The instant Zhong Yan finished speaking, Murasaki immediately pressed the button in his palm, launching a blast of ether energy from his cannon, hurtling it toward Zhong Yan's location.
Ao wasn't slow to react either. At the same moment Murasaki launched his attack, twin lasers shot out from Ao's eyes.
Their attacks struck Zhong Yan almost simultaneously, yet bizarrely, the energy blasts passed straight through his body as if he weren't there, inflicting no harm whatsoever.
Seeing this, Murasaki instantly realized that if this continued, he could very well die here. Without delay, he sent a message through his earpiece to the four allies in the backyard.
"Kuro! Kiiro! Midori! Shiro! It's the Uchiha! Hurry up and think of som—"
Before he could finish, Zhong Yan's figure appeared before him like a ghost.
The moment their eyes met, Murasaki felt the world spin violently. When he came to, he was bound to a crucifix.
Beside him stood Zhong Yan, holding a long blade, clad in Uchiha garb, staring at him coldly.
In the next second, Zhong Yan swung the blade and drove it into Murasaki's body. The excruciating pain drew a scream from deep within him.
But it didn't stop there. A second Zhong Yan appeared on the other side, also thrusting a blade into his body.
Then came a third. A fourth. A fifth...
Eventually, Murasaki lost count of how many times Zhong Yan stabbed him. Time seemed frozen as he was endlessly tormented.
And every ounce of that agony fed directly into his mind, nearly breaking him.
"Ah!"
Finally, after what felt like eternity, Murasaki snapped back to reality. His spirit nearly shattered, he collapsed to his knees.
Sweat poured from his face. His eyes were bloodshot, drool spilling from the corner of his mouth, his expression twisted in torment.
In less than the span of a breath, Murasaki had been instantly defeated by Zhong Yan. The sheer speed of it sent shivers down Ao's spine.
But given the situation, if he wanted to survive, he had no choice but to charge ahead.
Taking advantage of the fact that Zhong Yan's attention was on Murasaki, Ao quickly charged up his laser vision.
Yet before he could fire, Zhong Yan turned and looked directly at him.
Their eyes locked. Ao noticeably paused, but then, as if unaffected, released the charged laser.
The high-temperature beam pierced straight through Zhong Yan's body. But just like before, the attack did nothing. His phasing ability rendered it harmless.
To Ao, who didn't understand Zhong Yan's abilities, this scene felt like witnessing a ghost.
His teammate had been instantly annihilated, and his own attacks were completely ineffective. Was this guy even human?
As Ao reeled from shock, Zhong Yan was also taken aback.
His genjutsu had no effect on Ao.
"Laser... A modified artificial eye? I see."
In no time, Zhong Yan deduced that Ao's eyes must be prosthetic. Otherwise, they couldn't possibly fire lasers.
The Sharingan's genjutsu works through visual cues. If the opponent is blind—or a machine—it won't work.
"If genjutsu is useless, then it's time for a more direct approach."
With that thought, a deep blue energy visibly manifested around Zhong Yan. A skeletal shell instantly enveloped his body.
"Where the hell did that come from?!" Ao's heart jumped. Summoning something like this with no external aid—this power was clearly beyond human.
Before he could get an answer, the surface of the blue skeletal armor extended a massive skeletal arm, which hurtled toward him with incredible speed.
Reacting swiftly, Ao maxed out the power of his artificial eyes, blasting two concentrated laser beams to intercept the skeletal arm.
Despite the beams sizzling into the bone with a crackle, the arm showed no signs of slowing.
Despairing, Ao could only watch as the massive hand crashed down on him with a heavy thud, slamming him into the ground—his fate unknown.
But surprisingly, in that brief moment, Murasaki—despite being nearly driven mad by the genjutsu—managed to recover. He drew a long staff from his back and hurled it at Zhong Yan's head with all his strength.
Clang!
A sharp metallic clang echoed as the solid staff smashed against the deep blue skeleton's surface...
...and broke clean in two.
Murasaki's face froze in shock. But he reacted quickly, discarding the broken staff and leaping backward to create distance. Then he pressed the button in his palm again, firing a surge of electricity from his cannon.
Zhong Yan didn't even try to dodge. Nor did he take it head-on. Instead, he simply swung the skeletal arm—tossing the limp Ao from his grasp.
Ao's airborne body collided directly with the electric blast, which expanded into a cage of lightning, trapping him inside.
Realizing he had just electrocuted his own teammate, Murasaki's face turned grim.
The mental damage from the genjutsu hadn't fully healed. His rapid recovery was only thanks to the rigorous daily training of a ninja.
They also practiced genjutsu, but nothing remotely close to what Zhong Yan had just demonstrated. At best, their illusions caused mild confusion.
"The game ends here. It's time for you to pay the price for what you've done today."
With Murasaki's mind shattered and Ao immobilized, their combat effectiveness had plummeted by at least eighty percent. At this point, Zhong Yan could kill them as easily as crushing ants.
However, they weren't the only Shadows in the estate.
Just as Zhong Yan prepared to finish them off, four figures suddenly appeared behind him.
Two launched attacks at the skeletal armor, while the other two swiftly carried Murasaki and Ao away from the scene.
The entire operation took less than three seconds.
As two long blades struck the skeleton's surface, Zhong Yan tilted his head slightly and quickly got a good look at one of their faces.
It was... the cat-lover he had encountered in the alley a few days prior.
He was from the Nin-Village? And one of the Nine Shadows, no less?
That realization made Zhong Yan pause briefly.
Seizing the opportunity, the two attackers retracted their blades, and all four Shadows took off, fleeing the estate at top speed.
