Soon, under Yoshioka's lead, the four of them arrived at a dense forest and, as expected, discovered a hidden underground passage.
Seeing this, Shin was the first to step into the passage, and the other three immediately followed. They descended dozens of meters until a fairly large underground space appeared before them. But to their surprise, the underground area was completely empty, there was not a single person in sight. As they reached the center of the space, he seemed to sense something. He signaled the others to stay put, then suddenly vanished with a teleportation move.
However, just a second later, his body suddenly fell from the air a dozen meters away and crashed heavily to the ground. Struggling to his feet, his body swayed violently as he sensed the chaotic chakra inside him. Beads of cold sweat began to appear on his forehead.
Almost simultaneously, four figures suddenly emerged from the ground and surrounded Shin and the others, quickly forming hand seals. The next moment, four purple barriers emitting powerful energy fluctuations rose up from the ground, completely enclosing the underground space.
As the purple barrier formed, the energy continued to surge upward, forming an additional barrier.
Shin's expression changed upon seeing this, but his three teammates didn't show the slightest panic. Instead, they each drew their weapons and quickly spread out in three directions, surrounding Shin from ten meters away, exuding killing intent.
"What are you guys trying to do?" His face turned pale, his body trembling slightly as if enduring intense pain. He clutched his chest with his right hand and gasped heavily.
Hayakawa didn't answer directly. Instead, he sneered coldly and said, "You've been having a pretty good time under our care, haven't you? Given your overwhelming strength, the three of us were really nervous at first. But we didn't expect things to go so smoothly."
"Heh," Yoshioka chuckled, "To think you fell for it so easily. As expected, someone who only has strength but hasn't received proper ninja training, just a bit of strategy is enough to make you walk into a trap."
Only Noda remained silent, her expression conflicted. She was a medical-nin, trained in medical ninjutsu by none other than Tsunade. Seeing Tsunade's fiancé in such a state, she couldn't deny feeling a pang of guilt. But she quickly buried that feeling deep within.
She was once an ANBU ninja, and now part of Root. Apart from missions and orders, nothing else mattered.
"What do you mean by all this?" Shin asked, frowning deeply in disbelief.
"You want to know?" Hayakawa's gaze turned cold. "Then go to the Pure Land and find the answer there."
As soon as he finished speaking, he appeared in front of Shin with a body flicker technique and, without hesitation, slashed his short sword toward Shin's neck.
But in the next second, his blade merely sliced through thin air.
Looking again, there was no sign of Shin.
"Hahahaha!" A slightly arrogant voice echoed from a corner of the Four Violet Flames Formation.
"How amusing, how amusing! Watching your lousy performance all day was truly entertaining. I'm sure you all enjoyed yourselves too, didn't you?"
"You... you're not affected?" Yoshioka's face showed a deep shock, unable to believe what he was seeing. "That's impossible!"
"You used a poison I developed myself to try and take me down. Do you think that's even possible?" Shin was practically laughing out loud.
"You developed it?" Hayakawa shouted in disbelief. "That poison clearly came from—"
But before he could finish his sentence, a wave of intense pain surged through his mind, cutting him off entirely. If he continued speaking, he would've instantly perished, body and soul.
"The Curse Seal of Tongue Eradication, huh?" Seeing Hayakawa's reaction, Shin chuckled. "Quite an interesting technique worth studying."
After saying that, he instantly teleported outside the barrier and appeared in front of one of the ninja maintaining the formation. He kicked the ninja hard in the face, sending him flying. With one member down, the Four Violet Flames Formation immediately collapsed.
Though powerful, the formation required four people to maintain it together. What made this barrier so difficult to break was the protective shield that also surrounded each of the users. However, such a barrier meant nothing in front of him.
After breaking the formation, he quickly formed hand seals. In the next moment, a larger barrier centered around him instantly expanded, replacing the previous one and enveloping the entire underground space.
Once it was done, four figures reappeared inside the space, it was the same four who had previously set up the Four Violet Flames Formation.
Looking at the seven people before him, he was in quite a good mood.
It seemed the first gift for Orochimaru was ready. He wondered just how moved Orochimaru would be upon receiving it.
The seven had by now recovered from their initial shock. After exchanging glances, they all charged at Shin. They knew he was strong. But in their minds, no matter how powerful he was, he couldn't possibly escape unscathed when surrounded and attacked by all seven of them.
Now that the area was sealed off by the barrier, they couldn't even flee to deliver a message, so their only option was to fight to the death, and attempt to take him down by force.
"I really hate to see you all die," Shin said with a smile as he instantly teleported behind the charging seven.
"I've heard Danzō is good at brainwashing people. Well, what a coincidence, Orochimaru is quite skilled at that too. How about this? I'll remove your Curse Seal of Tongue Eradication, then let Orochimaru brainwash you, and you can all work for me. How's that sound?"
None of the seven replied. Three of them held a defensive triangle formation, while the other four launched a coordinated assault at Shin once more.
"Then it's decided," he said to himself.
As he finished speaking, he appeared beside one of the attackers in an instant. That ninja reacted quickly, adjusting his posture and throwing a shuriken at Shin. But in the next moment, something strange happened, the shuriken inexplicably flew back into the ninja's hand, returning him to the exact position and state he was in before he threw it, as if time itself had reversed.
The scene was deeply bizarre.
Kyōka Suigetsu could alter reality within a certain range. At that moment, his palm landed on the chest of the thoroughly stunned ninja, sending his chakra into disarray. Simultaneously, intricate markings surged from Shin's palm and spread across the ninja's body, forming dense chain-like tattoos on his skin.
The ninja immediately froze, falling stiffly to the ground.
The Heaven's Confinement Technique was an imprisonment technique developed entirely by him. The last person to suffer this technique was A.
The inspiration behind Shin's research came from Mui, the lord of Hōzuki Castle, and his technique: Fire Release: Heavenly Prison. Mui had used it to control prisoners in the castle, placing this seal on each one of them.
The Heavenly Prison was a powerful imprisonment technique. Once affected, the target could no longer use chakra. Even without trying to use chakra, they would constantly feel the agony of being burned by fire, a punishment in and of itself.
He had been deeply intrigued by the technique. He had even made a special trip to Hōzuki Castle and used his left eye's analysis ability to observe the jutsu firsthand.
Not long after returning, he combined his mastery of sealing techniques with his Water Release proficiency to develop his own version: Water Release: Heaven's Confinement Technique.
Anyone hit by this jutsu would feel like they were permanently trapped in a Water Prison, unable to move at all except to breathe, and completely unable to manipulate even the slightest bit of chakra.