Tsubasa, who was in the tree, could see clearly and cursed inwardly, "This old bastard exposed himself; he was definitely up to no good. Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's 'Karma' can parasitize other people's bodies; he must have his eye on the Flying Zombie's invulnerable and magically enhanced mutated body."
But the Flying Zombie clearly wasn't going to let him have his way. It suddenly roared to the sky, its golden eyes flashing red, and black mist rose from its body, within which countless ghosts could be vaguely seen wailing. Then, it flapped its wings and instantly appeared in front of Isshiki, its claws tearing through the Space Break as it reached for his neck!
Isshiki reaction was incredibly fast; he slammed his staff into the ground and shouted, " Great Floodgate Heaven!"
A massive stone gate descended from the sky, blocking his path. The Flying Zombie's claws gripped the gate, producing a screeching sound, and cracks instantly spread across its surface. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Isshiki Shi retreated, his hands Hand Seals. Countless tiny spatial rifts appeared around the Flying Zombie, attempting to shred it.
"This is going to be interesting," Tsubasa stroked his chin. Isshiki's various special techniques were indeed powerful: " Sukunahikona " to shrink objects, " Daikokuten " to absorb Ninjutsu, the teleportation portal for space travel, as well as " Sealing Cauldron " for sealing and " Great Floodgate Heaven " for defense. Any one of them could give an ordinary ninja a headache. But this Flying Zombie was even more outrageous. It withstood the Sealing Cauldron head-on, dismantled Great Floodgate Heaven with its bare hands, and its speed was frightening. It was actually able to suppress Isshiki.
Just then, the Flying Zombie suddenly flapped its wings violently, and the black mist around its body exploded instantly. The spatial rifts that were touched by the mist actually began to dissipate! Taking advantage of Yi Shi's Isshiki daze, it suddenly opened its mouth, and a beam of red light shot towards Isshiki —it was a blood-sucking attack from a distance!
Isshiki's expression changed drastically. He quickly activated the teleportation portal, trying to dodge, but the red light was too fast and still grazed his arm. The clothes on his arm instantly became shrunken, and his skin lost its color at a visible speed, revealing his stark white bones.
"Damn it!" Isshiki roared, a hint of panic finally appearing in his eyes. He hadn't expected the Flying Zombie to possess such a bizarre technique. He dared not fight back any longer and turned to flee into the depths of the forest, teleportation portals flashing around him, clearly indicating his intention to escape.
How could the Flying Zombie let him go? It flapped its wings and chased after him, its golden eyes fixed on Isshiki's back. Like a cat playing with a mouse, it didn't rush to attack, but slowly approached.
Tsubasa found the scene interesting from the mountaintop and was about to watch a little longer when he suddenly sensed something. He turned around and saw the Nawaki Squad and the others standing pale-faced under the tree, defending themselves. Behind them was a dark green figure.
Tsubasa noticed that the black zombie they had left in the cave had somehow caught up with them. It was now silently perched on a tree behind Nawaki and the others, its red eyes fixed on their necks, its claws already raised...
"These kids are too careless!" Tsubasa shouted at the top of his lungs, already forming a Wood Release seal in his hand. Countless vines instantly trapped the green zombie, giving Nawaki time to react.
Nawaki, holding Kunai to block the green zombie's attack, felt his scalp tingle when he heard the shout. His entire squad hadn't even noticed the green zombie's attack. Three Kage Level and one Super Kage Level —they'd thought dealing with this mindless zombie would be a piece of cake, but this green-haired thing was incredibly strange—sparks flew when he slashed with Mars, and Ninjutsu felt like a tickle. It had chased them relentlessly in the cave when it was still a black zombie, and now it was attacking from behind!
" Mireiko! Earth Release!" Nawaki roared as it lunged forward. The short female ninja reacted quickly, pressing her hands to the ground. " Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!" A wall of earth as tall as a person "whooshed" up behind her, but the green zombie's claws passed right through it. The earth wall crumbled into pieces like paper, and a foul gust of wind swept past Nawaki's ears.
"Damn it, this thing isn't a zombie, it's an iron zombie!" Uchiha Engetsu spat out blood. His arm was still numb from taking a punch from the green zombie. He flicked his wrist and Hand Seals: " Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" The orange-red fireball slammed towards the green zombie, but it was swatted away by the Mars didn't even burn off a layer of skin.
