Black armor.
A jet-black staff that could extend and retract at will.
Hyuga Arin had to admit—at this moment, the person who arrived was insanely cool.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had entered the battlefield!!!
The violent gale kicked up by the collision between the Rock Fist and the black staff uprooted countless trees, tearing them from the ground like a passing typhoon.
Before such a natural disaster, all beings were equal.
Yet this "natural disaster" had been created by nothing more than two humanoid figures.
Crow's figure appeared beside Hyuga Arin.
"Sorry. I'm late."
So that's what you went to do—you went to get reinforcements.
Hyuga Arin didn't know how Crow had convinced Sarutobi Hiruzen to come to the front lines. There was surely Danzo Shimura's influence involved as well.
But he did know one thing—
The Iwagakure battle line that had just collapsed was about to stabilize again.
And his life was completely saved.
If Ōnoki had continued the pursuit, Hyuga Arin felt that even all his stored experience wouldn't have been enough to keep him alive until he reached safety.
That old man clearly had a lot of opinions about him.
And very strong ones at that.
At this moment, the clash between the two came to an end.
Ōnoki was knocked backward some distance, stopping himself midair.
Sarutobi Hiruzen planted the black staff into the ground and looked at Ōnoki with a grave expression.
"Tsuchikage, you're truly decisive—personally intervening on the battlefield."
"And haven't you done the same?" Ōnoki retorted.
He glanced into the distance, where countless black silhouettes were rapidly approaching, then gave Hyuga Arin a deep look.
Killing this ninja was no longer possible.
Why did Konoha always have so many geniuses?
His body floated upward.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen, I'll be waiting for you on the battlefield."
With that, he turned and flew away.
Fighting Sarutobi Hiruzen here would be tantamount to suicide. Just look at the Konoha ninjas rapidly closing in.
A Kage plus a surrounding force of elite ninjas—
That was the formation used to hunt a Kage.
Ōnoki's figure quickly ascended into the sky and vanished.
One by one, Konoha ninjas arrived at the scene.
"Hokage-sama."
Every one of them wore masks and ANBU combat gear.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had brought the entire ANBU force with him.
At this moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen turned around and looked at Hyuga Arin.
"You're Hyuga Arin, right?"
"I'm not," Hyuga Arin replied decisively.
He was still wearing a mask—how had his identity already been exposed?
"I'm a Root… player."
Sarutobi Hiruzen gave him a look that clearly said you think I'm stupid and pointed at his own eyes.
It was pretty obvious.
Hyuga Arin curled his lips. If you already knew, why ask? Was he planning to make his identity public?
Did Root members not deserve a little privacy?
When was Danzo going to finally stand up?
"Report the front-line situation," Sarutobi Hiruzen said gravely, "and explain why Ōnoki was personally hunting you down."
Ōnoki had chased him all the way here—his determination was obvious.
Hyuga Arin cleared his throat.
"The northeastern front line has completely collapsed. I don't know how many escaped. Even if they did, there are still a lot of Iwagakure ninjas pursuing them. Their lives are in danger."
"As for why Ōnoki was chasing me…"
He hesitated for a moment.
"It's because of my Substitution Technique."
...
You listen to yourself—does that make sense?
Ōnoki chasing you over a Substitution Technique? As if Ōnoki himself didn't know Substitution Technique?
Every single person had the same expression.
The only difference was that everyone except Sarutobi Hiruzen was wearing a mask.
Substitution Technique wasn't just a misdirection technique similar to genjutsu?
Was Iwagakure really this desperate now? Had they lost Substitution Technique entirely?
Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to observe Hyuga Arin's expression to see if he was lying—
Then remembered the mask.
He couldn't read a thing.
"Show me," Sarutobi Hiruzen said in a deep voice.
Hyuga Arin shrugged, tossed a kunai a short distance away, and his figure flickered—instantly swapping places with it.
"This is my Substitution."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's mouth fell open wide enough to stuff in a fist.
No—three fists.
"Wait a second."
He rubbed his brow.
"You're telling me… this is Substitution Technique?"
His voice was full of disbelief.
That's Flying Thunder God.
Sarutobi Hiruzen almost cursed aloud in his heart.
"Yes," Hyuga Arin replied innocently.
"If you've got a problem, point it out. Even if you pick bones out of an egg, this is still Substitution Technique."
Sarutobi Hiruzen was convinced that Hyuga Arin had never come into contact with Flying Thunder God—
…probably.
Tsunade knew the Flying Thunder God formula, but she couldn't actually cultivate it.
And judging by her attitude toward Hyuga Arin, she didn't seem like the type to teach him Flying Thunder God either.
"How did you cultivate Fly—this Substitution Technique?"
Don't tell him this kid developed it himself?
Hyuga Arin thought for a moment.
"Chakra locking. Item perception. Substitution pulling…"
He explained the entire operating principle of his Substitution Technique.
But that absurdly complex chakra control process—
If anyone could actually learn it, Hyuga Arin would take their surname.
Except for one person.
Namikaze Minato.
That guy might actually pull it off.
Sarutobi Hiruzen understood the theory.
In theory, this approach could work.
But what the hell was "constructing spatial symbols with chakra"?
What was "item-swap perception"?
The principles sounded fine—like saying birds fly with wings, so humans should be able to fly if they put on wings too.
But in reality?
Go ahead, try it.
That's pure nonsense.
No.
He needed to go back and dig up the Flying Thunder God scrolls.
He'd already forgotten what the formulas even looked like—he needed to compare the two.
"Move out. Advance to the front line."
…
Konoha's collapsed battle lines weren't limited to the northeast.
Other fronts were also on the brink of collapse.
Only the central camp, where Ino–Shika–Chō were stationed, was barely holding.
When the other lines collapsed and Iwagakure launched a full-scale offensive, this became the final defensive line.
If this position fell, Iwagakure would be able to march straight into the Land of Fire.
When Sarutobi Hiruzen personally arrived, Iwagakure chose to withdraw.
"Hokage-sama," Nara Shikashi said with a helpless sigh,
"we were deceived by Ōnoki's Earth Clone."
The only people on the battlefield capable of restraining Ōnoki were the three of them.
Ōnoki had used an Earth Clone to draw their attention, creating the opportunity to personally shatter the other battle lines.
At the time, there were no Hyuga clan members nearby, so they couldn't distinguish the clone.
"Adjust the formation as quickly as possible," Sarutobi Hiruzen said in a low voice.
"I'll personally guard this position."
With Ōnoki personally entering the fray, Konoha currently had no one else who could oppose him.
Danzo was still in the Land of Rain, under pressure from all sides. The resistance there was too fierce for him to disengage.
The Hyuga clan's main force was holding back Kumogakure. Given the Hyuga clan's foundation, even if the Raikage himself entered the battlefield, he wouldn't be able to break through.
Kirigakure was being held by the Uchiha clan—no concern there.
As for Sunagakure, the rising star Hatake Sakumo was keeping them in check.
For now, Sarutobi Hiruzen no longer needed to personally defend Konoha itself.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him anymore, Hyuga Arin found a spot to rest.
And—
Check his spoils.
✨ Bonus Chapter Goals ✨
10 Reviews = 1 Bonus Chapter
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
◇ You can read 90+ chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/CanonBreaker