The transaction with Sasori of the Red Sand was, in truth, nothing short of dealing with a tiger for its skin.
Though both sides obtained what they wanted, the entire exchange was steeped in mutual calculation and concealed intent.
That said, Sasori was undeniably one of the most unstable elements within Sunagakure itself. At the same time, Shiraishi understood clearly that acting directly against Sasori would bring severe negative consequences to the village's internal balance.
The relationship between Chiyo and Sasori was precisely the crux of the issue.
Because of this, Shiraishi actually hoped that Sasori would leave the Land of Wind as soon as possible.
Once the scanning process built into the glasses was completed, Shiraishi had largely grasped the construction principles of the Regeneration Core. As he looked at the sealed core within the scroll, he began calculating how it could be used in the future to turn the tables on Sasori himself.
As long as the underlying principles were understood, recreating a regeneration core was no longer an impossible task. In truth, Sasori's method was ingenious—recording chakra in a memory-replication format.
If memory fragments could truly be transferred—like artificial intelligence—encoding one's memories and emotions into a regeneration core…
Then would those puppets gain something akin to new life?
With that thought in mind, Shiraishi began crafting a brand-new regeneration core of his own.
Thin, specialized chakra-conduit channels appeared across the outer shell of the glove, linking directly to the chakra pathways in both of Shiraishi's hands.
Only when the two chakra systems were fully connected could the glove's power be properly unleashed.
Shiraishi performed a simple test.
The glove released a strange, photon-like blood energy that transformed into countless needle-thin filaments, piercing into his hands.
Intense pain surged through him. As the energy merged with the mithril power, Shiraishi's hands and the glove seemed to fuse into a single entity—no longer distinguishable from one another.
This level of power… was still not enough.
As he removed the glove, Shiraishi's face darkened. The reaction between the mithril energy and his body felt similar to the explosive force of the Scorch Powder incident—extremely uncomfortable and difficult to endure.
Embedded within the glove's dial were eighteen miniature regeneration cores, each resembling a differently colored gemstone, dazzling and radiant.
Because Sasori used regeneration cores to construct human puppets, his versions were necessarily massive. However, from a technical standpoint—and given Sunagakure's current craftsmanship—cores could be compressed down to the size of small particles, depending on their purpose.
The eighteen cores symbolized the eighteen attribute categories within Shiraishi's glasses system.
At present, he had completed eight miniature regeneration cores and installed them into the dial. Almost immediately, silvery photon energy began circulating through the glove like flowing blood—the glove was now partially complete.
The remaining ten cores would require further development of the glass system and cards. Once finished, this pair of gloves would be capable of unleashing its full combat potential.
Within the Konoha encampment, Nara Shikagawa felt deeply frustrated.
At the critical moment when his summoning formations were nearing completion, Orochimaru had suddenly begun fighting with noticeable reluctance.
The root cause lay in the rumors Sunagakure had spread earlier—rumors that had unexpectedly damaged the trust between Orochimaru and Konoha's command.
Once suspicion took root in Orochimaru's mind, he naturally refused to commit fully on the Kikyo Mountain battlefield. At the current pace, it would be impossible to complete a full offensive against Sunagakure even by the following year.
This situation was extremely unfavorable for Konoha.
Iwagakure was steadily reinforcing its forces at Kannabi Bridge, and if the stalemate at Kikyo Mountain continued, even Konoha would struggle to maintain pressure on multiple fronts.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was indeed investigating Orochimaru's alleged human experimentation in secret—but none of it had been made public. The premature exposure of these rumors only heightened Orochimaru's vigilance.
"Orochimaru-sama
Shikagawa stepped forward, intending to explain.
But Orochimaru's response chilled him to the bone.
"Heh… just Sunagakure's despicable tricks. I don't care."
Though he claimed indifference, Orochimaru's words and actions were steeped in caution. His attitude toward Shikagawa was markedly colder than before.
After all, Shikagawa was the Hokage's trusted aide.
And as Konoha's foremost military strategist, it was only natural that Orochimaru would suspect this war itself to be yet another trap laid by his teacher.
