The shinobi could endure it no longer.
With furious roars, they launched another wave of attacks—but every ninjutsu was effortlessly swallowed by Graywhite with a mere lift of his hand.
Below, the shinobi cried out in despair.
"Again?! Just like Wangcai! Is there no way out for us?!"
Karin paid them no mind. If anything, she found them noisy.
But when Graywhite completely ignored her and casually "ate" a second shinobi, her small face finally turned ice-cold.
"Hey!"
Her voice rose sharply, filled with unquestionable declaration.
"I don't care what your goal is. But first—Wangcai is mine!"
That was her "pet." No one else could touch it—not even this dangerous-looking "diner."
Graywhite finally shifted a fraction of his attention toward her. Beneath the hood, shadows stirred as though examining her.
"You are… unusual," he said flatly. "You carry the scent of 'outside.' But that is not a reason for you to be… insolent before me."
"Insolent?" Karin's lips curled into a dangerous arc, her eyes flashing coldly.
"No one raises their voice at me like that."
"And you? You're no different from that dog Wangcai—just another stray here to snatch chakra."
"You call me a dog?!"
For the first time, emotion surged in Graywhite's voice.
His cloak billowed without wind. A far more violent and oppressive aura spread outward, locking onto Karin.
The air between them seemed to empty in an instant. Invisible force fields collided and compressed, producing a harsh, grinding hiss.
The tension was explosive.
Below, the shinobi—who had already begun to collapse into despair—suddenly felt hope ignite.
They were going to fight.
Yes!
Let the two monsters clash!
Even if they couldn't reap the benefit, perhaps they could escape in the chaos—or survive long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
They held their breath, praying the conflict would erupt.
But just as their auras were about to detonate—
Bzzzz—
Another strange spatial ripple spread through the sky above the basin, not far from Graywhite.
Instantly, every gaze shifted upward.
The ripple expanded, stabilized—
And before hundreds of horrified eyes, a colossal crab materialized in midair.
Its body rivaled a small hill in size. Its shell bore intertwined patterns of dark gold and deep blue, gleaming with a cold metallic luster and radiating vast, crushing pressure.
Its massive claws—like titanic excavation blades—hung naturally at its sides. With the slightest movement, they seemed capable of cleaving mountains.
Its compound eyes glimmered with inorganic coldness, silently overlooking everything below like a deity gazing upon ants.
"A… a crab?!"
"That big?!"
"A Summoning? I've never heard of such a creature!"
"Friend or foe?!"
The shinobi were stunned beyond thought. The succession of shocks had already overloaded their minds.
Karin blinked up at the enormous shell that blocked out the sky. She licked her lips subconsciously, a glint of culinary instinct flashing in her eyes.
"That big… a crab? How would you even eat that? Steam it? Braise it? The crab roe must be incredible…"
She completely ignored the creature's terrifying entrance and oppressive aura. Her thoughts jumped straight to cooking.
What no one noticed was that Graywhite—who moments ago had radiated murderous fury—had gone rigid the instant the giant crab appeared.
Then his cloaked form began trembling uncontrollably.
Not from rage.
From fear.
From beneath the cloak, his aura shrank violently—tinged with unmistakable panic.
He was afraid.
Terrified of the colossal crab.
The mysterious beast's appearance didn't just interrupt the confrontation—it instantly overturned the psychological dominance of the apex "predator" on the field.
"The Divine River Crab…?"
"How is that possible?! Such an existence… how could it appear in a place like this?!"
Graywhite's scream—filled with terror, nearly on the verge of collapse—shattered his prior cold arrogance.
The shinobi below were dumbfounded.
This being who had just devoured lives like a god of death—
Was now shaking like prey.
"River crab is just river crab. Why add 'Divine Beast'? Is it that impressive?" Karin tilted her head, amused by the contrast.
She didn't grasp the meaning of "Divine Beast." But if it could frighten someone who ate people so casually, it was clearly extraordinary.
Graywhite had no time to explain.
Survival instinct overwhelmed everything.
Without sparing Karin or the "ingredients" below another glance, he erupted with a strange light mixed with spatial distortion.
He turned and tore open space itself to flee.
So fast he left only an afterimage—
And vanished from everyone's perception.
"He ran?!" The shinobi felt both relief and unease.
But their concern was unnecessary.
The colossal crab—revered as the Divine River Crab—casually extended one dark-gold claw, as if swatting away a fly.
The movement seemed slow.
Yet it transcended space and time.
It did not pursue.
It simply made a light clamping motion toward the patch of empty space where Graywhite had disappeared.
Crunch.
A soft, crisp sound—like cracking a walnut.
The next moment—
To everyone's scalp-numbing horror—
Ōtsutsuki Graywhite, who should have already escaped through a space-time passage far beyond this place—
Reappeared.
Exactly where he had vanished.
Clamped cleanly at the waist within the titanic claw.
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