Shigure casually tossed the head of the Fourth Raikage into the air.
As A's head spun uncontrollably, his expression became even stranger—caught between confusion and rage—as his body wobbled. Despite being beheaded, he showed no signs of dying. Instead, his arms swung wildly in panic, as if trying to grasp something.
"What… what is happening!?"
Darui stared at Shigure in disbelief.
"Put Raikage-dono's head down! How dare you treat our Lord Raikage like this, bastard!"
Cee's eyes were bloodshot, trembling with fury.
Shigure ignored all of them, maintaining the same calm posture as before.
Onoki, meanwhile, was completely stunned.
"Why!? Why is the Fourth Raikage's head off—yet he's not dead?"
Deidara clicked his tongue. "Yeah, and more importantly… he isn't even bleeding."
His reminder made everyone freeze.
The shock of someone being cleanly beheaded had completely overshadowed the detail that there wasn't a single drop of blood.
Kurotsuchi stepped back, horrified. "What is this? Am I trapped in a genjutsu?"
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "It's not a genjutsu."
At that moment, Tsunade stepped forward.
"This is one of Shigure's techniques. I don't know how it works… but anyone he 'beheads' with it doesn't die. Even from the user's perspective, it feels like your body hasn't taken any real damage."
Gaara looked toward her. "Hokage-sama… you speak as if you've experienced it."
A heavy silence.
Tsunade clenched her teeth. "Because I have."
She clearly didn't want to remember it.
Kakashi suddenly shifted his attention to Shigure.
"Shigure… this technique of yours seems connected to the strange barrier surrounding us."
Everyone turned toward Kakashi at once.
Shigure smiled. "As expected of Kakashi-sensei. You understood just from the second demonstration."
It wasn't hard for Kakashi to piece it together—he had already witnessed Shigure's abilities before. Every time Shigure used teleportation, this peculiar barrier manifested. And the last time… was when he "beheaded" Tsunade.
So, Kakashi theorized:
Within this strange barrier, Shigure was able to perform these impossible feats—instant teleportation, spatial severing, and perhaps even more abilities they hadn't seen yet.
Tsunade exhaled. "Kakashi… tell them."
Kakashi hesitated. Sharing intel on Shigure could be dangerous. But looking at Gaara, Onoki, and the furious Darui, he realized withholding information was pointless.
He sighed.
"This barrier… while it doesn't harm us directly, Shigure can enter and exit it freely. Inside it, he has full access to teleportation. And earlier—he didn't just sever the Raikage's head. He also sliced off an entire chunk of terrain and used it as a projectile against us."
"Everything he does here… is because of this barrier."
Everyone looked around, finally realizing the full extent of Shigure's domain.
Shigure clapped lightly. "Correct! Well done, Kakashi-sensei."
"This is my newly-developed technique. What do you think?"
Another monstrous ninjutsu—only someone as terrifying as Shigure could create something like this.
Gaara stepped forward. "If we step outside this barrier… he won't be able to affect us."
Kakashi shook his head slightly.
"Right now, the barrier's diameter is about four hundred meters… but who knows if Shigure can expand it even further."
"So if we fought Shigure outside this barrier… we could attack him from four hundred meters away and still threaten him, right?"
Gaara fell silent.
Even with his power, an attack launched from such a long distance would be weakened considerably.
Realistically, that distance was the limit of Shigure's technique—yet they still had no reliable way to exploit it.
"Shigure!"
Might Guy's voice suddenly echoed across the barrier as he strode forward with firm steps.
"Put down the Fourth Raikage!"
Shigure glanced at Guy, amused.
"And what does Guy-sensei intend to do?"
"Challenge you!"
Shigure paused for a moment.
"…Challenge? And why should I accept?"
Guy lifted his chin, eyes blazing with conviction.
"Because the Shigure I know—the terrifying, prodigy-like demon everyone fears—would never refuse a direct challenge!"
Shigure's lips curved faintly.
So he was reading his personality?
"Challenge or not… it doesn't matter. We're enemies anyway."
Guy shook his head firmly.
"No. If it's a proper challenge, then we fight with everything we have until one of us calls defeat. As long as either of us admits loss, the battle ends immediately."
Admitting defeat—Guy didn't look like the type who would ever say such words.
He clearly said that to give Shigure an escape route if needed.
"I challenge you, Shigure. But a challenge needs a wager, doesn't it? Otherwise, it's meaningless."
Shigure casually tossed the Raikage's head toward Darui.
"How do you want to bet?"
Darui caught the Raikage's head, stunned to see A still breathing—and talking.
"Lord Raikage…"
Guy met Shigure's gaze.
"If I win, you will return all the tailed beasts you seized from the other villages."
Shigure raised an eyebrow.
"And if you lose?"
Guy stiffened. He wasn't trying to win for Konoha—he was trying to prevent a war.
But he couldn't decide for the other villages.
He turned toward Tsunade.
Tsunade already understood and gave him a small nod.
Guy exhaled and faced Shigure again.
"If I lose… then Konoha will not participate in this war. At all."
"This is the last thing the Hidden Leaf can do to keep the ninja world from falling into full-scale conflict."
The faces of Gaara, Onoki, and the still-headless Raikage twisted in outrage.
Was Konoha trying to back out?
To avoid joining forces at such a critical moment?
Cowardly—shameless—utterly infuriating!
Just as they were about to speak—
Shigure nodded lightly.
"Very well. I accept."
Fugaku immediately stepped forward, anxious.
"Lord Mizukage, that man—Might Guy—he's Konoha's foremost taijutsu master. He can use the forbidden Konoha technique, the Eight Gates Released Formation. Its power—"
Shigure raised a hand to stop him.
"I know, Uncle Fugaku. You don't need to worry."
"The Eight Gates… I want to see it for myself."
Fugaku froze.
If Shigure understood what he was facing, then he wouldn't act recklessly… right?
(End of Chapter)
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