Naruto: The Shadow Lord of the Nara Clan

Heroic water can stimulate excessive activation of biological cells.

While it allows users to unleash dozens of times more chakra in a short period of time, the physical exertion is also considerable.

Already exhausted, Ah Da's mind became hazy and confused due to lack of oxygen after his breathing was choked by the shadowy hand.

Not to mention that [Kasaka's Venomous Fang] inflicted the [Bleeding] debuff on Ada, causing his stamina to deplete even faster.

The excess chakra caused him to lose his rationality and composure. In an attempt to get rid of his physical discomfort, he began to wildly punch and stomp his feet at the air as if he had gone mad.

Between punches and kicks, the ninjutsu of the Takigakure style was attached to it, turning Ada into a humanoid destruction machine.

Everything around him was severely damaged.

Lu Ying jumped back repeatedly, calmly watching from a safe distance as Ah Da, covered in blood, performed all sorts of crazy acts.

And from time to time, he used the Shadow Stitching Technique to push Ah Da into an even deeper abyss of death.

Finally, Ah Da, who could have held on for half a minute, rolled his eyes back and stopped breathing heavily after only a dozen seconds, collapsing to the ground with a thud.

After confirming that Ah Da's life force had completely disappeared, Lu Ying came to his side, and the shadow extended from his feet, quietly creeping under the corpse.

Like a bottomless black pool, it swallowed the last soul of the dead.

[Extracting shadows...]

【…】

Extraction successful

With her eyes half-closed, Lu Ying did not allow Ah Da's shadow to appear.

Instead, the moment the extraction was successful, it replaced the weakest shadow soldier and entered the legion space.

After briefly scanning the attributes of the new shadow soldier, Lu Ying's eyes flickered, a hint of joy in them.

—I didn’t expect that the attributes of the corpse would be preserved after using Hero’s Water.

— Excluding Number Two, the new Shadow Soldiers are definitely among the top three in the current legion.

Although surprised, Lu Ying knew that now was not the time to rest.

So he immediately turned his attention to another battlefield, looking at the shadow soldiers who were besieging the Takigakure ninja.

With her gaze focused on the burly man who was covered in wounds but still stubbornly persisting, Lu Ying took a step forward.

With his front foot touching the ground, he instantly vanished.

When it reappeared, it was already on the battlefield.

……

The shadow soldiers, having received the monarch's orders, tacitly slowed down their attack.

The water flowed like a knife, repelling the enemy in front of him, and Ah Er seized the momentary opening.

He swiftly pulled a small gourd from his pocket, which was the glass container holding the Hero's Water!

However, before he could even drink the dangerous liquid, Ah Er's body froze in place.

A slender, straight hand with distinct bones slowly reached out and easily took the gourd vessel from Ah Er's hands.

The extremely shocked Ah Er had not yet realized what had happened.

Several intense pains came from all parts of my body, followed by a strange, dizzying vision.

Instead of looking back at the headless, burly man who was riddled with thorns by the shadowy blades, Shikakage turned to look at the Takigakure ninja who had collapsed to the ground in terror.

He pinched the small gourd between his index finger and thumb, looking down at Shibuki, who was trembling with his head in his hands:

Do you have this?

At this moment, Shibuki was consumed by fear, his mind filled with the cruel images of Ada being tortured to death, and he couldn't hear what Shika was saying at all.

A shadow soldier came up behind him, grabbed Shibuki's hair forcefully, and forced Shibuki to look at Shikakage.

Staring at the distorted face before him, covered in snot and tears, Lu Ying repeated:

Do you have this?

"No...no..."

His jaw trembled, and tears streamed down his face.

"No...don't kill me!"

"Please...please!"

Lu Ying would certainly not kill She Mu, not because he was suddenly kind-hearted.

Before the mission, Itachi had specifically instructed him not to harm the son of the Takigakure leader.

Perhaps it involves some of the ideas of the third generation, but Lu Ying is too lazy to think about it.

He could spare Shibuki, but he had to make sure Shibuki wasn't carrying the Hero's Water.

So he nodded slightly.

Before Shibuki could even feel happy, he noticed that the group of cold, indistinct "monsters" were surrounding him.

He scrambled and rolled around, crying and screaming, his body covered in filth.

But the shadow soldiers didn't care at all, and together they crudely stripped the wood clean.

After repeated checks, the claim that the wood was involved was finally confirmed.

"Alright, you can go now."

Lu Ying clapped his hands and gave She Mu a very friendly smile.

But to Shibuki, that smile was terrifying.

He was so frightened that he lost consciousness on the spot.

Seeing this, Lu Ying was also taken aback.

Although he knew that Shibuki was timid, he thought he wouldn't be so afraid that he would faint.

"Hmm... fine, you two can stay here."

After casually selecting two shadow soldiers and instructing them to hide within the shadows of the wood, Lu Ying listlessly fiddled with the gourd vessel, silently thinking to himself:

—The mission is complete.

—What should we do now?

……

Root Base Headquarters.

In a prestigious room, Danzo silently gazed at the crystal ball before him, which displayed the figures of the three from Takigakure.

Beside him, Takigakure Village leader Zelin leaned slightly forward, speaking in a tone that was somewhat humble and ingratiating:

"Mr. Danzo, the Hero's Water of our Takigakure Village will not disappoint you."

"To demonstrate my sincerity to the fullest extent, I have specially dispatched two of the most capable Chunin from our village."

"..."

Danzo impatiently interrupted Zelin's rambling, resting his chin on his left hand as he stared at the three Konoha ninjas who had suddenly appeared in the crystal ball:

"I hope so."

Zelin swallowed hard, looking nervously at the crystal ball, his gaze on Shemu extremely complicated.

A few minutes later, Danzo's eyes flickered slightly as he looked at the Konoha ninja who was being relentlessly suppressed by one person, and a slight smile appeared on his lips:

"good."

Two simple words made Zelin so excited he almost jumped for joy.

If this deal goes through, he will be able to change the current situation of Takigakure!

Although it is dishonorable to exchange the village's ancestral treasures for the protection of outsiders, Zelin can no longer care about that for the sake of his descendants' future.

Moreover, without the Earthly Grudge, the Hero's Water could no longer exert its maximum effect.

Instead of stubbornly clinging to a drug with severe side effects, it's better to switch to a more valuable deal.

However, before Zelin could be happy for long, an uninvited guest appeared inside the crystal ball.

Danzo turned his gaze to Nara Shikakage, his eyes dark and unfathomable, as if he were pondering something.

As if noticing his gaze, Nara Shikakage inside the crystal ball stared directly into Danzo's eyes through ninjutsu.

Seeing Nara Shikakage easily wipe out the Takigakure ninja, Zelin was momentarily panicked and at a loss for what to do.

"This...that..."

"Mr. Danzo... please believe me..."

"Alright, stop arguing."

Danzo waved his hand, frowning as he looked at Nara Shikakage, who had surprised him, his thoughts a jumble of emotions.

—The descendants of the Nara clan are so outstanding.

—Sarutobi, just how far do you intend to cultivate your faction?

—Sarutobi, how long do you intend to control Konoha?

Danzo suppressed his anger and slammed his hand heavily on the armrest.

Snapped--!

He gritted his teeth and uttered each word clearly:

"Hiruzen Sarutobi!"