Shinji watched as the Cloud ninjas gathered around to retrieve and arrange the bodies. He waited patiently until they had neatly laid them side by side before finally revealing a sinister grin.
"Blood Manipulation Art: Blood Crystal Explosion!"
Instantly, the blood he had secretly hidden within the corpses crystallized sharply and detonated violently!
Countless jagged shards of blood burst through the bodies, instantly turning the closest few men into human sieves.
"The bodies are traps! The enemy is nearby!"
Troy yelled at the top of his lungs, frantically pulling a comrade back while trying to warn the others.
But it was already too late. As they had been standing closely together mourning their fallen teammates, they had absolutely no time to dodge. They could only use the bodies of those in front as shields.
When the storm of blood shards finally subsided, only half of the eight men were still alive.
Four had been standing at the very front. Three of them were riddled with holes and died instantly.
The fourth was luckier—the shards had missed all his vital organs—but his body was still covered in countless wounds. Without immediate medical treatment, he would surely bleed out in no time.
And most critically, the blood Shinji had just used came from within "The Thirsting Stomach", which meant it was highly toxic!
Gasping weakly, the severely injured man tried to speak, but the poison had already spread too deeply. He died silently before he could utter a single word.
Of the remaining four, Troy had managed to shield one man using his massive square shuriken. The other two were both injured to varying degrees.
He actually could have saved one more person, but he had deliberately held back some of his strength in order to protect the unconscious young woman—the main objective of their mission.
Seeing the agonizing way his comrades had died, Troy shouted urgently, "The attack was poisoned! Take antidote pills immediately!"
In just those few seconds of delay, the faces of the two injured men had already turned a sickly shade of bluish-black.
Gritting their teeth through the pain, they managed to pull out antidote pills and swallow them quickly...
One of them showed slight improvement. Although the antidote wasn't specifically formulated to counter this particular poison, it was still effective enough to slow the spread, buying him precious time.
However, the other man suddenly collapsed heavily to the ground with a dull thud.
Upon closer look, it seemed the poison had acted so fast that he was dead before the pill even reached his stomach or took effect.
"Dammit! Stay sharp everyone! The enemy has barely even started fighting yet!"
Before Troy could finish speaking, a glowing 'crimson moon' suddenly flew out from behind a nearby tree, heading straight for him.
"So you finally decide to show yourselves, huh?"
Holding two enormous square shuriken, Troy precisely deflected the incoming Bloody Scythe. However, the immense force behind the blow made his expression shift slightly in shock.
The scythe was attached to a long chain. As the weapon was knocked away, Hidan stepped out from the shadows and yanked hard on the chain, smoothly retrieving his weapon.
At the same moment, Tobi materialized out of thin air right beside the unconscious girl from the Land of Beasts. He was just about to use Kamui to suck her into his dimension when...
The Cloud ninja Troy had just saved earlier immediately drew his long blade and charged forward.
"Cloud Style: Flying Blade Slash!"
Dazzling lightning crackled along the length of his blade as he closed the distance in the blink of an eye, swinging his weapon down with terrifying speed!
In terms of speed, strength, and explosive power, this single strike was absolutely perfect.
Under the immense pressure of the situation, he hadn't just performed well; he had surpassed his own limits, reaching a level he never knew he could achieve. He honestly doubted he could ever replicate this exact strike if he tried again.
"Got him!"
Seeing that his opponent hadn't even seemed to react, he knew victory was his.
Swish!
The lightning-wreathed blade seemed to slice effortlessly through the air... and straight through the man's neck.
But as soon as the blow landed, doubts began to creep into his mind.
"Wait... did my sword become that fast? I didn't feel any resistance at all. It felt exactly like cutting through thin air."
"And why is the sound of the lightning so deafening? Did I pour too much chakra into the blade and damage it somehow?"
"Huh? Why is lightning coming out from inside his body?"
Pfft!
Still full of confusion, the Cloud ninja's eyes suddenly widened in utter disbelief. He watched as a hand crackling with intense lightning pierced straight through the masked man's body and then drove right through his own abdomen from the inside out!
Agony unlike anything he had ever known flooded his senses wave after wave, and his vision rapidly began to blur.
"What is this...?"
Thump.
Before he could finish his sentence, the hand was abruptly pulled back. He vomited a mouthful of blood and toppled backward.
"Waaaaah! You were trying to kill me too just now, weren't you?! You definitely were! Admit it!"
As the Cloud ninja fell dead, Tobi first glanced down at the corpse, then jumped to the side in exaggerated terror. He frantically patted his own body all over, checking everywhere.
Only after confirming that Sasuke's Chidori hadn't actually left a hole in him did he run over and pretend to grab Sasuke by the neck, shaking him furiously.
"How could I? I just trusted that Senior Tobi would definitely be able to dodge in time."
Sasuke replied with a blank face, his voice completely flat and lacking any trace of sincerity as he tried to explain himself.
Anyone with eyes could see that the attack just now looked exactly like he was trying to skewer both the enemy and Tobi on the same bolt of lightning!
But it had to be said... this kind of confusing coordination was incredibly effective.
Using Tobi's body as a shield and launching an attack right through him was brilliant. Against enemies who didn't understand Tobi's unique abilities, this trick was basically a guaranteed one-hit kill.
Just like what happened just now—the enemy died completely confused, never understanding what actually happened.
"Sadai!"
Troy's face had turned extremely grim. Everything was happening way too fast. Before he could even react or step in, Sadai had charged forward, only to be killed instantly in such a bizarre manner.
From his vantage point, he had seen clearly—the boy had used Lightning Release to pierce straight through the masked man's body before killing Sadai.
Yet, after the attack, the masked man was completely unharmed and moving around like nothing happened!
Not only that, but earlier Sadai's ultimate technique should have definitely cut him clean in half, yet the man was still alive and kicking...
Troy already had a rough guess regarding the nature of Tobi's abilities, though he couldn't be certain yet.
The situation before him was undoubtedly catastrophic. Out of the elite squad he had brought along, only he and Turui remained.
And Turui was heavily injured and poisoned, meaning he would be of very little help in the coming fight.
Furthermore, only two enemies and a child had revealed themselves so far.
That meant there was still at least one more enemy hiding unseen in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
At this point, Troy had completely given up hope of successfully bringing the target back to the village. All he was thinking about now was finding a way to survive this and escape with his life.
"Magnet Release: Wasp Twin Blades!"
He fiercely hurled the two massive square shuriken in his hands, aiming directly at Tobi and Sasuke.
Simultaneously, he half-unrolled a scroll attached to his waist and clamped it firmly between his teeth.
Then, without hesitation, he charged straight toward Hidan, who looked somewhat surprised by this sudden move.
"Do I look like an easy target to bully?!"
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