Ch.160 Leave This to You!

To be honest, the scene before Shinji surprised him.

He had never expected to encounter members of the Akatsuki organization here in the Moon Country, especially at this time.

However, he quickly noticed the unconscious Two-Tails Jinchuriki Yugito, hanging from Hidan's bloody triple-bladed scythe, and felt a jolt of alarm.

"Has the Akatsuki organization already started collecting Tailed Beasts?" He paused, thinking to himself, "That doesn't make sense... Naruto hasn't even graduated from the shinobi academy yet."

But the furious Otsutsuki elder didn't give Shinji much time to ponder. With a wave of his hand, a massive repulsive force surged forward, sending Shinji, who was carrying Neji, as well as Kakuzu, and Hidan with his bloody scythe carrying Yugito, flying through the air.

Boom!

Immediately afterward, the grass, trees, water from the lake, and even the heavy rocks were uprooted and scattered by this repulsive force, as if the ground had been plowed by an invisible blade, leaving a long, deep trench.

Dazed from being flung through the air, Hidan shook his head, "What the hell just happened?"

Nearby, Kakuzu, who had crashed into a large tree, was equally disoriented, taking several breaths to regain his senses, "Damn it!"

Hidan then dusted himself off, yanked the bloody scythe back to his hand using the rope, and as he twisted his neck, he shouted at the Otsutsuki elder, "Hey, old man, are you looking for death?"

Swish.

Kakuzu landed beside Hidan and asked, "Where's the Jinchuriki?"

Hidan pouted, "How would I know where she flew off to!"

Across from them.

The Otsutsuki elder frowned slightly.

He hadn't held back in that last attack. Logically, anyone hit by such a powerful force should have sustained severe injuries, even himself if caught off guard.

Yet, unexpectedly, these two just brushed themselves off and stood up as if nothing had happened.

The Otsutsuki elder grew wary.

If it were just Shinji, he wouldn't have been concerned, but seeing that Shinji belonged to an organization and that its members were formidable, he realized the gravity of the situation: "These shinobi, though despicable, possess undeniable strength! What are they planning by infiltrating the moon and sneaking into my clan's castle?"

Similarly, Shinji, who had been thrown back by the repulsive force, managed to use his Susanoo just in time, cushioning his landing and reducing the impact.

Coincidentally, the unconscious Yugito fell nearby, so he used his Susanoo to grab both Neji and Yugito. After glancing at the standoff between the Otsutsuki elder and Kakuzu and Hidan, he quickly made up his mind, saying, "I'll leave this place to you!"

With that, he vanished into the forest without looking back.

Hidan paused for a moment, "Hey, he just took the Jinchuriki, didn't he?"

Kakuzu's expression darkened.

As part of Nagato's faction, Kakuzu recognized that members wearing masks and hooded red-cloud robes belonged to a different faction within the organization.

Originally, the two sides didn't interfere with each other. But for this mission, Konan had mentioned that members from the other faction would be participating, and they were expected to cooperate, which was why he hesitated.

And it was during that brief hesitation that the masked figure took off with the Two-Tails Jinchuriki right before his eyes.

The Otsutsuki elder, hearing Shinji's words, grew even more certain that Kakuzu and Hidan were there specifically to assist Shinji, so he wasted no time, raising his hand once more.

Boom!

Another massive repulsive force materialized, sending Kakuzu and Hidan flying again.

This time, more prepared from the previous experience, Kakuzu used Earth Release to harden his body as he was pushed back, while Hidan threw his bloody scythe, hooking it onto a distant boulder, using the rope to stabilize himself.

Whoosh.

The Otsutsuki elder flickered and appeared right in front of Hidan, thrusting a Tenseigan chakra orb into Hidan's chest.

"You—!?"

Hidan was stunned at first, then quickly alarmed.

He felt a massive force siphoning his chakra from within, as a wave of weakness swept over him.

The Otsutsuki elder withdrew the Tenseigan chakra orb from Hidan's chest.

Now, the chakra orb, which had previously glowed bright blue, turned dark green, tainted by Hidan's chakra.

But this also meant that Hidan's chakra had been fully drained.

The elder, eyes brimming with killing intent, declared, "Vile creature, prepare for purification!"

With this roar, he transformed the chakra he had extracted from Hidan into a chakra beam and slammed it back into Hidan's chest.

Boom!

