Why is my anime art style so weird?

So Xu Ming decisively raised his phone, aimed it at Yakushi Kabuto's 'corpse', and pressed the shutter button.

Sure enough, he vaguely heard a scream, and then the 'Water Essence' appeared not far from Kabuto's 'corpse'.

Xu Ming was then certain that Kabuto Yakushi had indeed been completely killed.

A while later, the group arrived, but they were clearly late.

Xu Ming took care of Yakushi Kabuto all by himself.

Afterwards, Xu Ming returned to the underground prison on the next level, brought back all the fragments, and placed them into the eye of the water array.

Soon after, accompanied by Kato Megumi's graceful Kagura dance, the azure light cluster once again shone with dazzling brilliance.

A beam of light, light blue, shot into the sky, illuminating the other two beams of light, one golden and one yellow.

Boom!

However, at that moment, Xu Ming suddenly felt a strong palpitation, as if something terrible had happened.

Roar!

At the same time, deep within the cave beneath the Fire Shadow Rock, two golden lights suddenly shone—a pair of eyes filled with destructive desire.

Immediately afterwards, a deafening shriek came from the depths of the cave.

This shriek seemed to announce to the world that a terrifying, ferocious god had fully awakened.

boom!

The nine-tailed fox, who had just awakened, stood up, took two steps back, and then suddenly exerted force with all four limbs, slamming its head down into the iron cage.

The entire cave suddenly shook violently, and the tremors quickly spread to the outside world. The entire Fire Shadow Rock shook violently, and a large amount of dust and gravel fell from the top of the cave like raindrops.

The tremor even spread throughout Konoha, and Xu Ming and Kato Megumi, who were deep underground, felt a slight tremor.

The person, whose body was wrapped in bandages, hid in the shadows, watching the nine-tailed fox repeatedly ram into the iron cage.

Feeling the shock brought by this terrifying monster, the bandaged man muttered to himself:

"The Nine-Tails has finally awakened. Now we can proceed with the next step of the plan..."

Those with keen senses immediately noticed an unusual change upon the awakening of the nine-tailed fox.

"This is……?"

Xu Ming looked at the wisps of fiery red mist that were faintly appearing in the air with some surprise, as if the surroundings were on fire.

"This is the demonic aura of the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Kato Megumi's expression was more solemn than ever before.

"Could it be!?"

Xu Ming was startled, and he couldn't help but recall the strange feeling he had experienced earlier.

"Are we really okay to be surrounded by the Nine-Tailed Fox's demonic aura like this?"

Xu Ming's face showed a hint of worry. He hadn't forgotten what Kato Megumi had said before: because of the Nine-Tails' demonic energy leak, the entire Hidden Leaf Village was killed overnight, comparable to a terrifying biological weapon.

"It's alright. With proper protection, this concentration of demonic energy won't cause us any harm."

Most of those killed by the Nine-Tailed Fox's aura were ordinary people. The elite ninjas either died from the backlash of a failed ritual or perished in the subsequent battle to seal the Nine-Tailed Fox.

After Kato Megumi's explanation, Xu Ming immediately felt much more at ease.

However, he still asked with some concern:

"Won't the fact that the nine-tailed fox was awakened so early affect the reinforcement of the array's core later on?"

Kato Megumi shook her head.

There will definitely be some impact, but it's not a big deal.

If the nine-tailed fox awakens before the three key points of the formation are reinforced, it is very likely that it will break free from the formation's constraints.

However, the triangle represents stability, and now that the magic circle is completely stable, the Nine-Tailed Fox will definitely not be able to break free of its restraints in the short term.

"In a short time? How much time do we have left?"

Xu Ming immediately grasped the key point in Kato Megumi's words.

"Within twelve hours, we must reinforce the remaining wood and fire element array points, otherwise the Nine-Tailed Fox will break through the seal."

Kato Megumi said with an extremely serious expression.

"I understand. Let's set off now."

Knowing that time was limited, Xu Ming didn't want to waste a single moment.

Kato Megumi smiled faintly.

"No need to rush, let's go back to the Hokage Building first."

"If we can get their help, it will greatly reduce the difficulty of reinforcing the array's core."

