After these words were spoken, Aoki's eyes widened, and his short, thick eyebrows twitched continuously.
Clearly, Li Fan's words had struck a nerve.
Aoki had been trying hard to avoid this issue, trying to hypnotize himself into believing that being Kazekage was far better than being a Jonin.
But now that this day had truly arrived, facing his competitor Li Fan...
He suddenly realized that there was actually a bit of fear in his heart!
He feared that after becoming Kazekage...
He would die in battle against other powerful enemies, just like the First and Second Kazekage!
He was even more afraid that one day, while living peacefully as the Kazekage, he would be suddenly found and killed by a mysterious enemy.
Just like the Third, whose corpse couldn't even be found.
As if he had evaporated from the world, as if he had never existed!
The more he experienced war, the more he feared it. Aoki originally thought he would press forward indomitably, but now he found himself fearing the impending great war!
Li Fan looked at Aoki expressionlessly.
He shook his head slowly. This Aoki did not have sufficient resolve to bear the burden of being Kazekage.
Even the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, who had the worst reputation among Naruto fans, had the resolve to sacrifice everything for the Sand Village.
Whether it was sacrificing Pakura, transplanting the One-Tails into Gaara, or personally risking launching the Konoha Crush plan despite low odds of success.
Although the results of these actions were not very good...
His original intentions were all for the Sand Village.
But in Aoki before him, Li Fan couldn't see this resolve to sacrifice everything for the Sand Village.
Although Li Fan himself couldn't do that either...
But at the very least, he would serve the Sand Village with dedication, and he was confident he could do tens of times better than Aoki!
Thinking of this, Li Fan looked directly into Aoki's eyes and enunciated each word clearly:
"It seems you merely covet power but lack sufficient resolve to bear the responsibility of a Kazekage."
"You are not worthy of being the Kazekage."
"What nonsense are you talking about? You brat who hasn't even experienced war dares to question my resolve and qualifications?!"
Hearing this, the anger and fear that Aoki had tried hard to suppress were instantly overwhelmed by even greater anger and pride.
He reached out his rough left hand and patted his chest forcefully.
"At the end of the First Great Ninja War, I personally went to the battlefield, braving the stench and various risks to collect the corpses of my compatriots. I was only five years old then, and at that time, you weren't even born!"
"When the Second Great Ninja War just started, I personally led a small squad deep behind enemy lines and personally covered our retreat, killing ten Chunin and two Jonin!"
Speaking of this, Aoki raised his head, extended his arm, and turned around to address the crowd on the surrounding sand dunes, his voice hoarse:
"Because of this, I was personally granted the title of Jonin by the Second Kazekage at the time. I was only seventeen then! And you? Still not born!"
"You, who were born in the late stages of the Second Great Ninja War, tell me! Does someone like me have the qualifications to bear the responsibility of Kazekage? Do I have the qualifications to lead the Sand Village?!"
Silence fell over the sand dunes.
A large number of young ninjas widened their eyes, looking at Aoki's ferocious expression, as if realizing who Jonin Aoki truly was for the first time.
The older Chunin and Jonin who had experienced the Second Great Ninja War widened their eyes, looking at Aoki with excited expressions.
They seemed to see a new sun!
Then they couldn't wait to look at Li Fan, wanting to see if this young man was already full of shame, or even if he would say words of voluntary withdrawal!
But regrettably, they only saw Li Fan's face remaining very calm.
With a trace of helplessness on his face, Li Fan shook his head slowly:
"So what? At the end of the First Great Ninja War, the male population of the Sand Village was already very scarce. I've read the documents. The Second Kazekage had just taken office not long ago, and he ordered all boys over five years old to go to the battlefield to collect corpses."
"That was an order, yet you imply it was as if you went voluntarily."
"Of course, it might have been a long time ago, and you remembered incorrectly. But I remember there are still several copies of the documents from that time in the archives, and even the originals are preserved."
Hearing this, the expressions of the ninjas on the sand dunes froze one by one.
They never expected that the truth behind Aoki's impassioned speech was actually like this!
But since Li Fan said such things, it should be true.
Because they could go to the archives at any time to find materials to verify Li Fan's statement.
