Inoyue had seen this stone statue before; it was the one in the royal forbidden grounds, an ancestor of the Asakura Clan from countless generations ago.
"But why is this stone statue missing a lower leg?" Inoyue wondered, remembering it was complete the last time she saw it.
However, before Inoyue could figure it out, her body suddenly felt light, and the Chakra within her rapidly drained for an unknown reason. Immediately, her legs went weak, her hands could no longer be lifted, and her entire body suddenly swayed, as if standing had become incredibly difficult.
"Princess!" Karura and Ryoko noticed the anomaly and quickly supported the weak-legged Inoyue from left and right. However, at that very moment, an unexpected change occurred: several tentacles suddenly shot out from beneath the stone statue.
These tentacles were incredibly fast, long and pointed, about the size of a child's finger, each one sharp, and all aimed at the hearts of the few people.
Sharp, swift, and impossible to guard against. Just as the tentacles shot out, a simple sand shield suddenly formed in front of Inoyue. Karura had already made her move, but due to the extreme haste, the sand shield was very thin and was instantly pierced through by the tentacles.
An instant is also a process, just a very short one.
The thin sand shield definitely had an impact on the incoming tentacles. It was this subtle impact that allowed Karura and Ryoko to react.
As the sand shield formed, the two of them helped the depleted Inoyue leap to the right and back, avoiding the tentacles.
The tentacles were fast, the sand shield formed quickly, and Karura's reaction was even faster; these three things were almost completed in an instant.
This leap dodged the fatal attack to the heart, but Inoyue's right arm muscle was pierced by a tentacle. That piercing pain made the already exhausted Inoyue's condition even worse.
The tentacles retracted, blood splattered, and Inoyue let out a soft groan. Due to severe exhaustion, her left hand couldn't even press down on her own wound. Ryoko, on the other hand, quickly pressed down on the wound on Inoyue's right arm.
...
"The Transformation Technique must be maintained, otherwise Karura and Ryoko will have no reason to save me. And without outside help, I would surely die," Inoyue constantly reminded herself, gritting her teeth and enduring the Transformation Technique while her Chakra rapidly drained.
However, it wasn't over yet. Four tentacle masses with masks suddenly appeared around the third level of the Altar of Heaven. They arched their masked faces upwards, and soon two strange long hands appeared. At the same time, the lively fingers on them quickly formed hand seals.
"Dead Soul Barrier, Four Yin Black Purple Array!" The four masked figures roared, each with a different voice, as if they were four separate individuals. As soon as their voices fell, the third level of the Altar of Heaven was sealed within a square barrier.
All of this seemed to have been calculated, and even with Karura's speed, she couldn't react in time.
With the retreat of the three of them sealed off, the limping stone statue that had been lying there moved. It shifted to the side, as if something was about to emerge from beneath it.
...
This barrier called 'Four Yin Black Purple Array' was very strong; it was definitely not an ordinary item. Its transparent black-purple color exuded a thick resentment, as if it had evolved from malevolent spirits.
Karura frowned slightly. The endlessly emerging tentacles and the barrier gave off a feeling of being difficult to deal with, and she instinctively didn't want to come into contact with them.
Inside the barrier, the main entity beneath the stone statue was gathering. Countless tentacles, like thin threads, were black with a slight purple hue, much like the color of the barrier, making one feel both disgusted and repulsed.
In a very short time, a leg was brought out by the tentacles, then a hand, and then other human body parts, including a head.
They were not inanimate objects but alive, especially the pair of red-rimmed, green-eyed eyes on the head, which scanned the three of them back and forth, feeling very creepy.
This monster might not be human at all; a human couldn't be separated like this and still survive. Yet, these non-human tentacles, along with severed limbs, formed a person.
A person with a gray cloth wrapped around their head and a Rogue Ninja headband, only revealing their red-rimmed, green-eyed eyes.
"A Rogue Ninja from Takigakure?" Karura mumbled in confusion.
Karura, of course, knew that the headband with a horizontal scratch represented Takigakure. But when did Takigakure have a Ninja like this monster?
Karura didn't know, but Inoyue did. Inoyue watched Kakuzu, who had gathered together, powerlessly, truly too exhausted to complain now.
