Ulterior Motives

"You!?"

The expression on Hiruko's face froze for a second, and the faint smile that always hung on the corners of his mouth solidified instantly.

He had considered this possibility before, but as soon as the thought arose, he threw it to the back of his mind.

After all, it was not as though he had never encountered ninjas who used Shadow Release in front of him; under the powerful insight of his Mangekyō Sharingan, Shadow Release was full of flaws and could not fool him at all.

Yet the scene before him completely subverted his understanding of Shadow Release.

Ranmaru even approached to within a meter of him without him noticing, and had this been an enemy, he would inevitably have suffered heavy injuries.

Indeed.

Among the four Kekkei Genkai Ranmaru had fused with was the very Shadow Release Hiruko had scoffed at.

Before the ritual, Hiruko had tried repeatedly to persuade Ranmaru to replace Shadow Release with Storm Release to enhance his lethality.

Yet Ranmaru still insisted on choosing Shadow Release!

In Ranmaru's own words, he only wanted to kill one person, so he had no use for a large-scale offensive Kekkei Genkai like Storm Release!

At this moment, Ranmaru, whose body was already wrapped in bandages, spoke in a hoarse tone: "I succeeded!"

Hiruko took two cautious steps back and asked with an uncertain tone: "When you approached me from behind just now, did you use Shadow Release?"

"Yes!"

Ranmaru nodded.

Hiruko asked: "Why didn't your Shadow Release leave any traces at all?"

Ranmaru shook his head: "I'm not quite sure either."

Hiruko narrowed his eyes and looked Ranmaru up and down.

After undergoing the ritual, Ranmaru's height had obviously grown a bit, making him look like a normal fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy. As for his physical