The Uchiha's appearance had completely disrupted the Nin-Village's plans. With Zhong Yan's relationship to Victoria Housekeeping still unclear, lingering any longer would only be detrimental.
"You really think you can escape that easily?"
Watching the six retreating figures, Zhong Yan had no intention of letting them go.
Murasaki and Ao had harmed Ellen. There was no way he'd forgive them so easily.
With a mere thought, the skeletal armor surrounding Zhong Yan began to transform.
More bones sprouted, forming arms and even a head.
A humanoid skeleton upper body gradually emerged.
But that wasn't all.
The skeletal figure was soon encased in a thick layer of armor—flesh seemingly growing over bone. Its size dwarfed the previous form.
This was Susanoo's second form.
In its hands were a bow and a single arrow.
Under Zhong Yan's control, Susanoo nocked the arrow and aimed at the fleeing Six Shadows.
Drawing the bow, he released.
The moment the arrow flew, the air itself trembled. It tore through space like a runaway train, leaving deep gouges in the earth.
Sensing danger behind them, the six turned and were all struck with terror.
That speed, that power—utterly beyond their ability to defend.
They didn't even have time to dodge.
Just as they were about to be wiped out, an Ether Quantum Cannon blast suddenly shot from afar, striking the flying arrow dead-on.
Though the cannon was shattered upon impact, the resulting force deflected the arrow from its original path, sending it crashing into a nearby neighborhood.
This unexpected intervention made Zhong Yan narrow his eyes and glance in the direction of the cannon blast.
There stood another figure, watching him.
This one... was strong.
The aura radiating from him far surpassed that of Murasaki, Ao, and the others. Clearly, he was also a Shadow.
So, this must be the strongest in the Nin-Village.
But if he thought that was enough to save the six...
"Like I said—you won't escape."
Zhong Yan's eyes burned with killing intent. With another thought, the bow and arrow vanished from Susanoo's hands, replaced by three interlocked magatama.
As the magatama began to spin rapidly, Susanoo raised an arm and hurled them.
This was a technique usable only in Susanoo's second form—Yasaka Magatama.
The three magatama tore through the air, reaching the six in just a few heartbeats.
Ao, severely wounded, was closest. By the time he sensed the danger, it was already too late.
"Hel—"
In the next moment, deep blue energy exploded through the air, followed by a mist of blood.
One of the Nine Shadows, gone just like that.
The remaining five stared in shock, unable to believe their comrade had just been killed before their eyes.
Since the founding of the Nin-Village, the Shadows had changed over time—but never had one been slain during a joint mission.
Even worse, they hadn't been able to resist at all.
Despair crept over them.
Even the one who had saved them earlier narrowed his eyes in alarm.
Before he could respond, a second Yasaka Magatama had already been launched.
This time, the target was Murasaki—the one who had once tried to kill Ellen.
Having just seen Ao's brutal end, Murasaki knew exactly how bad his situation was. He immediately raised his cannon and furiously mashed the button in his palm.
"Stop! Damn it, stop!"
Flames, electricity, ice, and ether—four different elemental shells exploded toward the incoming magatama.
But it wasn't enough. His fate was sealed.
With a burst of blue energy and a spray of blood, Murasaki too was gone.
The second Shadow had been executed on the spot.
A wave of terror swept over the remaining four. They ran faster, desperate to escape the death zone.
But even if they hadn't hurt Ellen, Zhong Yan had no intention of sparing them.
As three more magatama formed in Susanoo's palm, the Shadow who had intervened earlier finally took action.
From a large cannon mounted on his shoulder, ether energy gathered. He anticipated the magatama's path and fired a devastating energy blast.
The recoil forced him back, but the power of the blast miraculously intercepted the magatama.
Unfortunately, that only made Zhong Yan more furious.
So, you like playing hero? Then you're next.
A fourth Yasaka Magatama formed.
Realizing he'd been targeted, the Shadow knew he was in trouble.
He'd come to save lives—not to die.
Without hesitation, he turned and fled.
He was farther from Zhong Yan than the others, giving him a better chance to escape.
But as long as he was still within Zhong Yan's range, distance meant nothing.
The fourth magatama was unleashed.
His only option was to fire another ether blast, this time at maximum power.
That one shot—possibly equal in strength to the magatama itself—clashed with the incoming attack, successfully neutralizing it.
But that was the difference between an all-out strike and a casual throw.
The latter could be repeated instantly.
So, when he thought he'd finally escaped, a fifth magatama emerged from the smoke and entered his line of sight.
Too fast, too close. No time to charge another shot.
It was a deadlock.
But he didn't give up. As he turned, he tore the device off his back and hurled it forward with all his might.
His reaction speed was nearly superhuman.
The thrown device collided with the magatama, causing an early explosion.
Yet the shockwave still shredded one of his arms.
The pain nearly knocked him out. The blast nearly toppled him.
But losing an arm was better than losing his life.
Not seeing a sixth magatama, he breathed a sigh of relief and ran faster.
Meanwhile, after throwing two Yasaka Magatama, Zhong Yan lost interest in the interfering Shadow.
If he survived, it meant he had true skill.
But the other four... not so much.
As yet another magatama formed in Susanoo's hand, his eyes gleamed with bloodlust.
Just as the four were about to meet their end, a figure suddenly appeared in front of them, grabbing two of them by the collar with each hand.
He looked up at Zhong Yan—then vanished without hesitation.
The four doomed Shadows vanished with him.
Even the one-armed Shadow disappeared from the distance.
Zhong Yan's expression darkened.
That wasn't speed.
That was... true teleportation.
And that ability—he had only ever seen it used by the superior Ethereal known as Thanatos.
That man...
...had Ethereal powers?