Shen, who had just dispelled the Uchiha Flame Formation, appeared outwardly energetic.
In truth, though, his muscles, bones—even his very cells—were utterly drained.
The remaining eight Rock-nin would no longer fall as easily as before to taijutsu or kenjutsu.
But he still had a power capable of wiping out all eight at once.
"I can now use genjutsu on multiple targets simultaneously," Shen muttered. He began with self-hypnosis, locking each of the eight ninjas' sightlines.
There were plenty of ways to grab an enemy's attention—but only one could hold eight grown men at once.
Shen channeled his last reserves of chakra along the pathways of the Transformation Technique.
With a puff of white smoke, an irresistibly seductive "L-sensei" blew a kiss at the group.
Even someone as composed as Kaguya couldn't resist the allure of the opposite sex.
How much less could these secluded mountain-dwelling Rock-nin withstand such heart-pounding temptation?
At the moment their gazes met, the deadly attraction triggered massive adrenaline and dopamine releases in their bodies—truly lethal indeed.
[Shsh!] x8
The final eight Rock-nin simultaneously raised their small kunai knives to slash across their own throats.
After releasing the Transformation Technique and closing his Sharingan, Shen barely managed to remain upright through sheer willpower and bodily control.
Controlling eight enemies to commit suicide via genjutsu had taken only three seconds—but in that short time, he had completely drained nearly all of his ocular power, which had just recovered to about seventy or eighty percent.
He bit down hard on his tongue, fighting against the waves of drowsiness his brain kept flooding his body with.
[Tap, tap-tap.]
Shen slowly walked toward Hagoromo's ship in the distance. To Black Zetsu's eyes, he had already been confirmed as Asura's reincarnation.
The ability to transform ordinary ninja techniques into something miraculous didn't mean making them stronger.
Rather, it meant using basic techniques to produce effects comparable to ultimate arts.
At least according to Black Zetsu—who had never cast a jutsu himself—using a Transformation Technique to distract the enemy, then controlling them with Sharingan's genjutsu, perfectly exemplified this concept of turning the mundane into the marvelous.
White Zetsu, who had once again taken the form of Shen, detected four squads totaling nearly thirty Rock-nin within a five-kilometer radius.
Seeing this mixed force of jonin and chunin didn't fully satisfy him regarding his backup plan.
[Should I secretly interfere?] White Zetsu suddenly felt a flicker of fear but ultimately decided to handle it personally.
Even if they later suspected him as the true culprit behind everything, sticking to Madara's plan ensured that everything would proceed without fault.
After all, when that time came, those drowning in despair and longing for change would have no time or energy to waste on petty revenge.
Dragging himself back onto Hagoromo's ship, Shen was immediately embraced tightly by Nayou, her expression filled with deep concern.
Too exhausted to feel pain, he really wanted to just close his eyes right there.
"I'm fine. Just need some rest," Shen said with difficulty, managing to lift one hand to playfully tousle her hair—a gesture she probably shouldn't have found so endearing.
Not being able to bear such a scene, Nawaki immediately stood up and pulled them apart.
"Then hurry up and rest. It would be best if you could also come up with a way to withdraw safely," he said, his back facing them while his face was filled with smiles.
"If we pull back carefully, there shouldn't be any big issues," Shen said, sprawled out on the cockpit floor with his guard still up.
The crisis from the Rock-nin had already been successfully resolved.
Yet nobody knew what Black Zetsu was planning.
According to Shen's expectations, the overly loyal Takako, who no longer hid in the shadows, would very likely try to kill him—who was possibly Asura's reincarnation.
But there was still a chance that he might survive because of this overly cautious character's careful behavior.
Finally, White Zetsu, who wanted to complete his script, would definitely bring a large number of enemies again as soon as possible.
Therefore, right from the beginning, Shen had set up an impenetrable barrier around the area for a short period of time.
Once Team One regained a bit of their strength, they'd be able to carve their way out of the Land of Earth.
"What?!" Shen was instantly proven wrong when he discovered that the barriers he had established were mysteriously disappearing one by one.
Nayou and Nawaki quickly reacted, each pressing down on his shoulders from either side as he tried to get up immediately.
"Shen, just take good care of yourself and rest."
"Although you're extremely annoying, I don't want to owe you any favors, kid."
Shen looked at them in alarm—they'd only recovered maybe two or three out of ten of their usual strength.
In the entire shinobi world, there were only two people capable of rapidly destroying such a complicated barrier.
One of them couldn't possibly move against him, while the other—Takako—had both sufficient reasons and the perfect timing.
"No, we should go together—"
Nayou gently reached out and brushed her hand across his bruised cheek. "This time it's our turn to protect you."
Crossing his arms over his chest, Nawaki turned his head away. "I'm a guy who always pays kindness with kindness. No matter how many enemies come, I'll defeat them one by one."
Shen clenched his fists, watching silently as they exited the cockpit.
His entire body ached, his head spinning with exhaustion—he just didn't have the strength left to stop them.
Leaning heavily against the cockpit wall, Shen gazed outside toward the approaching night sky. Tears of sorrow unconsciously streamed down his cheeks.
Four squads of Iwagakure forces, twenty-nine Rock-nin in total, stared intently at Hagoromo's Ship behind the two figures.
Originally merely pursuing intruders, their faces now wore expressions of ecstatic joy.
"Hahaha! Talk about luck coming when you least expect it!" shouted one eager Rock-nin excitedly rushing ahead toward the two.
"Damn it!"
"Don't let that kid steal all the credit!"
One after another, the Rock-nin rushed forward, their faces twisted with wild excitement.
In their eyes, those two tiny silhouettes were nothing but helpless lambs awaiting slaughter—easy prey they could eliminate with casual strikes.
With only the Byakugan activated and maintaining a charging stance, Nayou and Nawaki dodged incoming shuriken before simultaneously attacking the first enemy ninja.
Enemies that used to be easy prey now took both of them working together just to take down in one go.
"There are only two brats here—there's absolutely no need to be afraid!"
The maddened Rock-nin only desired to eliminate Nayou and Nawaki as quickly as possible.
Having reached a consensus, they almost simultaneously unleashed their ninjutsu.
Faced with the gradually collapsing ground and incoming stone-crafted kunai, neither Nayou nor Nawaki even flinched.
Stepping forward, Nayou neutralized all the attacks with Huitian before leaping into the enemy ranks.
Switching continuously between Wing Chun and main house fist techniques, she still failed to provoke any reaction from the Rock-nin.
Meanwhile, Ryu, who relied solely on his superhuman strength, was also surrounded by over ten enemies.
He had no skill—only charging recklessly forward.
Evenly matched—for now.
But both of them knew—the longer this went on, the worse things would get.
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