The resulting explosion sent Hidan flying backward, smashing into the trunk of a large tree before his momentum finally stopped.

Seeing that Hidan's chest had been pierced through, leaving a large, gaping wound, the elder turned his attention to Kakuzu.

Kakuzu, who had witnessed everything, looked grim as if his face could drip water.

He didn't even know who this crazy old man was, yet he had been thoroughly beaten.

"Who the hell is this old man? Is he from the Hidden Cloud?" he wondered silently. Keeping a wary eye on the Otsutsuki elder, he shouted at Hidan, "How long do you plan to play dead?"

Hidan, who had been drained of chakra and felt weak all over, grumbled, "Damn, that old geezer sucked away all my chakra!"

Hearing this, the Otsutsuki elder turned sharply, staring at the sight of Hidan, who should have been mortally wounded, but was now sitting against a tree, shouting angrily. "How... How is this possible?"

"Absorbing chakra? Some kind of Dark Release?!"

Kakuzu was increasingly certain that this burned elder was no ordinary opponent.

The Otsutsuki elder then reached out, using his chakra to drag Hidan to him, lifting him up with one hand. After scanning him with the Byakugan, he sensed the presence of the Jashin cult's energy within Hidan, shouting, "Filth!"

With that, he tossed Hidan aside like trash and then dashed towards Kakuzu.

Kakuzu quickly formed hand seals, "Lightning Release: False Darkness!"

The elder didn't dodge. Instead, he absorbed Kakuzu's lightning technique using the Tenseigan chakra orb, and then thrust the electrified orb straight into Kakuzu's chest.

Startled, Kakuzu leapt backward.

But as soon as he reached mid-air, a mysterious force pulled him back, forcing him to crash into the Tenseigan chakra orb held by the Otsutsuki elder.

Whoosh!

In an instant, Kakuzu's chest was pierced through, his hardened Earth Release body being no match for the lightning-enhanced Tenseigan chakra orb.

Withdrawing his arm from Kakuzu's chest, the Otsutsuki elder wasted no time and immediately pursued Shinji's direction.

Having infiltrated the moon and the clan's castle, Shinji likely possessed knowledge of many Otsutsuki clan secrets, so the elder would only feel at ease by killing him.

After the Otsutsuki elder departed, Kakuzu, collapsed on the ground, slowly got up again.

"If that old man doesn't have a bounty on his head, this whole ordeal will have been a loss!"

Considering the hearts he had already lost during the fight with the Two-Tails Jinchuriki Yugito, he was down three hearts by now.

The thought made him grit his teeth in frustration.

He then found Hidan, who was equally covered in blood, and asked, "Are you dead?"

Hidan immediately grumbled, "You're the one who's dead! Now help me up; I'm going to kill that old bastard!"

Kakuzu hoisted Hidan up, and the two trudged after the Otsutsuki elder.

...

Meanwhile, on Shinji's side.

After grabbing the unconscious Neji and Yugito and diving into the forest, Shinji noticed explosions resounding throughout, indicating that battles were happening all over the place.

"What's going on? Are the Five Great Shinobi Nations battling the Akatsuki?"

Shinji was confused.

He had previously learned through Shion that the Five Great Nations' current focus was on gathering information about the Akatsuki organization. He couldn't understand how things had escalated to an all-out battle here in the Moon Country, with even the Two-Tails Jinchuriki captured.

He deactivated his Susanoo and, carrying Neji and Yugito, leapt to the treetop to assess the situation.

Soon, he spotted the fierce battle between the Eight-Tails and Moryo in the distance, as well as a blue lightning bolt speeding through the battlefield.

"The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Killer Bee and the Fourth Raikage!?"

Realizing this, he understood that the battle wasn't between the Five Great Nations and the Akatsuki, but rather the Hidden Cloud taking on the Akatsuki alone.

"Is it all to gain intel on the Akatsuki?" He paused, then thought, "With the Raikage and two Jinchuriki in action, the Hidden Cloud is certainly going all out!"

Though he was curious about the reasons behind the clash between the Hidden Cloud and the Akatsuki, this wasn't the time to investigate.

With that thought, Shinji descended from the tree and moved away from the battlefield.

But he had barely taken a few steps when he encountered another battlefield.

However, this battle seemed to have already ended, with two Hidden Cloud shinobi lying dead amidst the wreckage.

