Ch.193 Sense of Duty

"Huff, huff, huff..."

Neji sprinted along the rugged mountain path, his chest heaving like an old bellows, his breathing ragged and unsteady.

Behind him, several figures blended into the darkness, chasing after him.

Clearly.

Hiashi's squad had not been able to take care of all the demons, and no matter how Neji tried to take detours, he ended up being pursued by them.

Thankfully, Neji had the Byakugan, and after learning from Hiashi that these demons had nearly indestructible bodies, he avoided fighting them directly. Instead, he broke through their pursuit, doing his best to run toward the anchor point.

The demons weren't going to let Neji, who was rushing toward the anchor point, go easily. Both sides had clashed multiple times on the rugged mountain path, leaving Neji injured, his blood staining the ground.

Seeing blood only excited the demons further. They let out eerie screeches, as if intent on tearing Neji to shreds.

Neji glanced back at the demons chasing him, and his expression became more resolute.

In his heart, saving the shinobi world was his priority!

As for himself, if it was for the sake of saving the shinobi world, he was willing to sacrifice his life.

Boom, boom, boom!

Suddenly, a rumbling came from up ahead.

Next, the ground beneath him shook as if an earthquake had struck.

"What happened?"

Neji looked ahead, surprised. The direction of the sound was exactly where he was heading—his target.

Even with the Byakugan, its observation range was limited. So, after struggling past several mountain peaks, exhausting himself, he finally reached the anchor point, only to witness an unforgettable scene!

In the valley in the distance, a massive red Susanoo was sweeping through the demons like an unstoppable force.

Those terrifying demons, with their grotesque forms and incredible regenerative abilities, were as fragile as toys before the massive red Susanoo.

The spear in the Susanoo's hand struck the ground with immense power, shaking the earth with each blow. Its speed was astonishing, and many demons didn't even have time to react before they were reduced to pulp, their remains mixed with shattered rocks.

The demons that had been chasing Neji abandoned him upon seeing that the anchor point was under threat, rushing towards it instead.

"This..."

Neji's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief.

After the initial shock, he gradually composed himself. "So Lord Shinji arranged for other Akatsuki members to deal with this crisis!"

Because of Shinji's stories, Neji believed that within Akatsuki, there were those who upheld justice and those who had fallen into evil.

The Akatsuki member before him, dressed in a hooded red cloud cloak and wearing a mask like Shinji, clearly seemed to belong to the faction within Akatsuki that still upheld justice.

Realizing this, Neji let out a sigh of relief.

With such a powerful person stepping in, he believed that the crisis could be resolved smoothly. So he hid himself, silently observing the battle.

"Why does this Susanoo seem even larger than Lord Shinji's?"

His attention was entirely focused on the majestic Susanoo, which stood like a god descending upon the battlefield.

What puzzled him was that this red Susanoo seemed noticeably larger and more imposing than Shinji's golden Susanoo.

He also noticed that there were far more demons in the valley than he had anticipated—just a glance revealed hundreds.

Among them, two demons stood out, clearly much stronger than the others, with much denser chakra.

One of the demons held a long sword like a warrior, with dark lightning flickering along the blade. The other had a pair of exaggeratedly sharp claws.

"Upper Moon Six... Upper Moon Five..."

After focusing all his dojutsu, he finally saw the inscriptions in the eyes of those two demons.

Clearly.

These two demons, far stronger than the others, were newly appointed Upper Moon demons.

"Upper Moon Six" was Kaiaku, a former swordsman who had mastered the "Breath of Lightning" before falling and becoming a demon. From its exaggerated form, "Upper Moon Five" seemed to be an ordinary demon that had ascended in rank.

Although these two demons were obviously stronger than the others—in speed, power, and the chakra within them, they were at the level of elite jōnnin. With nearly indestructible bodies, they could even stand their ground against a Kage.

Yet, before that gigantic red Susanoo, they fared no better than the other demons.

Their attacks were as futile as scratching an itch; they couldn't shake the Susanoo at all. Conversely, any casual strike from the Susanoo could smash them into pulp.

Even with their near-immortal bodies, their aura gradually weakened under the repeated damage and recovery.

Seeing this, Neji couldn't help but exclaim, "This is the power of the Uchiha clan!"

On Karin's side.

Under the stimulation of fear, she had pushed the power of her Mangekyō Sharingan to its limit.

But she was only seven years old, still years away from graduating from the Hidden Leaf's shinobi academy to become a genin. After a relentless burst of power, she started feeling a stinging pain in her eyes.

Undoubtedly.

No matter how strong her body was, she was only seven years old and still not fully developed. She couldn't sustain multiple Mangekyō dojutsu for long periods, and her eye power was running out.

Purely physical attacks could certainly hurt the demons, but they weren't as effective as Shinji's Amaterasu.

Moreover, the sheer number of demons guarding the anchor point was overwhelming. As the relentless demons charged at her, Karin instinctively commanded her Susanoo to start retreating.

After all, her Susanoo was only an almost complete version, not a fully complete one. It lacked wings, which was the best indication that it couldn't fly.

From afar.

Seeing Karin retreating with her Susanoo, Neji was momentarily confused. "Clearly, she has the absolute advantage. Why is she retreating?"

Quickly, as he watched the countless demons in the valley chase after the retreating Susanoo, he slapped his thigh in realization. "Got it! There are too many demons guarding the valley. She's trying to draw them away so I can infiltrate the valley and destroy the anchor point!"

Upon realizing this, Neji felt a strong sense of mission.

Without any hesitation, he leaped down from the cliff where he was hiding, using the rugged terrain as cover to inch closer and closer to the cave where the anchor point was located.