The massive, eerie statue was still continuously drawing the Tailed Beast chakra from Han's body.
Controlling the Susanoo warrior, Shinju once again sent out the sword's slash—this time thrusting it straight toward the bizarre statue that was siphoning the chakra behind Han!
The sword's slash collided with the stone statue with a deafening clang!
Shinju was startled to find that even a full-powered strike from Susanoo's warrior hadn't managed to break through that statue.
"Strange… what is this thing made of? It's unbelievably tough."
He muttered to himself, and unwilling to give up, Shinju swung the sword again and again.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
No matter how many times he struck, not a single mark appeared on the statue.
"The Demonic Statue can't be destroyed that easily," the masked man's phantom sneered from a distance.
But Shinju couldn't care less about him. What mattered most right now was stopping that monstrous statue from extracting the Tailed Beast chakra inside Han.
He dispersed Susanoo, reached back, and pulled out several Stones of Gelel from his summoning scroll.
After scattering the stones across several corners of the cavern, Shinju formed hand seals and shouted, "Seal!"
Whoosh!
A transparent barrier instantly expanded outward, forming a closed cube that blocked off all chakra flow within the space. The phantom silhouettes of Akatsuki members on the statue's fingers vanished completely, and the chakra extraction from Han stopped at once!
With a thud, Han's body dropped to the ground.
Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi rushed forward.
Kurotsuchi carefully checked Han's breathing and grew frantic. "He's barely breathing! Can he still be saved?"
Akatsuchi grimly said, "A Jinchūriki will die once the Tailed Beast is extracted… Even though the Five-Tails wasn't fully pulled out of Han-senpai, he's almost gone."
"Don't jinx it," Kurotsuchi protested, glaring at him.
Shinju stepped up and examined Han's condition using medical ninjutsu. After a brief moment, he simply said two words:
"He can be saved."
For the next while, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi kept watch while Shinju used Wood Release to construct a simple operating table inside the cavern, then began the procedure.
About ten minutes later, Shinju put away his chakra scalpel and pressed his lips together slightly.
"Done."
Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi exchanged a look. (⊙o⊙)
Done?!
That fast?! It had only been a few minutes!
Just moments ago, when she'd checked Han's breathing, he'd been on the verge of death.
Kurotsuchi walked in, incredulous, and saw that Han's breathing had become steady and his complexion had turned rosy—as if he were merely sleeping. There wasn't even a trace of weakness left.
A little while later, Han opened his eyes from unconsciousness.
"Am I… in hell?"
No sooner had he said that than he noticed Kurotsuchi beside him.
"Huh? Kurotsuchi? What are you doing here? Did Akatsuki capture you too?"
Kurotsuchi sighed. "We came to save you. -_-||"
She and Akatsuchi explained everything that had happened over the past few days in detail.
After listening, Han scratched his head awkwardly.
"So that's how it is… I really owe you three a big thanks."
Akatsuchi shook his head humbly.
"We didn't really do anything. The credit all goes to Shinju."
Kurotsuchi nodded in agreement.
Hearing that, Han looked at Shinju, eyes glimmering.
"I've heard of the young genius from Konoha… Seeing you today, the rumors weren't exaggerated."
Shinju replied calmly, "You flatter me. Let's skip the small talk. I'll take you all back to Iwagakure first."
Before anyone could respond, Shinju grabbed them and used Flying Thunder God to teleport straight into the Tsuchikage's office.
...
Inside the Tsuchikage's office, Ōnoki was handling recent affairs.
Halfway through signing a document, he frowned.
"Still no report from the communication nin. I wonder how Kurotsuchi and the others are doing in the Land of Rain..."
But before he could finish speaking, Shinju suddenly appeared in the office—dragging three people with him!
Han was still lying on the ground.
The moment his eyes met Ōnoki's, Han bowed his head in shame.
"Ōnoki-sama, as a Jinchūriki, I failed to protect my Tailed Beast…"
Ōnoki's expression shifted as he looked toward Shinju. He immediately suspected that Shinju had taken the Five-Tails from Han himself!
Kurotsuchi quickly sensed her grandfather's doubt and hurried to explain.
"When we arrived, the Akatsuki's extraction was already almost complete."
"More than half of Han-senpai's Tailed Beast chakra had already been taken."
Akatsuchi nodded. "That's right. He was at death's door. If Shinju hadn't been there, senpai would've…"
He didn't finish the sentence—such unlucky words didn't belong in a setting like this—but everyone understood what he meant.
Ōnoki nodded thoughtfully.
If Shinju hadn't been the one who stole the Tailed Beast, then he deserved his reward—every bit of it.
He smiled warmly, patting Shinju on the shoulder.
"I knew I wasn't wrong about you. You didn't let me down, kid. ^_^"
"Bring the money."
After a short while, Ōnoki's aide, Kitsuchi, entered the office carrying a tray stacked with banknotes.
Shinju didn't hold back and accepted it all.
A total of 150 million ryo!
After some more polite conversation, Ōnoki said,
"Last time you were here, you were injured and spent most of your stay resting. Since you're here again, why not stay a few days? Let Kurotsuchi show you around the village."
Shinju had his own plans in mind, so he didn't refuse. Smiling, he replied,
"Since Ōnoki-san said so, it would be rude of me to decline."
Ōnoki blinked. (°ー°〃)
He'd just been being polite… but the kid actually agreed?!
...
After leaving the Tsuchikage's office with Akatsuchi, Shinju headed to the guest quarters prepared for him.
Back in the office, Kurotsuchi grinned mischievously as she pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"Grandpa, look at this! (´◊ω◊｀)"
Ōnoki took one glance and frowned.
"A drawing? Well, it's finely made. My granddaughter's art has improved… Alright, off you go now, Grandpa's busy."
Kurotsuchi: Ծ‸ Ծ
"Grandpa, that's so dismissive!"
"If it were just a normal drawing, would I bother showing it to you?!"
Ōnoki, hearing her indignation, sighed and humored her.
"Alright then, what's so special about it? Some kind of ugly bird?"
A smug smile crept across Kurotsuchi's face.
"This type of painting is called a Steel Pseudo-Art. What's drawn here, Shinju said, is called a Flying Chicken—a transport that moves at incredible speed. ´∀`"
"If you infuse chakra into it, the 'Flying Chicken' inside will come to life!"
Ōnoki blinked. "So this is the 'Flying Chicken'?"
"I've heard of it—something developed by Shinju. Konoha's spies mentioned it, but this is my first time seeing it."
"So this was what you used to travel through the Land of Rain?"
"No wonder the squad I sent to tail you said you were riding some kind of flying iron bird they couldn't possibly keep up with!"
Ōnoki narrowed his eyes, his grin turning sly.
"Kurotsuchi… how exactly did you get your hands on this thing? (๑‾ ꇴ ‾๑)"
"Don't tell me you used a beauty trap?! Σ(っ °Д °;)っ"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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