Who was Kakuzu?
No matter who it was, it wasn't important now.
What was important was that this guy was a standard Kage-level individual, and an incredibly bold one at that. He dared to assassinate the God of Shinobi, the First Hokage of Konoha: Senju Hashirama.
"Can the three of us provoke the current Kakuzu?" Inoyue asked herself, almost wanting to cry.
Not only could she not provoke him, but Karura seemed to be, well, just a tiny bit short in terms of power. It wasn't that she looked down on Karura, but she genuinely lacked confidence.
Opening her mouth wide, she took two deep, cold breaths, Inoyue calmed her panicked mind to prevent herself from fainting from fright.
The current situation was extremely serious; the endless disappearance of Chakra in her body had already caused exhaustion. Now, startled by the sudden appearance of Kakuzu, Inoyue's face grew even paler.
At this moment, Inoyue truly had an impulse to give the heavens the middle finger and then weakly say, "Can you please not mess with me like this, okay?"
...
Good, certainly good, but it has already happened, so it cannot be changed. The facts of life are like this: if you can face them, it's like this; if you can't face them, it's still like this. What happens will not shift in the slightest according to your will. That's why it's called life, that's why it's called an accident.
If there were no more accidents in life, could it still be called life?
Accidents can be good or bad; you want the good ones, but you absolutely cannot push away the bad ones! Now, this big accident, Kakuzu, his thick mask on his grim face rippled slightly.
This money-grubbing maniac, who only cared about money, actually smiled at this moment.
Although the smile was ugly, it was a smile nonetheless. But no matter how she looked at it, this smile was strange.
It was as if, in his eyes, what stood before him were not three women, but a huge mountain of gold, the kind that was inexhaustible.
"Ninjutsu: Sand Shuriken!" Karura was the first to launch a probing attack.
Opportunities are earned; Karura was also a strong person, and a strong person would not be scared, no matter what kind of monster they faced.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!" Kakuzu calmly responded, immediately using Water Release, which countered the sand shield.
The Sand Shuriken encountered the Water Formation Wall and was dissolved after only penetrating halfway. Water Release countered sand shields; this was a rule, an unavoidable fact.
"If Rasa were here right now, his 'Magnet Release: Gold Dust Shuriken' would definitely achieve an unexpected effect," Karura sighed helplessly. The Ninja profession, when facing an enemy with a conflicting nature and comparable strength, would see its own strength severely devalued.
Deidara and Sasuke were the best examples.
As soon as the Water Release broke through the Sand Shuriken, Kakuzu didn't stop, intending to press his advantage.
"Secret Jutsu: Earth Grudge Fear: Many Piercings!" A piercing, wind-breaking sound came. Judging by the name of this Jutsu, it must be a large-scale Secret Jutsu, but how big was the third level?
It was less than thirty square meters in total; where could they escape to?
This is bad! Inoyue cried out internally, but nothing happened on the third level.
...
Did the Jutsu fail?
How could that be? Even if one believed pigs could climb trees, they wouldn't believe that Kakuzu, with Kage-level strength, would fail to activate a Ninjutsu.
This Secret Jutsu did not fail; the tentacle ground spikes did appear, and they appeared over a large area. However, the location where they appeared was not on the third level of the Altar of Heaven, but on the first level.
There were still many people on the first level, those in the procession, both men and women, who had come with her.
Inoyue quickly turned her head to check on their safety. However, upon seeing them, her eyes widened, and her heart felt as if someone had suddenly grabbed it, a suffocating sensation.
The more than twenty people who had remained on the first level were now impaled into human sticks by Kakuzu's Secret Jutsu.
They were not yet dead, writhing in pain on the impaling tentacles. Some could still let out screams, while others could only twitch in agony, unable to scream because the upward-piercing tentacles had also pierced through their mouths.
...
"They are just ordinary people; why be so cruel?" Inoyue murmured softly. Due to her weakness, her voice was barely audible, even to herself.
Was she angry?
Perhaps!
After all, she was a modern person born in New China and raised under the red flag.
Although those people were not related to her, seeing them die so tragically made her uncomfortable, and she wanted to do something for them to calm her heart.