Aoki looked stunned.
He had boasted like that thinking that decades had passed, and there weren't many ninjas left who had participated in the First Great Ninja War.
Even for the surviving ninjas, their memories had blurred, and even if they had doubts, they wouldn't say them to his face.
But he never expected that this kid Li Fan had actually gone to the archives to look through the materials from that time.
He thought these young people didn't like going to the archives.
Of course, Li Fan hadn't been to the archives.
But these things were all noted in the materials on Aoki that Akatsuki presented yesterday.
Everything Aoki had done from childhood to now, as long as the Anbu Guard could find it, was recorded in there.
And Akatsuki had personally written her insights one by one at the end.
Just as Aoki was about to continue speaking, Li Fan preemptively said:
"I admit, you indeed went deep behind enemy lines during the Second Great Ninja War and personally covered the retreat, killing two Jonin. But is this kind of battle record something only you possess?"
"Moreover, I wasn't born then. If the Third Great Ninja War comes immediately now, I can do this too, and several times better than you!"
With his inner thoughts completely exposed, and unable to think of a way to refute for the moment...
Aoki flew into a rage out of humiliation and roared, his voice so loud it even traveled several kilometers away!
"Bastard kid! How dare you insult me like this!!"
"Do you think you can defeat me by deliberately provoking me and making me angry?!"
Aoki ignored whether the crowd had fully gathered or not. He pulled his left hand behind his back, and the scroll carried on his back floated into mid-air!
With a bang, thick fog drifted out from the scroll.
In less than half a second, the scroll in mid-air and Aoki himself all disappeared into the thick smoke!
Li Fan looked at the thick fog in front of him. His left hand moved slightly, but then he released it immediately.
He decided to summon the Gold Dust for defense first, saving his trump card for last.
"Magnet Release: Gold Dust!"
With Li Fan's soft shout, the sand around him quickly gathered into dozens of rectangular yellow shields, two meters thick and three meters high. The shields rotated rapidly around Li Fan.
At the same time, the sand under Li Fan's feet gradually condensed, lifting him slowly into mid-air.
A Jonin with an ugly appearance looked at Li Fan's operation and nodded in approval:
"Not bad, not bad. Gathering sand into shields and rotating them rapidly around the body for automatic defense. This can indeed block ninety percent of attacks."
A younger Chunin next to him added:
"More than that. Jonin Li Fan's speed in controlling the sand is also much faster."
"He controlled the sand within dozens of meters around him to gather into shields within a breath. This speed and range are at least three times faster than before!"
"In this way, no wonder Jonin Li Fan is confident in accepting Jonin Aoki's challenge."
Li Fan stopped ten meters above the ground, gazing intently at the thick fog gradually dispersing below.
Swish, swish, swish!
Suddenly, hundreds of rapidly spinning shuriken flew out of the thick fog.
The hundreds of shuriken picked up speed, gradually turning into afterimages as they flew toward the rotating shields around Li Fan!
Li Fan frowned slightly. Winning by quantity? Even if his shields flew fast, there would always be gaps.
Did this guy Aoki plan to rely on luck like this?
Thinking of this, Li Fan smiled. A veteran Jonin would absolutely not try to win by luck so simply.
But I'll play along with your idea and see what you really want to do.
Clatter! Clatter!
With a thought from Li Fan, the rapidly rotating shields in front of him instantly stopped moving.
Then with a clatter, they all connected into one piece to resist the hundreds of incoming shuriken.
Clang! Thud!
Hundreds of shuriken quickly flew into the shield. With the sound of collision, the shuriken only penetrated half a meter into the sand shield before remaining motionless.
Bang!
Suddenly, the shuriken at the very top among the hundreds emitted a bang!
As the smoke cleared, they all turned into six human-shaped puppets of various shapes, emitting a pitch-black aura!
In an instant, these puppets wielded various weapons, leaping directly over the shield toward Li Fan!
Li Fan watched quietly as the six puppets flew over rapidly. His left hand moved slightly, and the surrounding sand attacked the puppets with even faster speed!
Soon, the six puppets were wrapped into cocoons!
