Chapter 138: The Villain Who Waited for Others to Reveal Their Trump Card Was Already Dead
"I kissed your face, your legs were on my shoulders," Kenichi hummed as he and Sasori moved deeper into the desolate ruins.
The place was empty, the light was dim, and every step echoed. Still, Kenichi could not shake the feeling that something about this ruin was off. If this truly was a relic sealed underground, his earlier fireball should not have burned for so long.
The only explanation was ventilation.
"Kenichi, what are you singing?" Sasori asked, glancing at him with faint curiosity. It was the first time he had heard a language like that. He could not understand it, but it carried a strange rhythm, almost like it followed rules.
"Just a song to lighten the mood," Kenichi said with a grin.
He formed another small fireball, flicked it forward, and let it roll down the passage.
Nothing.
Only a narrow corridor, stone walls on both sides, and oddly shaped carvings set into the rock like ancient murals. The flickering light made the figures seem to twist.
Kenichi studied the carvings as he walked. The layout, the texture of the stone, the way the carvings were arranged, it reminded him of a tourist site from his previous life.
Angkor Wat.
Not exactly the same, but close enough to stir that sense of familiarity.
Then, suddenly
Rustle.
Kenichi froze.
Something was moving along the ground.
It sounded like crawling.
It looked like a person, but not quite.
"Sasori, did you hear that?" Kenichi's brow furrowed as he scanned the darkness. In a silent underground ruin like this, even a small sound carried far.
A strange noise in a dead corridor, that was the kind of setup that belonged in a horror movie.
For Kenichi, whether it became a horror movie depended on one simple thing.
Could the thing in the dark beat him and Sasori?
Horror movies worked because the protagonist was weak, clueless, and trapped. But if Uncle Ben, Lynn, suddenly stepped onto the set, nobody would be scared anymore. People would just sit back and wait to see how Uncle Ben beat the ghosts into retirement.
Likewise, Kenichi did not care what the unknown thing was. If it could not win against him and Sasori, then this would stop being horror and turn into an Ultraman tokusatsu.
Sasori gave a quiet "Mm," then released puppets without hesitation. His expression did not change, but his movements were sharp and clean.
He did not bring out the Third Kazekage puppet.
He rarely used it.
And if he did, anyone who saw it would die.
After all, the Third Kazekage was still missing in Sunagakure. Everyone knew he was probably dead, but since the body was never found, the village could at least pretend, just a little, that he might still be alive somewhere.
The crawling sound drew closer.
A dark figure emerged at the edge of the firelight.
Kenichi did not speak. He simply raised his hand and exhaled.
Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu.
The flames surged forward, but the attack was blocked. Still, the firelight illuminated the figures ahead, and Kenichi's eyes narrowed.
A group of shinobi.
They wore strange clothing, unlike any village uniform Kenichi recognized.
And then he saw the source of the crawling.
Several of them carried a bizarre object, and something like a tentacle dragged against the ground beneath it, making that wet, scraping sound.
Kenichi stared at the thing they were hauling.
The design was unsettling.
It looked like a massive egg.
A woman stepped forward from the group. She was not very old, but her posture and tone made it clear she was the leader.
"Outsiders," she said coldly, "what is your purpose in coming here?"
Kenichi's gaze swept over her, calm and curious. Slightly dark skin, red hair, delicate features. She was undeniably attractive, even with that hatred in her eyes.
"Exploration," Kenichi answered plainly. "We came to find the Land of the Sky's flying fortress. This is it, isn't it?"
The woman's expression twisted. "As expected. You filthy Konoha shinobi are truly disgusting."
Kenichi's lips twitched.
He used to be from Konoha, yes. But he had already betrayed Konoha. He was not even wearing a headband.
Still, Kenichi could tell these people did not care about details. With eyes like theirs, once they decided you were Konoha, you stayed Konoha.
And judging by their anger, this was not going to end peacefully.
The only problem was, Kenichi remembered a similar plot from a movie. If his memory was right, it should have happened in Naruto's era, not now. He did not know whether shifting the timeline by more than ten years would change the outcome, but it certainly made the situation feel less predictable.
"Stop talking," Sasori said quietly from beside him. His focus was on the egg like object. "There's something wrong with what they're carrying."
Kenichi's eyes sharpened as he looked again.
It did resemble an egg, but it was the size of a boulder.
Worse, it moved.
It wriggled like a disgusting worm, and Kenichi could see faint shapes shifting inside, as if something lived beneath the surface.
"The chakra they're using feels different," Kenichi murmured. This was the first time he had seen chakra operate in such a twisted way.
Before he could analyze further, the Sky shinobi charged.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.
Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere.
The corridor erupted into chaos. Wind pressure slammed into the stone, dust and grit exploding into the air.
Kenichi kept his attention sharp even while stepping back. In the confusion, he noticed something important.
The red haired woman who had been in front retreated to the rear.
And the shinobi carrying the egg did not move at all.
What were they trying to set up?
Sure enough, as Sasori calmly dismantled the attackers with puppet strikes, the woman stepped forward again, her stare icy and filled with hate.
Sasori glanced back. "Kenichi, are you going to do anything?"
Kenichi was standing behind him with a notebook, scribbling enthusiastically like he was attending a lecture.
Sasori's emotions were complicated.
If he did not know Kenichi's personality, he would have suspected Kenichi made a living watching fights.
Kenichi smiled. "I like watching men and women fight. Kidding. I'm observing. You can handle them, can't you?"
He truly meant to watch first.
He wanted to understand that egg, and he wanted to see how this group fought. The movie he half remembered had to be old, otherwise he would not have forgotten it this badly. If it was old, their strength should not be terrifying.
