Nowhere to Hide? Then There's No Need to Hide!

Orochimaru stood in the shadow of a ruined wall, the ease in his expression gradually fading away.

He did not make a move.

Neither did Kakuzu.

Both of them could see clearly that this battle had already reached a point where they could not gain anything by casually interfering.

After Sasori unleashed the Performance of a Hundred Puppets, any ordinary shinobi should have been torn to pieces by the puppet horde. Yet from beginning to end, Lumen had not even activated his Sharingan. Relying solely on his footwork and perception, he moved freely through the encirclement of over a hundred puppets.

Orochimaru stared at every spot where Lumen landed and lowered his voice.

"He's predicting the puppets' attack rhythm in advance."

Kakuzu said coldly, "Without the Sharingan?"

"He isn't using it."

Orochimaru's tone finally turned grave.

"What he's relying on now should be that battlefield-wide sensory ability from earlier. Sasori's Chakra Threads, the turning of the puppets' joints, the tiny pauses before their mechanisms activate—he's caught all of it."

Kakuzu did not speak immediately.

He had lived long enough to see countless powerful figures in the Shinobi World, but people like Lumen were exceedingly rare.

Mangekyo ocular techniques were troublesome enough already.

Idaten could push speed to a level even the Raikage could not keep up with. Intangibility could let attacks pass straight through his body. Lightning Release could even give rise to an Electromagnetic Field and snatch away the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand.

Yet now, without activating the Sharingan, without using Intangibility, and without activating Idaten, Lumen was still toying with Sasori's Performance of a Hundred Puppets in the palm of his hand.

Strength like this could no longer be described as merely "strong."

Kakuzu watched the composed figure at the center of the battlefield, his voice extremely heavy.