At first, various impact sounds came from inside the sand cocoons, but as the cocoons slowly shrank, no more sounds came from inside!
Bang!
Suddenly, a deafening noise came from inside the sand cocoon that had quieted down!
As the sound rang out, cracks appeared on the outside of the sand cocoon.
Li Fan was a bit confused. Didn't Aoki know he could continue to reinforce it?
As Li Fan waved his hand to add more sand to reinforce the outside of the sand cocoon...
Suddenly, another noise came.
Li Fan looked in the direction of the sound and saw a puppet rapidly attacking him from the ground below!
Li Fan frowned.
Didn't they say Aoki only mastered six puppets? Why was there another one?
Although these thoughts ran through his mind, Li Fan's movements didn't pause at all.
He clenched his left hand, and the dense shields in front of him immediately dispersed into a portion of sand.
The dispersed sand instantly attacked the puppet coming from below.
At the same time, the sand within a range of four hundred meters on the ground rose up, chasing after the puppet.
The ground instantly sank more than five meters, although it was quickly filled by other sand.
Among the crowd closely watching the battle from the sand dune above...
A Chunin couldn't help but exclaim, breaking the silence atop the dune.
"Impossible, right? How does Li Fan have so much Chakra?"
"And he can control so much sand simultaneously? At a rough glance, there must be at least three thousand tons!"
As soon as the Chunin said this, a Chunin next to him looked at Li Fan's movements with a frown, echoing with a strange expression:
"According to the data, Jonin Li Fan's last combat record was six months ago."
"At that time, he could only control just over a thousand tons of sand within a radius of about two hundred meters."
"Even if he improved in half a year, it's impossible to suddenly increase by five or six times!"
Another female Jonin looked at Li Fan with brilliance in her eyes. Her red lips parted slightly, and her misty phoenix eyes narrowed slightly as she muttered to herself:
"Even at Lord Third's peak, he could only manipulate sand within a thousand-meter radius, tens of thousands of tons at a time."
"And looking at Lord Li Fan, he is obviously controlling this sand with great ease. If Lord Li Fan gets serious, I'm afraid doubling the range and weight wouldn't be a problem!"
Because Li Fan's performance was truly too astonishing...
The surrounding ninjas didn't even bother to marvel that Aoki could control a seventh puppet. Instead, they all discussed Li Fan.
The puppet rapidly attacking Li Fan was soon caught in a pincer attack by sand from the front and back, trapped firmly.
However, just moments before being completely trapped, this puppet suddenly turned into smoke. From the smoke, thousands of fine needles flew out instantly!
Immediately following the fine needles, another identical puppet followed behind!
The puppet's hands also continuously threw dozens of kunai.
Needles and kunai flew toward Li Fan with the sound of breaking wind!
Seeing this situation, the ninjas finally snapped out of their marvel at Li Fan and turned to marvel at Jonin Aoki's formidable operation.
Being able to control seven puppets simultaneously, attack from different directions at the same time, and still keep his main body hidden...
And even able to use the Substitution Jutsu on puppets... such exquisite puppet technique could be called the number one person under Chiyo!
As the kunai attacked rapidly, a large amount of black mist suddenly sprayed from them. One look and it was obvious the mist was poisonous!
Seeing this, Li Fan frowned slightly, but quickly relaxed.
Generally speaking, spars between ninjas of the same village who knew each other were peaceful.
But the spar between him and Aoki... on the surface it was a spar, but both knew the actual situation.
So it was normal for him to use poison mist. Thinking of this, Li Fan shook his head slightly toward a certain sand dune.
On the sand dune Li Fan looked at, Akatsuki's left hand was clenched tight, and her right hand was already raised above her head.
Since the spar began, she had wanted to deploy the Anbu Guard to take Aoki down more than once, but she forcibly endured it.
But after seeing the poison mist, Akatsuki couldn't hold back anymore. Just as she was about to wave her hand, she saw Li Fan shaking his head at her.
Seeing this, Akatsuki gritted her white teeth, forcing herself to suppress the impulse.
Several blue veins popped on Akatsuki's smooth forehead. Then she slowly retracted her right hand from above her head—the gesture for canceling an order.
