When Naruto and his group stepped onto that battlefield steeped in the stench of blood, it was as if they were instantly swept into a completely unfamiliar and terrifying world.
Before this, they had always been moving within Konoha's forces and knew very little about the real situation of the fighting outside.
Because of that, the heart pounding details and cruel scenes on the battlefield were almost like an unknown fog to Naruto and the others.
However, once they truly set foot on this battlefield, what they saw left them utterly dumbfounded.
As far as the eye could see, it was nearly impossible to find a living Sand ninja.
What filled their vision instead were corpse after corpse, each in a different state, each more unbearable to look at than the last.
Some bodies were twisted and deformed, frozen in bizarre postures; some were incomplete, their limbs scattered and separated; others were already completely unrecognizable, their faces destroyed beyond any hint of what they once looked like.
Such a shocking scene was utterly different from the enemy slaying they had imagined.
By rough estimates, in this battle, the Sand side had suffered extremely heavy casualties, with more than two thousand people dying here.
Among them, many had lost their lives to the fierce blade winds unleashed by Rengoku's Susanoo as it swung its weapons.
That overwhelming power was like a hurricane sweeping through, destroying everything in its path.
Those caught in the blade winds were lucky if they even had a body left.
Others were even more tragic, their bodies cut clean through by the incomparably sharp blade light, split straight in two.
In addition, quite a few people had been killed by rocks blasted into the air by shockwaves and smashed down upon them.
All of this together made the corpses across the battlefield truly varied in every way imaginable.
Faced with such a hell on earth, aside from Hinata, who was relatively calm because she had seen this before.
The rest of the children seeing so many corpses for the first time, including Naruto, all wore expressions of shock and discomfort.
Seeing Rengoku slaughter enemies from afar and seeing this many bodies up close were completely different feelings.
The excitement on Naruto and the others' faces faded away, leaving only solemnity behind.
And at the edge of the battlefield, a White Zetsu, after gathering all the intelligence from the scene, quickly sank into the ground and used the Mayfly Technique to go find Black Zetsu.
———
At the vast and boundless borderlands of the Land of Fire, silence and desolation hung over the area.
All around were dense forests, lush and rolling without end, as if cutting this land off from the rest of the world.
Suddenly, a black figure emerged from the ground.
Looking closely, it was Black Zetsu, dragging Hiruko with him as he drilled up from underground.
The population in this world was sparse, especially in these remote border regions.
As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but endless forest, with even wild animals rarely to be found.
After Black Zetsu emerged from the ground, aside from the occasional clear and pleasant birdcall, there was no other sound in his surroundings.
He slowly peeled himself away from Hiruko's body, his gaze fixed on Hiruko as he began to carefully examine his condition.
However, at that very moment, something unexpected happened.
The Chimera Technique that had been on Hiruko suddenly seemed to come alive, automatically springing up.
In the blink of an eye, it lunged straight at Black Zetsu.
Countless ferocious, twisted tentacles whipped wildly through the air, surging toward Black Zetsu with fierce momentum.
Facing this sudden attack, Black Zetsu merely let out a cold snort.
He reached out with one hand and precisely grabbed hold of one of the Chimera's tentacles.
Immediately after, Black Zetsu focused his mind, carefully sensing the energy fluctuations within the Chimera.
Very quickly, he noticed that inside its body, chaotic streams of energy were surging about.
Driven by intense curiosity, Black Zetsu continued to push his consciousness deeper to investigate further.
When his awareness touched those energies, countless fragmented memory images instantly appeared before his eyes.
These memories were like shattered pieces of glass, scattered in the darkness, yet each fragment was crystal clear.
To his surprise, Black Zetsu discovered that among these memory fragments were scenes of when he had personally captured those people who possessed Kekkei Genkai.
Realizing this, Black Zetsu swiftly withdrew his consciousness, no longer peering any deeper.
But at that moment, the Chimera actually took the initiative to transmit a simple and direct intent toward Black Zetsu, attempting to communicate with him.
A look of "just as expected" flashed through Black Zetsu's deep, shadowy eyes.
It seemed that he had long anticipated the Chimera developing self awareness and being able to communicate with him.
He completely ignored the Chimera beside him, slowly extending his right hand and gently placing it on Hiruko's brain.
Next, he closed his eyes and concentrated on sensing and probing Hiruko's current mental state.
"Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! What an unbelievably stupid guy," he murmured softly, "to actually be devoured by his own technique. It's laughable."
As it turned out, under his probing, Hiruko's consciousness was locked in a fierce struggle with the Chimera, and the Chimera was actually gaining the upper hand.
When his gaze inadvertently swept over the Mangekyo Sharingan in Hiruko's eye sockets, shimmering with a strange light, his expression immediately grew deep, as if he were pondering something important.
Then Black Zetsu did not hesitate in the slightest, extending his other hand and merging his consciousness directly with that of the Chimera.
In an instant, his previously calm face changed sharply, his expression turning extremely fierce and vicious.
At the same time, an incomparably powerful mental force surged out like a raging torrent, brutally tearing through.
Accompanied by a shrill, miserable wail, the Chimera's already unstable consciousness was struck by this sudden, violent assault and instantly grew even weaker.
Those gradually dispersing fragments of consciousness quickly drifted toward Hiruko's awareness, entangling tightly with it.
At this moment, Black Zetsu closely monitored the state of the mental clash between Hiruko and the Chimera.
If he noticed Hiruko gaining the upper hand in this fierce struggle, he would mercilessly launch a heavy blow against Hiruko's mental world.
On the other hand, if the Chimera gained even a slight advantage, what awaited it was the same cold and ruthless strike from Black Zetsu.
In short, no matter which side tried to become the dominant one, it would immediately suffer a head on blow from Black Zetsu.
As the saying goes, the bird that sticks its head out gets shot.
And so, Hiruko and the Chimera, these two spiritual entities, waged a desperate battle within endless darkness.
Their consciousnesses intertwined, collided, and tore at each other, like two ferocious beasts fighting to the death for the right to survive.
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