Cold, shivering...
In the pitch-black depths of the underground, a faint sound of movement suddenly came from somewhere.
At this moment, Shin'un tensed up, closed his eyes tightly, and dared not make any movement, Jonin Mōri extending from his right shoulder to guide his stealth.
Thanks to Jonin Mōri's masterful use of Earth Release techniques, the soil and rocks in their path seemed to transform into flowing water, allowing the two to easily traverse them.
Meanwhile, the pressure emanating from deep underground was greatly alleviated by the Jonin Mōri using some unknown means.
The immense pressure that could easily crush a person into a pulp seemed to transform into countless soft hands, gently caressing Shin'un's entire body as he moved forward.
At this moment, Shin'un actually felt a sense of enjoyment.
"So this is what it feels like when those Earth Release ninjas burrow underground..."
Such a thought flashed through Shin'un's mind.
With a smirk to himself, Shin'un refocused his attention, paying close attention to everything happening above him.
Perhaps because of the loss of sight, Shin'un had to focus more on his other senses, making them more sensitive than before.
Based on his heightened senses, Shin'un successfully... found nothing.
He is currently at least ten meters below the ground. What noise could possibly travel here from the surface?
Of course, Shin'un's heightened senses weren't entirely useless; at least they allowed him to better enjoy the massage from the "soft palms."
Since things had come to this, Shin'un simply lay down and quietly let the Jonin Mōri carry him rapidly underground.
A minute passed quickly, Jonin Mōri leading the way suddenly stopped.
Immediately afterwards, Shin'un keenly realized that he was rising.
Have we arrived?
The thought had barely crossed his mind when Shin'un's head had already emerged from the ground.
The muddy and unsightly ground of the Land of Rain was the first thing that came into view. Shin'un had never felt that it was so lovely before, and even the lightning that flashed across the sky seemed to become more endearing.
When his upper body emerged from the ground and his palms touched the muddy ground, Shin'un let out a heavy sigh of relief, finally feeling at ease.
After all, while the feeling of being led underground for the first time was novel, the experience of losing sight, the ability to move, and having one's life in the hands of others was truly unpleasant.
With a sigh in his heart, Shin'un frowned and looked at what was in front of him.
That was the core objective of his mission: a fortress-type puppet!
The location where the Jonin Mōri brought him was perfect, right behind the fortress-like puppet, at a very close distance.
Its enormous size completely filled Shin'un's field of vision, and every detail on its steel shell was clearly visible. In addition, the numerous dark metal pipes with holes protruding from its surface exuded a dangerous aura, giving it an extremely high level of intimidation.
"Sizzle~"
Seeing this, Shin'un pulled his last two legs off the ground, a wisp of blue-purple electricity flashing across his body.
Shin'un exchanged a silent glance with the serious-looking, frowning Jonin Mōri beside him, and began to Hand Seals without uttering a word.
"Smack!"
In an instant, Shin'un had completed the Hand Seals and clasped his hands together tightly.
Streams of tiny electric currents suddenly appeared around Shin'un and merged into one above his head, eventually transforming into a bolt of lightning resembling a snake.
"Sizzle~"
Shin'un frowned, trying his best to make the snake-shaped current above his head even thinner and longer, and to minimize the noise and light.
Finally, with a thought from Shin'un, the dark-colored, thin-line-like lightning bolt above his head suddenly moved, approaching the thunderclouds in the sky at an extremely fast speed.
"Boom!"
The thunderclouds in the sky seemed to sense a wisp of electricity rapidly approaching from below. After a brief moment of preparation, they suddenly erupted in a flash of light, followed by a ferocious bolt of lightning striking down.
Unfortunately, it changed course the instant it fell, abruptly turning 180 degrees and swerving away, missing the rapidly ascending Lightning Snake.
This minor, unexpected incident did not affect Shin'un's operations.
The tiny Lightning Snake that appeared above Shin'un's head made contact with the thunderclouds in the sky a moment later.
"Phew~"
Seeing this, Shin'un took a deep breath, raised his head, and looked intently at the sky, at the countless raging lightning bolts flowing within the thunderclouds.
From this moment on, the greatest challenge in performing this unfinished Ninjutsu is about to begin.
Shin'un opened his eyes wide, and his [ Extreme Reaction ] kicked in quickly, causing the world in his eyes to slow down rapidly.
He saw the trajectory of the lightning!
The moment he saw clearly, Shin'un separated his clasped hands, using his mind to control his hands to form different hand seals.
At the same time, Shin'un spoke to the Jonin Mōri beside him who was watching him perform Ninjutsu:
" Jonin Mōri, from this moment on, I can no longer conceal the movements of my Ninjutsu. Be prepared!"
Before the Jonin Mōri Mori could even ask what preparations had been made, Shin'un's aura suddenly changed.
The previously peaceful Chakra circulation within his body suddenly accelerated, surging wildly outwards.
At the same time, the dim, thin current above Shin'un's head suddenly expanded to the thickness of a bucket and rapidly extended upwards.
"I..."
Seeing the thin, dim current above Shin'un's head suddenly thicken, as if it had transformed into a massive pillar of lightning piercing the heavens and earth, illuminating a blindingly bright flash, the previously composed Jonin Mōri was instantly stunned.
He turned his head and looked at the battlefield not far away.
As expected, such a commotion could not be hidden, and a considerable number of Sand Ninja were already looking in this direction.
Even the fortress golem in front of them stopped in its tracks, remaining still for two seconds before its metal pipes rose up, pointing at Mōri and his companion.
You should have said so earlier!
Seeing this, the Jonin Mōri, unable to maintain his composure, stared with cold sweat at the dark openings in the metal pipes on the fortress-like puppet.
Nearby, Shin'un was concentrating on adjusting his Chakra and watching the lightning in the thunderclouds above his head, so he had no time or energy to notice what the Jonin Mōri was saying.
"I need to speed things up; the Jonin Mōri might not last more than a few seconds against a fortress-type puppet."
A thought flashed through Shin'un's mind, and he frowned. He immediately began to remotely control the snake-shaped lightning extending into the thundercloud, causing it to change.
Visibly, the previously blurry snake head immediately exploded in the thundercloud, turning into countless tiny electric currents that quickly spread out and clung to the numerous thick lightning bolts in the thundercloud.
Gradually, with Shin'un's precise manipulation, the situation within the thundercloud changed from a small current slowly following the movement of the lightning to a small current guiding the movement of the lightning within the thundercloud.
Shin'un continuously drew together countless bolts of lightning from the massive thundercloud above his head. Several enormous lightning bolts, radiating terrifying power and dazzling light that was impossible to look directly at, appeared out of thin air, as if suspended below the thundercloud by lightning ropes.
"Now!"
Sensing that the time was ripe to unleash his Ninjutsu, Shin'un immediately began to change the hand seals on his hands. His eyes, which had been focused on the thunderclouds above his head, finally shifted and looked directly at the fortress-like puppet in front of him.
It was preparing to unleash the massive amount of lightning that had been accumulating above its head upon it.