Chapter 79: A Show of Military Might from the Empire!

Chapter 79: A Show of Military Might from the Empire!

In a distant castle, a group of guards dressed in black trench coats stood tall, each with a formidable physique. Even the shortest among them stood at about 1.8 meters, while the tallest loomed at a staggering height of two meters or more.

"Yes, I was notified of your impending arrival, and I took the liberty of volunteering to be your guide. Welcome, Orochimaru-kun, Princess Tsunade, Kakashi-kun, Sasuke-kun, and Kabuto-kun. Welcome to the Shenwu Empire! I am Captain Namikaze Minato of the Imperial Capital Guard."

Minato greeted them with a sunny smile.

"Oh! It's an honor, Captain Minato," Orochimaru replied politely, returning the smile.

The others followed suit with their greetings.

"Minato, do you have a spatial communicator on you? I need to stay in constant communication with everyone in Konoha," Tsunade suddenly requested.

"Hmm? Oh?"

Minato was taken aback for a moment, but his smile only grew brighter. "Of course."

As he spoke, he took out a spatial communicator from his ring and fiddled with it briefly.

Soon, a light screen appeared.

In the ninja world, in Konoha...

A group of people surrounded Imperial Lee, their eyes filled with anticipation as they gazed at the communication device in front of him.

As soon as it started flashing with a green light, Imperial Lee gently pressed a button.

Another light screen appeared, and the figures of Orochimaru, Tsunade, Kakashi, Sasuke, Kabuto, and Minato materialized before everyone's eyes.

The Konoha ninjas couldn't help but exclaim in surprise:

"Captain Minato!"

"Fourth Hokage!"

"Minato-san!"

"Sasuke!"

"Orochimaru!"

"Tsunade-sama!"

Among the string of exclamations, the titles "Captain Minato," "Fourth Hokage," and "Minato-san" were the most frequent.

"Ahaha! I apologize, I apologize. I'm not the Fourth Hokage that you all know. I am Captain Namikaze Minato of the Shenwu Empire's Imperial Capital Guard."

The Minato from the Empire apologized with a remorseful smile.

Then, catching sight of Naruto in the corner of his eye, he smiled and asked, "Little Naruto, how's life back in Konoha?"

Hearing this, many ninjas' hearts skipped a beat.

This Minato from another world had met Naruto... Did he know everything?

"Ah! Uncle Minato, I'm doing great in Konoha. But is that Orochimaru and Sasuke with you... from our world?" Naruto replied, then turned to Orochimaru and Sasuke with a puzzled look.

"That's right, Little Naruto. These are Orochimaru-kun and Sasuke-kun from your world," Minato nodded with a smile.

"Yo... It's been a while, dead-last," Sasuke said coldly.

"Is that Sasuke-kun? It's been more than three years... and he's gotten even more handsome! Oh no! I can't control myself!" Ino covered her chest with one hand, her eyes filled with desire.

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura murmured longingly.

"Sasuke! You! How did you end up going to the Empire with Granny Tsunade and Kakashi?" Naruto asked, bewildered.

"Hmph! I joined the Empire a long time ago. It's only natural that I would come to visit," Sasuke sneered.

"You joined the Empire?" Naruto was taken aback, but then he scratched his head and suddenly laughed, "Well, that's great! If you're part of the Empire, we can team up again in the future."

"What nonsense are you spouting? Strong people only team up with other strong people. Who would want to team up with a loser like you?"

"Sasuke, you jerk!"

Naruto gritted his teeth, but his expression was surprisingly cheerful.

Even Sakura couldn't help but smile a little.

Both of them subconsciously considered themselves part of the Empire! Noticing this, Ino-Shika-Cho and several other ninjas' faces changed slightly.

Empire...

Tsunade, who had just exchanged secret signals with Shikaku, turned her eyes and said, "Minato, why don't you give us a proper tour? I assume our area of activity isn't limited to just this small space?"

"Of course, Princess Tsunade,"

Minato from the Empire nodded.

Soon, they left the steel fortress and ventured into the outside world.

For the first time, the people of Konoha witnessed the full splendor of the ancient town of Loulan in the Empire.

Seeing the towering skyscrapers and the beautifully dressed people with happy smiles on their faces, the people of Konoha couldn't help but marvel at how the Empire's social development and standard of living far surpassed that of Konoha and even the entire ninja world.

This was not something that could be faked.

In the hearts of Tsunade, Kakashi, Shikaku, and others who always maintained a skeptical attitude, their belief in the Empire increased to over ninety percent.

"Minato-kun, the standard of living in the Empire is indeed far superior to that of the ninja world.

However... what attracts me the most is always power and unknown science.

Obito-kun invited me to join the Empire, saying that the Empire possesses everything I desire."

Orochimaru licked his lips.

"Oh! Of course, for a talented individual like Orochimaru-kun, who is even valued by His Majesty, we will definitely show you the things that interest you.

But before that, perhaps we can observe the training of our Empire's soldiers.

I wonder if Orochimaru-kun and Princess Tsunade are interested?"

Minato suggested with a smile.

He had a hidden intention.

"So, this is the Empire's show of military might! Do they want us to surrender obediently...?" Tsunade's heart skipped a beat.

"Of course, power is also something I'm interested in," Orochimaru nodded.

"Empire's soldiers? What's so interesting about watching a bunch of soldiers train?"

Sasuke scoffed at the idea.

Kakashi, on the other hand, asked, "Captain Minato... I heard that the soldiers of the Empire possess the same strength as I do... and there are a million of them?"

"Ah! Th-That... how is that possible... Who knows if the soldiers of the Empire are as strong as you, Kakashi-kun? You haven't fought them, so don't listen to what some people say!"

