Naruto: I'm really not an evil scientist!

From a tactical perspective, this choice was not wrong.

The Three-Tails believed that it could withstand the attack with its own strength and defense.

But it underestimated Hiruko's strength, and... his limits.

As a research ninja, Hiruko is willing to use any means necessary to achieve her goals.

Both sides pushed their power to the limit, but Hiruko did not block the attack; instead, he unleashed the Zero-Tails defense.

Zero-Tails took almost all of the damage from Shadow Demon, because it didn't dodge at all. The poor Zero-Tails was almost cut in two by Three-Tails.

Even a chakra master like Zero-Tails, after suffering such a severe injury, couldn't help but let out a deafening cry, a cry filled with pain and resentment.

But this has nothing to do with Biljukhu.

Zero-Tails' sacrifice was worthwhile, taking advantage of the fact that all of Three-Tails' power was concentrated on Zero-Tails.

Chapter 448

With his old power exhausted and new power yet to be generated, Hiruko skillfully changed his attack angle. Like an agile cheetah, he kicked the Three-Tails' body hard, expelling Yagura, who was heavily enveloped by the Three-Tails' chakra.

In terms of burst damage, Blood Demon is inferior to Eight Gates.

But Hiruko's chakra value is high. As a scientific research ninja, he has been conducting various experiments and training for a long time, and his physical fitness and chakra reserves are far beyond those of ordinary people.

If Yagura himself were operating it, there might still be hope, but now Obito is remotely controlling him... His excessively high base stats are the best weapon in themselves. Yagura never expected that Hiruko would completely ignore the life or death of the Zero-Tails and was hit hard.

Worse still, after piercing through the chakra cloak, a considerable amount of chakra still seeped into Yagura's body, like tiny needles pricking his nerves.

The Three-Tails instinctively tried to defend itself, but was tightly bound by the Zero-Tails and unable to move. This is one of the advantages of artificial tailed beasts without self-awareness; other tailed beasts have to worry about them resisting orders, but artificial tailed beasts do not.

Even if they were to die, they would complete their work without the slightest compromise; this is the power of Hiruko's scientific research achievements.

...Although sacrificing an artificial tailed beast is indeed a significant price to pay.

After all, even with the secret method of resurrection, the price of Zero-Tail's original body is not cheap; it was created by Hiruko with countless efforts and resources.

Hiruko knew that Zero-Tails was in terrible condition, but he didn't care about that. Instead, he rushed forward and engaged in close combat with Yagura.

That kick was really hard and heavy; Yagura hasn't recovered yet.

Now, Hiruko engaged him in close combat. Relying on the precise fighting skills and agile movements of a research ninja, after five rounds, Hiruko finally struck him in the abdomen with a punch, causing him to kneel on both knees and be unable to get up for a long time.

Amidst the surprised shouts of the audience, the Konoha referee in the distance began the countdown.

Hiruko was also surprised to see Yagura lying in front of him.

So... he just collapsed? He was much weaker than I imagined.

However, Hiruko thought about it from another angle and realized that it was quite normal for such a situation to occur.

After all, he is currently facing Nagato, and his assumed target is either Kiki or even Kaguya Otsutsuki.

Yagura is indeed very strong, but with a tailed beast attached to him, he's even more difficult to deal with.

To be honest, he was just an average actor.

He is now delirious, while Hiruko has been fully buffed and, with the wisdom and skills of a research ninja, has adjusted himself to his best condition.

With both sides clashing, it was only natural that Yagura was easily crushed head-on.

...Hiruko's primary target was not Yagura.

It was Obito, who was hiding behind the scenes.

Obito will definitely come to such an important occasion.

Given his mischievous nature, it's time for him to make his move.

—Hiruko deliberately injured Yagura and injected his chakra into his body, thus interfering with Obito's chakra, but did not release it directly.

Although we don't know where Obito is hiding, he would definitely choose to make Yagura go berserk at this moment.

By inducing a state of frenzy, he completely threw Yagura into chaos, thus preventing the illusion from being dispelled.

As a result, Obito was no longer able to control Yagura and the Tailed Beasts.

But he was there to cause trouble, and he wasn't too concerned about how Yagura and the tailed beasts actually killed those important figures.

Anyway, as long as they're dead, that's all that matters.

Strangely, Obito hesitated to make a move.

He just watched helplessly as Hiruko's chakra churned within Yagura's body, ultimately destroying his genjutsu.

A glint of light suddenly flashed in Yagura's eyes.

Hiruko, who was skilled in illusion, knew that this was proof of Yagura's consciousness returning.

"Ugh... Where am I... How did I get here..." Yagura clutched his head, lost in confusion, clearly having just broken free from the illusion and not yet understanding the situation.

The Three-Tailed Fox was also restored at the same time.

It stopped moving, and Zero Tail naturally stopped as well.

