The Shinobi World, Valley of the End, Immortal Venerable Academy.
Immortal King Tsubasa sensed something and looked up at the endless sky. His gaze seemed to pierce through the atmosphere, and he saw the crisis that was approaching from the shadows.
"What's coming will eventually come," he muttered to himself. "We don't have much time left."
He glanced down at the students diligently training below, a resolute glint in his eyes. It was time to put some real pressure on them.
Meanwhile, in the ruins of the space battlefield, in an unnoticed corner, Orochimaru, who had absorbed too much Ōtsutsuki energy and the remains of the God Tree, underwent a bizarre transformation. He was completely enveloped in a massive cocoon of white matter, suspended behind a large meteorite. An extremely evil, chaotic, yet powerful aura was slowly brewing and growing from within the cocoon...
Sensing the approaching impending crisis, Tsubasa looked at his transformed disciples and nodded in satisfaction. He knew that these disciples would become the Mirai guardians of the Shinobi World.
However, he also received a new report from the Starlink defense front—a faint, unnatural spatial fluctuation was detected in the Mars region of the "Descent Point." Although it was fleeting, it was enough to sound the alarm.
The tentacles of the Ōtsutsuki Clan have reached out again.
"Issue the order: all defensive planetary fortresses to enter maximum combat readiness. Disciples of the Immortal Venerable Academy will graduate early and, based on their respective strengths, be assigned to the Starlink defense system or major interstellar carriers such as the Kurama to participate in combat."
Tsubasa's voice echoed throughout the academy and reached the highest levels of the Shinobi World.
"The final test may be coming soon. Let's see if the power of this new generation can bring us... new hope."
Within the vast starry sky, in the defensive perimeter of the Mars Starfield.
The void was like a calm lake tossed with a pebble, rippling out in circles barely perceptible to the naked eye. The next second, a strangely shaped spaceship, dark brown in color and seemingly twisted and coiled from the trunk of a withered God Tree, silently slid out. Its surface was dull and lifeless, and even the slightest energy fluctuation was carefully concealed, like a venomous snake lurking in the darkness.
This was the " Shadow Scouts " squad dispatched by Ōtsutsuki Genshō. Inside the spaceship, three Ōtsutsuki Clan had cold and stern faces; all three were Peak Star Level experts. Their pupils were pure white, and their skin had a lifeless, grayish-white texture, a characteristic of those who had long cultivated techniques of concealment and assassination.
"Coordinates confirmed. We have reached the outer edge of the target star system. Numerous faint life signals have been detected ahead, as well as... a large number of artificial artifact signals." The captain, a man with bark-like markings on his face, reported in a low voice. On the screen in front of him, Mars in the distance was just a small blue dot, but near the outer orbit of Mars, it was densely covered with countless tiny planetary lights.
"Hmph, it seems these native monkeys are quite capable of causing trouble, actually setting up so much junk outside this star system." Another team member sneered, his tone full of disdain for the "Wild Star" civilization.
"We must not be careless," the captain warned. "Lord Lan is missing; there must be something strange about this place. Activate the highest level of stealth mode and try to approach and collect data."
The patterns on the surface of the Shadow spaceship glowed faintly, making the entire hull appear even more ethereal, almost blending into the starlight in the background. It began to stealthily move towards Mars at an extremely slow speed.
However, just when they thought they had gotten away with it—
At the Mars Outer Space Defense Command Center, on the enormous circular main screen, a node of the " Senjutsu Starlink " network located near Mars' orbit suddenly emitted an extremely weak, almost negligible alarm signal. On the screen, a tiny point of light, almost indistinguishable from the background noise, was rapidly magnified and highlighted in red.
"Report! In Zone C, inside the outer space of Mars, Starlink Network's Jūni sensing rune has detected an abnormal spatial fold reverberation. The intensity level is extremely low, but the pattern matching degree is 92%, which matches the previously preset ' Ōtsutsuki Clan space jump' characteristics!" A Hyuga Clan monitor shouted, his Byakugan staring intently at the screen, veins bulging.
Seated at the command center, Shikamaru Nara (a few years after the space battle, Shikamaru had become one of the core strategists of the Shinobi World army) sharpened his eyes and, without the slightest hesitation, ordered, "Activate the ' Spiderweb ' alarm, activate all nearby monitoring units, including the Senjutsu Mode sensing barriers set up in space around the asteroids! Find it!"
The command was transmitted instantly. An invisible network was activated. It wasn't just the technological radar and gravitational wave detectors, but also a mysterious barrier that combined Senjutsu Chakra and Natural Energy. These barriers, like the most sensitive spider webs, spread across the vast airspace surrounding the Shinobi World planet.
Almost simultaneously, the alarm inside the Shadow God Tree spaceship emitted a piercing shriek!
"Warning! Warning! Multi-layered, multi-attribute scanning beam detected! We've been discovered!" The team members stared in horror at the control panel, which had instantly turned completely red.
"How is this possible?! Our stealth techniques can even fool the radiation storms of stars!" the captain exclaimed incredulously.
What was once an empty star field is now filled with countless invisible energy waves that are coiling in from all directions, firmly locking onto their small spaceship. Some of these threads contain the vastness of Natural Energy, while others flow with the strange radiance of Chakra.
"Retreat! Perform a short-range space jump immediately!" the captain decided decisively.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
Shikamaru's calm voice rang out from the command center, "Target locked. ' Dawn ' railgun array, three rounds, coverage strike. ' Sage Art: Space Sealing Activated, disrupting spatial stability, preventing target from escaping."
In the near-Earth orbit of Mars' outer reaches, three massive orbital gun turrets, as large as mountains, slowly adjusted their angles, their muzzles gathering a breathtakingly intense light of mixed Natural Energy, so bright it resembled three miniature suns.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three incredibly thick beams of energy tore through the void, traversing millions of kilometers at speeds beyond visual perception, precisely covering the area where the Shadow Scouts Squad was located.
The Shadowship attempted to evade in an emergency, simultaneously erecting its strongest energy shield. However, faced with the " Dawn Nuclear Blast " bombardment, capable of instantly vaporizing asteroids, its shield shattered like paper. The ship, along with the three Ōtsutsuki Shadow Scouts inside, were completely annihilated in the absolute energy torrent without even a scream, leaving not a speck of dust behind.
The first squad of Shadow Scouts was completely wiped out.