Was Jiraiya here to watch him?
Was Minato as well?
A rift quietly formed between them.
Shikagawa could only smile bitterly. This Sannin was far too suspicious by nature—but judging by his reaction, the human experimentation issue likely had some truth to it.
"Father, should we continue advancing?"
A voice asked.
"Adjust the strategy," Shikagawa replied calmly.
"Have Jiraiya-sama alone restrain Ebizo and Pakura. Minato will command the main force and advance on Kikyo Mountain using a wave-formation push."
Even without Orochimaru's full support, Kikyo Mountain had to be taken.
In addition to Minato Namikaze, elite members of the Yamanaka and Akimichi clans had also arrived. Including the current generation of Ino–Shika–Chō, more than a dozen top shinobi from the three clans advanced together under Minato's command.
"Black Mist Shiraishi's genjutsu proficiency has improved again?"
A special intelligence report on Shiraishi caught Shikagawa's attention.
As Konoha's chief strategist, he already had a countermeasure.
"Let the Kurama Clan handle him."
Konoha possessed many secret-technique lineages. Aside from the Uchiha, the Kurama Clan—specialists in hereditary genjutsu—were more than capable of confronting a powerful illusion user.
Having learned from the previous Kikyo Mountain campaign, Shikagawa personally stationed himself at the sensory division this time. Massive energy barriers were deployed, and Konoha began conducting full-scale battlefield command.
Sunagakure had not anticipated such a fierce advance, especially with Orochimaru fighting passively.
Wave-style progression resumed.
After the forested region fell under Konoha's control, the battle shifted toward layered advances around Kikyo Mountain's perimeter. This time, Sunagakure refused to retreat—mobile squads from both sides clashed violently across the battlefield.
"Minato Namikaze has likely mastered the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique."
Ebizo felt a deep headache coming on.
A space-time ninjutsu user was exceptionally troublesome in large-scale warfare, and Sunagakure had no reliable way to restrain him.
"And it's not just Minato," another voice added.
"The Kurama Clan's genjutsu is causing severe disruption to our forces."
"Where's Shiraishi?"
"Already moving to intercept."
The Kurama Clan's illusions were extraordinarily difficult for standard Sunagakure forces to resist. This time, Shiraishi personally led a strike team to halt them.
On the southwest side of Kikyo Mountain, hundreds of Sunagakure shinobi had fallen under genjutsu, trapped in a living nightmare.
The Kurama Clan's illusions could blur fiction and reality—any damage sustained in the illusion manifested directly on the physical body.
The Kurama Clan's illusions blurred reality and illusion entirely.
Among the younger generation, the brothers Kurama Murakumo and Kurama Unkai stood out as exceptional talents.
Countless canvases floated through the air.
Any injury sustained within the illusion manifested directly on the real body—this was the terrifying uniqueness of Kurama genjutsu.
The bloodline was notoriously difficult to inherit. By this generation, only Murakumo and Unkai remained.
Yet the clan head, Kurama Arashiyama, possessed genjutsu mastery far more mature and fearsome than even the future Kurama Yakumo.
At the front lines, Sunagakure shinobi went pale, blood spilling from their mouths as they collapsed one after another.
The defensive line began to crumble.
Just as the Kurama Clan prepared to advance—
The entire world was suddenly swallowed by darkness.
A tranquil melody echoed.
Footsteps rang out.
Shiraishi emerged calmly before the Kurama Clan.
"It's Black-Mist Shiraishi!"
He was no longer an unknown figure. The moment he appeared, Konoha forces recognized him.
Silver blade in hand, Shiraishi flipped sideways.
The sword left its sheath in time with the music, releasing countless Cyclone Blades.
Kurama Arashiyama formed seals with one hand.
Reality warped.
A colossal black serpent materialized in midair and lunged toward Shiraishi—
Only for a beam of dark light to erupt and blow it apart instantly.
Wings spread wide.
The Moonwheel Bat, wrapped in silver radiance, descended proudly.
Bathed in moonlight, Shiraishi locked onto the battlefield, his eyes sharp as he rapidly analyzed and judged the unfolding situation.
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