Kurotsuchi stood there, dumbfounded.
Her grandfather had told her that Shinju's mastery of ninjutsu was extraordinary, but she hadn't believed it.
After all, he was just a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old boy—how deep could his understanding possibly be?
Now she'd seen it with her own eyes.
This was no longer "mastery of ninjutsu"—this was some god-tier jutsu level of absurdity!
He handled both the business of the living and the dead all by himself!
After finishing his investigation of the base, Shinju once again activated his aircraft.
However, just as it was about to take off into the distance, Shinju suddenly turned his head as if sensing something, looking back at the base he had just split open with one strike.
"Strange... why do I feel like someone's been watching me? (‧_‧?)"
He muttered under his breath.
Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi stiffened instantly at those words.
They both knew that the village had dispatched a pursuit unit—one that had been tailing them all along.
If Shinju were to discover that, and got annoyed... if he raised that thousand-meter-long sword of his and swung it like before—what would they even do?! ∑(✘Д✘๑)
...
Iwagakure.
Ōnoki sat behind his desk, waiting for good news from the front lines.
After a while, a communication ninja appeared in his office, kneeling on one knee.
"Has Shinju found Han's location yet? And my precious granddaughter—she's safe, right?"
Ōnoki's voice was filled with urgency.
In his heart, he couldn't help but think—entrusting a mission like tracking a Tailed Beast to Shinju had been the right call!
Look at that—there was already a report!
But the communication ninja shook his head hesitantly.
"N-No, that's not it... we, uh... lost track of Shinju…ㅍ_ㅍ"
Ōnoki froze for a moment, then immediately flared up.
"Lost track of him?! What are you people even doing out there?! So many of you, and you can't even keep up with a few kids?! (′д｀σ)σ"
The messenger's face twisted with grievance.
"But Shinju isn't just any kid, you know... (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)"
"He used Flying Thunder God to instantly teleport to Amegakure—that was fine, since we had operatives stationed there—but the problem is, they're flying! We're just running on foot! There's no way we can keep up... （༎ຶ-༎ຶ）"
After hearing that, Ōnoki finally realized how ridiculous the situation was.
Sending pursuit squads to tail Shinju… yeah, that was pretty stupid in hindsight.
Back in the Third Shinobi World War, the Yellow Flash had made his name with Flying Thunder God alone—
And now Shinju not only had all sorts of bizarre movement techniques but also possessed massive chakra reserves…
Ōnoki sighed helplessly and waved his hand.
"Enough, enough. You may go. But don't slack off on keeping track of Shinju's movements."
"Without your support, Kurotsuchi and the others could end up in danger."
"Yes, Tsuchikage-sama!" The messenger quickly withdrew.
...
Land of Rain.
Kurotsuchi asked nervously, "Can you sense where the person spying on us is?"
Shinju replied dryly, "We're flying so fast we've already left them behind. ┐(´-｀)┌"
"Besides, the other party is deliberately concealing their chakra. Unless I stop and focus, it's hard to pinpoint their location."
"Forget it, let's just move on and check the next base. →_→"
With that, Shinju accelerated the aircraft toward the next Tailed Beast extraction site.
...
Meanwhile, back in the ruins of the previous base—
A black-cloaked figure with a hood appeared.
His hoarse voice muttered under his breath, "As expected of Shinju… trying to inspect every base in the Land of Rain, huh?"
"Well, that actually makes things easier for me."
"Orochimaru-sama, the research you left behind—I've inherited it, and soon it will flourish again. ୧⍢⃝୨"
...
A certain base in the Land of Rain.
"Boom!!!"
Shinju's Kusanagi Sword came down, splitting the fortress cleanly in half!
Beside him, Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi were completely numb at this point. (꒪⌓꒪)
During their carpet-style sweep of every base in the Land of Rain, they had witnessed Shinju use all kinds of outrageous techniques—
Summoning torrential rain out of nowhere to drown an entire base, calling down lightning from the heavens to obliterate another, or roasting one with a massive sea of flames...
His range of jutsu and sheer destructive power had completely shattered Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi's perception of what was possible for a shinobi.
"This one's empty too," Shinju said with a hint of disappointment.
After that, he recalled the information he'd read from Chiba's memories and muttered, "Only three left. Let's hurry."
Kurotsuchi nodded quickly. "Mm-hm!"
A moment later, an ink-drawn aircraft appeared over a dense forest!
Sitting in the pilot's seat, Shinju looked down and noticed a raised mound of earth within the trees.
According to Chiba's memories, this was an underground base.
"Alright, since it's underground… let's flood it."
He formed hand seals as he spoke.
But before he could complete them, Kurotsuchi suddenly pointed downward. "Look! Someone's down there!"
Shinju glanced down and indeed spotted a figure in a black cloak.
"Could this be the place where Akatsuki extracted the Five-Tails?"
He continued forming seals, but Kurotsuchi rushed over to stop him.
She shook her head urgently. "If you use a large-scale jutsu now, you might end up hurting Han-senpai! (ᗒᗩᗕ)՞"
Shinju gestured for her to relax. "Didn't I tell you before? As long as he's still breathing, I can bring him back."
Kurotsuchi frowned. "No! What if you don't kill them all in one blow and they escape with Han-senpai? ◝₍ᴑ̑ДO͝₎◞"
Shinju paused and began thinking seriously.
Right… that masked man's Sharingan technique could instantly teleport people away. It wouldn't be wise to alert them too soon.
"Alright then, let's go down and take a look together," he said.
Kurotsuchi nodded, but whispered a reminder,
"Shinju, try to keep it quiet, okay? Before they notice us..."
He nodded.
The next moment, he released the seal sustaining the aircraft.
Kurotsuchi: ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!!
"Hel—"
Before she could even shout for help, Shinju clamped his hand over her mouth.
Supporting her with one arm and covering her mouth with the other, he scolded softly,
"Didn't you just say to keep quiet? Then why are you yelling?! ╭(°A°`)╮"
Kurotsuchi: "…"
You just dismissed the entire plane out of nowhere—who wouldn't scream?! (ꐦ ಠ 皿 ಠ)
After glaring at him resentfully, Kurotsuchi suddenly realized—she and Shinju were standing in midair!
Even Akatsuchi was floating beside them!
Wait, what? Since when could Akatsuchi use Grandpa's Technique?! ⊙▽⊙
Looking more closely, Kurotsuchi noticed the thin layer of ice beneath Akatsuchi's feet.
"I thought you could really fly, but you're actually using Ice Release to condense crystals in midair to hold yourself up..."
She nodded in understanding, then continued smugly,
"Still, Shinju, this method of staying aloft may work, but it's not as refined as Grandpa's Technique. ( *ˊᵕˋ)"
"You know, Grandpa can freely soar through the sky. ❛‿˂̵✧"
Shinju raised an eyebrow and responded enthusiastically, "Light-Weight Rock Technique, huh? Mind explaining that one in more detail?"