Naruto: I'm really not an evil scientist!

Everyone hoped that the Hokage could decisively defeat the Mizukage.

Admittedly, Yagura didn't participate in the preliminary rounds and was directly promoted to the semi-finals... But is that a problem? Even a child wouldn't think there's anything wrong with doing that.

Everyone loves watching a loser turn their life around.

Guy's previous battle has been hailed as legendary—the Konoha kid crushing a Kage-level expert from an unknown village, which certainly made Konoha and even the Land of Fire proud.

But what people really want to see is, of course, a direct confrontation between the Kage of the five great ninja villages.

Determining the strength of one's troops is something that men throughout history and across the world enjoy doing, especially when it involves the dignity of a nation.

However, for a considerable period of time, ninjas preferred to operate in secrecy.

They don't really care what others think of them, as long as they can complete the task.

The ninjas begin to emerge from the shadows, receiving the year the story officially begins.

If we want things to be completely transparent, then we need to wait until the Boruto era... Now that there's the Imperial Examination, it has naturally become a stage for power-based players and gamblers to revel... And as residents of Konoha and the Land of Fire, what they want to see most is naturally the Hokage's victory.

Halfway there, the group was even stopped by a young mother with a child.

The little girl in the white dress, being pulled by her mother, held a bowl of water and presented it to Hiruko in her childish voice.

"Hokage, you must win!" Hiruko smiled and nodded, then drank the water in one gulp amidst the cheers of everyone around him. He then walked towards the arena with a big laugh.

This place originally belonged to Konoha. Although many foreigners came here, the majority were from Konoha and the Land of Fire.

Now that the Hokage is in action, everyone's enthusiasm is self-evident.

Faced with such excessive enthusiasm, rationality began to evaporate.

Hiruko looked at the group of people closest to the arena.

That group consisted of the elders who had been resisting him all along.

But now, their attitude has subtly changed.

Even if they couldn't shout like many of the audience members, there was still a lot more in their eyes.

At that very moment, that familiar ding rang out again.

Without needing to say more, Hiruko knew that his ninja score had reached 75 points.

He is stronger than when he fought Nagato before.

This is thanks to his continuous scientific research during this period, which has allowed him to integrate new research findings into his own combat system and capability enhancement.

The only pity is that he never found a complete combat system for himself.

However, this is unavoidable. Most Kage-level ninjas have a lineage, but he is the only one without a system. He can neither follow the Sage Body route nor the Uchiha route.

Everyone else can advance by stepping on the shoulders of their predecessors, but he can't... "Then let's use our strength to make bricks fly! Absolutely! Easily!" Hiruko mustered his spirits and stepped into the arena.

When he entered, the cheers from the audience reached their peak, even drowning out the host's commentary.

But Hiruko didn't care about any of that; he simply watched his opponent quietly.

Yagura.

Just like the Yagura I remember, Yagura is still that short, cute boy.

He was wearing a divine robe and had a kind and approachable smile.

Aside from being a bit too small, he did look like a decent Mizukage... but Hiruko still noticed his problem.

There was always a hint of confusion in Yagura's seemingly clear eyes.

Ordinary people might not care, but a master of illusion like Hiruko would immediately know that this guy was under an illusion.

However, this illusion is of a very high level, and the caster is also very skilled.

...Just as expected.

"I never expected that our reunion would be like this."

"But what's done is done, there's nothing more to say."

"Let's decide the winner!" Yagura clearly didn't notice the strangeness in Hiruko's words. He just smiled, and then he and Hiruko took off their sacred robes and threw them elsewhere.

Neither of them cared about the divine robes, because they both knew that someone would catch them for them.

Now, they only have each other in their eyes.

Without hesitation, Yagura immediately entered Tailed Beast form—Obito was worried that if Yagura didn't enter Tailed Beast form, would he be able to control him? This was a necessary precaution when dealing with a master of illusion.

Moreover... this guy is probably planning to take advantage of Yagura's good condition and kill one more person.

After all, having fought Hiruko, regardless of the outcome, Yagura certainly wouldn't have much strength left to deal with anyone else.

Hiruko instantly understood Obito's strategy, and without hesitation, he took out the sealing scroll from his waist.

This sealing scroll is one of the results of his research; it can store and release powerful ninja tools.

Thump! A huge ninja tool covered in talismans appeared before everyone.

The use of ninja tools is not actually prohibited in the arena.

It's up to Guy not to use his own abilities; the other ninjas are not bound by such restrictions.

Upon seeing that ninja tool appear, Yugito, who was drinking coconut juice on the viewing platform, almost spat it out.

"No way... we're going to use this directly?"

"What's wrong, Yugito? Do you know what that is?" "That's the Box of Elysium... Don't ask me how I know."

Yugito remained tight-lipped about it, but this very fact piqued the interest of others—because of Hiruko's premature detonation, the Box of Bliss, aside from causing trouble for a certain big cat, did not create any chaos.

It was only at this point that it was exposed to the public.

Some experts immediately sensed something ominous from the terrifying atmosphere emanating from the Box of Bliss.

