"What you just felt—they're still feeling it."
"This is the inside of the Limitless. 'Perception' and 'Transmission' are forced to repeat endlessly for the sake of staying alive."
"You receive an infinite amount of information in an instant. Because it's so overwhelming, you end up unable to move at all."
"Ironic, isn't it?"
"You know everything. You've been given everything. But you can't do a thing—only slowly die."
Simply put, think of the human brain as a computer.
Inside the Infinite Void, the computer crashes over and over because too many files are opened at once.
The brain is like that overloaded computer—knowing too much information leaves it unable to react, endlessly bombarded until it breaks down.
Given enough time, the human brain will burn out completely.
And once your brain is gone, well… there's no need to explain what happens next.
"Infinite…? Endless information…?"
Hozuki Mangetsu, dangling in Hatake Satoru's grip, repeated the words softly.
He glanced up at Hatake Satoru, then over at Orochimaru.
Mangetsu was a genius, quick to understand and absorb new concepts.
He was good at grasping Hatake Satoru's explanations and putting them into his own words.
But when it came to the idea of infinity, his mind struggled to process it.
Still, someone like Orochimaru, who had experienced it firsthand, should understand far better what it truly meant.
Hozuki Mangetsu showed a look like he didn't really understand what was being said, but it still sounded impressive.
Hatake Satoru could explain almost any problem with theory, but whether others could actually understand him depended on their own luck.
That was also why Hatake Satoru and Naruto didn't really get along too well.
Naruto found it hard to sort out these kinds of theoretical issues.
"Oh, so you mean, if the information you can get right now is apples, pears, and peaches—"
"But under the effect of the Infinite Void, so much information floods into your brain so fast that you can't react, and all you can repeat is 'apple apple apple apple' over and over."
Hatake Satoru kindly explained the idea in simpler terms, and Hozuki Mangetsu nodded with a half-understanding, thoughtful look.
The hand Hatake Satoru placed on Orochimaru's shoulder could clearly feel a slight stiffness.
Orochimaru's mind was being flooded with brand new knowledge, like a door to a whole new world had just been opened.
Could such an ability really exist?
Limitless—information forced straight into the brain.
If this were a genjutsu, there would still be a chance to break it.
But everything here was real. Without defeating Hatake Satoru, there was no way to escape this state.
Orochimaru could still recall Satoru's abilities—this man's regular combat power alone was already terrifying.
And his trump card was this kind of mental attack that almost completely countered Edo Tensei.
This guy might be the true definition of invincible.
It looked like he might actually die here, and Orochimaru clenched his back teeth in frustration.
In this space, nothing he did would work. Right now, his only choice was to wait for the right chance to get out of this cursed place as quickly as possible.
"No need to rush to leave. I still have something for you to do, so I'll spare your life for now."
"You won't die in the Infinite Void, but after you leave..."
"The shock those Edo Tensei bodies experienced will all rebound onto you."
"It'll be weaker, and it won't be endless information pouring into your head, but it's still going to be torture."
"If you can't handle it, then there's nothing I can do."
Hatake Satoru spread his hands, a familiar smile curling at the corner of his lips.
He said he would spare his life, but his actions didn't seem to match those words at all.
Hozuki Mangetsu slightly lifted his head to glance at Hatake Satoru beside him. Even with a smile on his face, those ice-crystal-like eyes still stared coldly at Orochimaru.
That contrast made Hozuki Mangetsu feel a faint chill in his heart.
Once Hatake Satoru's eyes were revealed, he seemed almost like a completely different person.
When he usually chatted with them, had these same eyes been staring at them without any emotion too?
...
Outside the barrier.
The Sound Four were still maintaining it. Ever since that black sphere appeared inside, they had completely lost all information about Orochimaru and everyone else within.
This situation was already very bad for them. For some reason, the Sand suddenly betrayed the Sound during the operation.
Three nations were involved, and the Sound was just a small one, without any outstanding combat power.
They might know Konoha's terrain well, but against the combined forces of Konoha and the Sand, they were being beaten back again and again.
Now, several reliable jonin, including Kakashi, had surrounded them, waiting for the moment they dropped the barrier so they could rush in and take them all down at once.
"No, I can't see any trace of them."
Kakashi took off his headband and used his Sharingan to search for their chakra flow.
But for some reason, the black sphere completely blocked all outside detection.
No matter how he looked, it was nothing but endless darkness inside, with no sign of anyone at all.
Standing nearby, Hyuga Hinata, who was using her Byakugan to observe, also shook her head in difficulty.
It was clear that in front of this black sphere, even their ocular powers were completely useless—not to mention checking on the Third Hokage's situation.
The situation with Hatake Satoru and the Mizukage was also hard to tell.
A bad feeling rose in Kakashi's heart.
Boom!
The ground around them suddenly shook violently. The few of them, standing on the rooftop around the barrier, were almost thrown off by the tremor.
Right after that, a deep roar came from the training field below.
Gaara's entire body was now wrapped in sand. His coin-like eyes and body were covered in twisted, eerie markings.
Except for the two feet still showing outside, Gaara now looked like a giant, oddly proportioned sand raccoon.
"Isn't he almost fully transformed already?"
"Are the people down there really going to be okay?"
But even if they were allies, it didn't mean they could handle Gaara's situation well.
Originally, they had let him act freely so he could destroy Konohagakure.
They hadn't expected the plan to suddenly change, turning everything upside down, and now Gaara's tailed beast transformation couldn't be stopped.
Temari had already taken important people like the daimyo to a safe zone and had just returned with Kankuro from not far away.
The moment they stepped onto a nearby rooftop, they immediately felt the strange disturbance from the training field below and looked down with a complicated expression.
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