"Hehe, where do you think you're going?"
Before the remaining three members of the Xuanyuan Group, a black spike heavily pierced the ground. The three men's eyes darkened as they looked at the person in front of them.
The newcomer slowly walked out of the darkness, pulling out the black spike embedded in the ground. He was bare-chested, his face twisted in a maniacal grin.
"Courting death," the leader of the Xuanyuan Group said coldly.
Buzz!
As the newcomer's chakra surged, the explosive parasites within his body swelled. However, to the surprise of the three Xuanyuan Group members, the growth rate of the explosive parasites was too slow.
"Ahahaha! Interesting! Too interesting! So that's how it is!"
Pure, almost frenzied excitement surfaced in the man's eyes. He stretched out an arm, laughing wildly, and unhesitatingly plunged it into his own chest.
Splurt!
"Ah!"
Along with the bloody worm being ripped out alive, one of the remaining three Xuanyuan Group members screamed. The intense pain gushing from his chest caused his body to convulse.
"What's going on?"
Another person's eyes were filled with disbelief. The leader of the Xuanyuan Group looked at the man: "This weapon, and ability... Are you Ryutetsu, the leader of the Jashin Cult?"
His expression immediately turned ugly, as he realized that the Jashin Cult fanatics didn't use ninjutsu at all! Their biggest reliance, the "explosive parasites," were useless against him!
At this moment, Ryutetsu's entire body was covered in eerie black markings. A gaping, horrifying hole had been ripped in his chest by his own hand; even his pale ribs beneath the flesh were clearly visible.
While he didn't possess the immortality of Hidan, who couldn't die even with his head cut off, as the founder of the Jashin Cult, he was capable of using "Jutsu: Curse Technique: Death Controlling Possessing Blood" and possessed a certain degree of self-healing.
"Oh? You know me?"
Ryūtetsu grinned at the three men before him, his scarlet tongue licking the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with undisguised excitement and greed: "Do you also wish to believe in Lord Jashin?"
Saying this, he lowered his head, looked at his bloody chest cavity, and extended a hand smeared with his own flesh and blood, stirring it around inside.
Then, he raised his head, not showing any pain, but instead a more ferocious, more fanatical smile.
"Hahahaha, Lord Jashin tells me! You are only fit to be sacrifices!"
He laughed wildly, stomping the ground fiercely, and shot forward like a cannonball.
Meanwhile, the clash between the Cloud ninjas and the bounty ninjas continued.
No, it wasn't just Cloud ninjas and bounty ninjas.
Even the Leaf ninjas, who had arrived later and were hidden on the rock wall, were discovered. The bounty ninjas and Cloud ninjas stopped their attacks in unison and turned on the Leaf. Clearly, they had no intention of giving the Leaf the opportunity to benefit from their conflict.
"Bounty ninjas, Cloud ninjas, Jashin Cult, and guys whose background can't be seen. The situation here is even more chaotic than previously expected!"
Kakashi Hatake's expression was grave. He warned, "Move out! If you don't have sensory ninjutsu, be careful not to hurt your own people!"
As his voice fell, his figure dashed forward again, and with him, Hyuga Kawa.
Kakashi Hatake, with his Sharingan, and Hyuga Kawa, with his Byakugan, were like reapers in the almost invisible darkness.
Bang! Bang bang!
Accompanied by one piercing shriek after another, figures flew out at a speed visible to the naked eye, all turning into "nourishment" for that giant gate.
Everyone present had a tacit understanding in this regard: with each person killed, they would feed them to that insatiable giant gate.
What the Xuanyuan Group said earlier was correct.
No matter what, only by opening that gate could they obtain what lay behind it. Those lacking strength could only become food for the gate and be eliminated miserably.
Splurt!
Kakuzu, bare-chested, was also in the darkness. His hand, connected by black threads, detached from his wrist and struck out, gripping into one person's chest and forcibly ripping out their heart.
"Heheheh, a good heart..."
His face was largely obscured by his mask and coverings, revealing only his faintly glowing eyes. He let out a low, emotionless chuckle as he looked at the fresh, beating heart.
But soon, as if sensing something, his green eyes looked to his side.
Accompanied by light footsteps, Nagato, enveloped by White Zetsu, emerged from the shadows, his gaze sweeping over Kakuzu's appearance.
"It seems he's the Kakuzu you mentioned," Nagato turned his head to look at the empty space beside him, his tone calm. "I didn't expect such a pleasant surprise..."
Before he could finish speaking, Kakuzu suddenly raised his hand, and the black threads of the Earth Grudge Fear shot out from his hand like venomous snakes seeking to devour.