Hiruko did not choose to answer, but continued to cautiously survey her surroundings.

Obito actually just stood by and watched Yagura recover... There's no reason for that.

Wasn't it the best time to strike when Yagura was delirious? Could it be that there was another conspiracy? Hiruko never doubted Obito's ruthlessness, so he immediately raised his hand and gently shook it.

On the surface, this appears to be him accepting the cheers of the people.

But the ninjas hidden among the crowd knew that this was a signal for a large-scale scan of the entire arena and Konoha.

In the next few seconds, the barrier team will activate the scanning spell to its maximum.

At that level, the intensity of the barrier class's investigation will be increased to the limit, and may even achieve a better effect than the Rain Tiger Freedom Technique.

This is a powerful scanning technology developed by Hiruko, a research ninja, in collaboration with the Barrier Team.

Under such intense scanning, no one can hide.

Even a cockroach would be found by the barrier team—such strength naturally consumes an extraordinary amount of chakra.

But in order to find Obito, Hiruko didn't care about anything else.

But... there are still no clues.

That's a bit strange.

There was no movement from Yagura, and no reaction from Konoha or the arena. Where did Obito go? Could it be that he sensed something was wrong and ran away? That's unlikely.

In order to resolve all the troubles at once, no one except Hiruko knew the full details of this plan.

Even if Nagato's Human Path were to devour souls, he could only roughly figure out part of Hiruko's plan—not to mention that Nagato is currently busy capturing tailed beasts and has no time to deal with him.

So... what exactly is Obito doing? Surely he didn't really ditch him again? He even prepared the Edo Tensei for three Hokage, and you just ran away again?!

While Hiruko remained puzzled, Yagura had somewhat recovered.

He glanced at the cheering crowd around him, then shook his head as forgotten memories began to surface.

"Was I... controlled before...? What...what kind of orders did I give?!"

“My Kirigakure… my money…” Yagura said, looking at Hiruko with an almost pleading gaze.

"Fifth Hokage, tell me, none of this is real... I'm still in a genjutsu, aren't I?"

Hiruko looked at Yagura with pity.

Yagura's current focus is indeed a bit nonsensical, but he can understand Yagura's feelings.

Although Hiruko had never seen Kirigakure's accounts, she could guess how messy they must be now, given Obito's meddling...

The cannery, which should have made a fortune, had a large amount of capital withdrawn at the most critical time. So even though it eventually defeated the canneries of the Land of Fire, it was essentially exhausted and didn't make much money. It provided a lot of high-quality protein to the residents of the Land of Fire for nothing.

Hiruko's original intention to leave the Coca-Cola company to him has now been divided up by others.

The Five Shadows Conference had been fraught with conflict, and no one was quite comfortable with this new format. Someone was needed to mediate.

This was originally the best opportunity for Kirigakure to continuously strengthen its political and economic power, but Obito, not understanding this, didn't get involved at all.

These are all the visible losses.

The various hidden losses are directly immeasurable.

Because the Blood Mist was activated again, the foundation of the Mist Concealment suffered damage that was almost irreparable.

Many high-ranking ninjas were forced to flee, commit suicide, or even turn against the Mizukage's faction.

As for the wavering of ordinary ninjas and even ninja clans, there is no need to say more... The conservative faction, which he had suppressed, has now risen again... Destruction is always easier than construction. It can be said that Obito's recklessness in the past few months has completely destroyed Yagura's years of hard work.

It was only because Yagura woke up in time; if he hadn't woken up... no, even if he had woken up, the loss would have been irreparable.

Because other ninja villages were advancing during this period.

When everyone else is moving forward, and you're standing still, that's when you fall behind.

Moreover, if you fall behind even slightly, you'll fall behind at every step... It was already incredibly difficult to catch up with Konoha, and now they've wasted more than half a year. How are they supposed to catch up now? Not to mention Yagura, even Hiruko himself couldn't figure it out.

"In a dream... I could knock you out right now, maybe that would make you feel better?" Pfft! Hearing Hiruko say that, Yagura could no longer bear it.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.

Yagura, the tachibana tree, has withered away!

Hiruko paid no attention to the unlucky Yagura, but continued to observe the surroundings, searching for Obito's whereabouts.

...Tu Zi Ge, you're not really going to stand me up, are you?! I've already maxed out my buffs and got all emotionally invested, and you're not coming?!

Unfortunately, Tu Zi really did not show up.

All that effort by Beiliu Hu was in vain.

Oh, wait... Yagura, don't faint yet. What exactly did you say about the Union?

Hiruko entered a deep dream.

Having not slept for a week, he was extremely excited and would normally have difficulty falling asleep.

However, many things require a burst of energy at the first attempt, followed by a decline and eventual exhaustion.

He had previously conquered two small countries and fought a battle with Nagato, so his morale was high.

Even after fighting Yagura, who is a perfect Jinchuriki, he was still full of energy.