The Iwagakure warship that had been firing like mad moments ago now reeked of burnt plastic from being pushed beyond its limits.
In the depths of space beyond the hatch, several strange white, skeletal warships glided silently closer like a school of sharks.
The bizarre tomoe emblazoned on their hulls resembled gaping mouths, radiating a deathly stillness that made one's skin crawl.
The hatch of the lead warship slowly opened.
There was no welcoming ceremony—only a pitch-black spatial rift that seemed capable of sucking in one's very soul.
"The stench of these alien monkeys is making me want to puke even through the barrier."
Yoru stood before the ship's control console, holding a metal wrench he had dug up from somewhere, still smeared with not-quite-dry grease.
He casually tossed the wrench onto a rack with a sharp clang, making the tea-stained cup beside it wobble twice.
"Orochimaru, have you got their location? How many Chakra Fruits are those bastards carrying?"
Orochimaru had his head buried in a tangled mess of data cables. His white lab coat reeked of sweat, and even the collar had been worn through.
His golden snake eyes were fixed on the string of flashing red data on the screen, while his long tongue frantically licked at his lips, making him look especially sleazy.
"Lord Yoru, the tracker's response is quite clear. The energy fluctuations on those people are practically like mobile nuclear power plants!"
"Just the one in the lead has as much chakra as thirty Tailed Beasts!"
"If we could dissect them, even just a small piece of cell tissue could raise Iwagakure's energy technology by another ten levels, heh heh."
"Only thirty Tailed Beasts?"
Yoru snorted disdainfully. The approaching red warships outside the window were reflected in his scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan.
He pulled a