However, the expected sound of flesh being pierced did not occur.
Nagato did not even turn his head, simply raised his hand.
The tips of those invincible black threads, capable of piercing rock, were precisely blocked by an invisible, intangible barrier barely half a foot from Nagato.
Immediately after, a massive, invisible repulsive force erupted from him as its center!
"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"
Kakuzu's pupils suddenly constricted, and he let out a low roar, not daring to hold back in the slightest! His heart, representing Earth Release, pounded furiously. Powerful Earth Release chakra instantly covered his entire body. His skin instantly became as grey and hard as rock, even shimmering with a metallic luster!
Boom!!
A huge muffled bang exploded in the underground space. The tough black threads he shot out snapped and broke apart, as fragile as decaying wood before that power.
And his hardened body, reinforced by Earth Release, was like being struck head-on by an invisible battering ram. He was violently blasted away without being able to resist at all.
His body flew backward uncontrollably like a kite with a broken string, crashing with a loud rumble against the rock wall dozens of meters behind him!
The surface of the hard rock instantly became covered in a spiderweb of cracks, and碎石 (loose stones) clattered down.
"Cough, cough!"
Kakuzu, deeply embedded in the rock wall, let out a pained grunt. His eerie green eyes stared fixedly at the figure in the distance, an unprecedented solemnity and horror surfacing within them.
What kind of power was that just now?
The others also noticed the commotion on this side, but the battle ended too quickly. No one saw what exactly happened, only realizing that a dangerous individual had intruded.
"Kakuzu."
Nagato lowered his arm, his gaze still indifferent, as if he had merely casually swatted away an annoying fly. His tone was calmly cold: "When this is over, do not leave."
"I will come find you."
As his voice fell, he raised his hand and activated Universal Pull, drawing a distant individual into his hand, then flung him towards the giant gate.
Splurt!
The person's body slammed squarely against the cold door, and the dark blue glow flashed away again, instantly sucking him onto the door as if a giant beast had opened its maw!
The process of flesh melting and bones and skin turning to ash repeated, leaving only a black-red stain on the door.
Seemingly reaching the gate's limit, the blue light shattered and extinguished, replaced by an even deeper rumble.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!!
It was like the heavy breathing of a sleeping giant beast from deep within its throat. The entire underground palace trembled violently, causing rubble to cascade down like a waterfall.
The door, finally, opened completely!
Behind the door was still bottomless, heart-pounding darkness, a material curtain like viscous ink, seemingly capable of devouring light and blocking any prying eyes.
However, this profound darkness and bone-chilling cold did not deter people's steps. Instead, like a spark igniting desire, it ignited the nerves of everyone present!
"Go!"
Yugito Nii, who had seemed utterly drained and exhausted, roared and, without hesitation, propelled herself forward at full speed, passing through the darkness and entering the underground palace.
Kakashi Hatake and Hyuga Kawa followed closely behind, like two arrows from a bow, plunging into it, their figures instantly swallowed by the dense darkness.
"The door's open!"
"Charge in!"
"Quick!"
The surviving bounty ninjas, like sharks smelling blood, had only greed in their eyes. They unleashed their last burst of speed and charged.
"Hahahaha! Lord Jashin's grace is right before us!"
Ryūtetsu charged in a pilgrimage-like manner, the spikes he flung piercing through the person in front of him, bringing forth a rain of blood and piercing screams!
Seeing this, the previously excited crowd immediately dodged, avoiding this madman like the plague, watching helplessly as he plunged headlong into the boundless darkness.
Kakuzu took one last look at Nagato, who remained in place, and seeing no intention of being stopped, his figure also vanished from his sight, entering the darkness.
Accompanying the spiraling pattern that appeared in the air, Obito Uchiha appeared beside Nagato.
"Aren't you going in?" he asked casually. "There should be something you can use in there, right?"
Nagato did not answer him, only looking at the giant door.
Just as the last of the bounty ninjas were about to enter, they were astonished to see a black figure walk out from the darkness of the door...
This guy, he walked out of the darkness of that door?
Splurt!!
The bounty ninja at the very front didn't even have time to react before his head exploded, reflected in the constricted pupils of the others. Red and white blood mixed with bone fragments splattered onto the ground, and the headless body swayed precariously a few times before collapsing.
Thud!
"..."
The expressions of the several bounty ninjas behind him were stunned. Feeling the wetness and warmth of blood on their faces, fear made them stop their forward charge.
At this moment, Hyuga Kawa, now a "Kage," raised his foot. His toes, immersed in the pool of blood, drew a line in front of him.
"Those who cross the line."
His voice carried a hint of a smile as he softly uttered a single word.
"Die."