Under the watchful eyes of Manda and Orochimaru, a Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams pattern appeared on the ground and rapidly spread across the entire platform.
An energy barrier like rippling water rose from the ground, enclosing the platform in a tight octagon...
Shinji stood and dusted off his hands, staring at Manda.
A fierce glint flashed in his eyes.
Yet he wore a bright smile. "Go on, then. Keep running your mouth. I don't mind. Really."
"..."
Manda stiffened, then slowly relaxed. His fearsome serpent mouth even stretched into something resembling a human smile...
"So it's Lord Shinji!"
He lowered his head slightly to meet Shinji's gaze, his eyes full of warmth. "It's been so long! Was it you who summoned me?"
Orochimaru watched the exchange.
He was dumbstruck.
He turned toward the beaming Shinji. His pupils were still black; the Sharingan hadn't appeared. So it wasn't Genjutsu?
Then what was it?
Orochimaru couldn't understand.
But Manda knew exactly what had happened in that instant!
The moment he saw Shinji Uchiha, he had tried to slip away.
But... he had failed!
Shinji looked at the fawning Manda and sneered. "All bluster one moment and groveling the next. What a joke. Stop making a spectacle of yourself!"
"Get to work!"
Manda froze. "W-work?"
"That's right!"
Shinji pointed at the platform beneath his feet. "Start here and dig down at least a hundred meters. Then carve out a space inside the mountain big enough to hold my Susanoo. You saw how big it was last time..."
Hiss—
White steam burst from Manda's nostrils.
He wanted to turn on Shinji then and there.
But he remembered the glimpse he'd caught of Shinji Uchiha fighting Hashirama Senju, and a violent shudder ran through him.
Hatred flashed through his eyes and vanished.
In the end,