"Yes, you're right."

After a moment's thought, Xu Ming immediately realized that Kato Megumi was right.

Their previous intelligence indicated that in the Forest of Death, the snake demon clan was simultaneously at war with the toad clan and the ape clan.

Even if they are strong, it would be extremely dangerous for them to charge into the battlefield alone. It would be better to get help from Jiraiya and others.

So the two left the Ninja Security Department and headed towards the Hokage Building.

After walking for a while, Xu Ming looked up at the sky, a hint of doubt on his face, and couldn't help but mutter something to himself.

"Strange, why is it still night?"

They entered the ruins of Konoha Village at midnight, and have now reinforced three of the array's key points, in addition to all the things that happened along the way.

Logically speaking, after such a long time, it should be early morning, and the sun should have already risen.

The phone also showed the current time—8:00 AM.

However, Xu Ming discovered that the blood-red moon still hung in the sky, and the entire Hidden Leaf Village was still shrouded in darkness.

Upon hearing Xu Ming's words, Kato Megumi, who was walking beside him, turned to look at him.

"This is normal, because we have entered the Nine-Tailed Fox's otherworld. Otherworlds constructed by such powerful demons can already affect reality."

Konoha Village is always shrouded in darkness unless we leave through the entrance.

"I see."

Xu Ming nodded thoughtfully.

A world of eternal night.

That's really quite strange.

Chapter 449 Old Friend (Bonus Chapter)

The fact that Konoha Village is perpetually shrouded in darkness has both advantages and disadvantages.

The downside is that the Nine-Tailed Fox and other 'weird' creatures can always maintain their strongest fighting power.

The advantage is that Xu Ming's shikigami are the same.

Of course, if given the choice, Xu Ming would naturally prefer to fight in the sunlight.

After all, humans yearn for light.

Xu Ming quickly gave up his hesitation; the most important thing now was to reinforce the seal.

Perhaps because the main body has awakened, the nine-tailed fox clone that was patrolling the streets has disappeared.

Xu Ming and Kato Megumi returned to the Hokage Building with ease.

This time, no one held the bitter flesh to their necks.

"Hey, young man, young woman, you're back. We've kept you waiting."

The strange, Noh-like tone of voice—it was undoubtedly Jiraiya.

Jiraiya, who was lying on the roof beam, immediately jumped down and landed in front of the two.

Kato Megumi bowed slightly.

"Mr. Jiraiya, we have completed the reinforcement of the Water Array Eye."

Jiraiya said with a chuckle:

"Ah, I saw it from a long way off. You two are really efficient."

However, his expression quickly turned serious.

You two must have already realized it, right? The Nine-Tails has fully awakened.

Kato Megumi nodded slightly.

"That's exactly why we came here. We've already reinforced three key points, which should hold for about twelve hours."

Therefore, I hope that Mr. Jiraiya can send someone to help us reinforce the other two key points of the formation.

Our time is running out.

With a loud "smack!", Jiraiya clenched his fist and said in a very hearty manner:

“We are allies fighting against the Nine-Tailed Fox, so assisting the two of you is no problem at all.”

Given the urgency of the situation, Kato Megumi and he quickly reached a consensus.

Before long, a large group of monkey demons and toad spirits dressed in samurai armor gathered in front of the Hokage Building and marched towards the Forest of Death.

The total number of the allied forces exceeded two hundred, and from a distance, they appeared as a vast and imposing force, like a village brawl.

Xu Ming and Kato Megumi mingled in this group.

Jiraiya was also with them.

As for Minato Namikaze and Kakashi Hatake, the master and apprentice pair, they were left behind to guard the empty Hokage Building.

An hour later, the mighty "army" arrived at the edge of the village. Further ahead lay the legendary and infamous Training Ground No. 44—the Forest of Death.

Looking into the distance, a vast expanse of lush, verdant forest stretched out before us. Even at the outermost edge, no tree was less than three meters tall, and their dense growth obscured the depths.

However, this forest did not give people a sense of prosperity; instead, a gloomy and lifeless atmosphere pervaded the air, making people feel afraid when they looked at it.