The Tenseigan started from the Hyuga main family.

Stop playing tricks on me!

Once Yamanaka Kaze calmed down, he clearly sensed that Hinata Hyuga had nothing unusual about her except for the presence of an unfamiliar chakra that didn't belong to her.

Eight elite members of Root were dispatched to capture Hinata Hyuga. This would have been more than enough to capture even elite Jonin, let alone a Genin from the Hyuga clan.

Just as Yamanaka Fu was about to attack Hinata again, he suddenly felt someone approaching from behind. Before he could react, two kunai pierced his body at the same time, instantly severely injuring him.

"you……"

Yamanaka Fu, barely managing to turn around, discovered that his experience was not unique; Aburame Torine, standing beside him, had also been betrayed and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"You... were you able to take advantage of the situation because Lord Danzo left Root a few days ago?"

Stimulated by the intense pain, Yamanaka Fu's perception was greatly enhanced, and he was surprised to find that all the Root members behind him had eyes that emitted a green glow similar to Hinata's beneath their masks.

Lord Danzo, run!

Yamanaka Fu opened and closed his mouth, trying his best to shout out these words, even though he knew in his heart that Danzo could not possibly hear him.

The next moment, another figure appeared in the secret room; it was Hyuga Zechen, who had used a space-time ninjutsu.

What a loyal subordinate! It's a pity he followed the wrong master.

Hinata Zetsu caught Hinata as she collapsed, and looking at Yamanaka Kaze and Aburame Torune lying on the ground, he once again condensed a green chakra spirit ball in his palm.

-----------------

Half an hour later.

"The person has been brought back?"

In the dark underground hall of the Root, Danzo watched the two leading the team back and suddenly felt something was wrong.

"Yes, Lord Danzo, the man has been locked up in the cell. Would you like to see him?"

The members of the Roots knelt on the ground, and Yamanaka Kaze, who was in charge, lowered his head and answered.

“Very good. Immediately send a message to Hyuga Zetsu, telling him to go to… the woods by the Naka River right away.”

Danzo looked at his right-hand man, who was acting as usual, and the slight unease that had risen within him immediately dissipated. He then spoke.

The forest beside the Namka River is the blessed land where Danzo successfully seized Shisui's Mangekyou Sharingan.

Since the Uchiha clan was wiped out, the area has been sparsely populated, making it ideal for Root to operate.

Although Danzo was always in Root, everything that happened during the entire Konoha Crush plan was continuously fed into Root, giving Danzo an extremely clear understanding of Hyuga Sawatatsu's strength.

Just like Uchiha Shisui back then, if Hyuga Zetsu cannot be subdued in one blow, even if he suffers severe injuries, he may still have the ability to launch a counterattack, which would be enough to cause heavy casualties to Root.

However, when Danzo looked down at his right arm, a smug smile appeared on his lips.

So what if I'm the strongest? With the Ten Izanagi Techniques, the First Hokage's Wood Release, and the powerful Kotoamatsukami eye technique, who in this world can rival me?

As for the Root members, Danzo considered them sacrificial lambs. Even if they were all wiped out, as long as he could control Hyuga Sawatatsu with Kotoamatsukami and become Hokage, would he lack capable subordinates?

Not only is Hyuga Zetsu himself extremely powerful, but he also has the support of Konoha's number one ninja clan.

Hiruzen, you stay underground and watch how far Konoha will develop under my leadership!

I will prove to Tobirama that choosing you instead of me was the biggest mistake he ever made!

correct.

Sand Ninja...

Danzo's one eye flashed with a glint of light. He beckoned Yamanaka Kaze closer and then whispered a few words of instruction.

The mountain wind nodded and vanished in a cloud of white mist.

-----------------

As dusk approached, Danzo sat in the center of a valley filled with towering boulders, surrounded by numerous members of the Root Society.

Strange, even though everything is ready, why do I feel inexplicably uneasy?

The last time I had such a sudden urge was when I cooperated with Hanzo in the Land of Rain to jointly wipe out the Akatsuki organization.

Is it...

Danzo turned his head slightly and looked towards the corner, where Hinata, whose eyes were covered, was lying quietly.

"Lord Danzo, Hyuga Sawatatsu has entered the grove and is confirmed to be alone."

Just then, a member of the root suddenly appeared and reported the situation in real time.

"What about the Sand Village?"

A hint of joy flashed in Danzo's eyes as he spoke.

"The Jonin Maki personally led the team, bringing along almost all of their remaining Jonin and Chunin."

Danzo suddenly stood up and slammed his cane into the ground, leaving a deep crater.

"Very good, proceed according to plan immediately."

Now that things had come to this, Danzo suppressed his unease and made a hand gesture.

Bang!

A small team, now dressed in Sand Ninja ANBU uniforms, carrying the unconscious Hinata, walked out of the valley under Danzo's watchful gaze.

Danzo's eyes gleamed, a long-lost excitement welling up inside him.

The Fifth Hokage, who else but me!

Chapter 53 Hinata Zechen's Hundred Machine Maneuvers

Standing in the middle of the valley, Hinata Zetsu had bulging veins around his eyes.

Within his Byakugan vision, he immediately spotted a group of Root members located five kilometers to the southwest, as well as a group of Sand Ninjas running rapidly towards him from the northeast, led by Maki.

Green Tenseigan chakra flashed in his pupils, and scenes of Yamanaka Kaze's memories flowed through Hinata Zetsu's eyes.

Danzo is indeed a troublemaker who never stops stirring up trouble.

Swish!

With the sound of wind breaking, a group of Sand Ninja led by Maki stood on tree branches or behind large rocks, while several ninja squads continued to move, flanking from the left and right, clearly intending to block Hyuga Zechen's retreat.

