Chapter 78: Fake Wood Release

"Ah!!!"

The black flames instantly enveloped Muzan Kibutsuji's entire body, and his painful howls echoed in the forest.

Seeing that his explosive clay could not kill Muzan Kibutsuji after several attacks, he did not struggle under the black flames, and his breath became weaker.

Deidara was excited to see the prey and wanted to get closer to take a closer look.

However, before he even got close to the black flame, he instinctively stopped; his nonchalant expression gradually turned serious. "What kind of Fire Release is this?" he wondered aloud.

Shinji was also observing Muzan Kibutsuji under Amaterasu at this moment.

If the opponent still possessed the power of the Demon King, then even Amaterasu should not be able to easily kill him. On the contrary, if the opponent died easily under Amaterasu, it meant that the opponent may have lost the power of the Demon King.

Soon, Muzan Kibutsuji's wailing became weaker.

Under the black flames of Amaterasu, his body gradually carbonized, then turned into powder and was washed into the soil by the rain.

Shinji felt a sense of relief.

At least he didn't have to worry about missing the chance for eternal life!

Deidara stared at the black flames still burning on the wet mud. "This is definitely not ordinary Fire Release. Some kind of change in nature? Hmm!" he mused.

Shinji extinguished 'Amaterasu' on the ground, released 'Susanoo', and slowly turned his gaze towards Deidara.

He had been trying to find Deidara recently, but unexpectedly, the invasion of demons had sent him to the Land of Rain, where he happened to encounter Deidara who was dispatched to chase demons.

As for why the demon appeared here in such a miserable state, he understood it after a moment's thought.

Clearly, his previous strategy had worked. By pretending to be Akatsuki to eliminate demons, he had indeed made the demons mistakenly believe that the "Lantern Bearer" of the ninja world was in Akatsuki.

At the same time, it confirmed his previous concern that a demon had indeed escaped his pursuit last time, and the basic information of the ninja world might have been leaked on a large scale.

After figuring this out, Shinji didn't mention the demon but directly asked Deidara, "How are you getting along with those people in the outer formation?"

Deidara thought for a moment and said, "It's not bad. They are an interesting group of guys! Hmm!"

This evaluation wasn't low.

Shinji carefully observed Deidara's expression.

Seeing that the other party looked natural and wasn't trying to deceive him or test his intentions, he guessed that Deidara hadn't revealed his existence within the Akatsuki organization.

So after a moment's thought, he calmly said, "A guy with two leaves on his head You've seen him before, right?"

"The guy with two leaves on his head?" After confirming, Deidara shook his head. "I'm not familiar with him. That guy is sneaky and not as easy to talk to as Brother Scorpion! Hmm!"

Shinji ordered, "Get me some of White Zetsu's cell tissue. Remember, do it secretly and don't let him find out."

Deidara asked, "Cell tissue? What do you need that for?"

"We need to confirm something." Shinji didn't elaborate but simply said, "I'll tell you later!"

After saying that, Shinji activated 'Naobi' and marked Deidara's spirit.

Before the invasion, he had adjusted the Mangekyō he was controlling.

Instead of controlling Fugaku's two Mangekyō as before, he had chosen one containing 'Amaterasu' and his grandmother Uchiha Jiri's containing 'Naobi'.

Although doing so would reduce the pupil's power because one was controlling two scattered Mangekyō that were not a pair, he could still use 'Amaterasu' and 'Naobi' at the same time.

Deidara seemed to think it wouldn't be difficult to secretly obtain some cell tissue. After thinking about it, he nodded and said, "How do I give it to you after I get it?"

Shinji took out a map and pointed to a small town on it. "After you succeed, stay here for a day, and I will contact you."

The town he was referring to was a transportation hub in the Land of Fire, exactly 80 kilometers away from Konoha Village, within the "directly adjacent" sensing range.

"Um!"

Deidara had no objection.

Shinji was still thinking about Haku and Karin, who were rushing to stop another demon, so he turned around and was about to leave.

Deidara suddenly stopped him and asked, "By the way, who were those guys you just killed? Why did they suddenly attack us? And why are they just like Hidan, whom Kakuzu just recruited, and we can't kill them no matter what?"

Looking at Deidara, Shinji sighed softly.

When his 'lamp' could detect ghosts, it meant that the mysterious 'light' that had been covering these demons and shielding them from detection had disappeared.

The shadow of the mysterious 'Lantern Bearer', while interfering with Shinji's perception of the 'lamp', had also enveloped the pollution of those demons.

So after the light disappeared, those demons, which were never polluted, suddenly became a source of pollution.

In other words, all the members of Akatsuki who had just fought with the demon and the villagers of the Hidden Rain Village who had seen the demon were now contaminated by the demon's information, including Deidara in front of him.

Although the degree may not be deep, this pollution existed, and except for the "Lantern Bearer", the polluted people were not aware that they had become the anchor connecting two different worlds.

Being stared at by Shinji made Deidara feel a little uneasy, so he said, "Hey, why are you looking at me like that?"

Shinji asked, "How many people are there?"

"Four of them, all with the words 'lower rank' engraved in their eyes!" After a pause, Deidara continued, "They stormed into the village and demanded the life of the leader as soon as they met him. Yes, I'm talking about the leader of the outer formation!"

Shinji retracted his gaze and said casually, "It might be some wandering ninja organization. Don't worry about it!"

Deidara questioned Shinji's judgment. "A wandering ninja organization? There are people among them who can perform Wood Release, but Wood Release doesn't seem as powerful as the rumors say. It can't even stop Itachi's Fire Release! Hmm!"

"Wood Release!?" Shinji was stunned for a moment, then thought to himself, "Among the Lower Rank Demons, are there any blood demon arts related to trees?"

Soon he remembered that Hantengu, one of the original Upper Rank Demons, seemed to possess a blood demon art to control trees.

However, the trees controlled by the Blood Demon Art were obviously different from the Wood Release of the First Hokage.

The First Hokage's Wood Release was essentially a derivative of the power of the Sacred Tree and a part of the Bloodline (kekkei totã which is above kekkei genkai), which was far from being comparable to the Blood Demon Jutsu.

But at first glance, this Blood Demon Technique of controlling trees could indeed be so realistic that people might mistake it for the Wood Release.

"I wonder if there will be this Blood Demon Art among the spoils later."

After saying this to himself, Shinji reminded Deidara not to reveal his existence to the outer members and then rushed towards Haku and Karin's direction.

[The intrusion was successfully blocked]

[The rift closes.]

Suddenly, he heard the sound of the "light" successfully resisting the invasion.

End of chapter