"Don't worry. Leave it to me."
Jiraiya wiped her nose confidently.
As one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, she certainly had the confidence to back it up.
Seeing this, Simu gave the command to the Pacifista unit.
"Attack Jiraiya with full force."
During the debugging phase, Simu had already uploaded all known ninja information from the Konoha Intelligence Division into the Pacifista database.
So the Pacifistas quickly identified Jiraiya.
A red light flickered in its eyes before finally locking onto her.
"Target confirmed. Commencing assault."
With a mechanical beep, the towering seven-meter-tall giant opened its mouth.
Jiraiya hesitated for a brief moment, then noticed a beam of golden energy gathering in the machine's mouth before firing straight at her.
"…Isn't that Simu's move?!"
Not only was Jiraiya shocked, but the surrounding Konoha ninjas were also stunned.
Everyone knew that Photon Swallowing was a unique ability—one that only the Fourth Hokage, Simu, could use.
And now it had appeared… in a weapon?
Despite the surprise, Jiraiya responded quickly.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
A large wall of earth shot up from the ground—but it shattered instantly under the powerful impact of the laser.
Jiraiya, a veteran of countless battles, didn't rush in blindly. Instead, she probed the enemy first.
"Fire Style: Flame Oil Bomb!"
A mass of toad oil shot from her mouth, igniting mid-air and forming a massive fireball that hurtled toward the Pacifista.
"Beep—detected Fire Style Ninjutsu: Flame Oil Bomb..."
Because Jiraiya's data had been uploaded, the Pacifista was fully equipped to counter her jutsu.
Instantly, complex circuits lit up across its body with streams of blue energy running through them.
After acquiring the Pacifista blueprint, Simu had made key modifications.
The most important addition: a natural energy absorption system.
Because the Pacifistas were fully mechanical, they didn't risk turning into stone when absorbing nature energy like humans.
This vastly improved their mobility, attack power, and defense.
As the fireball engulfed its body, a pale blue energy shield shimmered to life.
The explosion roared out—but when the smoke cleared, the enormous shadow stood firm.
Only the glowing blue shield had dimmed slightly.
"…It even withstood my ninjutsu," Jiraiya muttered in disbelief.
Her Fire Style attacks far surpassed the average shinobi's.
But even that hadn't fazed these mechanical monsters.
Only Sage Mode, she realized, might be strong enough to damage them.
If weapons like this were released onto the battlefield…
She didn't even want to imagine the destruction they could cause.
Just to break through that energy barrier would probably require a dozen jonin-level shinobi attacking at once.
And this protective shield wasn't even disposable.
She could sense that the Pacifista's outer layer was rapidly absorbing natural energy to self-repair.
While Jiraiya was still evaluating, the Pacifista launched its next attack.
It raised one palm—and a beam of light shot out, forcing Jiraiya to dodge.
In the next second, the machine lunged forward, trying to slam her with a massive palm strike.
"Ninja Art: Lion's Mane Hair Technique!"
Jiraiya's silver hair instantly grew out and coiled around, meeting the blow.
Her wire-like hair scraped against the robot's palm, sending off small sparks.
The Pacifista caught the strands of hair and clenched them in both hands.
Its mouth opened wide again—this time drawing in a terrifying mix of natural energy and laser energy.
Laser Cannon—Double Fusion!
A concentrated beam burst out like a spear, piercing through Jiraiya's body.
"Lady Jiraiya—!"
The nearby Konoha ninjas shouted in shock.
But a puff of smoke rose.
Jiraiya had used a Shadow Clone.
The real Jiraiya erupted from underground, lunging at the machine.
The Pacifista couldn't use Observation Haki, but its sensory system was advanced.
The moment she emerged, it detected her.
It twisted mid-air, fist glowing with refined natural energy, and struck downward.
Jiraiya raised her palm, forming a spinning blue sphere.
"Rasengan!"
The Rasengan met the Pacifista's iron fist in a violent collision.
Flames and shockwaves burst out as the ground trembled.
With all her force, Jiraiya pushed the Pacifista's arm backward, causing a small explosion at the impact site.
"Alert! Damage detected! Initiating contingency protocol."
Under Jiraiya's powerful assault, the Pacifista made a quick decision—it voluntarily detached its own arm.
The mechanical limb fell to the ground and turned red hot.
The Pacifista retreated rapidly while locking its sensors back onto Jiraiya.