Maki stepped out from among the Sand Ninja, looking at Hyuga Sawatatsu with a joyful expression.

As expected, the information provided by the Sand Village's mole in Konoha was correct.

Among the five great nations of the ninja world, the land of Sunagakure is the most barren. Apart from the endless sandstorms, it has no other resources or special products to speak of.

Most importantly, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind was the first to propose disarmament and cut financial support, so much so that Rasa, the Kage of the village, had to frequently travel deep into the desert to extract gold from the desert using his bloodline limit Magnet Release to subsidize the Sand Village's expenses.

Therefore, the entire Sand Village leadership readily agreed to Orochimaru's plan to destroy Konoha, as they had long coveted the fertile land of the Land of Fire.

Unfortunately, the Sand Village encountered problems right from the start when carrying out their operation. Not only did they fail to destroy Konoha as they had hoped, but the Fourth Kazekage also disappeared without a trace, and was most likely in grave danger. Nearly half of the Sand Village's ninja who participated in the attack on Konoha were also lost!

Originally, Sunagakure was limited by insufficient funds and could only focus on training a small number of elite ninjas, making it the village with the fewest ninjas among the five great ninja villages. After this loss, Sunagakure was severely weakened.

More importantly, even Gaara, the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast, fell into Jiraiya's hands.

Judging from his own experience, Maki had already anticipated that, as the defeated party in this war, Sunagakure would face even harsher conditions in order to redeem Gaara from Konoha, in addition to paying a large sum of war reparations and reducing the number of ninja missions.

Just then, a spy planted in Konoha by the Sand Village sent word that Hyuga Sawatatsu would be coming here alone this afternoon.

After much deliberation, Maki decided to lead a group of elite Sand Ninja to capture Hyuga Sawatatsu alive, in order to increase the Sand Village's trump card and reduce losses in the upcoming negotiations between the two countries and the terms for Gaara's redemption.

"Hyuga Zetsu, surrender now!"

Seeing that Hyuga Zetsu hadn't shown the slightest surprise despite being surrounded, Maki's eye twitched, sensing that the situation seemed rather bad.

"You guys?"

Hinata Zechen's lips curled up slightly, and that disdainful smile immediately angered many Sand Ninja.

Although Hyuga Zetsu had demonstrated his formidable strength in taking on a hundred enemies single-handedly, in the hearts of these Sand Ninja, there was still a huge gap between him and the invincible figures like Konoha's White Fang and the Fourth Hokage, who could single-handedly overcome numerical disadvantages.

"Hyuga Zechen, you don't need to bluff. Although I have to admit that if you enter that special battle state, the rest of us won't be able to stop you from breaking through. However, after several battles, you probably haven't even fully recovered your chakra yet, let alone entered that battle state again. You are no match for us now!"

Maki looked at Hyuga Zetsu with confidence, clearly certain that Hyuga Zetsu would not be able to enter the Tenseigan Chakra Mode again in a short period of time.

As an elite Jonin who has experienced two Shinobi World Wars, Maki's intelligence analysis ability, even if not as good as Nara Shikaku's, is still among the best in Sunagakure.

The fact that Hyuga Zetsu only revealed the Tenseigan chakra mode after absorbing Shukaku's chakra is enough to explain a lot. Furthermore, the fact that the Tenseigan chakra mode immediately disappeared after Hyuga Zetsu used the powerful special ninjutsu, Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion and Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, led Maki to conclude that Hyuga Zetsu was in a weakened state.

clap clap clap...

Under the watchful eyes of many Sand Ninja, Hyuga Zechen listened to Maki's words with a smile, then clapped and laughed.

"I must say, your Sand Village's intelligence analysis capabilities are quite impressive. The Shukaku chakra stored in my eyes is indeed running low..."

Upon hearing Hyuga Zechen reveal his weaknesses, Maki gestured with his hands behind his back, signaling the Sand Ninja behind him to remain calm.

The area was already completely surrounded by Sand Ninja, and even with the support of Konoha Ninja, they could only hold them off for a while. Therefore, Maki was not anxious and hoped to subdue the enemy without a fight.

"...Besides, why should I waste my chakra to deal with a bunch of Sand Ninja?"

Hinata Zechen lowered his arm, flicked his sleeve, and a yellow scroll with a red axis appeared in his palm.

This is……

Maki's pupils constricted as he stared at the red scorpion symbol on the scroll's surface.

Even though Maki wasn't a puppeteer, as an elite Jonin of Sunagakure and Kankuro's teacher, he naturally recognized the scroll's origin at a glance.

"This is a trophy I stole from Sasori of the Red Sand. I've modified it but haven't used it even once. I hope your Sand Village can hold out a little longer..."

As Hyuga Zechen raised his right hand, the scroll sealing the Hundred Puppet Manipulation unfolded in mid-air. Under the scroll's frantic vibration, figures shot out and soared into the sky amidst the clattering sounds of numerous puppets, densely filling the entire sky.

The Sand Ninja present stared in disbelief at the enormous group of puppets that had already blocked out the setting sun, their mouths agape, forgetting to close.

"By the way, since we're dealing with Sand Ninja, we should also include another piece of spoils. After all, in Sasori's words, that's his most prized creation!"

Hinata Zechen flicked his left hand, and another scroll appeared in his palm, slowly unfolding in front of Maki and many Sand Ninja.

three?

Just as Maki saw the markings on the scroll, the scroll, now infused with chakra, emitted a large amount of white mist, obscuring everyone's vision.

The next moment, as the white mist dissipated, when Maki saw the human puppet floating above Hyuga Sawa's head, he was immediately horrified and speechless.

"This...this is...how could this be..."