"Don't worry, I got this."
Jiraiya wiped his nose with a grin.
As one of the Legendary Sannin, he had full confidence in himself.
Seeing that, Simu calmly gave the order:
"Pacifista, attack Jiraiya with full power."
Before this, Simu had already uploaded all known ninja data from the Konoha Intelligence Office into the Pacifistas.
So the machine instantly identified Jiraiya.
Its eyes flickered, locked onto him, and a voice rang out:
"Target locked. Beginning attack!"
A loud beep followed.
Then the seven-meter-tall Pacifista opened its mouth
A golden beam of light began gathering inside.
Jiraiya froze for a second.
Wasn't that Simu's move?
He wasn't the only one shocked.
The surrounding ninjas were equally stunned.
After all, in the entire ninja world, only the Fourth Hokage, Hanyu Simu could use the Light Release Ninjutsu.
And now, that same ability was being used by a weapon?
Still, Jiraiya reacted quickly.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
A thick wall of earth rose from the ground
But it shattered instantly under the laser's blast.
Jiraiya, a veteran of countless battles, didn't charge in recklessly.
Instead, he chose a cautious, probing approach.
"Fire Style: Flame Oil Bomb!"
Jiraiya spat out a ball of toad oil, which ignited in midair and turned into a massive fireball flying toward the Pacifista.
"Warning: Detected Fire Style Ninjutsu - Flame Oil Bomb..."
With Jiraiya's data already stored, the Pacifista was fully prepared for this move.
In an instant, glowing blue lines lit up across its body.
After obtaining the Pacifista blueprint, Simu made some key upgrades
The most important being the addition of a natural energy absorption system.
Since the Pacifista was fully mechanical, it could absorb natural energy without any risk of losing control.
This upgrade drastically increased its speed, power, and durability.
As the fireball approached, a faint blue energy shield appeared around the Pacifista.
The fireball exploded with a roar, but when the smoke cleared
The giant black figure stood there, almost unharmed.
Only the blue shield had dimmed slightly.
"Even my ninjutsu can't break through..."
Jiraiya was shocked.
Compared to average ninja, his Fire Style was many times stronger
And still, it barely made a scratch.
At this point, he realized:
Only Sage Mode might be strong enough to damage it.
If weapons like this appeared on the battlefield…
Jiraiya didn't even want to imagine the consequences.
It would probably take over a dozen ninjas attacking at once just to damage this thing.
The energy shield on its surface wasn't a one-time use either.
Jiraiya could sense the Pacifista's outer layer quickly absorbing natural energy and repairing itself.
While he was thinking, the Pacifista launched another attack.
It raised its palm
A flash of light burst out and shot toward Jiraiya, forcing him to dodge.
Immediately after, the Pacifista followed up with a powerful palm strike.
"Ninja Art: Lion's Mane Technique!"
Jiraiya's hair suddenly extended and wrapped around the Pacifista's arm like steel wires, creating sparks as they scraped against the metal.
The Pacifista responded by grabbing the hair with both hands
Then opened its mouth.
This time, it charged up a shot using both natural energy and laser energy.
Laser Cannon!
A beam of light fired like a spear and shot straight through Jiraiya's body.
"Jiraiya-sama!"
The surrounding ninjas cried out in shock.
But the Jiraiya that was hit turned into a puff of smoke—it was just a shadow clone.
The real Jiraiya burst out from the ground beneath the Pacifista.
Although the Pacifista couldn't use Observation Haki, its sensors were still highly advanced.
The moment Jiraiya appeared, it reacted instantly.
It spun in mid-air and brought down a punch, its fist charged with refined natural energy.
Jiraiya's palm lit up with a swirling blue orb.
"Rasengan!"
The Rasengan clashed hard with the Pacifista's iron fist.
Flames erupted from the collision.
With Jiraiya's full strength behind it, the Pacifista's arm finally trembled, sparks bursting from the joint.
"Warning: Critical damage detected. Initiating backup protocol."