Seeing Akatsuki retract her hand, Li Fan breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Fan then turned his gaze to the continuously encroaching mist, the weapons hidden within it, and that puppet which might or might not be the main body.
He roughly understood what Aoki was planning.
Aoki's main body might be hiding in the poison mist, or perhaps the puppet inside the poison mist was still just a diversion to attract attention.
All the sand around Li Fan, except for the few sand cocoons binding the puppets, turned into fine sand shapes, forming a sand wave more than thirty meters high, attacking the poison mist!
The strong wind brought by the sand wave dispersed the poison mist, and the fine needles and kunai hidden in the mist were all buried by the sand wave!
The sand wave gradually stopped surging, and the surroundings slowly returned to calm.
Li Fan frowned slightly and looked around. Did he guess wrong? Was Aoki's main body not hiding in the poison mist?
Then where was he hiding? Until now, Li Fan didn't even know where Aoki's main body was.
Logically speaking, chakra threads were relatively fragile, so a puppet master's main body couldn't be too far from the puppets.
But...
Before Li Fan could think further, a rough laugh interrupted his thoughts!
"Haha! Although your strength is much stronger than I imagined, kid, unfortunately, ginger gets spicier as it gets older!"
Suddenly, Aoki's arrogant laughter came from within the sand wave!
Then, from the sand wave that had stopped rolling, a figure emitting invisible ripples suddenly emerged!
The figure stomped fiercely on the ground, and instantly the sand on the ground sank several meters deep!
Then the figure formed an afterimage, sprinting toward Li Fan. He held a rapidly spinning shuriken in each hand.
"Wind Nature Chakra armor?"
Just as Li Fan finished saying this, Jonin Aoki had already jumped in front of him, his hands stabbing fiercely toward Li Fan's neck!
"Hehe, so what if you have a lot of Chakra? You'd never guess that I would deliberately hide inside the sand wave!"
"And survive in that raging sand wave while preserving so much Chakra!"
Just as Akatsuki, Pakura, Karura, and the others saw this scene...
Their eyes widened, faces full of panic. They had just started sprinting forward a few steps when they suddenly stopped!
The expression of smug ecstasy on Aoki's face hadn't faded yet when it was immediately covered by horror!
He looked at his hands holding the shuriken tightly as if he had seen a ghost!
The originally rapidly spinning shuriken had stopped at some point and remained motionless!
"W-Why can't my hands move?"
Li Fan blinked, and the sand cocoons in mid-air immediately dispersed.
Seeing this, joy appeared on Aoki's face, but he suddenly realized he couldn't control those puppets either!
Before Aoki could ask, the dispersed sand quickly wrapped Aoki firmly!
On the sand dune, the ninjas looked silently at Li Fan with complex expressions.
There was jealousy, appreciation, worship, fanaticism, love, excitement, relief... all kinds of expressions.
But no matter what mentality or thoughts they held internally...
When they saw Li Fan defeat this veteran Jonin, Aoki, with such ease...
They had to admit that Li Fan would be the future Fourth Kazekage!
At this time, Li Fan extended his hands, and the motionless puppets immediately floated up and moved behind Li Fan.
Aoki looked at Li Fan's actions with horror, staring incredulously at the puppets moving behind Li Fan.
"Impossible! You can't be a puppet master!"
This voice was very horrified, even faintly losing its tone.
Li Fan covered his ears and looked at Aoki with disdain. This guy seemed truly frightened.
That rough voice could actually produce such a high-pitched screech.
With Aoki's voice so loud, the people on the sand dunes naturally heard it. They all looked at Li Fan curiously.
Some bold people saw that the winner was decided and jumped down one after another, approaching Li Fan and Aoki to get a better viewing experience.
"Aren't you curious why you couldn't swing the shuriken to stab me just now no matter what?"
Before Aoki could answer, Li Fan moved his finger slightly.
The shuriken tightly gripped in Aoki's hands suddenly broke free from his palms!
The two shuriken flew to Li Fan's side, then aimed at Aoki in unison.
Seeing this situation, Aoki swallowed slowly. His heart suddenly skipped a beat, thinking of a certain possibility, and his pupils shrank sharply.
"No, it can't be possible, right?"