Shion had already realized that this was the man from the prophecy she had seen.
The one who would kill Naruto and Utakata.
Suppressing the fear in her heart, Shion formed hand seals and began using a Sealing Technique as well.
She wanted to open the seal here.
As long as the seal was opened, the Fourth Hokage could take everyone away.
Crack.
The fissure across Jigen's lower abdomen widened.
Amid the chaos, no one else noticed such a faint sound.
Only Jigen felt his heart turn cold. The vessel was about to give out.
Jigen gestured at Utakata, and several Black Rods instantly pierced through him.
"Master!..."
Hotaru, beside Utakata, cried out and collapsed to the ground.
But Utakata's entire body transformed into something like a slime monster and slumped flat against the ground.
At that moment, Utakata had chosen to transform into his Tailed Beast form in time.
Like a slug, he melted into the ground and became a pool of purple sludge.
With some disgust, Jigen floated into the air.
Then Shion caught Jigen's attention—not because of the hand seals she was forming.
It was because there was an energy within Shion's body that did not belong to the Chakra system.
Jigen's current body could no longer rapidly enlarge the Black Rods.
He directly threw the Black Rod in his hand at Shion.
Then he turned and used another Black Rod to shatter all of Kushina's Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Shion, who had almost no combat experience, could only watch helplessly as the Black Rod shot toward her.
She could not react at all.
Splat.
A figure identical to her suddenly stepped in front of her.
"Taraho!"
The Black Rod pierced straight through Taraho's body.
Taraho coughed up blood. "Lady Shion, be careful..."
Time seemed to slow down.