To protect itself, the Pacifista detached its damaged arm.
The mechanical limb fell off and turned red-hot from the internal heat.
The Pacifista quickly pulled back, locked its eyes on Jiraiya, and opened its mouth again.
A massive blast of natural energy erupted like flames, followed by a deadly laser beam aimed straight at him.
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes.
"It's terrifying how calm it is..."
Reacting quickly, he formed a hand sign.
"Summoning Jutsu: Gamaguchi Shibari!"
A massive toad stomach instantly appeared, shielding Jiraiya and taking the full force of the attack.
The blast of natural energy scorched the inside of the giant toad's stomach, turning parts of it black.
While it was just a small injury for such a massive creature, the pain was real.
"Alright, that's enough for now," Simu called out, ending the test.
After all, creating a Pacifista was costly. Losing even an arm wasn't ideal.
Jiraiya canceled the summoning and said with a hint of regret, "I was just about to get serious."
Simu laughed.
"Of course this thing can't beat you, teacher."
If just one Pacifista could defeat a Sannin, then dozens of them might as well take over the whole ninja world
Simu wasn't that naive.
But this result was already enough to shock everyone watching.
Under the leadership of the Fourth Hokage, the way of war in the ninja world was clearly changing.
Not only could regular people now join the battlefield, but with the arrival of powerful machines like these…everything was about to changed.
After the test, Shikaku and Simu returned to the Hokage's office.
"It's called a Pacifista, right?"
Shikaku's mood was still a little hard to calm down.
Simu nodded.
"This thing can completely change the ninja world."
Shikaku asked, "How many can you make?"
As Chief of Staff, Shikaku would soon be planning the strategy against the Allied Forces of the Three Great Nations.
This battle would decide the future of the ninja world.
If they won, Konoha would rise, truly becoming the strongest and only major power.
They might even unify the entire ninja world.
But if they lost…
Not just Konoha, the entire Land of Fire would be torn apart.
The nation would fall.
That's why every detail had to be calculated carefully.
"We've built 21 so far," Simu said.
Shikaku nodded. Even just 21 of them could rival or surpass most Jōnin.
"If we can get enough steel, we can speed up production," Simu added.
Shikaku immediately caught on.
"You're planning to start with the Land of Wind, aren't you?"
When it comes to steel production, the Land of Wind has the most resources.
It also holds large oil reserves, something Simu had been looking for a long time.
"That's right," Simu said.
"We can't just sit and wait for the Allied Forces to come to us. Striking first might be our best move."
Shikaku nodded, approving the idea.
With Konoha's deep reforms and preparation for war, the number of trained ninjas had surpassed 20,000.
The regular army capable of using scientific ninja tools had reached a total of 40,000.
Under Simu's leadership, they had pushed the Fire Nation's war potential to its absolute limit.
If they lost this battle, recovery would be nearly impossible.
But Simu didn't believe they would lose.
"It's time for those people to step into the light"
Shikaku knew exactly who Simu meant.
"Let them handle the Land of Wind battlefield," Simu added.
"Understood," Shikaku replied.
Soon, a top-priority order was sent from the Hokage's office to all departments.
In the depths of the Forest of Death, twelve young figures received the command, and stepped out from a dark cave into the light.
"I'll be in charge of this operation," Kakashi said calmly as he stepped forward.
Beside him stood Uchiha Obito, the deputy commander.
It was clear Obito wasn't happy about taking orders from Kakashi, but he wasn't strong enough to defeat him yet so he had no choice but to stay quiet.
As Kakashi spoke, a spiky-haired young man stepped out of the cave, clearly displeased.
Chewing on a toothpick, he muttered casually,
"So what if you're the Hokage's student? If you don't have the strength, you shouldn't lead."
Kakashi had expected pushback.
"Then come at me," he said simply.
"Huh?"
"I said all of you, come at me together. Or stay quiet."
"Tch... You think we're weak, huh? You cocky bastard!"
.
.
TO BE CONTINUED