The force of the arrow was immense.
It flew at an incredible speed straight toward Takeshi and, catching him completely off guard, pierced through both of his knees.
Even after tearing through its target, the arrow continued forward for a short distance before finally slowing.
Only when his legs buckled uncontrollably did Takeshi realize he'd been attacked.
According to the intel Lust had gathered, she believed Takeshi's next move would be to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to escape her shooting range—or at least to hide behind some form of cover.
So, she didn't rush to release a second arrow.
However, the man she faced—Takeshi—was far from predictable.
The very first thing he did upon realizing he'd been ambushed was form a sharp ice spear in his hand, and as he fell, he hurled it viciously toward Sloth's head.
He knew full well that his enemy's attack at this moment was to seize the chance to take away the artificial human in front of him.
Years of battle experience had ingrained in him the importance of delivering a finishing blow. To ensure Sloth's death, even as his face hit the ground, Takeshi still managed to form hand seals for another jutsu.
The combined upper and lower strike granted Sloth—the ever-sleepy one—an eternal slumber.
Lust was completely dumbfounded as she witnessed the scene unfold.
Wait, what? Why didn't you dodge? Why attack Sloth after being shot?!
Staring at the mess of Sloth's brains splattered across the ground, Lust—who had planned to seize the opportunity to retrieve him—fell silent.
After a brief moment of hesitation, the artificial being nocked another arrow and released it once more—this time, aiming straight for Takeshi's back.
"Two-Step—Body Split!"
"Susanoo!"
A red Susanoo appeared behind Takeshi, blocking Lust's strike head-on.
Most of the arrow embedded itself deep into the Susanoo's armor, leaving only the fletching visible.
The arrowhead was mere centimeters from Uchiha Hikari's true body, yet she didn't flinch.
Controlling Susanoo's skeletal arm, Hikari grabbed Takeshi and quickly retreated.
"Wait! Take that guy's corpse too!"
Takeshi shouted loudly through his bloodied nose, which was still bleeding from hitting the ground.
"You—!"
Hikari's tone was full of irritation.
After all, that arrow had been powerful enough to pierce Susanoo itself.
Even so, she followed Takeshi's instructions, grabbed Sloth's corpse, and continued retreating.
"That's one tough shell," Lust said flatly when she saw her arrow fail to pierce through Susanoo. Her expression didn't change as she drew her bow again, pulling with even more force.
Another arrow flew, this time aimed straight at Uchiha Hikari's head.
The arrow whistled through the air, striking the same point as before. Two precisely aimed shots in the exact same spot—together, they punched a hole through Susanoo's defense.
Fortunately, Hikari—who had just turned her head to yell at Takeshi—had shifted slightly to the side, and the arrow merely grazed her cheek as it flew past.
"Damn it! Obito! Takeshi's been attacked—find the archer immediately!"
Shocked and furious, Uchiha Hikari shouted into her communicator, contacting Obito, who was still entangled with other enemies.
"What?! Takeshi's under attack?!"
Obito's voice boomed in alarm. He immediately rushed off in the direction Hikari had indicated.
"Not going to keep shooting?"
Reimei of the Oyashiro family glanced at Lust, curious, as she lowered her longbow.
"Sloth is dead," Lust said coldly.
Though all of them had been created only recently and weren't particularly close, Reimei still seemed taken aback that Sloth could be killed. But remembering that the Fifth Hokage was capable of freezing an entire city, she quickly understood.
"Can we retrieve the body?"
She frowned—leaving Sloth's corpse behind wasn't ideal.
"You can try," Lust replied, turning a cold white-eyed glance in her direction.
Reimei immediately raised her hands in surrender. "I'm just a researcher. I don't have your kind of combat ability."
Lust said nothing more, her expression icy—as if to say, Then why even bother asking?
Realizing the futility of pushing further, Reimei sighed, begrudgingly accepting the retreat plan.
"Was it you bastards who hurt Takeshi?!"
A voice filled with fury rang out, and a sudden vortex of swirling space formed around them. Moments later, Obito's full figure emerged.
A troublesome opponent had arrived.
Reimei had heard of him from Yōwan's reports—she knew well how dangerous Obito's abilities were.
Seeing him appear, Lust immediately drew her bow and fired three rapid arrows in succession.
Each one passed cleanly through Obito, inflicting no harm whatsoever.
But the sheer speed of those shots startled him, keeping him from counterattacking immediately.
That slight hesitation gave Lust her chance to escape.
She tore open a rift in space-time, grabbed Reimei by the collar, and prepared to leap through.
Of course, Obito wasn't about to let them get away so easily. Instinctively, he used Kamui to distort the space around their rift.
Sensing the distortion, Lust instinctively snatched an arrow from her quiver and hurled it by hand straight at Obito.
Kamui triggered automatically to protect him, and as the arrow phased harmlessly through his body, Lust and Reimei seized the brief opening to dive into the rift.
"Damn it!"
Obito cursed, furious yet helpless.
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