"Can this thing... be used? There seems to be a monster inside..." "This is a Six Paths Ninja Tool, and it's also a ninja tool." People discussed it animatedly, but after searching through the rules, they couldn't find any prohibitions—Six Paths Ninja Tools are too few to be considered by people.

But if you say that the Six Paths Ninja Tools aren't ninja tools... perhaps after this battle, there will be a ban on them.

But everyone knows it's too late now.

—But this is not the end of the Hirudhoyo campaign.

After taking out the Box of Bliss, he began to quickly form hand seals.

But he wasn't using any kind of ninjutsu... Rumble... As the sand sea rippled, a monster with zero written on its head and dark power raging everywhere appeared before everyone.

"It's Zero-Tails!" The leaders of the five great ninja villages were actually quite familiar with Zero-Tails—after all, they had teamed up to beat it before, which was only a few months ago.

However, the current Zero Tail is obviously thicker, bigger, and darker than the ones they saw before... They have been fighting against experts for so long in the Imperial Trial.

The chakra consumed by these people during this period was absorbed by Zero-Tails.

Zero Tail has a major weakness: it basically has no self-return function.

Once its stored chakra is depleted, it will essentially have no fighting power left.

Conversely, if enough chakra is stored... a jet-black chakra line extends from Zero-Tails and pierces into Hiruko's body.

This is the control method achieved by Hiruko after combining scientific research and ninjutsu to modify the Zero-Tails.

At the same time, Zero-tail stretched out its tail and plunged it into the Box of Elysium.

The monster in the Box of Bliss, that terrifying being that was sealed and imprisoned, keenly sensed the intrusion of the foreign object and immediately let out a deafening roar, as if it wanted to tear this world apart.

However, there were too many seals on the box, and the runes shimmered with mysterious light, like solid shackles, locking it tightly, and it couldn't get out at all.

On the contrary, Zero-Tails, a special being created by Hiruko using scientific methods, frantically absorbed a large amount of dark chakra emitted by the monster in a short period of time, its body grew thicker, and its aura became even more ferocious.

In an instant, Zero-Tails' aura was overwhelming, and the chakra it exuded was like a surging tide, completely suppressing Yagura, who had already transformed into the Three-Tails.

The combination of the Box of Elysium and Zero-Tails may seem powerful, but it is still no match for legendary beings like the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails.

But at this moment, the one inside Yagura's body is the Three-Tails... Perhaps sensing the troublesome nature of the Zero-Tails, the Three-Tails roared repeatedly, its voice filled with vigilance and anger, but it did not rush up to bite directly.

The three-tailed creature, which resembled a turtle, slowly lay down, its shell pattern shimmering with an eerie light, adopting a defensive posture.

However, Hiruko knew in his heart that this was just a pretense.

The Three-Tails may appear slow-witted, but it is actually extremely skilled in the "Rolling Wheel" technique. Once it launches an attack, the impact, like a boulder rolling down, should not be underestimated.

If you underestimate it because of this, you will suffer a great loss.

Hiruko had no desire to be subjected to the Shadow Technique. As a research ninja, he was skilled in developing various secret techniques and formulating battle strategies, but he had to be cautious about the powerful attacks of such tailed beasts.

His imposing stance from the outset wasn't because he wanted a decisive battle with Yagura; with his scientific mindset, he was well aware of the costs and benefits of combat.

Instead, given the available options, we should try to minimize Yagura's injuries.

If possible, he hopes to save Yagura.

After all, although Yagura is not very principled, he is actually easy to cooperate with in certain matters, which may provide a lot of help for his subsequent research plans.

"Then... now is the time!"

"Blood Demon!" Hiruko once again entered the Blood Demon state, and powerful chakra began to surge from his entire body. The chakra was like a burning flame, carrying heat and violence.

This is a force that even Nagato needs to deal with with all his might, after all, Hiruko has been constantly researching and studying, and has reached an extremely high level in the use and development of chakra.

However, this time, Hiruko did not rely solely on his own strength.

Zero-tail roared silently, its roar filled with excitement and madness, like a black lightning bolt, rushing into Hiruko's body and temporarily merging with him.

As soon as Zero-Tails entered Hiruko's body, endless killing intent surged into his heart like a raging tide.

As a research ninja, Hiruko's favorite things are all kinds of beautiful things, and what she hates most is this kind of irrational killing.

The murderous intent almost made him vomit; his stomach churned violently.

Despite his nausea, he forced himself to fight back and, with the unwavering will of a research ninja, launched a powerful attack on the Three-Tails before him.

"--Die!" In an instant, Hiruko concentrated all his power and protected himself with the Zero-Tails' chakra cloak, which shimmered with an eerie light, like an indestructible shield.

He charged toward the Three-Tails like a ferocious missile.

This attack was ordinary, without any fancy moves; it was simply a combination of speed and power.

If it were Yagura's true form, it could have tried to dodge with its agility, but the Three-Tails' enormous size made movement difficult... so it chose to take the hit head-on.

Instead of running away, the Three-Tails launched a counter-charge against Hiruko.

"—Shadowy!" The Three-Tails' massive body spun around like a sharp top, its shell spikes gleaming coldly as it slammed into the Zero-Tails.