Ch.76 Your Life, I'll Take It!

The light rain drizzled down like endless curtains hanging from the sky, blending into the deep night, as if frozen in time and never ceasing.

In the rain, four figures draped in thick black cloaks of varying heights gazed toward the distant town bathed in the misty downpour.

Among the four, a hunched figure with eyes marked by the words "Lower Moon Two" licked his lips and said, "Ahead is the Hidden Rain Village. That organization's headquarters should be here!"

"I didn't expect it to be so hard to find. I had to devour over a hundred people to gather this information."

Next to him, a woman's voice rang out.

The woman, whose eyes were marked with the words "Lower Moon Four," was also a demon.

"Lower Moon Two" chuckled, "Well, it's only natural that it's hard to find such a big shot in this world."

The woman covered her mouth and laughed, "To think Rui and Enmu fell in such a place! I thought this world was much more terrifying, but the so-called jonin and their so-called jutsu are nothing but cheap tricks! The boss sending all four of us here was overly cautious."

The leader, whose eyes were marked with "Lower Moon One," shot a glance at "Lower Moon Four," saying, "Are you questioning the boss's decision?"

The woman shrank back, taking a step away.

At that moment, the demon marked as "Lower Moon Three" chuckled, "She's not completely wrong. This world isn't as strong as we imagined. The shinobi with chakra are far too fragile. Those few jonin I devoured from Hidden Grass Village weren't even worth me taking seriously."

"Lower Moon Two" joined in the laughter, "It's a shame we didn't encounter one of those 'Kage' that the shinobi speak so highly of. I imagine they'd be a bit more entertaining than the jonin. One of the jonin from the Hidden Cloud Village swore up and down that their Raikage would avenge them."

The woman chimed in, "A 'Kage' is just a slightly stronger jonin. How much stronger could they be? Could they take on all four of us at once? Even the Upper Moons couldn't handle that! But the chakra in this world is truly convenient. I feel my Blood Demon Art has grown several times stronger!"

The leader, "Lower Moon One," raised a hand, signaling the others to be quiet. "The Hidden Rain Village is the headquarters of a major figure in this world. His power should far exceed the jonin you've consumed. He may be three or four times stronger than the ones you've faced. Don't get careless."

"Lower Moon Two" asked eagerly, "Can we devour him?"

The woman licked her lips, "I bet he'll taste amazing!"

"Lower Moon One" thought for a moment and then said, "Leave the heart for me."

The demons let out eerie laughter.

"Let's go. Completing the boss's task is the priority. Our time is running short!"

With that, the leader, "Lower Moon One," took a step toward the rain-soaked Hidden Rain Village, and the other three black-cloaked demons followed.

Not long after, the four demons arrived at the Hidden Rain Village.

As they walked through the streets, they suppressed their bloodthirsty urges, passing by villagers of the Hidden Rain, making their way toward the tall tower in the center of the village.

Just as they were about to reach the tower, a figure descended from the sky, hovering in mid-air, blocking their path.

All four demons looked up. The figure floating in the air wore a red cloud cloak, had orange hair, and possessed eerie, concentric rings in his eyes.

There was no doubt: the figure blocking their way was none other than Deva Path Pain.

Pain gazed coldly at the four black-cloaked demons before him and said, "Intruders, state your purpose!"

The leader, "Lower Moon One," kept his face hidden beneath his hood as he stepped forward, "We've come to pay a visit to the leader of the Akatsuki organization."

Pain responded, "That's me."

"Lower Moon One" slowly removed his hood, revealing a sinister grin as he looked at Deva Path Pain. "Your majesty, I, Kibutsuji Muzan, 'Lower Moon One,' have come to take your life!"

Pain remained expressionless.

...

Hidden Leaf Village.

At the training grounds…

"You want to spar with me!?"

Uchiha Shinji scratched his head, looking at Sasuke, whose face was covered in bruises.

Sasuke, his expression serious, said, "Shinji, this time you have to help me!"

Haku, standing nearby, leaned over and whispered into Shinji's ear, "Shinji, you probably don't know since you haven't been at the academy much, but Kimimaro has been beating up Sasuke every day."

Shinji was stunned. "Every day?"

Haku nodded, a hint of sympathy in his eyes.

It was clear that Sasuke wasn't stupid. After realizing he couldn't defeat Kimimaro, he stopped challenging him.

However, Kimimaro didn't let him off the hook. Since Sasuke wasn't challenging him, Kimimaro took the initiative to challenge Sasuke every day.

As a result, the academy had witnessed the spectacle of Sasuke being beaten by Kimimaro daily.

Shinji, choosing his words carefully, offered, "Maybe I should talk to him?"

Sasuke, gritting his teeth, replied, "No! I'm going to beat that bastard myself!"

Shinji sighed, "Alright, let's spar."

Soon, both of them got into position.

Whoosh!

Sasuke couldn't hold back and quickly lunged at Shinji.

"He's fast!"

Shinji was caught off guard and instinctively activated his Breathing Technique.

Bang bang bang!

The sound of fists and kicks clashing echoed throughout the training ground.

At some point, Neji appeared on the sidelines, activating his Byakugan as he quietly observed the fight.

A few minutes later…

Boom!

A figure was sent flying out of the training area, crashing into a large tree, causing the branches to shake and leaves to scatter.

"Damn it!"

Sasuke leaned against the tree, struggling to get back on his feet.

There was no doubt—the figure that had been knocked out of the arena was Sasuke.

In the center of the training ground, Shinji stood, breathing heavily, his expression conflicted.

Though he had won, there was no hint of satisfaction on his face. Instead, his mind was in turmoil.

Sasuke was growing too fast!

Just a few weeks ago, Shinji had been confident that, with his mastery of the Water Breathing Technique, he could easily crush Sasuke in a taijutsu fight.

But now, he realized that if he didn't give it his all, he couldn't suppress Sasuke.

Of course, by "all," he meant without using his Mangekyou Sharingan or his spider silk techniques.

Shinji now understood how Rock Lee must have felt in the original timeline.

Next, Neji took his turn and sparred with Sasuke.

The fight lasted a bit longer than Shinji's, but Sasuke still ended up losing. After all, in terms of taijutsu, Neji's Gentle Fist was formidable.

Watching from the sidelines, Shinji thought to himself, "Right now, I'm probably about 1.3 times stronger than Sasuke. Neji's probably around 1.2 to 1.1 times stronger. If Kimimaro can completely dominate Sasuke, he must be way stronger than us."

[Dimensional Invasion Detected.]

[Countdown: 0]

[Prepare for immediate engagement.]

Suddenly, the voice of the Lamp echoed in Shinji's ears.