Then its mouth opened wide once again.
Natural energy converged. Fire ignited.
A new round of explosive destruction was about to begin.
At the same time, a laser beam shot from the mouth of the Pacifista, aimed precisely at Jiraiya.
"It's terrifyingly calm," Jiraiya muttered, slightly impressed.
She reacted just in time, forming hand signs.
"Summoning Technique—The Great Toad of Mount Yansu!"
With a puff of smoke, a massive toad intestine appeared in front of her, taking the full brunt of the attack in her place.
The blast, infused with natural energy, scorched the summoned toad's intestines black.
Though this injury was minor for such a colossal creature, the pain was real.
"Alright, that's enough."
Simu waved his hand, calling off the test.
Creating just one Pacifista consumed enormous resources. There was no need to waste another arm.
Jiraiya canceled the summoning technique and sighed, somewhat regretfully.
"I was just about to get serious."
Simu chuckled.
"Of course this thing can't beat you, Master."
If even a single Pacifista could defeat one of the Legendary Sannin, then dozens of them would be enough to overthrow the entire ninja world.
Simu didn't harbor such delusions.
But this result alone was enough to strike fear into the hearts of all the ninjas watching the test.
Under the leadership of this new Fourth Hokage, the entire combat landscape of the shinobi world was on the verge of transformation.
Not only could ordinary civilians now take part in war through technology, but these powerful robotic warriors had also been developed...
The world of shinobi was about to change forever.
Once the field test concluded, Lu Jiu accompanied Simu to the Hokage's office.
"It's called a Pacifista, right?" Lu Jiu asked, still struggling to calm his nerves.
Simu nodded.
"This thing could completely upend the current balance. How many have you made so far?"
As Chief Strategist, Lu Jiu was responsible for crafting a response to the Allied Forces of the Three Great Nations.
This upcoming war could become the turning point of the entire ninja world.
If Konoha won, they would rise beyond all others and become the undisputed dominant power—a unified shinobi world could finally be realized.
But if they lost...
It wouldn't just be Konoha. The entire Land of Fire would be carved up and conquered.
They would cease to exist as a nation.
So every military calculation had to be exact.
"We've made twenty-one so far."
Lu Jiu nodded slowly. Although it was only twenty-one units, each Pacifista possessed combat strength not inferior to an elite Jōnin—possibly even stronger.
"If we can acquire more steel, production could be accelerated," Simu added.
Lu Jiu immediately understood his implication.
"You're planning to start with the Land of Wind?"
Among all nations, the Land of Wind had the richest steel reserves—and large amounts of oil, which Simu had long had his eye on.
"Exactly. We can't afford to wait for the coalition to strike first. It might be best to act proactively."
Lu Jiu nodded in agreement. It was clear he approved of Simu's approach.
Thanks to Konoha's deep military reforms and war preparations under Simu's leadership…
The number of professional ninja had surpassed 20,000.
And the regular army, equipped with scientific ninja tools, had reached a staggering 40,000 soldiers.
It could be said that the full war potential of the Land of Fire had been squeezed dry for this moment.
If they lost this battle, they would never recover.
But Simu didn't believe they would lose.
"It's time to let those guys out and see what they can do," Simu said calmly.
Lu Jiu immediately knew who he meant.
"We'll let them handle the Land of Wind battlefield."
"Mm."
Lu Jiu didn't object.
Soon after, a top-priority command from the Hokage's office was dispatched to several secret bases.
In the depths of the Forest of Death, twelve young shinobi received their orders and stepped out from the darkness of a deep cave.
"I'll be commanding this operation."
Kakashi appeared in front of them, speaking in his usual calm tone.
At his side stood the operation's adjutant—Uchiha Obito.
Judging by the look on his face, Obito was clearly irritated that Kakashi was his superior.
Unfortunately, he still wasn't strong enough to defeat Kakashi, so he had no choice but to bottle up his frustration.
Hearing Kakashi's announcement, a spiky-haired youth stepped forward with a toothpick in his mouth, clearly dissatisfied.
"Just because you're Hokage-sama's disciple, don't think we'll follow you blindly if you can't prove yourself."
Kakashi had already expected such resistance.
"Come at me. All of you," he said without hesitation.
"Huh?"
Kakashi pulled down his mask slightly and said coolly:
"I'm telling you—either all of you come at me at once, or shut the hell up."
"Tch... You bastard. You seriously underestimate us!"
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