"Not good!"
With his pupils constricted and his whole body trembling, Que stared intently at the sharp hand reaching towards his head.
"Move! Get moving!"
Time seemed to rewind to her Genin days, just like when she first faced Jonin -level opponent.
He was fully aware of the deadly attack approaching, but his body felt like a machine that hadn't been maintained in a long time, sluggish and rusty.
Faced with the sharp, lightning-like hand that came crashing down on her, she couldn't even muster the strength to dodge.
Before I knew it, past memories flooded back to me like a revolving lantern.
The joy of cooking a meal for my sick mother for the first time, the excitement of refining Chakra for the first time, the longing to receive the ninja Forehead Protector and become a Genin...
Her mind raced, and as the memories flooded back to the present, Sparrow opened her eyes in astonishment, her pupils filled with surprise.
How come I'm not dead yet?
Thinking of this, the sparrow's eyes suddenly focused, looking ahead.
A sharp hand stopped in front of her, just an inch away from piercing her delicate eyeball.
"What's going on...?"
Subconsciously taking a few steps back, Que stared in horror at Hirakawa Shin'un, who was inexplicably frozen in place in an attack stance.
Its two-meter-tall body leans forward with an overwhelming presence, and blue-purple plasma slowly flows between the gaps in its shell.
An arm stretched out, its sharp, gleaming hand held out in the air. The gaping maw of its face was wide open, revealing a dense array of tiny, sharp teeth. Even now, as it stood still, the sheer power of its attack still lingered.
What's going on?
At this moment, noticing Hirakawa Shin'un's unusual behavior, Fugaku Uchiha had already retreated to a distance, shouted from afar:
What's wrong with it?
"Have no idea..."
Hearing Fugaku Uchiha's shout from afar, Suzume stood still and shook his head, equally puzzled by Hirakawa Shin'un's state before him.
Sparrow tried to take a step forward and waved her hand in front of Hirakawa Shin'un.
It stood still, motionless.
Seeing this, Que mustered her courage and reached out to place her hand on Hirakawa Shin'un's chest, which was covered by a blue-purple carapace. Feeling the hard, slightly hot touch of her palm, she applied a little force.
It stood still, swaying gently.
"It... is it under Genjutsu?"
Seeing Hirakawa Shin'un standing there in a daze, Que could only interpret it as Genjutsu based on her limited experience.
"That's impossible."
Seeing that the sparrow was unharmed after being touched, Fugaku Uchiha Body Flicker Technique beside the sparrow, frowning as he Hirakawa Shin'un, who was standing still in place.
"Why is it impossible?" Sparrow turned to ask.
Raising his hand, Fugaku Uchiha pointed to the blood-red Mitsudomoe that was slowly rotating in his pupils.
"The moment I saw the monsters, I tried to use Genjutsu on them."
"But unfortunately, they lack reason; their attacks rely on primal instincts. While this might slightly hinder their movements, it's impossible for them to remain stationary like this."
"What's going on here...?"
Hearing Fugaku Uchiha's words, he nodded knowingly, then looked at Hirakawa Shin'un in front of him and fell into confusion again.
"None of the other monsters have ever exhibited this phenomenon."
"We're not in a position to think about these things yet," Fugaku Uchiha said, startling the pensive Suzume out of his thoughts.
Pointing to Hirakawa Shin'un, who was standing still, Fugaku Uchiha said expressionlessly:
I'll be blunt.
" Hirakawa Shin'un is one of the strongest shinobi in the entire Konoha. Now he has become a monster. With the speed he just displayed, none of the more than two hundred people here can stop him."
"Fortunately, it's frozen in place for some reason, as if under Genjutsu. This is our chance."
"So,
Instead of discussing why it stopped here, let's take this opportunity to...
Upon hearing Fugaku Uchiha's words, Suzume's expression became complicated.
Indeed, no one can guarantee that Hirakawa Shin'un won't regain its mobility and launch another attack.
"Okay, let's do it together."
After much deliberation, and feeling a sense of mental disorientation, Que decided to take action.
Just as Sparrow raised his hand, preparing to Hand Seals, a voice from afar immediately interrupted him.
"Etc!"
Hearing the sound coming from afar, the two stopped fighting and turned to look.
The visitor was the head of the Hyuga clan.
"What's wrong?"
When the Hyuga clan leader arrived in front of the two, Fugaku Uchiha immediately asked:
Why are you stopping us?
Glancing at Fugaku Uchiha, the Hyuga clan leader looked at Hirakawa Shin'un, who remained frozen in his attack stance, with a complicated expression, and said:
" Chakra appeared within its body."
So what!
Upon seeing that the Hyuga clan leader had stopped him for this reason, Fugaku Uchiha immediately frowned and asked in return:
" Chakra 'Tsunade body, but as you just saw, she attacked Hirakawa Shin'un without any rationality, just like those monsters."
"This is different!"
Upon hearing Fugaku Uchiha's words, the Hyuga clan head shook his head.
"The reason Tsunade has Chakra is because the Yin Seal on her forehead, which stores Chakra, is activated."
Pointing to his Byakugan, which was activated within its socket, the Hyuga clan leader stated definitively:
"My eyes can see clearly that the Chakra appearing in Hirakawa Shin'un's body was completely extracted bit by bit from various parts of his body."
"And the Chakra aura is exactly the same as before. Do you know what that means?"
Upon hearing the Hyuga clan leader's words, Fugaku Uchiha and Suzaku looked at Hirakawa Shin'un in astonishment.
After a brief pause, Fugaku Uchiha muttered to himself:
"If this is true, it means that Hirakawa Shin'un, who had become a monster, has regained his sanity..."
"Incredible."
Beside her, the sparrow spoke out the thoughts in its mind.
"If it's just the presence of Chakra within the body, there are many possible explanations."
"But if even the Chakra aura is exactly the same as before, then the only explanation is that Hirakawa Shin'un has regained his sanity."
"That's right." The Hyuga clan leader nodded and explained:
"You should know that Chakra is composed of two parts: physical energy and spiritual energy. The spiritual energy is the primary factor that determines the Chakra aura."
"Differences in willpower, mental state, and past experiences all contribute to the unique spiritual energy of each ninja."
Just as no two leaves in the world are the same, every ninja's Chakra aura is unique, representing the depths of that ninja's heart.
"If it were just the presence of Chakra, it could be explained as the monster having learned to refine Chakra. But if even the Chakra aura is the same as before, it can only mean that Hirakawa Shin'un has regained his sanity."
Nodding, Que's mind was already in turmoil for what felt like the umpteenth time today.
"But if he truly regained his sanity, then why...?"
He pointed to Hirakawa Shin'un, who was standing still in front of him, and Sparrow's meaning was clear.
Shaking his head, the Hyuga clan leader had a complicated expression.
"He stopped just before attacking you, which also shows that he regained his senses."
"But now that he's regained his senses, why is he still standing there...? Only he knows the answer."
Darkness, silence, nothingness.
Unsure of where in the world he was, or perhaps even beyond, Shin'un regained consciousness in a daze.
"Where... am I?"
"I unleashed Lightning Pillar... I should be dead..."
Nu
Suppressing his mental distress, Shin'un looked around.
In complete darkness, there was nothing in sight, only an endless expanse of emptiness and nothingness.
But in this darkness, a faint light appeared.
Upon realizing this, Shin'un was just beginning to feel confused when his consciousness sank once more.
After an unknown amount of time in the dark space, Shin'un regained consciousness.
He opened his eyes and looked toward the light.
Am I glowing?