6:06 PM on July 2nd.
Dust and grime descend from a vortex of time and space in the dense forests of Konoha.
At the end of the line of sight stood a large pavilion. Madara recognized it at a glance; it was the very place where Naruto and Shin fought in the genjutsu that Chen had demonstrated last night.
Dust had already scouted the area and marked its spatial coordinates, but it was still some distance from the battleground.
Ban asked, "Why don't we just go straight there?"
Chen said, "As a witness, we should take some measures first."
As he spoke, his left eye turned toward the spot, flashing with a vermilion light.
—Boyasu!
"Whoosh!" Madara's entire body was enveloped in a layer of gray aura.
"Is this... a kind of escape ability like the Second Tsuchikage, Mujin Misai?"
"Not entirely the same, right? Dustless Envelopment can evade the senses and chakra perception, but it can still be detected by physical means. The 'Boruyasu' technique, on the other hand, is immune to all forms of perception, including physical perception, chakra perception, and sage technique perception! This is because what this technique eliminates is the'sense of existence' itself!"
After saying that, Chen also put on Boeryexu.
It's worth mentioning that the Omota Ryu in the right eye and the Boruyasu in the left eye are the original eye techniques of the Dust Mangekyou Sharingan.
It was with these two abilities that Chen was able to deceive everyone in his early years, moving among the key battlefields that could determine the future of the ninja world, making many unseen preemptive arrangements without being noticed by anyone.
Madara said, "Such a convenient technique? It must have weaknesses!"
Chen said, "Yes, this is a technique that can only be used by a 'witness' to be invincible. The weakness is that the user must restrain themselves and not show any killing intent to the outside world, otherwise the effect of the invisibility will be immediately canceled."
Madara lowered his eyes. "I see. If you can't show killing intent, then the effectiveness of using it in battle will be greatly reduced."
Chen smiled slightly, "Actually, if you control your killing intent well, you can still use the Silent Step Blade Technique. However, for a strong person like you, even if the opponent silently intrudes behind you, you should be able to counterattack instantly, right?"
Ban couldn't help but recall that filthy black figure.
Why bring up something you shouldn't talk about...?
However, he wasn't really angry with Chen, firstly because Chen hadn't mentioned Hei Jue at all.
Secondly, if he's really angry, he's angry at his past self.
"Chen, let me make this clear first: if we come up empty-handed, you know what the consequences will be, right? I, Ban, don't tolerate any nonsense."
Chen met Ban's gaze and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Don't worry, unless absolutely necessary, I never do anything without certainty. So far, there hasn't been such a 'last resort'."
Ha... Does that mean you have the guts to turn against me?
Instead of being angry upon hearing this, Ban even began to admire his junior from the bottom of his heart.
Because his every word and action is based entirely on the mindset of the strong!
"Whoosh!" The vortex spun, and dust and spots fell on the top of the tree.
In the clearing in the woods in front of the pavilion.
Naruto was sitting on a rock with a girl, while Sasuke leaned against the door of the attic.
"..." Seeing Naruto's retreating figure, Chen Yichen lowered his gaze and said to Madara, "We've arrived just in time."
Madara stared at the scene that perfectly mirrored the illusion, his gaze filled with undisguised shock: "It really is so..."
Chen shifted his gaze from Naruto to the figure of the girl and said to Madara, "That's Sarada, Sasuke's daughter. To save time, I omitted the reason for her presence in the genjutsu. In short, it's because Sasuke is often away from home and neglects his family."
"By chance, she saw a photo of Sasuke with one of his female subordinates from his time as a Hawk, and suspected that her biological mother was someone else. She ran away to find out the truth. She and Sasuke just recognized each other in the attic. She probably couldn't accept that her father didn't recognize her at first. Naruto is comforting her now..."
After listening, Madara said, "I'm not really interested in these trivial family matters. What I'm most concerned about is whether Naruto and Sasuke's strength has truly declined to an unbearable level as depicted in the genjutsu..."
"It's here!" Chen glanced at the black vortex that suddenly appeared on the eaves of the pavilion and looked down at his watch.
6:32 PM.
Ban turned his gaze and saw a bald man wearing a fiery cloud robe and a boy with an onion-shaped head appear from the vortex!
The bald man's exposed head was covered with Sharingan eyes, all of them being the same type of Mangekyou Sharingan with inverted black triangle patterns.
