Otherworldly space.
Kashin Koji burst anxiously into Amado's lab!
Amado was leisurely drinking coffee. Seeing Kashin Koji in such a panic, Amado asked unhurriedly,
"What's wrong, Koji? You never lose your composure like this."
Kashin Koji: "No time to explain—move, now!"
Amado remained calm: "What do you mean, no time to explain? This facility has advanced defense systems. No matter who comes, no one will—"
Kashin Koji: "'The Vessel' has been captured by the Sixth. The Sixth Hokage might read his memories at any moment. Once that happens, we're exposed."
Amado: ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!!
"Why are you standing there? Pack up!"
...
The border of the Land of Fire.
Garō is a modified human who participated in Kara's experiments, living long-term in the organization's base, but that doesn't mean he's cut off from information...
The Sixth Hokage Shinju—this name is thunderously famous!
More importantly, unlike others who are all reputation and no substance, Shinju has even been acknowledged by Kara's leader!
"The leader was worried about having information pried out by him, so he issued suicide scrolls to everyone… (≖╻≖;)"
Garō muttered, "But right now there are four of us, plus two big-shot Inners… maybe…"
On the other side, seeing Shinju appear made Ao's expression complicated, as if fate were playing a massive joke on him!
Ever since he took this mission from the organization, he'd struggled nonstop—only to have his hard work stolen by his own comrades, and then be silenced by the Sixth Hokage…
"Ao, I heard everything you just said," Shinju looked at Ao in front of him and said.
"I really didn't expect someone who fought in the Fourth Great Ninja War would end up joining Kara."
Ao's eyes flickered as he spoke, word by word: "Shinju, I'm not like you. I'm just an ordinary man."
"The Fourth Great Ninja War taught me what it truly means when human strength hits its limits."
"If it hadn't been for you back then—or rather, that inhuman power you had—the shinobi world would absolutely have become a nursery for the Ōtsutsuki, and our lives would have been nothing but fruit for them to pick."
"I want to become stronger. I don't want my life controlled by others… I don't have chakra like yours, nor a brilliant kekkei genkai. My ceiling doesn't even touch some people's floor."
"But Kara's technology can help me fulfill that wish to grow stronger…"
After Ao finished, his emotions surged violently, his chest rising and falling hard.
Shinju stood where he was, eyes complicated.
He didn't see the world as simply black or white. If Kara could truly give the shinobi world the power to resist the Ōtsutsuki, he would even be willing to cooperate with Kara.
But the problem was—can Kara?
From Victor's actions alone, you could see Kara's true colors!
What they wanted was simply to grow stronger by stepping over everyone else's corpses in the shinobi world.
"Ao, you're already a veteran shinobi… Since you chose this path, you should have expected today's outcome…"
"Buzz—!!"
Chakra gathered in Shinju's hand, forming a blade. He was ready to give Ao a swift death!
"Hey!"
Just then, the burly man behind Shinju suddenly barked out!
"Kid, aren't you underestimating me a bit too much! ٩(๑`^´๑)۶"
Garō pointed at Shinju, lifting his chin, staring at him down his nose!
Shinju: "…"
Why is this guy so eager to die?
Just as he was about to swing the blade—
"Mm~"
Nearby, the boy who'd been lying in a pit discovered earlier by the border patrol finally stirred!
The boy sat up, groggily opening his eyes, and then saw Garō with two massive mechanical arms!
"Kara's pursuers, huh! I will never give in that easily! Ծ‸ Ծ"
As he spoke, the boy's right arm suddenly swelled!
With a "whoosh!", it became several times thicker than before! The surface of the arm was covered with rocky, scale-like plates!
Garō looked at Shinju in front of him, then at the boy brimming with fighting spirit not far away...
"Kid, you will never escape from Kara's grasp! (*Ӧ)σ"
"And you, Sixth Hokage—just wait, I'm calling reinforcements!"
With that, Garō looked behind him and bellowed, "We've run into a powerful enemy! We request assistance from the two Inners!"
...
Silence!
Garō was obviously starting to panic!
Arms folded, Shinju stood off to the side, watching with great interest. It would be perfect if every Kara member showed up today—he could wipe them all out at once!
Garō shouted again, "We request assistance from the two Inners!"
Still nothing!
Cold sweat was already breaking out at Garō's temples!
Those two… didn't run away, did they?! Σ( ° △ °|||)︴
Across from him, Shinju's expression turned playful: "Big gorilla, looks like your backup isn't coming. Be good and come back to Konoha with me and do your time. (σ≧︎▽︎≦︎)σ"
A few seconds later—
Ao and Garō were pinned to the ground by Shinju, subdued completely!
Not far away, the boy with the mutated arm was still utterly confused!
Then he saw that red-haired man walking toward him step by step—with a wicked smile on his face!
"You want my body too, don't you? I will never let you get what you want! (ꐦ ಠ 皿 ಠ)" the boy roared.
"Whoosh!"
The boy swung his massive mutated fist!
"Bang!" The fist slammed down, leaving a huge cratered imprint in the ground!
But just before the punch could land, Shinju had already slipped aside with agile ease!
The boy felt humiliated. Gritting his teeth, he swung his arm again and again in fury!
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!"
Just like before—not a single hit landed!
After dodging all of the boy's attacks, Shinju looked at the boy's hand.
"That black mark in the center of your left palm—what is it?"
The boy clenched his fist, his voice chilling, "You want to know?!"
The moment the words fell—
"Whooo—!!"
The diamond-shaped mark in the boy's left palm mutated, turning into several strange black patterns that wrapped his entire left arm!
Once the change stopped, Shinju realized the boy's entire presence had transformed!
"Try dodging me again!"
Clenching the fist covered in black markings, the boy's body blurred like a phantom as he rushed at Shinju again!
Then—
"Bang, bang, bang—!"
In the forest, Shinju and the boy exchanged several rounds!
After feeding the boy several jutsu, Shinju confirmed that the boy's left arm could absorb chakra—similar to Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki's ability.
But it seemed he couldn't do what that ability did—amplify jutsu and send them back…
Even so, the power to absorb others' jutsu was already enough to give him a massive edge in battle…
"Take my strongest move!"
Seeing Shinju momentarily distracted, the boy seized the opportunity!
A few seconds later—
The boy lay on the ground, bruised and swollen!
Shinju clapped his hands. "Don't overthink it—I was just playing with you."
Then Shinju placed his hand on the boy's head and read his memories!
After finishing, Shinju created several shadow clones, revived the border guards Ao had killed, and had the important figures taken back to Konoha…
His real body then used the Reversion Eye to connect to the otherworldly space!
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