"'A'?"
Orochimaru was genuinely shaken this time. His expression darkened in an instant, and the embarrassment and fury of having his good deed interrupted surfaced on his face.
The others on the battlefield all breathed sighs of relief when they saw Shinji appear.
Karin stopped hesitating. With their leader taking action, she no longer needed to risk exposing her identity by forcing herself to fight.
Haku, Ryūsetsuna, and Chiyo relaxed as well. Clearly, when facing someone of Orochimaru's caliber, they still felt a lingering fear.
As for the most desperate Sasuke, the corners of his mouth curled upward.
Only Sakura continued to tremble.
Orochimaru was terrifying, but the Akatsuki Organization's 'A' was even more so. Besides, Orochimaru coveted Sasuke, while the Akatsuki Organization coveted Naruto. Thus, in her eyes, there seemed to be no conflict between Orochimaru and the Akatsuki Organization's 'A'.
If the two sides joined forces, the situation would probably become completely hopeless.
Shinji swept his eyes over the battlefield. Seeing how battered Karin, Haku, Ryūsetsuna, and Chiyo looked, he was slightly surprised.
But after thinking it over, he understood why and smiled.
In terms of strength, Karin, Haku, Ryūsetsuna, and Chiyo were all geniuses far beyond their peers. However, when it came to combat experience and control over the flow of battle, Orochimaru had completely overwhelmed them.
The same was true for Yakumo and Shion on the other battlefield.
Against their peers, or even enemies at the level of ordinary Jonin, they could rely on their outstanding innate abilities to achieve impressive results.
But when facing the handful of experts standing at the peak of the Shinobi World, their lack of experience would be seized upon by their enemies and magnified without limit!
Shinji actually had the same problem.
It was just that his innate strength was