Though it was a metaphor, it was not far from the truth.
That blow felt as if it had struck them directly, as though their Chakra was about to be scattered.
Fortunately, they were all carefully selected ninjas with impeccable training. Even under such circumstances, their Chakra supply had not been interrupted.
But judging by the barrier's current condition, it probably could not withstand a second slap from that headless giant corpse.
"Quick, open a gap in the barrier! I'll pull it out!"
At this critical moment, Black Shadow's Jinchuriki spoke.
Hearing that Black Shadow's Jinchuriki had a solution, the Third Hokage immediately gave the order. "Quick, do as he says!"
A small hole the size of a fist immediately appeared beneath the barrier, then expanded to the size of a bowl.
"No need to make it any larger. This is enough."
A black shadow extended through the opening into the barrier, gradually expanding until it enveloped the entire headless giant corpse.
Then, the shadow withdrew from the barrier, and the barrier returned to normal.
Black Shadow's Jinchuriki, having swallowed the giant corpse, was not having an easy time either. Beneath his mask, his expression kept changing, as if he were under attack.
"I can't hold on anymore. I'm letting that thing out!"
Calling it letting it out was not quite accurate. More precisely, the headless giant corpse tore open the shadow space from within and forced its way out.
On the empty grassland, a huge black "egg" abruptly appeared.
It began to twist, as though something inside were moving.
The giant black "egg" was torn apart and gradually dissipated. The headless giant corpse emerged!
The headless giant corpse showed no sign of venting after escaping. It simply walked toward the person closest to it.
No one present naively believed it merely wanted to say hello.
Meanwhile, at the Hidden Leaf Village's Hyuga Clan Compound, Hinata had also run into trouble.
She... had also been targeted by the rope.
The moment the rope appeared at dusk, Hinata had already noticed it.
Perhaps it was a common trait of Bizarre Creatures. Whether it was Black Shadow from two months ago or this rope that had appeared now, the moment Hinata saw them, they targeted her from several kilometers away.
When the rope dragged those ninjas into the subspace, it also pulled Hinata in along with them.
After being pulled into the subspace, Hinata did not feel any obvious discomfort in her body.
Other than the endless ropes floating in the sky making the back of her neck go cold...
Once inside the subspace, Hinata instinctively began looking for a way out.
But since this Bizarre Creature had targeted her, running was not a solution.
At the same time, Hinata saw the ninjas who had been dragged in with her.
However, Hinata was small and could conceal herself, so they did not notice her.
Hinata also noticed that several of the ninjas were missing.
Perhaps the sudden spatial shift had thrown them into panic, preventing them from escaping the Bizarre Creature's first wave of attacks.
Looking at the headless corpses in black on the ground, Hinata made that guess.
However, judging from the remaining ninjas, they would not die anytime soon.
Given how troublesome the rope was, any ordinary person would probably already be dead. But ninjas were different. Their Clone Techniques, Transformation Techniques, and Body Flicker Techniques were used with great proficiency.
Perhaps the danger had made them forget that all they needed to do was lie down and stay out of the rope's reach...
Still, even lying down might not keep them safe.
Hinata keenly noticed that after all these people entered the subspace, the corpses on the ground suddenly came "alive"!
Hinata, who had deliberately avoided looking at the corpses since entering the subspace, turned pale and nearly threw up.
Her Byakugan had not yet reached the absurd level of a microscope, but it could still achieve a hundredfold magnification.
In other words, she could see the corpses' appearances... with absolute clarity.
Just as Hinata was considering whether she should smash those corpses into pulp, she saw someone sneak into the subspace, take one look around, and leave.
Hinata: "???"
What was that supposed to mean? He really just came in, took one look, and left?
While Hinata was complaining internally, that guy who had turned into a shadow came back.
This time, he actually spread open his shadow space, intending to shake this subspace.
Hinata wondered if this guy had misunderstood his own abilities. With that little puddle of shadow, did he think he could shake such a huge subspace?
But this was a good opportunity!
Inch-Punch: Shockwave!
Hinata threw a punch at a spatial weak point in the subspace, causing one corner of it to collapse.
Fortunately, the guy who had infiltrated as a shadow had some sense. He immediately wrapped the living people in shadows and took them out.
The ropes and some of the corpses from that shattered corner of the subspace fell into the outside world.
Perhaps because one corner of the subspace had been damaged, the entire subspace seemed to let out a mournful wail.
The whole subspace trembled. Even the ropes, which had not moved an inch despite being struck by countless ninjutsu, swayed with the subspace's vibrations.
Seeing this, Hinata did not dare act rashly, afraid that she might accidentally destroy the subspace altogether.
The subspace disappearing would not be a huge issue, but who knew where its collapse might fling her?
And that was the best-case scenario. If she was unlucky, Hinata might get to experience being torn apart by space...
The subspace continued trembling until the shattered corner healed again.
The moment the ropes floating overhead stopped swaying, they looped toward Hinata's soft, pink neck, as though her neck possessed an immense attraction. (What a perv.)
The back of Hinata's neck went cold again.
Even worse, during the time the subspace had been shaking, the corpses on the ground had already risen to their feet.
Inch-Punch: Thunderbolt!
The corpses trying to surround her were immediately blasted away in every direction by a terrifying shockwave centered on Hinata.
The moment the shockwave struck the corpses, it had already pulverized the insides of those nearly upon her. As they flew away, the little viscous blood remaining in their bodies sprayed across the ground.
Although she had blown away one wave of corpses, those dozen or so were only a small portion of all the corpses in the subspace. The rest continued lunging at Hinata.
The horrifying corpses around her did not trouble Hinata. What concerned her more were the ropes hanging from midair, now swaying slightly due to Inch-Punch: Thunderbolt.
That made Hinata realize that energy attacks like Chakra were not ineffective. The ropes were simply too "heavy," and ordinary ninjutsu could not move them at all!
In other words, the energy making up these Bizarre Creatures was of an extremely high level, and lower-level energy could hardly harm them.
Even the True Qi in Hinata's body, refined from absorbed Nature Energy, was no exception!
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