The eight members of the sealing squad instantly took their positions while holding the massive scrolls.
Tenzo, who possessed Wood Release, formed hand seals.
Then, he clamped his right hand over his left and stretched it toward Naruto. The character "封" (seal) appeared on his palm.
Seal!
Immediately, countless wooden tendrils extended from his arm, wrapping toward Naruto.
In that instant, it seemed as though a massive weight had pressed down on Naruto, and his violent chakra suddenly slowed down.
Cold sweat drenched Tenzo's forehead, "Quick, seal him! I can't hold on much longer!"
Jiraiya formed hand seals, then suddenly slammed his hands onto the ground, "Sage Art: Toad Oil Swamp!"
The ground around Naruto began to soften and drag him downward.
Taking this chance, the eight members of the sealing squad thrust their scrolls into the ground.
As the scrolls unfurled, a massive Double Four Symbols Seal appeared on the ground, combining into an Eight Trigrams Seal.
The enormous sealing formula surged to cover Naruto.
After all, the one currently controlling Naruto was Kushina Uzumaki, and the Eight Trigrams Seal was her specialty.
"ROAR!"
Naruto let out a furious roar as a surge of immense chakra burst out.
First, it shredded all of Tenzo's wooden tendrils, and even the Eight Trigrams Seal covering him faded completely.
Then the chakra rebounded toward the sealing squad.
The scrolls in their hands instantly shattered with loud cracks, scattering all over the ground.
All the sealing squad members were blasted back by the reversed chakra surge, spewing blood.
Tenzo was slightly better off, but blood still trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Tch!"
A massive rumble rang out, and an even larger chakra shockwave exploded outward.
Tenzo was also sent flying.
A huge black-red chakra hand came sweeping down, its target was the Third Hokage.
The Third Hokage raised his adamantine staff horizontally across his chest, but it was knocked from his hands and struck his chest directly.
Blood spurted from his mouth.
If not for Gamaken crashing in to shield him, the Third Hokage would've been finished.
Naruto seemed to have locked onto the Third Hokage, pouring all his attacks onto him.
Jiraiya had no choice but to cover the Third Hokage while fighting and retreating at the same time.
Meanwhile, the number of people gathering on the outskirts kept increasing.
More and more clan leaders had arrived, ready to join the battle at any moment.
THUMP-THUMP!
A powerful heartbeat resounded.
Suddenly, Naruto on the battlefield froze in place.
A figure slowly walked out.
It was Uchiha Rengoku.
"Third Hokage, looks like your sealing jutsu isn't up to par."
Everyone present saw it, Rengoku, with his Mangekyo Sharingan activated, walked up to Naruto.
Under the immense pressure of his eye power, everyone felt tightness in their chest.
Meanwhile, the tails on Naruto's body gradually vanished, and in the end, he collapsed to the ground.
Seeing the danger pass, Gamaken tidied up his bent trident and said, "I really was foolish."
Then with a bang, he vanished.
The two toad sages on Jiraiya's shoulders, Fukasaku and Shima, were also utterly exhausted.
"Little Jiraiya, we're heading back."
Jiraiya nodded, wincing at his swollen lips, "Thank you, esteemed sages."
Bang! Bang!
The two sages also disappeared together.
Everyone present saw clearly: the entire Third Hokage's side was helpless against the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
But the moment the Uchiha's Mangekyo appeared, the Jinchuriki was subdued.
All eyes flickered, clearly deep in thought.
The Third Hokage was covered in dust and dirt. Just now, he had been chased around the battlefield by Naruto, completely disgraced.
He took a blow to the chest that clearly broke at least three ribs, and his chest was covered in blood.
Panting heavily, the Third Hokage looked at Rengoku and could only offer thanks, "Thank you, Rengoku."
"Where's the Fourth Mizukage?"
At this moment, the surrounding shinobi clans erupted in uproar, was it really the Fourth Mizukage Yagura who launched the Tailed Beast Bomb?
Rengoku shook his head, "He got away."
Indeed, if a Mizukage fully intended to escape, he'd likely succeed.
