The Eighth Ninjutsu

Jin's actions startled the three of them.

They watched as he fell.

The swarming insects on the ground buried him.

It was practically suicide.

"All the better. I'll knock him out and take him away," the black-haired man said coldly.

The sea of insects below was under his control, so naturally, he could regulate their strength and ensure they only knocked someone unconscious.

Though he did not understand why this Uchiha had chosen to do this,

the outcome had already been decided.

There would be no mistakes this time.

"Don't let him pass out so easily. Make him suffer a little," the female ninja said through gritted teeth. This was the first time anyone had called her ugly. How could she let him off so easily?

"Root ninjas must erase their emotions," the man with orange-blond hair coldly rejected her suggestion.

Within Root, it was not only positive emotions that had to be erased. Negative emotions were the same.

In Shimura Danzō's view, ninjas without any emotions were good ninjas—and the most useful tools.

He used all kinds of methods to erase the emotions of these ninjas, but some people simply could not be changed so easily.

Hearing the orange-haired man, the female ninja could only obey.

"Understood."

She was not the captain. Root operations required strict obedience to superior orders.

Otherwise...

Thinking of Root's punishments, she shuddered.

Though she knew Root's punishments were severe,

she was completely unconvinced in her heart.

She had not joined Root to become some puppet. She had joined to indulge her desire to kill.

After becoming a Root member, she had regretted it.

Unfortunately, once she had entered, there was no getting out.

"Ming, bring him up," the orange-haired man called.

But no one answered him.

He and the woman looked at the Aburame Clan man called Ming.

Ming had clasped his hands together, and his body was trembling faintly. If his mask were removed, they would see that his face was drenched in cold sweat.

Something was wrong.

Only after a long while did the two hear him speak.

"My insects... are dying!"

He could feel the Kikaichū under his control dying in large numbers, yet he could not stop it.

"What!?"

The two looked down at the same time.

Within the sea of insects below, red currents of energy flowed through the swarm.

At first, they were inconspicuous, nothing more than faint threads of dim light.

But as time passed,

the red glow grew brighter and more noticeable.

At the same time, large numbers of insects gradually shriveled up and fell.

It was as though their flesh and blood had been drained away.

Before long, a mountain of insect corpses had formed on the ground.

Then,

a hand stretched out from the top of the mound of dead insects. Red Chakra flowed from it as the hand slowly curled into a fist.

Then, surging red Chakra erupted.

Boom!

A violent wind rose, making the three of their clothes flap loudly.

Its power was obvious.

Large masses of shriveled insect corpses were blown away by the gale.

Revealing the figure inside.

Jin stood amid the sea of insects, his clothes completely devoured by the bugs.

Red Chakra, almost tangible, swirled around his body. Even the pupils of his eyes had vanished.

Eight Gates Formation! Modified: Six Paths Immortal Thief!

Jin raised his head and looked at the three of them.

His pupil-less eyes were nothing but a pale expanse.

Like a malicious ghost crawling out of hell.

"What kind of jutsu is this!?"

Ming's voice was dry. This level of Chakra was simply too astonishing.

It was practically like a Jinchūriki.

Though they did not know who the village's Jinchūriki was, it was definitely not the person before them.

The next moment,

"What are you looking at?"

Jin's voice slowly came from behind the three of them.

Their pupils contracted as they swiftly turned around, retreating explosively onto another tree and looking toward where they had just been standing.

Jin was actually standing in midair, his feet repeatedly stepping on the air.

Six Styles—Geppo.

All three felt an eerie sensation, as if their vision had been sliced apart. They had clearly been staring at Jin below the entire time, yet they had been unable to see how he had moved behind them.

It was as though there were two people.

That speed...!

"You—"

The woman wanted to say something more.

The next moment,

her figure vanished from where she stood. In the distance, Jin had one hand pressed against her face, pinning her entire body against a tree.

It was as if a section in the middle of a recording had been cut out.

An intense sense of discontinuity.

Boom!!

Only then did the sound arrive. The trunk was smashed into a massive crater by the tremendous force, and unable to support the tree, it slowly toppled toward the ground.

As the woman's mask shattered, it revealed her delicate face. Her eyes rolled back, and she had already fainted.

That blow was not so easy to endure.

"Retreat!!" The orange-haired man immediately gave the order.

He intended to abandon the woman and retreat at once. The strength their opponent had displayed was completely impossible to confront unless they dispatched an Elite Jonin.

But the next moment...

The two stopped moving, not daring to make even the slightest motion. Cold sweat streamed down their faces beneath their masks.

Jin appeared between them, one arm hooked over each of their shoulders.

Like close friends.

"Where are you going? Let me see you off."

Hearing Jin's voice, Ming could not hide the terror in his eyes.

What kind of damned speed was that? What taijutsu could reach such a level?

And he was only a genin.

The Uchiha Clan.

