Accompanied by the appearance of Sage Jutsu chakra, an even more terrifying aura than before emerged from Yuto's body.
But unfortunately, even with the appearance of Sage Jutsu chakra, the mysterious pattern before him still showed no reaction whatsoever.
"Not even absorbing natural energy?"
Seeing the unresponsive mysterious pattern, this time it actually came as a surprise to Yuto.
Yuto narrowed his eyes and fell into thought once more.
His earlier speculation shouldn't have been wrong.
These mysterious patterns connected to the blood channels, aside from transmitting energy to the Evil God statue, Yuto couldn't think of any other purpose.
In other words, the problem now should be with the energy absorbed by the statue.
Those guys from the Jashin cult should have mastered a special method to provide energy to the Evil God statue through blood.
This method should only be known by members of the Jashin cult, but unfortunately, everyone in the Jashin cult except Hidan is dead.
And Hidan, in Yuto's view, although a devout believer of the Jashin cult, probably isn't among the cult's higher-ups. With Hidan's brain, he might not even know this method.
Suddenly, Yuto's eyes lit up.
Since everything in this ninja world has a connection to the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Then let's try using Tailed Beast chakra!
Thinking of this, Yuto quickly took action, and the chakra within his body began to transform.
Chakra unique to Tailed Beasts surged from within Yuto's body, rushing toward the mysterious patterns.
As this Tailed Beast chakra poured in, the motionless mysterious patterns suddenly seemed to come alive and began to twist eerily.
On the originally lifeless Evil God statue, an extremely cold and empty aura inexplicably appeared.
Standing not far from the statue, Neji felt a chill run through his body and involuntarily took a step backward.
Crack! Crack!
Dense cracks suddenly appeared on the Evil God statue.
In the next moment, the entire Evil God statue completely collapsed, with only the head of the Evil God remaining relatively intact as it fell to the ground.
With the disintegration of the Evil God statue, that empty aura completely dissipated.
"It broke?"
Yuto looked at the collapsed Evil God statue before him and couldn't help but blink.
"If I knew it was this fragile, I would have considered a different approach."
Withdrawing the Tailed Beast chakra back into his body, Yuto's mouth couldn't help but twitch.
Recalling the special aura that had appeared on the Evil God statue earlier, a trace of gravity flashed in Yuto's eyes.
That aura gave Yuto an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
When he fought against Asura before, Asura also had this kind of aura!
Although these two auras weren't the same, their essence was identical.
This Evil God indeed has some connection to the Ōtsutsuki clan.
"Lord Yuto, there seems to be something inside the head of this Evil God statue."
Just then, Neji's voice suddenly came from beside him.
Yuto was slightly stunned, and in a flash, he appeared beside Neji.
Following Neji's gaze, directly in front of them was the fallen stone head of the statue.
His powerful perception quickly focused on the Evil God's head, but Yuto didn't sense anything. In his perception, this stone head was no different from the surrounding shattered stones.
Neji certainly wouldn't lie to him, so that could only mean one thing.
Yuto walked up to the half-human-height Evil God statue and flicked his finger forcefully against it.
A powerful force erupted from his fingertips, instantly striking the statue.
With a loud crash, the statue shattered by about half.
In the center of the statue, a fist-sized stone eyeball appeared before Yuto.
Yuto reached out and picked up this stone eyeball. No wonder he couldn't sense it—the material of this stone eyeball was exactly the same as the Evil God statue's material.
If not for Neji's Byakugan, they probably wouldn't have discovered this stone eyeball at all.
Yuto examined the stone eyeball for a moment, then casually tossed it toward Neji.
Neji reflexively caught the stone eyeball, a puzzled expression appearing on his face.
"Although I don't know what purpose this stone eyeball served before, right now it's just an ordinary stone."
"However, Neji, have you noticed? This eyeball looks very similar to your Hyuga clan's eyes."
Yuto placed his hands behind his head, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
The Hyuga clan's Byakugan?
Neji lowered his head to look at the fist-sized stone eyeball in his hand.
At first, he hadn't paid attention, but now hearing Yuto's words, Neji examined it carefully.
Indeed!
This stone eyeball really looked like their Hyuga clan's Byakugan!
"What's going on here?"
A look of astonishment appeared on Neji's face, his voice filled with confusion.
How could this so-called Jashin cult possess something like this?
Does this Jashin cult have some connection to their Hyuga clan?
The thought had just formed in Neji's mind when he quickly dismissed it.
He knew his own family well enough.
The Hyuga clan itself was an extremely traditional ancient family. They probably wouldn't have anything to do with a religion like the Jashin cult that required slaughter.
But why would a stone eyeball resembling the Byakugan appear in this place?
Yuto turned and walked toward the cave entrance, his calm voice reaching Neji's ears:
"The Byakugan, known as one of the Three Great Visual Pupil Techniques in the ninja world—do you really think it's inferior to the Sharingan?"
Neji's body trembled, and his eyes widened slightly.
Meanwhile.
Team 3, having left Konoha, under Might Guy's leadership, was rushing non-stop toward the Land of Hot Water.
It had to be said that as Might Guy's disciples, Team 3's physical endurance far exceeded that of the other squads in their cohort.
Leaving aside Might Guy's direct disciple Lee for now, the Hyuga clan members naturally used taijutsu in combination with their Byakugan, so their physical strength was naturally not lacking.
And Tenten, despite being a girl, showed no weakness in physical stamina under Might Guy's training.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Accompanied by sounds of wind rushing past, several figures rapidly leaped between large trees, with countless trees swiftly receding behind them.
Tenten, following at the rear of the group, tightly clenched her fists, her gaze constantly flickering.
Even now, she had no regrets about letting Neji go back then.
Because that was Neji's own wish to begin with.
Besides, if the Hyuga clan discovered that Neji no longer had the Caged Bird seal, what would await him? Tenten could easily imagine.
However.
Abandoning one's companions, abandoning the bonds between us!
Neji, is what you said really worth it!
Hey everyone,
I need to tell you what's actually happening.
I just got hit with mass cancellations. On top of being buried in academics until the 9th. I'm in deep financial trouble right now—like, genuinely don't-know-how-I-cover-next-month trouble.
I want to do more for you. I have another Naruto fic ready to drop the moment this academic hell ends. But I can't keep creating if I can't survive.
I'm not powerless about the work—I know I can deliver for you. But I'm powerless to stop the bleeding alone.
If you've ever thought about supporting, this is the moment. Not "someday." Now.
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