Through the window of Hagoromo's Ship, watching from a distance, Shen had already regained partial mobility.
Without the Uchiha bloodline, perhaps he wouldn't have made it this far.
He had removed the threat of the Uchiha Clan's massacre, saved the Uzumaki clan doomed to disappear from the shinobi world, strengthened Konoha's overall power, and delayed the outbreak of the Second Great Ninja War.
He felt incredibly fortunate to have been reborn into the Naruto universe with a bloodline that allowed for limitless power growth.
At the same time, though, he also hated the fact that obtaining the Mangekyo Sharingan required the death of loved ones.
"If I were just a common ninja, maybe I could live carefree," Shen thought bitterly, letting himself be consumed by negativity as he gambled his life away again.
If he lost, perhaps he truly would fall into despair and even consider joining the Moon's Eye Plan.
But if he won, everything would simply return to where it started.
Deep in his heart, the importance of the Mangekyo Sharingan paled in comparison to Nayou and Nawaki risking their lives right now to protect him.
This gamble was anything but fair.
Nayou was beginning to tire, leaving her no chance to take down any more Rock-nin.
An enemy with rationality was completely different from one without.
At least normal ninjas wouldn't attack relentlessly with eyes like starving wolves.
On the crumbling battlefield, dazzling taijutsu techniques continuously slammed into the seemingly pain-resistant Rock-nin.
From sending enemies flying with a single hit to merely forcing them back four or five steps — all within less than ten minutes.
Nawaki's condition was slightly better, but both his hands had already gone numb.
Having superhuman strength didn't necessarily mean his body could withstand it.
After shattering a large chunk of earth hurled at him, his right arm dropped lifelessly, as if drained of strength.
Seeing this, several Rock-nin swung massive chunks of earth toward him.
Nawaki, his face contorted in pain, could no longer feel his left hand.
His foot slipped, and he dove aside to dodge their attacks before using his trembling right hand to pop his left shoulder back into place.
But the brutal rules of the ninja world allowed little time to rest.
As his strength dwindled further, eventually a punch sent Nawaki crashing onto the ground.
"Don't even think about moving," he warned a Rock-nin advancing toward Hagoromo's Ship.
Upon hearing him speak, the other Rock-nin chuckled mockingly and resumed their advance.
"I was originally planning to spare you when we felt generous," the Rock-nin whose leg was caught pulled out a kunai from his Ninja Tool Pouch and pointed it downward. "Too bad."
"Clang!"
After a flash of purple lightning, his kunai was deflected by a pitch-black Hidden Blade.
Sweat beading on her brow, Nayou gritted her teeth and thrust out another palm strike.
The Rock-nin flew backward over the others, slamming into the side hull of Hagoromo's Ship.
"Ugh!" Before he could react, a hand extended from the window and gripped his throat tightly.
Shen, having recovered some energy, began tightening his fingers around the enemy's neck.
"Ugh..." The Rock-nin suspended midair flailed about, struggling for several seconds before his gaze began to go vacant.
"There's another brat!" The Rock-nin rushing toward Hagoromo's Ship quickened their pace.
Shen smiled slightly, clenching his right hand tighter and crushing the enemy's throat.
Hot blood splattered across his face.
"Plotting endlessly, yet in the end you couldn't resist taking action yourself," he murmured, hurling the corpse away before stepping forward and leaping out the window.
Before becoming a ninja, one must first be human.
Shen was confident that before Nayou and Nawaki met their end, he could awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan and through intense desire, obtain the power necessary to save them.
But he wasn't purely a ninja. He couldn't just calmly witness the deaths of Nayou and Nawaki.
Even if those deaths could actually be prevented.
"That's why I believe most ninja currently alive are nothing but trash unworthy of survival." With his ocular power restored by two tenths, Shen faced head-on the dozen or so Rock-nin ahead.
Life and death no longer mattered now.
All he could do was reduce as much as possible the pressure on Nayou and Nawaki—even though he himself would find dying difficult.
Furiously overloading the Sharingan, its three distinct black Tomoe began slowly rotating inside.
The eighteen Rock-nin within Shen's vision blurred like the Shadow Clone Technique had been used, each appearing as three or four figures.
"Damn this weak ocular power!" Several incoming shuriken seemed countless in number, making it difficult to discern real from illusion.
The aftereffects of excessive ocular power usage weren't something willpower alone could overcome.
At least with his brain working overtime, Shen managed only to use Great Breakthrough—a jutsu requiring relatively less chakra—to knock down what seemed like multiple shuriken created via Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.
But the scattered Rock-nin wouldn't miss the cooldown phase following any ninja's technique.
Ordinary shinobi feel stifled unless they burn through all their chakra when casting a technique.
Stiffness refers to this brief moment of sluggish reaction after a jutsu.
Shen certainly wasn't an ordinary shinobi.
While multitasking single-mindedly, he changed his hand seal formation, instantly gathering every bit of recovered chakra into his throat area.
[A Cloud of Dust Concealment Technique] A large cloud from the Dust Concealment Technique dispersed into the air.
The Rock-nin, seriously obstructed in visibility, immediately formed seals preparing Wind Release techniques.
Yet a gleaming silver blade slashed repeatedly across several necks.
Spraying blood heavily increased visibility slightly.
When enemies can't locate you visually, combining Dust Concealment with heat to mask your trail—just like Lord Madara demonstrated—is a proven tactic.
However, immediately eliminating four enemies left Shen incapable of launching another technique.
Moreover, that sudden burst earlier had drained what little stamina he had left.
"I found you!" A sensing-type Rock-nin detected him. "8 o'clock direction!"
Through gradually clearing smoke, the remaining fourteen Rock-nin all headed toward a single location.
The first one on the scene didn't even bother checking the situation—just shoved the kunai he'd kept tucked beside his phone straight into the enemy with brutal force.
White Zetsu's eyes peered out from under the high collar of his disguise, catching a flicker of purple reflected in his pupils.
"The mission is complete."
As he silently declared the outcome, blood spattered from the strike—but under the cover of dust and smoke, it barely stood out.
To Shen, the white figure standing before him, engulfed in crackling purple lightning, was already beginning to fade away.
The back that had been pierced by the kunai slowly turned around, each motion dragging like frames in a fading film reel.
That bright, smiling profile was frozen forever in this moment.
Three tomoe within the Sharingan spun furiously as they started to link up with the front section.
At that very moment, night finally draped itself over the battlefield.
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