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Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi, along with the other shinobi, arrived at the area where the giant serpent was located as quickly as possible. Due to the serpent's colossal size, the surrounding forest had already been reduced to ruins.
Trees lay toppled in every direction, as if a violent storm had swept through.
Kakashi looked up at the massive serpent and swallowed hard.
Summoning a creature of this magnitude required the summoner to possess immense power. Otherwise, there was a high risk of the summon turning against them.
Thick hide, immense vitality, and devastating offensive power—facing a summon of this caliber as an opponent was nothing short of a nightmare.
"Senior, we don't have time to hesitate any longer. Otherwise, the damage to Konoha will be catastrophic," Uchiha Itachi said. "Please create an opening for me!"
Kakashi nodded and immediately charged toward the giant serpent without hesitation. Gathering a vast amount of chakra in his right hand, he dodged the serpent's attacks and unleashed his Lightning Release chakra directly onto its body.
"Lightning Release: Chidori!"
Blood sprayed violently as a meter-wide wound was torn open on the serpent's body. However, for a creature of its size, the injury was far from fatal.
The giant serpent let out a pained roar and lunged at Kakashi with its massive head.
After dodging five or six times in succession, Kakashi was finally struck by the serpent's tail. If the other shinobi hadn't caught him, the next attack would have surely landed as well.
"This thing is a monster!" Kakashi wiped the blood from his lips.
Well, what else could be expected from Orochimaru's summon?
Aside from the Hokage, the only ones capable of standing against him were Jiraiya and Tsunade.
But dealing with this serpent shouldn't require the Hokage's intervention yet.
While the others kept the giant serpent occupied, Itachi activated his Mangekyō Sharingan. If he could hit it with Amaterasu, there was a chance they could kill it.
Just as he finished forming the hand seals and was about to unleash the technique, a figure suddenly appeared before him and grabbed his wrist.
Itachi's mind went blank as he stared at the person in front of him.
"You… How… How are you here?" Itachi's throat tightened. Countless words surged in his heart, but he couldn't articulate a single one.
Uchiha Shisui—Itachi's mentor, closest friend, and the person he respected most—stood before him, gripping his wrist. But his eyes were hollow, as if he didn't recognize him at all.
"Shisui! You're supposed to be dead!" Itachi's nose stung with emotion. He had thought he would never see Shisui again, yet here he was, standing right in front of him.
Shisui didn't respond. Instead, he kicked Itachi away.
"Itachi—!" Kakashi's nerves tensed when he saw Itachi get knocked back. But when he turned and saw Shisui, his mind froze. "The Impure World Reincarnation…? How is this possible?"
Wasn't this forbidden jutsu sealed away in Konoha's archives? How had it appeared here?
"The Impure World Reincarnation…" Itachi clutched his chest, glaring at Shisui as fury burned within him. "Who did this?! You were already dead! Who dragged you back?!"
This was a desecration of the dead! And worse, they were forcing Shisui to attack the very village he had given his life to protect.
Unforgivable.
Itachi clenched his fists.
Before Kakashi could warn him, Shisui reappeared in front of him, a kunai aimed straight at his throat.
So fast!
Kakashi barely managed to react, grabbing Shisui's wrist and hurling him away.
Itachi didn't give Shisui a chance to recover. The moment he landed, he unleashed a Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, cutting off any further assault.
"Senior, focus on the giant serpent. Leave this to me!" Itachi said, his eyes locked on Shisui.
Kakashi nodded.
He understood Itachi's feelings all too well.
If it were Rin or Obito standing before him now, he would have made the same choice.
"Shisui… This is the place you protected with your life. I won't allow you—as a mere tool—to destroy it." Itachi took a deep breath.
For him, Shisui was the most painful enemy he could face.
---
Meanwhile…
"Hidden condition [Assimilation] achieved. Allows forcible destruction of internal ninjutsu or sealing techniques, converting the chakra into one's own."
Midorima first dismantled the cursed seal Orochimaru had placed on Shizune, then applied the same seal to his own wrist. Using the [Analysis Lab], he reverse-engineered the seal's structure—a process identical to his earlier attempt to break the "Heaven Cursed Mark." Finally, he succeeded in destroying it.
The moment the seal was broken, the "hidden condition" was fulfilled.
Midorima quickly skimmed through the details. The [Assimilation] function—which forcibly dismantled seals—filled him with excitement.
The proficiency of this ability was directly tied to the time taken to break the seal.
This particular cursed seal wasn't particularly complex, yet it still took him half an hour to destroy. If it had been the "Heaven Cursed Mark," he estimated it would require at least 24 hours to fully dismantle.
Given his current lack of mastery, it might take even longer.
Fortunately, destroying the "Cursed Mark" wasn't an urgent matter.
As for the final function—[Bio Lab]—he didn't have the luxury of time to explore its capabilities in the current situation.
He needed to remove the cursed seal from Shizune as soon as possible. Otherwise, maintaining this position for much longer would leave him completely exhausted.
Shizune was physically drained, but her mind remained unusually alert.
Being stuck to Midorima for so long had left her emotions in turmoil. At times, she even wondered if it would be better to just die rather than burden him further. But the thought of Tsunade made her hesitate.
Part of her hoped Midorima would find a solution, yet she couldn't imagine what he could possibly do without separating from her. Her emotions swung between hope and despair.
Just then, Midorima let out a long exhale. Shizune's eyes brightened. "Did you figure something out?"
"I can try something now," Midorima said, though he wasn't entirely confident.
After successfully destroying the seal on himself, he had attempted the process two more times—succeeding almost instantly. But that was on his own body. He wasn't sure how effective it would be on Shizune.
Currently, the only function of the [Cell Lab] that could interact with others was [Activation]. However, [Activation] wasn't limited to merely stimulating another person's cells. Under the influence of his chakra and the [Cell Lab], it could replicate some of the lab's other functions.
After spending so much time experimenting, Midorima had gained a deeper understanding of the [Cell Lab].
If it wasn't explicitly forbidden, it was worth attempting. How far he could push its limits depended entirely on his comprehension.
Therefore, using the [Cell Lab] to destroy the cursed seal on Shizune wasn't impossible.
Midorima channeled his chakra into Shizune's body, attempting to dismantle the seal using the [Cell Lab]. To his surprise, it actually worked.
Almost instantly, the cursed seal on Shizune's neck vanished. Midorima finally relaxed. "It's done."
That was exhausting…
Though Shizune wasn't particularly heavy, maintaining the same position for so long had taken its toll.
"D-Done?!"
Shizune blinked in disbelief.
That was fast.