It was Uchiha Shin, and his clone child!
Madara had previewed the contents of the letter and the course of the battle beforehand using genjutsu.
Madara had only one purpose in coming here: to personally confirm the current composition of Naruto and Sasuke!
He secretly hoped for it.
At this moment, I am certain that Chen possesses the ability to foresee the future. However, Naruto and Sasuke, as those who once gave Madara a hard time, I hope you can thoroughly humiliate him!
At least... don't let the ridiculous things you did in that illusion actually happen in front of me, okay?!
Take that clown covered in kaleidoscopes, pin him to the ground and rub him hard, quick!!!
"Whoosh!" After appearing, Uchiha Shin locked his gaze on the two people on the ground, flicked his fiery sleeves, and shot out a large number of shuriken with perforated rings!
"Sizzle!" His eye technique activated!
His ability is 'manipulation of marked objects'! Those shuriken with perforated rings had all been marked by his eye power beforehand, and now, under his precise control, they shot through the air towards where Naruto and Sarada were!
Naruto immediately noticed and turned around with a cold look!
"Clang clang clang!!" The right arm beneath the Hokage's cloak flared out, whipping up a gust of wind that scattered the shuriken's flight paths behind him!
"Heh~ Pretty capable, huh!" As Shin Uchiha's eye power was activated again... the shuriken, whose trajectory had been disrupted, spun back at high speed and shot towards the two of them with an even more unpredictable trajectory!
"Boom!" Naruto released Kurama's chakra to protect Sarada!
The golden fox head suddenly stood still, blocking all the shuriken once again!
At that moment, Sasuke's black cloak fluttered as he leaped into the air to meet Shin Uchiha!
"Heh, how about this!" Meeting on a narrow path, Shin smirked and casually unleashed a barrage of shuriken, which, under the control of his eye technique, dispersed and then converged on Sasuke!
"Clang clang clang!" With his superb swordsmanship and the Sharingan's keen insight, Sasuke knocked all the shuriken away in an instant!
In an instant, Shin pounced on him, and they clashed in close combat. He grabbed Sasuke's thrusting blade with his bare hands, while his clone child followed closely behind, thrusting a large shuriken at him!
A Rinnegan flashed through his bangs... He shifted his position with a Heavenly Hand Force, and with a turn of his head, he unleashed a Great Fireball!
"!?!" Upon seeing this, the Sharingan on the back of Credit's head decisively used its eye power to pull its clone child behind it, using it as a shield to block the exploding flames!
But the flames were so powerful that they pushed his child, slamming him heavily against Shin's back... "Ah!!" Shin screamed, clutching the Kusanagi sword that Sasuke had left in his hand after they swapped positions using Amenotejikara, and slammed it into the ground!
Why emphasize that the Kusanagi sword is in Shin's hands? Because there's something fishy going on!
Before landing, the Kusanagi sword in Shin's hand seemed to slip out of his grasp and fly away. At the same time, Madara, who had noticed something amiss, had a sharp glint in his eyes.
Shin scrambled to his feet, looking somewhat disheveled, and remarked with feigned seriousness, "Is that so? Is this your eye power? Uchiha Sasuke..."
His eyes showed a hint of anxiety.
So far, the course of the battle has been exactly the same as what Chen showed in the illusion...
This shouldn't be happening. What are you all dragging your feet on?
And also, didn't you guys really notice? That guy tampered with the'sword'?
Time is running out! Tell me this isn't real! You're just playing with our opponents, aren't you?!
Chen promptly reminded him, "Control your 'killing intent,' or Bo Er Ye Xu will release it."
"Crack!!" Suddenly... protected by Kurama's chakra, Naruto opened his unsuspecting cross-shaped eyes wide!
Sasuke's Kusanagi sword was sticking out of his abdomen!
Ban and Chen both saw clearly what happened in that instant.
The disheveled state of the credit card being knocked to the ground successfully lowered Naruto and Sasuke's guard. Then, using his eye technique, he manipulated the pre-marked 'Kusanagi Sword' and pierced straight through Naruto!
As the blade pierced Naruto's back, spraying blood and freezing Sasuke and Sarada's expressions of shock—
"Ha." It was Ban's disheartened laugh.
Then... Uchiha Shin's arrogant and provocative words rang out from the ground!
"—How about that? My eye power isn't any worse than yours, is it, Uchiha Sasuke?!"