As Toneri Otsutsuki clenched his fist, a ripple spread across the sealing barrier created by the giant Tenseigan.
The ripple rapidly expanded across the veil-like barrier, swiftly approaching the breach.
"Not good!"
Karin instinctively sensed danger. Before the ripple could reach the breach, she erupted with chakra, straining to keep it open until Shinji and Neji could escape.
The clash between Toneri and Karin—or rather, between the giant Tenseigan and the Adamantine Sealing Chains—erupted in an instant!
Hiss!
As the ripple reached the breach and met the chains, the entire veil trembled violently. Immense pressure surged from all directions, multiplying tenfold, a hundredfold, compressing the breach to the size of a fist in a mere moment. It seemed as if the breach would vanish entirely in the next instant.
"Hmph!"
Toneri, trailing behind Shinji and Neji, smirked.
On the other side, Karin froze, her face beneath the mask filled with shock!
Since fusing her Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and transplanting First Hokage cells, she had never been so thoroughly overwhelmed by another's chakra.
This time, not only was she suppressed, but the gap was staggeringly vast. Were it not for the unique nature of the Adamantine Sealing Chains, she likely couldn't have maintained even a fist-sized breach.
Imagining the consequences of the breach closing, Karin cast aside all restraint, fully unleashing her chakra for the first time.
In an instant, her red-cloud cloak billowed without wind, and a torrent of boundless chakra poured out!
With her unreserved eruption, the compressed Adamantine Sealing Chains rallied, briefly restoring the breach to its original size.
"What!?"
Neji, fleeing, was stunned.
Though he'd always known 'B' was powerful, witnessing her fully unleash her chakra still shocked him.
Chakra of this magnitude was something he hadn't even seen in the Third Hokage!
Neji wasn't the only one stunned. Toneri, with his purer Byakugan, was equally overwhelmed with disbelief!
He had always considered himself superior to the ninja world's shinobi, a god above all its beings.
Seeing someone unleash chakra surpassing his own shook his convictions!
Shinji knew time was critical. He reactivated Susanoo, using its skeletal form to grab Neji with one hand and hurl him toward the breach. Then, bracing Susanoo's arms against the passage's rocky walls, he propelled himself toward the breach.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
With two gusts of wind, Neji and Shinji narrowly passed through the breach, crossing the sealing barrier created by the giant Tenseigan.
Almost simultaneously, the ripples on the veil converged again.
This time, pressure a thousandfold stronger focused on a single point. No matter how fiercely Karin unleashed her chakra, her Adamantine Sealing Chains couldn't hold. Several chains piercing the breach shattered, and the breach closed, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
"Phew."
Even Shinji let out a sigh of relief after successfully crossing.
He turned to face Toneri on the other side of the veil.
Toneri halted before the veil, staring at Shinji, Neji, and Karin, his expression shifting unpredictably.
He dismissed Neji as insignificant.
Shinji, he'd fought and believed he could handle with effort.
But adding Karin complicated matters. Facing three opponents didn't scare him, but he had to consider the risks.
Seeing Toneri refrain from pursuing through the veil, Shinji didn't provoke further.
Continuing the fight would benefit no one. Karin was at a critical juncture in her pursuit of the Samsara Eye, and Shinji didn't want her taking risks. Neji's "biological exoskeleton" was malfunctioning and needed urgent attention. After a brief standoff, signaling they weren't afraid to fight, Shinji turned and led Karin and Neji out of the illusory passage.
After distancing themselves from the passage and confirming Toneri hadn't followed, Shinji had Karin act alone while he traveled with Neji.
Upon leaving the Land of the Moon and entering the Land of Fire, Shinji and Neji paused in a small grove.
Shinji asked, "How's the 'biological exoskeleton' on you?"
Neji shook his head, his face troubled. "Leader, I feel like I can't control it anymore!"
Frowning, Shinji approached Neji and inspected the "biological exoskeleton," discovering that every seal he'd placed within it had been broken.
"How could this happen!?"
Shinji was baffled.
Perhaps his inspection triggered something, for as he pondered, the "biological exoskeleton" suddenly unsealed itself, enveloping Neji's entire body and manipulating him to run toward the Land of the Moon.
"!?"
Shinji was momentarily stunned.
Neji, panicking, shouted, "Leader, I… I'm being controlled by it!"
Snapping to action, Shinji summoned Susanoo, using its massive hand to seize the exoskeleton-controlled Neji and haul him back.
"Leader, what do I do!?"
Neji was utterly lost.
Shinji first observed with his wielded Byakugan, then shook his head. "I don't have a good solution right now. The only idea is to bring 'F' here and use the seals in his half-complete 'biological exoskeleton' to control yours!"
Since officially adopting letter codenames, Shinji had used Jikibi to inform everyone of their designations—Kimimaro was 'F,' and Neji was 'G.'
Neji asked, "Is this method feasible?"
Shinji shook his head again. "I'm not sure!"
Honestly, while designing the exoskeleton, he'd accounted for many scenarios but never anticipated it would autonomously activate after being nourished by Tenseigan chakra. Faced with this anomaly, his only recourse was to use sealing techniques to control it.
A few days later.
Whoosh.
Kimimaro, dressed in Akatsuki attire, landed in a remote forest, scanning his surroundings.
At that moment, Shinji emerged from the shadows with Neji.
Kimimaro stepped forward to bow, but suddenly, his "biological exoskeleton" stirred inexplicably.
Then, before Shinji's eyes, the exoskeletons on Kimimaro and Neji activated simultaneously, instantly fusing the two together.