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Sasori's own strength was by no means insignificant, and the puppet he had modified from the body of the Third Kazekage possessed equally formidable combat power. Although the Kazekage puppet was an inanimate object and greatly lacked adaptability, it was precisely because it was a dead thing that it could afford more options when facing an enemy's assault. Moreover, Sasori had coated a number of the Third Kazekage's weapons with poison. Even if Tsunade were nearby, it would be extremely difficult to treat their injuries in a timely manner. Under these conditions, for Ebizo and Baki to defeat Sasori in a direct confrontation was immensely challenging. Knowing that Sasori was a master of poisons, the two of them had to exercise even greater caution, which in turn drained even more of their energy. As a result, the predicament Ebizo and Baki found themselves in was considerably more dire than that of the Tsuchikage and the Raikage.
Hiruzen was just about to offer his assistance when, just as the Kazekage puppet unleashed its Eight Waves of Needles, a wall of earth suddenly rose from the ground, blocking the barrage of poisoned senbon. It was only then that Hiruzen realized that, in addition to Ebizo and Baki, Kurotsuchi had also joined the fray. Her dark attire had kept her hidden from his notice until now.
"How are you holding up?" Hiruzen asked.
"We're managing. We're balancing offense and defense. Even if we can't kill him, we won't be in any real trouble in the short term," Ebizo replied. Upon seeing the Hokage, his eyelids lifted slightly, a glint of sharp light flashing in his eyes. "What about the situation in the village...?"
Hiruzen's brow remained deeply furrowed, and he answered with nothing more than a slight nod. Ebizo understood immediately. "We're also dealing with a rogue shinobi from the Hidden Sand Village... I understand how you feel," he said.
Hiruzen forced an awkward laugh. It wasn't exactly the kind of understanding he was hoping for.
"You should hurry and provide support. The battle over there is at a complete deadlock," Ebizo said, turning his head to gaze into the distance. "I don't know who that person is, but his chakra is incredibly powerful."
"Him?" Hiruzen paused, unsure of exactly who Ebizo was referring to. "Who is he fighting?"
"Asachi Midorima," Kurotsuchi answered as she completed another set of hand seals. An earthen dragon burst forth from the ground and collided violently with the triangular cones launched by the Kazekage puppet.
"Midorima?" A sudden sense of unease gripped Hiruzen. He had initially assumed it was Tsunade or Mei Terumi engaged in that fight. While Tsunade was renowned for her medical expertise and relied heavily on Katsuyu and her monstrous strength in battle, she was, after all, a veteran who had personally lived through the Second Great Ninja War. Her practical combat experience was extraordinarily rich. Mei Terumi, though the youngest among their group, was no weakling either—even if the Hidden Mist Village, after suffering repeated devastating blows, had few young prodigies left to boast of. If those two joined forces, they could at the very least hold their own against such an opponent. But as for Midorima... Hiruzen knew very little about him, only that he was a jinchuriki. He had encountered many jinchuriki before, but very few had ever managed to fully bring out the true power of their tailed beast. Midorima... could he really pull it off? Hiruzen's mind swirled with questions.
"Yes, it's him." Kurotsuchi recalled the way Midorima had dispatched Hogo, and an involuntary discomfort settled over her. That method of killing was simply far too rare.
Hiruzen pressed forward without pause, but there was no sign of Tsunade or Mei Terumi. Fortunately, Naruto was being guarded by Samui and Karui and was safe for the time being. After questioning Samui, Hiruzen learned that Tsunade and Mei Terumi had teamed up to face Kisame, but the sheer scale of their water-style techniques had been so vast that the three of them had ended up drifting off to who-knew-where.
"Midorima..." Hiruzen was just about to ask where Midorima had gone when, all of a sudden, an immense repulsive force erupted from the distance. Caught completely unprepared, Hiruzen stumbled violently and spun around to stare into the distance. The horizon was just beginning to pale, like the belly of a fish turning over, giving the land the faintest glimmer of light. Even with that weak illumination, Hiruzen still couldn't make out the situation clearly. He could only hurry toward the source. In just a matter of moments, a cluster of white radiance entered Hiruzen's field of vision. At first, he thought it was some kind of ninjutsu, but as he drew closer, he realized that the so-called "ball of light" was actually Midorima's chakra mode—his entire body shrouded in the chakra of the Six-Tails.
He's actually a perfect jinchuriki... Hiruzen hadn't anticipated that at all and was genuinely taken aback. Perfect jinchuriki were exceedingly rare. He had never imagined that Midorima had managed to achieve such a state. Hiruzen's estimation of Midorima immediately rose by several notches. As for Midorima's current condition, it was far better than Hiruzen had predicted—at least from outward appearances, he wasn't displaying any significant disadvantage. Midorima's opponent, also clad in a long black cloak, was locked in fierce combat with him.
Hiruzen roughly assessed the capabilities of both combatants and made a swift judgment. Based on what they were displaying right now, their strength already surpassed even Jiraiya's. Midorima's power was easier to explain—as a perfect jinchuriki, he could fully utilize the tailed beast's chakra, which alone gave him an edge over Jiraiya in terms of raw chakra reserves. But the fact that his opponent could exhibit such formidable prowess truly exceeded Hiruzen's expectations.
Even as Hiruzen was lost in thought, Midorima and the Deva Path pulled apart and put distance between themselves.
"Deva Path, do you realize that what you're doing... has always been wrong?" Midorima fixed his gaze on the Deva Path. "Using war to end war—that kind of thinking is utterly naive."
"What do you know?" the Deva Path said coldly. "Since this so-called 'peace' doesn't even exist, why should I continue to hold any hope for it? If there is no peace, then I will use my own two hands to create it!"
"You're wrong. You cannot create peace. Peace is a brief, transient state achieved only through the collective effort of everyone. Under no conditions can war ever be completely eradicated." Midorima fight back.
Peace was, of course, a beautiful thing. And if he wanted to be even more idealistic, he could even say that peace was not entirely out of reach—if only everyone worked together. But the truth of the matter was far from that. Whether it was the history he had studied before crossing over into this world, or the history of the Naruto universe he now found himself in, both taught him the same lesson: in the long river of history, war was the norm, and that was precisely why peace was so precious. Trying to use a war on a massive scale to prevent the emergence of new conflicts was no different from being so afraid of sickness and death that you chose to commit suicide preemptively. It solved nothing at all.
"When all people fear war, they will naturally keep their distance from it! And if there are still those who desire war, then I shall punish them!" The Deva Path spread his arms wide, like a god presiding over all creation.
"No. You can't punish anyone. Or rather, if you truly wish to punish those who instigate war, then please, start by punishing yourself. As things stand, the shinobi world has become what it is today, and aren't you the very architect of it all? With your own two hands, you have created countless orphans—countless Konans, countless Yahikos, and countless Nagatos!" Midorima shouted.