The tremors from above smashed the circuits.
The central control room fell into complete darkness, then dim red emergency lights flickered on.
Under this kind of lighting, even the most ordinary expression looked strangely eerie.
At this moment, the ceiling above them shattered, and Ryosuke's face poked out from the darkness.
"Found you."
An incomparable fear flashed through Shinnō's eyes.
"Enem..."
The word "attack" in "enemy attack" hadn't even left his mouth.
Time stopped flowing.
Ryosuke ripped open the metal plating, dropped into the central control room, and strode straight to stand before Shinnō.
He and Star Platinum clenched their fists together.
One to pierce the heart.
One to smash the skull.
And fearing it still wasn't safe enough, Ryosuke grabbed Shinnō by the throat, scorching hot amber Ripple surging into his internal organs, roasting Shinnō from the cellular level.
"This should make sure he can't survive, right?"
So Ryosuke thought, as he released time stop.
Time began to flow again.
Chi!
Blood and brain matter sprayed out, and Shinnō flew backward from the throne. Under the impact, several patches of rotten flesh and bone separated, steaming with the sizzling scent of cooked meat.
Shinnō slammed into the wall, embedding himself inside.
Like a mosquito slapped dead by a human palm.
Hot blood splattered onto their faces, and only then did the soldiers of the Sky Ninja Corps in the central control room snap out of their daze.
'What just happened?'
Hadn't Ryosuke only appeared above their heads just now? How did he suddenly appear before the throne?
'Lord Shinnō… is he really dead?'
Ryosuke was also pondering this question. He was waiting for the system notification.
A second later, the system notification arrived as expected, [Killed Sky Ninja Corps soldier *1, gained 20 soul fragments]
The face of the slain Shinnō twisted, becoming the face of a stranger who only faintly resembled Shinnō.
'A decoy.'
The metal flooring beneath his feet tore apart, and countless pitch-black "arms" stretched up from the ground.
Ryosuke's burst power and killing ability were terrifyingly strong. This was no secret anymore. With Shinnō's personality, how could he not have prepared defenses?
The price paid was nothing more than a subordinate ninja who could use Transformation Jutsu.
It was precisely because he always fought such enemies that Ryosuke's opening move now was always a time stop. Killing meant heart-piercing, head-smashing, body-roasting, terrified that the opponent might still have another trick to cling to life.
While thinking, Ryosuke's blade swung, Star Platinum's fists hammered down, shredding the attacking ink-black arms from below.
But there were too many of them. Endless, inexhaustible, like the mythical Hydra, cut off one head, and nine more grew.
Pushed back by countless arms, Ryosuke was forced out of the central control hub, back onto the deck of the sky fortress.
As his feet landed on the deck, suddenly, the ground gave way. A wave of weightlessness rushed over him.
The sky fortress was falling.
Suspended thousands of meters in the sky, the fortress's flight engines flickered unstably.
It was plummeting toward the city below in freefall.
Ryosuke frowned slightly, "Is this also part of the Sky Ninja Corps' plan?!"
Yet, the soldiers of the Sky Ninja Corps inside the fortress were equally stunned.
This wasn't part of their battle plan. Even if the day really came, for the glory of the Land of the Sky, to turn the fortress into fireworks and perish together with the enemy…
They would have to activate the self-destruct system.
What was the point of simply falling straight down like this?
The adjutant who had earlier been scolded by Shinnō for delivering a phone call roared, "Pilots! What are you doing! Why haven't we lifted off?!"
The pilots responsible for flying the fortress were sweating nervously.
It wasn't that they didn't want to fly, it was that the energy was insufficient.
The adjutant glanced at the screen, saw the scarlet-red energy gauge, and suddenly realized.
"It's because the Zero-Tails core has been activated…"
He snapped his head around, shouting toward the floor that had been torn open, "Lord Shinnō!"
Deep within the fortress, in the depths of darkness, a pair of scarlet eyes opened.
Shinnō grabbed a mask inscribed with the word "Zero" and pressed it to his chest, 'I will strike in Zero-Tails form.'
He leapt upward, his body covered in semi-transparent black energy. Smashing through wall after wall, he rose into the air, onto the fortress deck, towering above Ryosuke from an even higher position.
"This time, it's me who has found you!"
Shinnō's voice was deep, his gaze sharp. Gone was any trace of aged frailty, he looked like he had returned to his youthful prime.
His upper body was bare, muscular and powerful, and endless vitality poured from his body.
Shinnō had stolen four techniques from Konoha.
Body Revival, Body Regeneration, Eight Gates, and the Zero-Tails technique.
Among them, Body Revival and Regeneration ensured that as long as Shinnō wasn't killed outright, he could swiftly recover from all injuries and maintain eternal youth.
The Eight Gates fit perfectly with these two forbidden jutsu, allowing Shinnō to recklessly "open gates" and unleash destructive power rivaling demons and gods.
As for the Zero-Tails technique, it was the core of all three abilities above. By absorbing negative emotions, the Zero-Tails contained a colossal amount of chakra.
Chakra that could propel the 200,000-ton fortress through the skies, or fire destructive beams. And when all that power returned to one body,
It became Shinnō clad in Zero-Tails armor.
Compared to the fortress's main cannon that Ryosuke had chopped apart, this was the deadliest weapon the sky fortress contained.
After a brief panic, the backup fuel reserves activated.
The massive fortress finally slowed its descent, halting above Gorin City less than two hundred meters from the ground.
In the city below, the citizens only had to tilt their heads slightly, and those with sharp eyesight could clearly see the two figures standing on the deck, facing off.
Shinnō savored the feeling of being looked up to. He spread his arms, eyes narrowing slightly, a smile curling at his lips, "Ryosuke, I must thank you."
"If not for your appearance, I might still be hiding in some ravine, building a crude, shoddy fortress."
"Thanks to you, I possess everything I have now."
Shinnō's tone was sincere.
He was a clever man. Without that, he could never have cooperated with Orochimaru, stolen forbidden techniques from Konoha, or led a small village to develop such a colossal war machine as the sky fortress.
Precisely because he was clever enough, Shinnō understood the true reason the syndicate had gone insane pouring in money.
Ryosuke.
Everything was because of the man before him.
Shinnō had even considered working with Ryosuke.
Ryosuke would threaten the syndicate, Shinnō would pretend to oppose him. Both sides could stage battles, sacrifice pawns below them, and slowly bleed the syndicate of its wealth.
Unfortunately…
Shinnō looked at Ryosuke with pity.
"You are too 'decayed.' Clinging so tightly to your awakening ideals, compared to me, you look even more like a stubborn old man of sixty."
Ryosuke looked at the Shinnō clad in semi-transparent black Zero-Tails energy.
"Looks like being wrapped in that 'freezer' gives you a real sense of safety."
He planted the Great Sword of Annihilation into the ground.
After the earlier battles, fine cracks had spread across its blade again. Once this ended, he'd have to find Old Man Dao to repair it.
Ryosuke took a deep breath. Star Platinum manifested behind him, and he beckoned at Shinnō.
"Come, let's spar a little."
Shinnō's smile slowly faded. With a wave of his hand, hundreds of black arms extended from his Zero-Tails body, clawing toward Ryosuke.
"Heh!'
Shinnō sneered, his muscles bursting with power.
'Eight Inner Gates, Open!'
Surging blood energy erupted from his body, his already muscular frame swelling even larger. Clenching his fists, he let out a thunderous roar, and charged at Ryosuke.
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