The green zombie made a gurgling sound in its throat, its Red Eye sweeping over the group before suddenly charging towards Sarutobi Shinnosuke at the far end. The boy's Shuriken. Nawaki lunged forward and shoved the zombie aside, taking a solid claw strike to his back—his outer clothes were instantly torn open, revealing five claw marks on his inner armor. The powerful impact made him grimace in pain.
"Don't fight head-on! Focus on control, use guerrilla tactics around the terrain!" Nawaki, clutching his back, retreated behind a tree trunk. " Mireiko, you use Earth Release to trip it, Uchiha Engetsu uses Fire Style to blow its eyes, Shinnosuke uses Explosive Tag to blow it up! I'll hold off its attacks."
The group immediately scattered. Mireiko kept slapping the ground, and stone spikes would occasionally emerge from the ground. Although the green zombie would crush them each time, they would always slow it down by half a second. Uchiha Engetsu stood on a tree branch, taking turns using Wind Release and Fire Style. The wind blades and fireballs made the green zombie squint, finally preventing it from using its speed so freely. Shinnosuke picked up Explosive Tag, gritted his teeth, and threw it at the green zombie's feet. With a loud "boom," the green zombie roared from within the smoke and dust. When the smoke cleared, the group's hearts sank again: the green zombie was only knocked back two steps, its skin was blackened, but it didn't even bleed, and its defenses were not broken.
" My Chakra is almost depleted..." Mireiko leaned against a tree, panting, her forehead covered in sweat. "What on earth is that thing? It has strong defense, great strength, and incredible speed."
The green zombie was clearly annoyed. Suddenly, it raised its head and roared, its body emitting a dark green mist that instantly withered the leaves of nearby bushes. It stomped its foot, causing the ground to tremble, startling Nawaki and the others. Taking advantage of the moment, the green zombie pounced on Uchiha Engetsu, its speed several times faster than before. Uchiha Engetsu only had time to form a wind shield before being swatted away by a claw, crashing into a tree trunk and sliding down. Whether it was unconscious or not was unknown, but it certainly didn't move again.
" Engetsu!" Nawaki's eyes turned red. Just as he was about to rush over, the green zombie turned around and stared at him, its claws lashing out with a gust of wind. Nawaki closed his eyes and waited for death, but then he heard a crisp "clang"—the expected pain did not come. He opened his eyes and saw that Tsubasa was standing in front of him at some point, holding a short stick in his hand, forcefully blocking the green zombie's claws.
" Immortal Venerable, why did you take so long to arrive!" Nawaki was both surprised and delighted, forgetting half of the pain in his body.
Tsubasa didn't turn around. With a flick of his wrist, the lightning rod grazed the green zombie's claws, sending sparks flying. "I just watched a good show, sorry for the delay. Your team still needs more practice; your combat experience is seriously lacking." As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly kicked the green zombie in the stomach. The green zombie staggered back two steps, looked down at the spot where it had been kicked, and saw that there was a small dent.
"Leave this to me, you guys go check on that Uchiha Engetsu." Tsubasa said, his lightning staff transforming into a spear. " Lightning Release: Lightning Spear!" Blue lightning pierced towards the green zombie. The green zombie tried to dodge, but Tsubasa's Earth Release: Earth Binding Prison bound its ankles, forcing it to take the hit head-on. The lightning struck its shoulder, easily tearing through the skin, and blackish-green blood mist emerged.
The green zombie roared and pounced, but Tsubasa neither dodged nor evaded. Suddenly, a pale blue Chakra emanated from his body—it was Senjutsu. He sidestepped the claws, and his fist, imbued with the power of Senjutsu, slammed into the green zombie's chest. The green zombie was sent flying as if struck by a heavy hammer, crashing through several trees before finally stopping.
"Done." Tsubasa clapped his hands, took out a sealing talisman from the scroll, squatted down and stuck it on the green zombie. The green zombie struggled a few times, the mist on its body gradually dissipated, and finally it stopped moving.
Nawaki and the rest of the team breathed a sigh of relief and rushed over to help Uchiha Engetsu up, checking his breathing. Thankfully, he was still alive. Mireiko slumped to the ground, looking at Tsubasa as if he were a god. " Immortal Venerable Tsubasa, your strength is too great...?"
"Just practicing casually." Tsubasa replied casually, but his eyes glanced towards the depths of the forest— Isshiki and Flying Zombie had run over there earlier, but why were they not moving now? He was just about to tell Nawaki that he would go and take a look when he heard a loud bang in the distance, followed by Isshiki's shocked and angry roar.
"I'm leaving, I'm going to take a look." Tsubasa pulled Nawaki. "Don't follow me, retreat."