Nagato's pupils contracted sharply.
Seeing the fuse of the explosive tag about to burn out, he instinctively reached out, grabbed Konan, and tried to throw her to safety.
But the moment he touched Konan, the girl before him vanished into thin air.
The explosive tag had reached its end.
With no time to think, Nagato hastily raised his hands, attempting to use ninjutsu to block the explosion.
"Boom!"
The violent explosion instantly engulfed him, and a muffled, intense cough echoed through the dust.
Nagato struggled to steady himself, his Rinnegan glowing with a faint purple light, a trace of pain flickering across his face.
"Hah..."
He groaned softly, looking down at his legs. The skin was scorched red and black, blood seeping from multiple wounds, leaving him almost unable to move.
At the critical moment, he had forcefully channeled chakra and used Repulsive Force to try to deflect the explosive tag.
But it was still too late—scattered explosions had erupted around him.
Yet he couldn't afford to dwell on these injuries.
"Konan, where is Konan?!"
Nagato frantically scanned his surroundings. The person who had been beside him just moments ago had vanished without a trace.
Five seconds passed in an instant.
He felt the space around him distort, his body pulled and shifted.
The next moment, he was kneeling on both knees, hands pressed together, barely catching a short sword that had been swung straight at him.
"Slap!"
A crisp slap rang out.
Only then did Nagato finally understand where Konan had gone.
"Nagato!"
Two anxious cries sounded simultaneously.
Yahiko and Konan hurriedly helped him up from either side.
Konan looked down at his nearly crippled legs, a hint of sorrow flickering in her eyes.
She knew in her heart that Nagato might never stand again. If he hadn't rushed to save her, he wouldn't have ended up like this.
Konan couldn't bear to look any longer, overwhelmed by intense self-blame and guilt.
"Serves you right! Foolish!"
A calm reprimand suddenly came from the side.
"What did you say?!" Yahiko shouted angrily.
Konan also looked up, glaring at the speaker.
Shinji curled his lip. "Look at you, so capable. If Nagato hadn't needlessly rushed to save her earlier, I would have already rescued Konan. How could he have ended up in such a miserable state?"
Yahiko fell silent.
He had seen everything clearly.
He had also wanted to rush in to save Konan, but he was just a step slower than Nagato.
When the explosive tag completely engulfed the two of them, he had almost lost hope.
But at that moment, Shinji swung his sword, and Konan vanished from the edge of the cliff, appearing safely beside them the next second.
After the explosion, Nagato had also been moved here in the same bizarre manner, instantly transported from the cliff's edge.
Was this Space-Time Ninjutsu?
Yet the other party claimed it was merely swordsmanship.
Could swordsmanship reach such a level?
Meanwhile, Konan's cheeks flushed uncontrollably with two spots of red.
It wasn't from shyness but from anger.
She stared fixedly at Shinji, gritting her teeth lightly. Her lips moved several times, but in the end, she couldn't utter a single word of rebuke.
This person had indeed saved her.
But the way he had rescued her was so bizarre that she still felt uneasy all over.
One moment, she had been standing at the edge of the cliff with Nagato; the next, she was beneath Shinji's sword, barely catching his short blade.
In other words, if Nagato hadn't needlessly rushed over to save her earlier, she could have easily broken free from Hanzo's control.
Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan all shook their heads with bitter smiles.
What the other side said seemed to be true.
They really were foolish.
Fugaku walked over to Shinji and asked, "Should we retreat?"
Just as Shinji was about to nod, Hanzo on the cliff top suddenly waved his hand and shouted, "Go! Kill them!"
The Amegakure ninja who heard the command were about to move when Shinji instinctively swung his blade again, casually slashing through the air.
Thud!
The synchronized sound of knees hitting the ground once again echoed through the valley.
Everyone in the area except Shinji was forced to kneel on both knees once more, palms facing upward, assuming that bizarre and humiliating posture.
Shinji gave an awkward smile.
The "One Hundred Percent Barehanded Blade Catch" technique wasn't particularly lethal to those with hands.
While using it, he himself could only maintain the slashing posture and couldn't move freely.
He felt it would be a waste to let these five minutes go unused.
With that in mind, adhering to the principle of never wasting an opportunity, he decided to use it as many times as possible.
"Here we go again… this posture is so humiliating…"
"Lord Hanzo is kneeling again…"
"Lord Danzo!"
Hanzo gritted his teeth so hard they nearly shattered, glaring fiercely at Shinji in the valley.
He growled to his subordinates, "This technique of his only lasts for five seconds! And while using it, he can't move either! Seize the opening after those five seconds and kill him!"
As the Demigod of the Shinobi World, he had already roughly figured out the pattern of this bizarre Ninjutsu after seeing it just twice.
He admitted the technique was extremely strange, but he refused to believe there existed a Ninjutsu that could be used indefinitely.
At this moment, Hanzo's hatred for Shinji had completely overshadowed his hatred for Yahiko and the other two.
Being forced into such a humiliating posture twice in a row made him wish he could tear Shinji to pieces.
Down in the valley, Konan turned her head and couldn't help but complain, "Couldn't you just use it on the enemies?"
Shinji shrugged helplessly. "No choice. This Area Control technique doesn't distinguish between friend or foe. It can't be used again until five minutes later."
He kept the fact that he could still use it one more time to himself.
Five seconds passed.
Several Amegakure ninja immediately seized the opening, leaping down with Shinji as their sole target, looking utterly determined to fight to the death.
"Kill him!"
Shinji snorted coldly and swung his short blade once more.
The Amegakure ninja in mid-air instantly lost control of their bodies, crashing down like broken puppets.
"Ah!"
Their knees slammed heavily into the ground, and screams instantly filled the entire valley.
The ninja who had been planning to charge down abruptly halted, their eyes filled with terror as they looked at Shinji.
They finally realized that the enemy still held an absolute geographical advantage.
Once they leaped into the air, they were completely at the other's mercy.
Danzo's heart sank, and he hurriedly warned, "Don't act rashly! Wait until his Chakra is exhausted before making a move!"
The situation fell into an eerie stalemate.
Hanzo and Danzo's subordinates didn't dare charge down recklessly, while Shinji's group couldn't break through for the time being.
Only Shinji continued to swing his short blade repeatedly.
With every slash, everyone except him was forced to kneel once more, assuming the "barehanded blade catch" posture.
Fugaku stubbornly turned his head away, his face ashen, absolutely unwilling to let his junior see him in such a sorry state.
Many ninja on the cliff top simply gave up, kneeling on the ground as they glared at Shinji with pure resentment.
Hidden in the secluded area outside the valley, Obito and Zetsu were also forced to kneel on the ground.
The two looked utterly bewildered, completely unable to understand why they had been affected from such a distance.
Konan pleaded with Shinji, her face full of desperation: "C-can you please stop using it?"
Nagato and Yahiko also nodded frantically, their expressions complicated.
Nagato's legs were already severely injured, and now he could barely hold on.
Shinji chuckled: "Just one more minute, it'll be over soon."
He completely ignored Konan's plea.
Under the terrified gazes of the three, the short blade swung down fiercely once again.
Thud! Smack!
"Damn it! I'm going to kill him!"
"Bastard! Kill him!"
"Damn Konohagakure ninja!"
Shinji: "..."
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