As soon as Ido spoke, her eyes fell on the scattered, mangled remains littering the battlefield. The excitement on her face collapsed.
She had thought she was about to make a grand contribution, only to find the battle above had already ended.
But then, doubt crept in.
During Karin's fight with the behemoth, Ido had sensed its formidable strength. Wood Release could at best suppress it, not defeat it so quickly. She couldn't understand how the battlefield had changed so drastically in her brief absence.
Perched on a branch stretching into the sky, Yakumo glanced at Karin before asking Ido, "What did you find down there?"
Karin, not one to back down, added, "Did you find any trace of the Demon King?"
Sensing the competitive tension between Yakumo and Karin, Ido smirked mischievously, catching on. She quickly sobered and said, "I found a tunnel underground!"
"A tunnel!?" Karin and Yakumo exclaimed in unison.
Ido continued, "I haven't figured out where it leads, but I found a fleshy conduit stretching out from it. One end was likely connected to that behemoth that crawled out of the chasm, so…"
Yakumo quickly asked, "You cut the conduit underground?"
Ido nodded, striking a pose as if expecting praise.
"No wonder the creature's regeneration weakened…" Karin muttered, then said, "The lord tasked us with sweeping this city and finding the Demon King. Let's clear the city first. If nothing else seems suspicious, we'll follow the tunnel."
Yakumo nodded. "Agreed."
Swish, swish.
Without another word, the two split up as if racing, each tackling a section of the city to purge.
Ido, floating in the air, clapped her hands. "Oh, yay! More entertainment!"
...
In Another Demonic Lair.
Boom.
With a deafening crash, the behemoth collapsed.
Kimimaro and Neji, in their fused state, leaped into the underground tunnel. Observing the fleshy conduit severed by Kimimaro's Shikotsumyaku bone spikes, Neji said, "As expected, cutting this thing sapped the blood-flesh behemoth's strength."
Kimimaro replied, "Thanks to your Byakugan."
Neji shook his head. "It was mostly your ability."
Exchanging quiet words, they explored the tunnel.
When they first entered the lair, they had swept through it, only to encounter a behemoth like the one Sasuke, Haku, Karin, and Yakumo faced at the city's center.
Against such a creature, Kimimaro and Neji quickly found themselves at a disadvantage.
With no other choice, they relied on the half-set of "bio-exoskeletons" each wore, entering a fused state once more.
This fusion didn't just enhance their speed and strength—it merged their chakra. Combined with the complete bio-exoskeleton, their chakra surged to a level approaching that of the Tenseigan.
This suppressed Kimimaro's Bloodline Limit disease.
Free from its burden, and with Neji and the bio-exoskeleton providing immense chakra, Kimimaro became a killing machine, unleashing the full terror of his Shikotsumyaku.
In moments, half the city was transformed into a forest of bone spikes, countless demons skewered in midair.
Inosuke, trailing them, was among the boldest in the Demon Slayer Corps, but this sight left him horrified, trembling, and frozen.
Demons were terrifying enough, but this method of stringing them up was unprecedented!
With Kimimaro excelling in close combat, ranged attacks, and wide-scale destruction, and Neji's Byakugan dojutsu, the lair was quickly cleared. They then followed the tunnel to track the Demon King.
In the tunnel, the bio-exoskeleton binding them opened its mouth. "G, I'll scout ahead. You watch our rear."
Neji nodded, his expression odd. "Alright."
The bio-exoskeleton, implanted with an enhanced pair of pure Byakugan by Shinji, was becoming increasingly lifelike. In their fused state, it had even grown a mouth, allowing direct communication.
Neji had to admit his Byakugan was inferior to the exoskeleton's, so it often handled tougher scouting tasks while he took on lighter ones.
As for Kimimaro, when not fighting, he closed his eyes to conserve energy, relinquishing control of their shared chakra to Neji and the exoskeleton.
Though they hadn't rehearsed much, their coordination was seamless.
Perhaps this was because Shinji had explained the shinobi world's dire situation to all three. Not only Neji but also Kimimaro, loyal to Orochimaru, and the bio-exoskeleton, recently awakened by Tenseigan chakra, were fully committed to this mission.
This unity unleashed combat prowess beyond imagination!
...
In Kyoto's Demonic Lair.
Sasuke was still battling the behemoth. His Susanoo matched the creature, but the continuous strain on his dojutsu was taking its toll.
Suddenly, the behemoth, which even Amaterasu's black flames couldn't instantly destroy, lost its regenerative ability and collapsed with a boom.
Swish.
Haku emerged from the chasm, explaining the tunnel below, the fleshy conduit, and how he had severed it.
Huff, huff.
Panting, Sasuke said, "Damn it, that thing was definitely a decoy thrown out by the Demon King. He's probably at the tunnel's end!"
Haku agreed but looked at Sasuke with concern. "Can you keep going? Need a break?"
Sasuke waved him off. "No time. We have to find the Demon King fast! Follow me!"
With that, he leaped into the tunnel.
Haku, moved, followed immediately.
Initially, he thought Sasuke was just showing off. Now, he realized Sasuke was truly giving his all to save the shinobi world!