Upon hearing Kakashi's words, Minato from the Empire became a little flustered and laughed awkwardly.

Sasuke and Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly.

In the ninja world, in Konoha...

A group of ninjas were also stunned:

"Impossible! A million Kakashi-sensei (senpai)?"

"If there were a million, that would be too terrifying. Compared to this, Konoha is no different from a remote mountain village."

"This must be a bluff!"

The ninjas murmured among themselves.

A figure wrapped in bandages from head to toe pushed through the crowd and appeared at the forefront of the temporal device. "What empire? What other world? It's just an illusion and sleight of hand! Trying to intimidate Konoha and make us submit to you? Preposterous! A million Kakashis? A million elite jonin? If you had that kind of power, you wouldn't need any schemes or plots; the entire ninja world would already be yours!" Danzo shouted.

The surrounding ninjas' expressions changed slightly at his words.

"Ah! Are you Danzo? It's only reasonable to have doubts. But our Empire will prove to you that your suspicions are unfounded. As for why we are so friendly to Konoha, it's because the Empire evolved from Konoha itself. We don't want to indiscriminately attack or slaughter our kin. If it were any other ninja village, the Empire wouldn't have so many reservations..."

Hearing the voice coming from the device and seeing Danzo's image, Minato nodded slightly. Then, he manipulated the spatial powers around him.

In an instant, everyone felt their surroundings shift, and they found themselves in a suburban area.

Here, two groups were engaged in an intense battle. One group, consisting of at least two hundred people, skillfully employed the six forms of the Body Flicker Technique, with Needle Jutsu and Slash Jutsu flying everywhere, their figures flickering in and out of sight. They displayed exceptional combat prowess.

The other group consisted of rainbow-colored lights that weaved through the Needle Jutsu and Slash Jutsu like dragons, even dodging the attacks of the two hundred people surrounding them. As these lights passed by, the bodies of the six forms practitioners would bloom with blood, and they would fall from the sky with cries of pain.

Whoosh! Red meteor-like projectiles shot out from the rainbow lights, deeply embedding the six forms practitioners into the earth!

This was not a fair fight!

In just a few minutes, the two hundred practitioners lay on the ground, and medical ninjas rushed to their aid.

The rainbow lights then stopped moving and revealed their true forms.

They were metal puppets, about three meters tall, with light wings on their backs and light swords in their hands.

Witnessing this battle, the Konoha ninjas were all stunned.

"Those martial arts experts... were defeated so easily..."

"Those experts looked very strong. Compared to their speed and technique power, I'm inferior."

Choji Akimichi, with a grave expression, stared intently at the temporal communication device and bitterly said.

"Is this what they mean by a million Kakashi-level ninjas? Even if there were only two hundred, it would still be terrifying..." Shikamaru Nara commented.

"Two hundred elite jonin... Are you joking... Tsunade, are you sure what we're seeing is real?" Danzo asked, his tone filled with disbelief.

"It's been confirmed. Lady Tsunade is currently in a stable condition," Shikamaru added.

Danzo fell silent, contemplating the implications. Two hundred Kakashi-level fighters... Even if this was all the Empire had to offer, it was still a force to be reckoned with.

Moreover, there were those puppets that could overpower the elite jonin.

Those were the truly terrifying ones!

What was on display before them was already enough to easily destroy Konoha... Perhaps it would take the combined might of the Five Great Shinobi Villages to counter this power.

It was indeed formidable.

"What are those puppets?"

Just as everyone was filled with curiosity, Orochimaru asked, his eyes gleaming.

"Those are small humanoid mobile weapons. You can also think of them as armed puppets. Every soldier who masters the piloting technique can attain the power of a Kage through them."

Minato explained with a smile.

"The power of a Kage? So, those ten puppets over there are equivalent to ten Kages... What a frightening technology..."

Orochimaru's eyes sparkled with excitement, despite his mouth claiming it to be frightening.

"It's impressive, but it doesn't scare me! After all, I've already witnessed even more astonishing power. And this power alone is insufficient to conquer the ninja world."

Tsunade, suppressing her pounding heart, maintained a calm expression as she spoke.

"As expected of Princess Tsunade. However, the battle drill I brought everyone to see is not just this. Watch out!"

The Minato from the Empire smiled and then turned solemn as he looked up. Following his gaze, Tsunade, Orochimaru, Sasuke, and the others, along with the temporal communication device being held by Kabuto, also looked up.

In the clouds above, a roar reverberated: "Qinglong Scale!"

A pale white pillar of light tore through the clouds and descended from the sky, landing a kilometer away from them! A massive mushroom cloud rose, and the powerful hurricane that followed made those a kilometer away feel the force of the wind on their faces!

"What is that... Is it Susanoo?"

Kabuto's voice trembled.

Above the torn clouds, a giant puppet with a predominantly pale blue color scheme and white spikes at its joints stood. Its palms blazed with light, and the tremendous energy shockwave that followed was released from this source.

On the other side, another giant puppet, predominantly blue with black accents and spikes at its joints, flickered with layers of illusions.

The pale white light pillar trailed behind this giant puppet as it swept across the land, carving a trench dozens of meters deep and several kilometers long!

"That attack is useless against me, Kankuro!"

A calm female voice emanated from the black-accented giant puppet.

"Temari! Don't get too cocky! That was just the appetizer! Take this! Black Tortoise Adamantine Fist!"

The puppet with white spikes spoke again, and its right arm swung backward. The right fist then began to spin rapidly, dragging a tail of terrifying flames hundreds of meters long. Accompanied by a deafening roar, it tore through the atmosphere and slammed into the black-accented puppet!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end