Connected together, the lightning chains began to change after Shen uttered, "Too late."
A figure burst from the firestorm while a pair of hands extended upward from underground, vanishing beneath the surface.
The lightning chains quickly surged toward the nearest intruder.
"Zzzt!" The man whose retreat was too slow was sliced diagonally in half in an instant.
The scent of grilled meat still lingered in the air.
"Hong!"
"Peng!"
Eighteen invaders, having completed their hand seals, immediately launched various ninjutsu at the ground where the lightning chains had extended.
After a cloud of smoke and dust settled, the lightning chains still stood firm—shining even brighter than before.
Shen, hiding far away, sent a message to his Shadow Clone underground before swiftly drawing his Chakra Channeling Blade with his right hand from his waist.
An invisible but mighty blade aura swept horizontally across toward the eighteen intruders.
As the blade aura passed over the last invader who had leaped midair, a powerful gust of wind blew them even higher.
After releasing Wind Release, Shen erupted forward with Fire Chakra blazing from both feet, leaving a large crater in the earth as he soared high into the night sky.
Underground, the Shadow Clone began moving rapidly, lifting the lightning chains upright along with him.
It was only now that the terrified eighteen intruders finally understood his true intent.
[Lightning Transmission] By using the Shadow Clones to simultaneously release Lightning Cutters, forming linked lightning chains, the attack wasn't limited to horizontal slicing.
[Pseudo Lightning Cutter] Though Pseudo Lightning Cutter could not yet be called a true Lightning Cutter, the difference remained only in thickness.
"Fear this, scum!" Instantly locking onto the eighteen figures with his Sharingan, Shen appeared before the first doomed opponent.
Through the enemy's contracting pupils, a dark figure loomed ever larger—until all they could see were his triple-tomoe Sharingan eyes.
"Zzzt!"
Having eliminated one target, Shen flew past the second and headed for the third.
"Darn it!" As the second intruder gathered chakra, a lightning chain suddenly struck from behind, slicing him vertically in half.
The Shadow Clone hidden underground hadn't been idle either.
Faced with Shen's incredible analytical skills and his ability to communicate with his clones, this Lightning Transmission technique seemed custom-made for him.
Under the darkened sky, the constantly shifting lightning chains methodically cut down each invader who had sneaked into Konoha.
Perhaps even Death doesn't always reap souls in silence.
Certainly, the towering vertical lightning chain emitting intense white light against the night sky was extremely conspicuous.
Standing rooted in place, Nayou observed everything through her Byakugan.
"Phew." Only after the final enemy's head had been severed did she exhale in relief.
[Fire Release] The close-range fire release scattering countless flame petals, and [Lightning Transmission] the highly penetrating lightning release possessing strong cutting power—Nayou analyzed these two ninjutsu techniques she'd never seen before.
[Wind Chakra Mode] One used Wind Chakra Mode combined with the Great Fireball to perform saturation attacks on nearby enemies.
One used the Pseudo Lightning Cutter in combination with a Shadow Clone, linking them together. By shifting their apex points, he cut through the enemy from an unexpected angle.
"Both are S-rank ninja techniques," Nayou made her evaluation.
She also believed that across the entire shinobi world, perhaps only Shen Uchiha could fully unleash the power of these two techniques.
"Every time I try to catch up with you, you keep running even farther ahead." Looking somewhat sorrowful, Nayou quietly contemplated something.
After two or three minutes, it seemed as if she had made a difficult decision. Slowly stepping forward, she began following the distant black figure.
After eliminating all twenty-seven intruders, Shen examined the corpses scattered on the ground — none were left intact.
"Kumogakure, Takigakure, Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and some unidentified individuals," he judged by looking at their clothing and recalling the ninjutsu they had used earlier.
"You can take a break now." Sensing Nayou's arrival, Shen sat down to begin regenerating his chakra.
The previous two techniques had already consumed most of his chakra reserves.
Arriving at the scene, Nayou involuntarily gulped when she saw the scattered body parts and the land full of deep craters and smooth cuts.
Although she had already known through her Byakugan that the situation here wouldn't be good, witnessing such a brutal scene in person still caused her unease.
"Here already?" Without even opening his eyes, Shen, sitting on the ground, already knew his friend had arrived.
"S-Shen..." Nayou opened her mouth a few times, but no words came out.
Just as she summoned her courage to speak, Shen suddenly stood up.
"Let's talk after the mission is done. I'm leaving this place to you; I need to head to the next location."
Watching the figure vanish in a flash, Nayou instinctively reached out, as if trying to hold him back.
Unfortunately, all she grasped was just the lingering white lightning that hadn't yet dissipated.
"He isn't Shen... He isn't..." Nayou lowered her head, staring blankly at her empty palm.
The Shen she used to know — the always cheerful Shen Uchiha — had probably already disappeared from this world.
At the entrance of the Uzumaki clan compound, Shūya and a group of Uzumaki clan members each held a bulky black device.
They were matte-black and blocky — plain, boxy, and anything but elegant.
"Everyone, get ready! Full power output!" After giving the order, Shūya started injecting chakra into the device.
The originally dark exterior lit up with a red dot at its center.
Under the night sky, numerous bright red dots quickly lit up the area.
"Beep!"
Upon hearing the prompt sound, Shūya immediately stopped channeling chakra. The total time hadn't even reached ten seconds.
"These things are test items. Don't go overboard and accidentally break them!" After one final warning, he suddenly looked toward a certain direction ahead.
In a dark area about three hundred meters away, more than thirty intruders showed no trace of fear toward the formation before them.
"Plan is to abduct, so we shouldn't get into a prolonged fight!"
"Roger!"
Just as they were about to launch an attack, suddenly a light blue beam shot toward them.
[Earth Style Mud Wall!]
Several intruders from Iwagakure instantly raised five earthen walls for defense.
The light blue beam struck them directly, sending up a massive cloud of dust.
Visibility wasn't much of a concern in the dead of night anyway.
"Whoosh!" A second light blue beam once again hit those earth walls.
Only then did the intruders realize their opponents weren't using Ninjutsu—it was an attack method that compressed chakra (a form of energy used by ninja) into physical form for long-range attacks.
But Shūya wasn't planning to let them off easily.
"Everyone, aim and fire!"
Dozens of pale blue beams instantly shattered the intruders' trusted earthen walls into dust.
"Recharge! And stay alert for enemy sneak attacks!"
The scattered intruders charged straight into the midst of Uzumaki clan members.
The conspicuous little red dots in the night saved them the trouble of searching—they immediately engaged in close combat.
Shūya's expression remained calm and fearless. "Fire!"
The moment he pulled the trigger, a much thinner beam than before cleanly severed the arm of the leading intruder.
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