Though Rengoku said so, the Third Hokage still felt something fishy.
But with so many people around, he couldn't say anything.
In terms of political maneuvering, Konoha had suffered a total defeat.
Though there were still some rogue ninja yet to be eliminated, the focus had shifted.
At that moment, Sarutobi Ryogen, covered in blood, hurried over, the blood wasn't his, but that of Sarutobi clan members.
He whispered in the Third Hokage's ear, reporting about Hyuga Koshin.
Hyuga Hiashi also walked over with an ugly expression, Hyuga Sota by his side.
Rengoku looked at Hiashi, then at the Third Hokage.
He had already guessed what was going on.
He curled his lips into a smirk, entering full spectator mode.
The other ninja clans also sensed something was wrong and began murmuring quietly.
The Third Hokage looked at Hiashi, fire burning in his eyes.
He had left behind 700 Sarutobi combatants.
Now, at least 200 of them were dead forever, and over 100 more were removed from the battle roster.
"Hiashi! The Hyuga clan was in charge of monitoring the village. Why did your main family intercept the report?"
Hiashi had already learned the situation from Sota, and now replied calmly and firmly, "Lord Hokage, our Hyuga clan had already discovered the explosive tags."
"And we reported it to Koshin, it was Koshin who privately withheld the report."
"The main family was unaware. Koshin's words are not to be trusted."
"Regarding the losses suffered by the 700 Sarutobi combatants, half of them, I express deep regret."
Hiashi's words were full of barbs, and he also revealed the Sarutobi clan's numbers to everyone present.
Before his death, Koshin had shouted things like "The main family intercepted the intel!" and "Avenge Hizashi!"
Naturally, this would cause suspicion and mistrust between the Hyuga and the Third Hokage.
Continued cooperation was clearly impossible.
Combined with the recent Uchiha activities, the Hyuga had grown increasingly distrustful of Konoha's leadership, so they might as well blow everything up.
Anyway, with so many Sarutobi appearing tonight, most other ninja villages already knew.
Though the Hyuga main family had been played by Koshin, it was a bold, open scheme.
Koshin was already dead, no wife, no children, completely alone.
No matter how powerful the main family was, what could they do to him?
Koshin's body had been blown into countless pieces, there wasn't even anything left to whip if you wanted to punish him posthumously.
All the other ninja clans had flickering expressions, some shifting their gazes between the Third Hokage and Uchiha Rengoku.
Looks like Konoha's political structure was about to shift.
The Third Hokage, having run into a wall with the Hyuga, now fully understood their stance.
After all, Ryogen had conveyed Koshin's last words, the Third Hokage knew it all.
Koshin's life-sacrificing open-scheme couldn't be unraveled.
The Third Hokage could only grit his teeth and remember this, before turning to address everyone, "There are still some bounty ninja causing trouble in Konoha. I hope all clan heads assist in identifying and searching for them."
"At 9 a.m. tomorrow, the Konoha High Council meeting will be held. All clan heads, please attend on time."
"We especially invite Uchiha Rengoku and Uchiha Fugaku to attend as well."
Rengoku crossed his arms and chuckled lightly, "Don't worry, Lord Hokage. The clan head and I will be there on time."
The Third Hokage waved his hand. The other clans also began organizing their members.
They started sweeping up bounty ninjas and other intruders.
Spies from other countries were now doing their best to escape Konoha.
Among them, many relied on Earth Release.
Aside from Kakuzu relying on his Earth-attribute heart to escape underground, Kazuma, who had prepared ahead of time, had Fuen create an underground tunnel using an Earth Release trap technique in case they couldn't retreat in time.
The moment the Third Hokage appeared, he had already withdrawn his formation and slipped away.
By now, Kazuma and Fuen had already escaped outside the Konoha walls.
Still shaken, Kazuma said, "So many people showed up… Konoha's really lively."
Fuen asked, "How's the haul this time?"
Kazuma proudly waved a scroll, "The Nine-Tails' chakra overflowed quite a bit this time, we made a fortune."
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y