Shinji glanced at the scene, choosing not to linger, and swiftly passed through.

"You—"

Suddenly, one of the supposedly dead Hidden Cloud shinobi made a sound.

Shinji turned to find that the ninja, whom he had thought dead, was still clinging to life, staring directly at him, eyes filled with defiance.

Shinji glanced at him, then resumed his pace, leaving without a word.

Watching as Shinji took Yugito away, the wounded Hidden Cloud shinobi, Cee, was filled with sorrow, "Damn it, he didn't even think I was worth killing... I... I really am worthless!"

Clearly, Cee, who was severely injured, interpreted Shinji's decision not to finish him off as a sign of disdain.

After all, in the world of shinobi, not only was it common to finish off enemies, but even the corpses of fallen foes would often be taken back to the village for research. To Cee, Shinji's actions could only mean one thing: contempt.

And as he thought of how his team of four had fallen—Captain Yugito and Ranton user Karui captured, Magnet Release user Gassatsu killed, and himself grievously injured—he was consumed with despair.

...

On the battlefield of Killer Bee and Moryo.

Fully transformed into the Eight-Tails, Killer Bee clearly had the upper hand in terms of destructive power. But as long as the priestess remained, Moryo was effectively immortal. No matter how many Tailed Beast Bombs Killer Bee unleashed, or how many times he shattered Moryo, the creature would always regenerate its tentacles and revive.

As the battle wore on, Killer Bee began to notice that Moryo's chakra seemed to be gradually eroding his own. Though the effect was still minor, it was an ominous trend.

"We can't keep fighting like this!" The Eight-Tails cautioned Killer Bee, "Looks like we'll need sealing techniques to deal with this creature!"

Killer Bee replied, "Then we'll have to wait for the sealing squad to arrive!"

Both Killer Bee and the Fourth Raikage were top-tier offensive shinobi, but they lacked proficiency in sealing techniques.

He wasn't entirely without options, though. He had mastered the Million Anger Points Frenzy Flow, a powerful sealing jutsu.

However, that technique was mainly effective against human-shaped targets, making it difficult to use against the massive Moryo.

The Eight-Tails warned again, "Yugito's chakra has vanished for a while now. The situation isn't in our favor; we should fall back!"

Killer Bee didn't insist and quickly agreed with the Eight-Tails' suggestion. After forcing Moryo back, he released his Tailed Beast state and flashed over to the Fourth Raikage's side, "Brother, we need to retreat for now!"

Enraged by his battle with Shennong, the Fourth Raikage shouted, "What are you talking about?!"

"Something's gone wrong with Yugito!" Killer Bee's expression turned uncharacteristically serious, "If something happens to us too, what will happen to the village?"

The mention of the village immediately calmed the Fourth Raikage.

If they were to lose both a Raikage and two Jinchuriki at the same time, the Hidden Cloud's strength would plummet. At that point, not only the other Great Nations, but even some of the smaller villages might begin targeting them.

After glancing at the visibly exhausted Shennong in the distance, the Fourth Raikage finally suppressed his fury and told Killer Bee, "Let's find Yugito first!"

"Right!" Killer Bee nodded immediately.

With their decision made, the two didn't waste any more time, using the Body Flicker Technique to vanish from the battlefield.

At that moment, Tobi emerged from a swirling vortex, looking in the direction where Killer Bee and the Fourth Raikage had fled.

Zetsu emerged from the ground beside him, asking, "Shall we pursue?"

"Of course we should!" Tobi instructed Moryo and Shennong, "What are you waiting for? If they escape, it'll be a disaster!"

Moryo, unconcerned, lumbered after them with its massive form.

Shennong, however, wore a look of reluctance. He had nearly died trying to hold off the Fourth Raikage earlier, and continuing would surely mean his death.

Yet, faced with the stern gaze of his leader, he didn't dare refuse and grudgingly followed.

In the blink of an eye.

Killer Bee and the Fourth Raikage arrived at the battlefield where Cee's squad had fought against Sasori, finding the critically wounded Cee.

The Fourth Raikage urgently asked, "Where is Yugito?"

Cee pointed in Shinji's direction, struggling to speak, "Yugito-sama has been captured by the Akatsuki..."

Whoosh!

Just as the Fourth Raikage prepared to pursue, the Otsutsuki elder, also tracking Shinji, arrived on the battlefield with a rush of wind.