What kind of monster had they produced!?

Soon, he could no longer think, because Jin forcefully shoved the backs of their heads together. Their masks shattered instantly as their faces collided, producing a dull thud.

Both their noses were crooked. Their eyes rolled back, and they fainted.

Jin casually threw the two toward the female ninja. The three crashed together, rolling into a pile.

Their faint breathing proved they were still alive.

Though he really wanted to kill them, actually doing so would bring him serious trouble.

After all, in theory, Shimura Danzō and Hiruzen Sarutobi were in the same boat.

When the time came, it would not be something a mere genin like him could influence.

Letting them live, on the other hand, left room to maneuver.

He would remember this grudge for now.

His body lightly landed on the ground.

Jin ignored the three of them and looked in another direction.

At dusk, a shadow appeared in the distance, followed by its owner, Orochimaru, who slowly approached.

"Orochimaru." Jin looked expressionlessly at the man who had appeared.

"Was the show... entertaining?"

Orochimaru nodded. "Not bad. Though I did not get to see you awaken the Sharingan, that remarkable jutsu was quite an eye-opener."

The moment Jin had come under attack, Orochimaru had noticed and immediately arrived at the battle site.

Yet he had not revealed himself, instead hiding nearby to watch.

Jin had only discovered Orochimaru's presence because of his current state.

As everyone moved, Orochimaru had simply followed along.

His purpose had not been to test Jin's strength.

It had merely been to make Jin awaken the Sharingan in a moment of mortal danger.

After all, for the Uchiha Clan to increase their strength, the Sharingan was indispensable.

A life-or-death crisis was also an extreme emotion capable of awakening the Sharingan. Though he had yet to research it himself, the Second Hokage's research notes were in his possession.

Naturally, he understood.

Unfortunately, Jin had not awakened the Sharingan as Orochimaru had hoped. Instead, Orochimaru had witnessed this astonishing ninjutsu.

It was not much of a loss.

A malicious smile appeared on Jin's face.

"Orochimaru, aren't you afraid I'll

beat you to death right now?"

His current strength was astonishingly powerful. He did not know whether he could defeat those beings known as Kage, but he was confident against merely an Elite Jonin.

And Orochimaru had clearly promised to protect him, only to become a spectator instead.

Jin did not care who was right or wrong.

He had no morals anyway.

Orochimaru showed no concern over Jin's words. The smile on his face remained unchanged.

"The Chakra you absorbed can at most last you another minute. What are you going to use to beat me to death?"

He extended his snake-like tongue and licked his lips.

Uchiha Jin's current power was only temporary, and it would not last long.

Orochimaru had essentially analyzed it at a glance.

"Jin-kun."

"So you noticed." Jin pursed his lips, and the Chakra around him dissipated.

As the red Chakra vanished, his body faltered, and he dropped onto the ground on his butt.

The Six Paths Immortal Thief was now the eighth jutsu in his arsenal.

He had originally created it to increase his recovery ability and accelerate Chakra synthesis.

The principles behind this technique were extremely complex, perhaps even comparable to an S-rank ninjutsu. If not for instantly grasping the basics, it would have taken him a long time to master.

This technique formed a cycle through six organs of the body and the eight Chakra pathways.

Under normal circumstances, it could absorb an enemy's Chakra or his own Chakra to repair the body. It could also increase the speed at which food was converted into his own Chakra.

At the same time, because it circulated through the Eight Gates Formation pathways, it could open the Eight Gates to a limited extent without causing much damage to the body.

The price, however, was ten times the Chakra required to open the Eight Gates normally.

The Aburame Clan ninja's summoned insects contained Chakra. Though each insect possessed only a limited amount, their enormous numbers exceeded the Chakra an ordinary ninja could possess.

That allowed him to meet the conditions for opening the Eight Gates.

However, with this technique, all Eight Gates had to be opened at once. If even one Gate failed to open, the cycle could not be formed and the technique would naturally fail.

The Eight Gates were massive consumers of Chakra. Opening them once could drain all the Chakra from an Elite Jonin.

Though its power was astonishing, unfortunately, it was fixed at only the level of the Sixth Gate among the normal Eight Gates.

Of course, the price was not death, so it was still quite cost-effective.

Its power could not be increased in the future either, since this was merely a shortcut.

If he did not get another chance like this to absorb such an enormous amount of Chakra at once, he would not be able to activate it.

This thing was a one-time-use item.

"Even if Jin could maintain that state for a long time, he still might not be a match for me."

Orochimaru's words made Jin narrow his eyes.

He sized Orochimaru up. In that state just now, he was not someone an Elite Jonin could defeat.

Unless he had already surpassed the Elite Jonin level.

Now that was interesting.

Orochimaru might already have reached the peak he would attain in the future.

At his peak, Orochimaru could go head-to-head with the current Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He just did not know what effect this would have on the future.