That was why he dared to stand back.
He could also collect combat data from Sasori, and later help him adjust future improvements. Kenichi took his notes seriously.
"How arrogant!" the woman snarled, fists clenched until her knuckles whitened.
Sasori scoffed, but his puppets surged forward again.
Then the enemy raised a hand.
In an instant, every puppet Sasori controlled was blasted back, sent flying like toys. They crashed into the stone floor and wall with heavy impacts.
Kenichi's eyes widened. "Shinra Tensei?"
No.
That could not be right. The enemy did not have the Rinnegan. Without it, Shinra Tensei was impossible.
So what was that?
Kenichi replayed the moment in his mind. He had seen something black flash over the enemy's hand, but it vanished too quickly to be certain.
Kenichi wrote a note anyway.
Sasori's gaze sharpened.
"This is interesting," Sasori said, and for the first time, his tone carried a hint of excitement.
He pulled out his strongest human puppet.
The Third Kazekage.
Magnet Release surged.
The puppet thrust forward, iron sand driving like a spear.
The enemy suddenly became far more agile, dodging in a blur. But the shinobi behind him were not as fast. One of them was pierced through the body and pinned to the wall, choking on blood.
Kenichi's eyes narrowed. The enemy's physical speed had increased dramatically.
And that force earlier, it still looked like some kind of repulsion.
Kenichi hesitated, then drew a large question mark beside the words repulsive force in his notebook.
He needed more confirmation.
"You all deserve to die!" the woman roared, eyes bloodshot.
She lunged straight at Sasori, slamming the Third Kazekage puppet hard against the wall.
For a brief moment, she actually fought Sasori to a standstill.
Kenichi frowned.
Sasori was not in his absolute strongest state right now, but his strength was still terrifying. With the Third Kazekage puppet, Sasori could threaten even Kage level opponents.
So how was she still standing?
The woman's movements were wild, her face twisted, like her mind was slipping.
"Himari!" she screamed.
Black mist erupted across her body.
Her strength became even more unpredictable. Sasori's puppets were swatted away one after another, knocked back without contact, as if struck by invisible hands from a distance.
It looked even more like Shinra Tensei now.
Kenichi could not help asking, "Who is Himari?"
Sasori did not look back, but Kenichi could feel the urge to roll eyes radiating off him. It was one thing to watch. It was another thing to ask questions mid fight.
But the woman answered anyway, voice shaking with rage.
"My daughter! She was killed by you Konoha scum!"
Kenichi scratched his head.
Would she believe him if he said they were not Konoha?
Not a chance.
Still, after watching long enough, Kenichi decided it was time to move.
The woman's state was clearly wrong, and Kenichi was now convinced her power was connected to that egg.
"Sage Art! Lightning Release! Lightning Flash!" Kenichi shouted, in the most childish way possible.
Sasori took a deep breath.
People really announced technique names like that in battle?
And yet, somehow, it sounded strangely cool.
The next second, a blinding beam of lightning tore through the passage.
It pierced straight through the woman's body.
She did not defend. She did not even react in time. Her combat awareness was in shambles.
A shinobi behind her tried to guard, but he was too slow. The lightning lanced through his head, and he collapsed to the ground without a sound.
The egg like cluster rolled away and thudded against the stone.
The woman stared blankly.
She looked down.
Then, trembling, she reached behind herself and realized she could touch her own back through the hole.
The lightning had punched through her body, leaving a wound as wide as a bowl.
She coughed blood and collapsed, her face filled with disbelief.
The teacher said Zero Tails' power was limitless.
So why did she lose?
Was it because Zero Tails had not fully grown yet?
Amaru did not understand.
"Himari…" Thinking of her youngest daughter, Mio's eyes filled with tears. She could not take revenge anymore. She was truly an unfit mother.
Then her gaze locked onto the egg.
Hope flickered.
She knew what it was.
The embryo containing Zero Tails.
It was absorbing chakra, growing stronger inside.
The teacher once said Zero Tails needed time. Once it matured, it could become the strongest existence.
But if she met an invincible enemy before it fully grew
A voice echoed in Mio's memory, cold and persuasive.
"Mio. If you want revenge for your daughter, merge into the Zero Tails embryo. Then you can fight to the death."
Mio's hand trembled as she reached toward the embryo.
She did not care anymore.
The teacher said this was a last resort, but the chances of the embryo growing safely were very high, and there should not be major problems. Konoha would never notice them.
But now, they had been discovered anyway.
She wanted revenge.
Even if it meant falling into hell with no chance of reincarnation, she wanted to kill those who destroyed her village, to kill those despicable shinobi.
And it was the teacher who had given her the ability to keep living.
Mio's eyes went wide as she stretched out her fingers toward the embryo.
Just a little more.
Just a little more.
Her fingertips were about to touch it.
Then a pair of shoes stepped into her view.
Clean shoes. Good leather. Even with mud on the soles, the craftsmanship was obvious. Mio had worked with leather before. She knew quality when she saw it.
Those shoes blocked her hand.
Then hands reached down and lifted her up in a princess carry, steady and controlled.
Mio looked up.
It was the same person who had been watching from the rear.
Immediately after, a warm surge flowed into her body.
So warm.
Her eyes turned unfocused for a moment.
"Tell me," a gentle voice asked, "what do you know?"
Was this person good?
Mio tried to struggle, panic rising. No. These were filthy, evil Konoha shinobi.
Then she saw his eyes.
Three tomoe.
The Sharingan.
Those eyes filled her mind, growing larger and larger until she could not think anymore. The only thing left was the spinning pattern, and the question carried by that calm voice.
"What do you know?"
Then everything fell away into endless darkness.
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