Besides her own considerable ability, the most important reason Kurotsuchi had become these people's captain was that her grandfather was the Tsuchikage.
Otherwise, she could never have held this position when she was still a little short of being a true Elite Ninja.
So against her, Shinji was simply operating on an entirely different level.
He did not actually need to deploy his domain, but doing so would destroy Kurotsuchi's psychological defenses faster.
"You got them killed."
"No, I didn't..."
"If you'd decisively abandoned those two bastards, the others wouldn't have died."
"I won't abandon any of my comrades!"
"If you'd noticed those two leaving the group sooner and stopped them, no one would have died."
"I... I..."
"If you'd recognized the gap between us from the start, this wouldn't have been the outcome. So you got everyone killed. Every single one of them."
"It wasn't me, it wasn't me, it wasn't me!"
Kurotsuchi gradually broke down, clutching her head tightly in both hands.
But Shinji's repeated ifs kept making her think back. If I'd really done a little better, would everyone really have survived?
If no one had kept it from me back then, and they'd told me as soon as those two left without permission, could everything have been salvaged?
Yes, that's right. It was all their fault. It had nothing to do with me.
"You led them into the realm of death with your own hands, yet you still refuse to accept your share of the responsibility?"
Shinji's devilish murmur sounded directly beside Kurotsuchi's ear.
Those words struck like a heavy hammer, smashing her entire inner defensive line to pieces.
So... everything was my fault?
Once that thought arose, it instantly filled her entire mind.
The self-reproach, guilt, unease, and other emotions she had forcibly suppressed erupted