Chapter 408: Shuyu, Sarada vs. Skynet
"I told you, your attacks are useless against me."
Skynet slowly walked toward Shuyu and Sarada as it spoke.
"What do we do next, Shuyu?"
Sarada turned to the person standing beside her and asked.
"Probe the enemy and look for weaknesses first."
Shuyu stared intently at Skynet ahead. The calm and composed demeanor of their opponent put a great deal of pressure on him.
"Got it."
Sarada nodded.
"Are you done discussing your tactics yet?"
Skynet asked, sounding slightly impatient.
"Let's go, Sarada!"
As soon as Shuyu finished speaking, he charged toward Skynet, with Sarada close behind.
The two launched a dazzling coordinated assault against Skynet.
Each time one of them struck, the other immediately followed up, giving the enemy no room to breathe. However, Skynet completely ignored their attacks, arms folded across its chest, unmoving.
Neither their ninjutsu nor their taijutsu had any effect—Skynet remained entirely unbothered by the assault.
The more they attacked, the heavier Sarada's mood became. She felt utterly helpless against this enemy. A creeping sense of despair began to take hold.
"Hmph."
Skynet tilted its head slightly, narrowly avoiding a close-range Great Fireball from Shuyu.
Any ordinary person would have had no way to dodge such a close-range jutsu, but as an artificial intelligence, Skynet's reaction speed far surpassed that of any human.
"Damn..."
Shuyu's missed attack left a brief opening in his defense.
"Shuyu!"
Sarada noticed the opening as well, and turned to him, her face full of concern.
Yet just as Shuyu was preparing to use the Substitution Technique, Skynet didn't strike him. Instead, it turned and delivered a side kick, sending Sarada flying.
"???"
Sarada was launched through the air and crashed into the ground in the distance, dazed and confused.
"Are you okay?"
Seizing the moment Skynet kicked Sarada, Shuyu quickly body-flickered to her side and asked.
"I'm fine."
Though the point of impact was sore, Sarada had managed to defend herself in time, so it was still bearable. "But Shuyu, what the hell just happened?"
The obvious target a moment ago had been Shuyu, who had clearly exposed a weakness—so why had Skynet suddenly attacked her instead?
Sarada couldn't make sense of it.
"I'm not sure either..."
No—that was a lie. Shuyu actually did know the reason. If his guess was correct, it was due to a directive within Skynet's programming that forbade it from attacking S.H.I.E.L.D. members. Only the Director and Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had the authority to modify that directive.
But Shuyu couldn't tell Sarada that. Doing so would expose his identity as a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative.
The only reason he was currently able to remain in the Hidden Leaf Village and stay by Sarada's side was to help cover up the identity of Shunhi as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Deputy Director.
Even though some individual S.H.I.E.L.D. members had good relationships with the Hidden Leaf, the fact remained that the physical bodies of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s control. Because of the risk that someone could be forcibly manipulated to harm the village, the Hidden Leaf could never allow a S.H.I.E.L.D. member to stay within its borders long-term.
Shuyu extended a hand to help Sarada up from the ground.
"I have an idea..."
Though there were many complications, this was likely Skynet's only weakness.
After thinking it through, Shuyu made up his mind.
"Are you sure it's safe?"
After hearing his plan, Sarada looked at him, worry etched on her face.
"Don't worry. It'll work."
With that, Shuyu charged forward alone. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Forming hand seals, he created a single shadow clone to accompany him.
The moment Shuyu's clone reached Skynet—
It suddenly dissipated in a puff of smoke, and the cawing of crows echoed from the mist. A swarm of crows burst out of the smoke, obscuring Skynet's vision.
"How boring."
Skynet's legs ignited with propulsion as it blasted itself upward, escaping the encroaching flock and rising into the air.
"I'm right here!"
Shuyu's real body suddenly appeared above Skynet.
Skynet raised its palm cannon to aim at the figure above it—but due to its restriction against attacking S.H.I.E.L.D. members, it was forced to lower its hand again.
"Heavenly Hand Power!"
Sarada instantly swapped places with Shuyu.
"Die!"
She delivered a full-force monstrous punch to Skynet, slamming it out of the sky.
Skynet plummeted like a meteor, crashing into the ground with such force that it caused a localized tremor and sent cracks spidering out across the earth.
"Did we get it...?"
Panting heavily, Sarada used the Body Flicker Technique to appear beside Shuyu. That last blow had taken a serious toll on her stamina.
As the dust finally cleared, a massive crater came into view.
A battered Skynet struggled to its feet from the bottom of the crater.
"You two... are quite good... but... only I... can bring peace... to this world..."
It spoke haltingly.
"It's still not dead?!"
Sarada's eyes widened in disbelief. She had already expended so much energy—if the battle continued, she'd only drag them down.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A fireball the size of a grown adult blasted from above, engulfing Skynet. At last, its eyes dimmed completely, and its body dropped to its knees.
"It should be dead now, right?"
Sarada turned to Shuyu.
Skynet may have been defeated, but the scientific ninja tool puppet army invading the Hidden Cloud Village was still on the move.
"Judging from Skynet's power, reinforcements from other villages heading to the Hidden Cloud were probably wiped out en route. Sarada, we have to get this intel back to the village immediately."
Shuyu said seriously.
"Right."
Sarada nodded and activated her Rinnegan, opening a space-time portal back to the Hidden Leaf Village.
"Watch out, Sarada!"
Shuyu suddenly stepped in front of her, Susanoo materializing to shield them from a sudden surprise attack.
"What?!"
Sarada finally reacted, looking up to see four scientific ninja tool puppets hovering in the air. Then she turned to Shuyu, alarmed. "Shuyu..."
"You need to get that intel back to the village. I'll buy you time."
Shuyu's gaze locked onto the four puppets above.
"But—"
"Don't worry. I'll be fine."
Shuyu reassured her with determination in his eyes. When he saw that Sarada was still hesitating, he sighed.
"Actually... they won't hurt me..."
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