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Ronin's shadow clone tore across the forest floor at blistering speed, but the flying ants' dynamic vision was every bit as sharp. The moment the clone sensed the attack, the lead ant adjusted its trajectory with predatory precision, its killing intent locked onto the clone like a heat-seeking missile.
At the last possible instant the clone's speed exploded. It slipped past the ant's lunge by a hair's breadth. The massive insect slammed headfirst into the earth, gouging a deep furrow through roots and soil.
There was no time to breathe. More flying ants were already diving from above, their wings screaming through the air. Ronin's shadow clone moved like liquid lightning. The three-tomoe Sharingan spun furiously, feeding the clone perfect awareness of every angle, every claw, every descending body. It wove between them with almost lazy grace, a butterfly dancing through a storm of blades.
The ants realized they couldn't catch it. They stopped their dives and hovered instead, then opened their mandibles and spat thick streams of clear liquid. The fluid hit the ground with an angry hiss, white smoke boiling up wherever it landed.
The clone skidded to a halt, hands flashing through seals. Its head snapped upward. A roaring torrent of chakra erupted from its mouth, condensing into a massive, snarling dragon head of fire that lunged straight into the swarm.
Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique.
Searing heat swallowed the ants that couldn't dodge. Even the ones that twisted away caught fire along their carapaces. The transparent venom they had spat was sucked straight into the dragon's jaws. The superheated toxin didn't die—it transformed. White smoke rose from the dragon's mouth and drifted upward. Higher ants that had escaped the initial blast began to blister and rot wherever the toxic vapor touched them.
The clone took one step forward and stopped. Its seals shifted. A massive wave of water exploded from its mouth while a second layer of chakra wrapped around its body in the shape of a shark. The shark form leaped into the surging water and streaked forward beneath the toxic smoke and lingering heat.
Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique. Water Style: Water Shark Bullet.
One technique carved a fast-moving channel. The other let the clone ride safely inside it. The chakra cost was steep, but Ronin's reserves were enormous now. The shadow clone held together without flickering as it blasted through the last of the ants' aerial blockade.
The moment it cleared the swarm, the world changed. The endless forest vanished. In its place rose a steep cliff face riddled with dozens of pitch-black cave entrances. Huge ant heads protruded from many of the holes, mandibles twitching. Strangely, the wide path leading straight into the main cave mouth was completely empty.
The clone leaped from the water and landed near the entrance. A cold, vicious wave of Nen rolled up from the depths and slammed into it like a physical blow. The killing intent was so thick and malevolent it felt like a venomous snake had just pressed its fangs against the clone's throat.
The ground exploded. A thick, muscular tail whipped out of the soil and coiled around the clone's waist with crushing force.
The clone had kept En active the entire time, yet it had never sensed the tail coming. At the instant of impact, however, the Sharingan had seen the movement. Before the tail could fully tighten, the clone completed its seals and substituted itself with a Water Clone. The real body reappeared high in the air while the clone on the ground dissolved into splashing water.
Seals flashed again. Earth Style: Added Weight Rock Technique. The first tail suddenly became encased in heavy stone. Before the clone could press the advantage, a second tail erupted from the ground and stabbed upward at its falling body.
The clone's seals shifted mid-air. The Added Weight Rock Technique inverted into Light Weight Rock Technique. Its descent stopped instantly. The second tail missed by inches and instead smashed into the first tail with a thunderous crack. Stone shattered. A third tail was already rising.
The clone's body exploded into a swirling flock of crows. At the exact same moment a colossal snake head lunged from the main cave mouth and snapped its jaws shut on the space the clone had just occupied. The giant serpent's cold vertical pupils narrowed in confusion. Its lantern-sized eyes swept the area, searching for prey that was no longer there.
Ronin's real body had already landed silently behind the serpent. The instant their eyes met, the Sharingan's genjutsu flared. The snake was still trying to process what had happened when its mind was dragged into an illusion it couldn't escape.
The shadow clone didn't waste time on the trapped serpent. Its chakra reserves were burning low. It needed to reach the cave and see what was really inside.
A cold voice cut through the air.
"Stop."
The clone's foot froze mid-step. It turned its head and found itself staring up at an ant nearly twice the size of a human. The creature loomed over it, looking down with an unsettling calm.
"This is not a place you should be."
The ant never opened its mouth. The voice simply appeared inside the clone's mind.
The clone's pupils contracted. Ant King? Queen? Its gaze flicked to the creature's abdomen. A noticeable bulge swelled there, as if something was growing inside.
Even more surprising was the total absence of Ten. The ant's life energy radiated outward naturally, like an ordinary person who had never trained a day in their life.
"You're not afraid I'll just kill you?" the clone asked, probing.
At the same time it pushed En as deep into the cave as it could reach.
The giant ant slowly shook its head.
"You can't kill me. If you don't believe it… try."