable of killing large swathes at once.
But after one lesson, Kirigakure dispersed their formations and employed long-range sniping... Although Kana could protect herself under the guard of the poisonous salamander, under suppressive fire, she found it difficult to freely release poisonous gas to kill enemies.
In Shinobi warfare, without an immortal body, unlimited Chakra, or strength surpassing the Kage-level, anyone would be the same.
In the original work, an elite Shinobi like Kisame, facing Ibiki and over a dozen Chunin-level opponents, could only escape by jumping off a cliff.
Ultimately, while each knight puppet possessed the strength of an elite Chunin individually, their combined power bonus fell far short of Kirigakure's Shinobi. This resulted in an inability to gain a decisive advantage even when Kirigakure's high-level combatants were pinned down.
If not for the Dragon Vein's ability for infinite repairs, this five-thousand-strong puppet army would truly be no match against a real Shinobi Legion.
This also demonstrates how foolish some ignorant, ambitious individuals are, those who attempt to destroy the Five Great Nations and rule the world based on their own ignorance.
Moreover, Kirigakure wasn't truly lacking in elites.
Hoshigaki Kisame, Hozuki Mangetsu, Terumi Mei...
Though these three didn't yet possess their future strength, they were already showing their prowess, with considerable power that shouldn't be underestimated. They caused significant trouble for the puppet army in this war.
But the stalemate was completely shattered with Ryuji's arrival.
Ryuji didn't possess strength surpassing the Kage-level, nor could he single-handedly fight a six-thousand-strong shinobi army.
But he could break a stalemated war.
He possessed immense Chakra Reserve and recovery speed, unleashing various large-scale Ninjutsu that swept away entire groups.
Although Kirigakure quickly employed human-wave tactics against him, with the war at a stalemate, where could they find personnel to mobilize now!
It was nothing more than robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Though they sent nearly five hundred to deal with Ryuji, the resulting gap became the fatal flaw where the Kirigakure's defense line was torn open.
Especially when Iron Fortress made its appearance, joining Ryuji in swiftly and decisively eliminating those five hundred men. After that, the entire Kirigakure battle line completely collapsed.
Under a captain's command, they collectively retreated overseas.
Meanwhile, the battle on the high platform also reached its conclusion.
The Third Mizukage died in battle. The Three-Tails and Six-Tails Jinchuriki died in battle. Of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, all died except for Raiga and Juzo, who managed to escape.
Yagura also managed to escape.
...
"I thought you would finish them all off!" After hearing Aka's report, Ryuji was slightly surprised.
He had assessed the enemy's strength, confirmed Aka could handle them alone, and then left. He didn't expect three to still manage to escape.
Hearing this, Aka also looked displeased.
"That Third Mizukage used his life as the price to perform a forbidden technique at the end, halting the movement of matter. I was held back."
"Halting the movement of matter?"
Ryuji was stunned, then understood.
'Wasn't that absolute zero?'
Frankly, after learning the Third Mizukage was from the Yuki Clan and displayed power far exceeding Haku's, he had wondered if the opponent might have a trump card like absolute zero.
He hadn't expected it to actually exist.
Though its effective range was limited and it required life as the price, it was still terrifying enough.
Frankly, suddenly facing such a technique, he was somewhat surprised Aka was only held back, not killed.
After all, halting the movement of matter… in a way, that was another form of time stop. Any Kekkei Genkai would seem pale and powerless under such absolute-zero low temperatures.
'It probably had an extremely short duration!'
Ryuji thought to himself.
As if reading his thoughts, Aka explained, "Mainly, the range was about a hundred meters. Within this area, even the caster couldn't move. So, as long as you could withstand the freezing damage of absolute zero, you wouldn't suffer additional attacks."
In other words, it was purely a forbidden technique for stalling!
The freezing damage of absolute zero was absolutely top-notch. Even in the Shinobi World, few could withstand it, let alone withstand it unscathed.
After all, most Shinobi were high-damage, high-mobility glass cannons.
But the Third Mizukage's own strength was at the peak Kage-level. In an icy, frozen environment, he even touched the ceiling of super-Kage level.
If the enemy was someone he couldn't defeat even at that level, then the absolute zero freeze was unlikely to harm them either.
However,
Even so, it was still quite terrifying.
"As expected, every individual who becomes a Kage is not to be trifled with."
Ryuji remembered the Dead Demon Consuming Seal of the Third and Fourth Hokage and couldn't help but sigh.
But then he thought of the Third and Fourth Kazekage, who were stabbed in the back and died, and his expression immediately fell.
'Damn it, the Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages are each more impressive than the last. Why, when it comes to my own village, are they progressively weaker?'
"Ah, right!" As if remembering something, Aka pulled out a scroll from behind. "These are the three swords captured. I sealed them inside."
"Three?"
"Samehada and Hiramekarei were blown away by the battle's aftermath. I don't know where they landed. I searched the area but couldn't find them."
"Samehada and Hiramekarei, huh..." Ryuji pondered slightly, then smiled and relaxed. "It's fine. The ones I'm interested in are the Exploding Sword and the Executioner's Blade anyway."
Perhaps Samehada and Hiramekarei were the strongest among the seven swords. But at Ryuji's level of strength, even the strongest of the Seven Ninja Swords, Samehada and Hiramekarei, would offer little help.
In contrast, the Executioner's Blade's ability to absorb iron from blood for self-repair and the Exploding Sword's technical principle of infinite explosive tag summoning... If he could analyze and master them, it would be a great help to Ryuji.
Though it was a pity the Executioner's Blade wasn't secured either, having Shibuki was still a significant gain.
Putting aside other things, just installing that summoning plate on the Iron Fortress for infinite explosive tags... whoever uses it knows.
After hearing Ryuji's words, Aka thought for a moment. "Although the Executioner's Blade wasn't secured, I did shatter that blade. There should still be fragments at the scene. I'll go look for them."
"Let the puppets handle it."