Naruto was stunned for a moment, then came to Yu Liu and squatted down, holding her shoulders, speaking in a quick but firm tone.
"Yu Liu, stay here and don't run around.
I'll be back to pick you up soon."
As soon as he finished speaking, he stood up and ran after him in a flash.
Yu Liu stood there and opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
"Teacher..."
Inside the tunnel.
Sasuke maintained a standard ninja running posture in front, with a low body and arms swinging back, galloping through the narrow passage like an arrow from a string.
Behind him, Ning Xue ran in the most scientific way, leaning forward slightly, swinging his arms and walking evenly.
As for why not run with ninjas?
The reason is simple.
Ninja running is too anti-human. Not only is it uncomfortable to run, but it is also easy to fall.
He tried it, but couldn't adapt and simply gave up.
The speed of the two of them was not slow, one behind the other, pulling out two afterimages in the dark tunnel.
Just like that, after running for who knows how long, the front suddenly became clear.
At the end of the tunnel is a huge circular space.
The walls, ceiling, and floor were all covered with blue runes. They spread like blood vessels, intertwined, and finally converged in the center of the space.
There, there is a huge cocoon suspended.
On the translucent cocoon wall, a huddled figure can be vaguely seen - Zero-Tails.
Under the cocoon, Shinnō was hunched over, looking up at the cocoon, with a strange smile on his old face.
"Here..."
Ning Xue stopped, turned on Byakugan, and looked around.
Those runes were slowly flowing, and there was an invisible suction force filling the air, which was slowly extracting Chakra from his body.
The speed is very slow and almost negligible.
He thought of the cells where the villagers were imprisoned, which seemed to have the same design.
If fighting here... His brows furrowed slightly.
At this moment, there was a rush of footsteps behind him.
Ning Xue did not look back, because Byakugan had already told him who the visitor was.
Naruto panted and came behind the two of them, putting his hands on his knees and gasping for air.
He raised his head and looked at the two figures in front of him with their backs to him, with complex emotions surging in his blue eyes.
"Answer me."
His voice was a little hoarse, but it carried an unavoidable question.
"What the hell is going on?!
Why do you two know each other? He..."
He looked at Sasuke's back and gritted his teeth.
"Are you also from Orochimaru?"
Sasuke did not look back, and Ning Xue did not answer.
They just stood quietly on the edge, looking down at Shinnō and the huge cocoon below, expressionless.
Silence.
There was a long silence.
Naruto's fists were clenched so hard that his knuckles turned white.
Just when he was about to speak again.
"Hahahahahaha!"
A burst of hoarse and twisted laughter came from below.
Shinnō raised his head and looked at the three figures above, his old face full of sarcasm.
"Three idiots, they followed us like that."
His laughter echoed in the empty space, with a sickly sound.
"Who are you calling a fool?"
Naruto retorted instinctively, with anger in his voice.
Sasuke said nothing.
He just raised his right hand, fingers slightly bent.
"Chidori"
Blue arcs of electricity jumped in the palm of my hand, and harsh bird calls exploded in the space.
However, the next second.
"Zila--"
The electric arc trembled suddenly, and then shattered like glass, turning into countless tiny light spots, floating towards the huge cocoon below.
Those light spots were absorbed by the cocoon wall, blended into it, and disappeared.
Sasuke looked down at his empty palms, frowning slightly.
"Hahahahaha!"
Shinnō's laughter became even louder. He bent over with laughter and coughed incessantly.
"Idiot! Can't the ninjutsu be used anymore?"
He straightened up and opened his arms, as if he was showing off his most proud work.
"This is the room I specially built for Zero-Tails! As long as you stand here, any Chakra you release will be turned into nutrients for Zero-Tails!"
Naruto gritted his teeth and looked at the ugly smiling face below, his fists clenching loudly.
"Even if you can't use ninjutsu."
He jumped, jumped from a high place, and landed firmly in front of Shinnō, raising his fist.
"I can also punch you away!"
As soon as he finished speaking, another figure also fell down.
Sasuke stood beside Naruto, looking at Shinnō expressionlessly.
"If that's the case, wouldn't you be the same?"
His voice was very calm, but it contained a hint of imperceptible sarcasm.
"Ninjutsu can't be used, and your Dark Chakra... can't be used either, right?"
Shinnō's laughter stopped abruptly.
He looked at the two young men in front of him, and a hint of sinisterness flashed across his old face.
But soon, that hint of sinisterness disappeared, replaced by a more twisted smile.
"Two Optimists."
He shook his head, his tone full of mockery.
"If things are really that simple, how could I bring you to the depths of this center?"
The words have not yet fallen.
The Dark Chakra in his body surged violently.
It is not an outward release, but a kind of resonance, which is connected to the huge cocoon.
"Buzz--"
The cocoon wall began to tremble violently, but the next second.
Several thick milky white tentacles suddenly stretched out from the cocoon and wrapped around Shinnō's body like a living creature.
"What?!"
Naruto's pupils shrank and he instinctively took a step back.
Shinnō didn't struggle.
He didn't even show a hint of panic.
He just raised his head, opened his arms, and let the tentacles wrap around his limbs, torso, and neck.
There was an almost crazy smile on that old face.
"In my lifetime... I've been studying Dark Chakra... I've been studying Zero-Tails... I've been studying how to revive Land of Sky..."
His voice became lower and lower, more and more hoarse.
"In the end... I myself became part of...Zero-Tails..."
At this point, his tone suddenly changed and his voice suddenly became excited.
"But! This is also part of my plan!
Just watch, the fused ultimate weapon, Ancor Vantian, will destroy Five Great Nations! Hahaha--"
Hearing this laughter, Ning Xue had a premonition that something was not good, so he raised his hand decisively, condensed a Ice Cone and shot it.
However.
Ice Cone, one meter away from Shinnō, trembled suddenly, and then turned into countless tiny light spots, which were absorbed by his body.
Ning Xue's brows furrowed even deeper.
The materialized Ice Cone will also be absorbed.
In other words, anything condensed by Chakra will become the nourishment of Zero-Tails in this space
"Trouble."