Swoosh!
Two medium Holy Arrows were fired straight out!
Mikoto's Holy Arrow blasted apart all the incoming magma spheres, and Kushina's Holy Arrow followed right after, striking Roshi in an instant.
With a boom, a hole was blown through Roshi's abdomen.
Immediately, Four-Tails chakra gushed out. Under astonished gazes, his abdomen healed at high speed.
Roar!!!
Agonized pain and grief drove Roshi half-mad, and a beastlike howl tore from his throat.
Waves of searing chakra kept surging from his body.
Roshi entered partial tailed-beast transformation, retaining human form while sprouting four tails, wrapped in a dark red tailed-beast cloak.
A black-purple Tailed Beast Bomb began to gather in his mouth.
"Not good, a Tailed Beast Bomb!"
Sensing the destructive energy within it, Jiraiya and the others fell back, even instinctively looking to Lucian.
Should we have the subordinates strike or not.
If he makes a move, do we evade; if we take it head-on…
In any case, Jiraiya and the others never took their eyes off Lucian; this was all intelligence.
At this moment, Lucian signaled the two women to stop and began calmly instructing.
"Remember: if one spiritual entity's spiritual pressure is clearly stronger than that of the surrounding spiritual entities, it will overawe them so they cannot move."
"The gap in spiritual pressure between individuals must be large."
"The side with the weaker tolerance for spiritual pressure may even be unable to withstand the stronger pressure and die on the spot."
"So…"
As his deep voice sounded, the man called the Demon King lifted his gaze, casual and unhurried.
In an instant, a vast pressure descended.
A terrifying, invisible energy swept out like a torrential downpour.
Bang!
To the shock of all,
the forming Tailed Beast Bomb shattered at once, as if struck by an unseen force.
Next, Roshi's body halted.
He froze like a fool where he stood, and in an instant his soul collapsed.
A moment later, he crashed to the ground.
Gurgle gurgle…
That fearsome tailed-beast chakra seemed unable to accept it.
It surged madly as if to save Roshi, but it was useless. With Roshi's death, the tailed-beast chakra slowly dissipated.
Hiss!!
At the sight, the remaining shinobi trembled all over.
An enemy being strong is not what's terrifying.
What's terrifying is this silent, traceless power that killed outright without anyone even seeing an attack.
Looking at Roshi's lifeless eyes, unclosed and filled with fear and despair, it was as if someone had hit pause.
Everyone's breath stopped!
"Such a fragile soul…"
Spiritual power, like chakra, is energy; spiritual pressure is the density and strength of the soul.
In Lucian's view, aside from a few, the spiritual pressure of the shinobi world's ninja was far too weak.
Swish!
Lucian flashed to stand before Roshi and pressed one hand hard to his forehead.
"Dissipate? Not if I have anything to say about it."
The death of a jinchūriki causes the tailed beast to die as well, but it will be reborn.
As life forms condensed of chakra, their consciousness will reconsolidate after a period.
But before Lucian, the tailed beast's consciousness—more precisely, its soul energy—could not escape.
Roar roar roar!
The soul of the Four-Tails, Son Gokū, was clutched in Lucian's grasp, howling in unwilling terror.
It felt the fatal death, the kind from which there would be no revival.
"What is he doing?!"
Jiraiya and the others were stunned; except in special circumstances, they could not see souls.
In their eyes, Lucian was gripping empty air, and they had no idea what he was doing.
Yet his aura invisibly grew stronger, chilling them.
Sss sss sss!
In a distant corner, a figure suffused in green appeared, looking like a branchlike creature.
The branches slowly opened, revealing a tall, thin silhouette with a human face.
The face was half black and half white, eerie in the extreme.
"Waaah, the jinchūriki died. That jutsu didn't even need hand seals. So jealous."
"Shut up. Say one more word and I'll cut you down."
White Zetsu's clamor darkened Black Zetsu's face even more, while a storm surged in Black Zetsu's heart.
As a millennia-old schemer, Black Zetsu prided himself on broad knowledge, with a grasp of all sorts of messy jutsu.
But Lucian unleashing a terrifying attack without even lifting an eyelid surprised him.
If the attack alone merely surprised him, the unknown energy within it instantly put him on high alert.
"Energy? Soul? Definitely not chakra!"
The face that usually wore a sinister smile was now exceedingly grave.
Because he sensed a threat of death from that energy.
Especially that sword-pressure slash just now—brush against it and die—it made him not dare approach.
After all, he was a product of Kaguya's will.
In theory only Six Paths–level Yin–Yang Release could harm him, yet that energy contained no trace of Yin–Yang Release. Lucian…
After searching so long, had he found such a terror?
"Damn it, even the Four-Tails' jinchūriki is dead."
Black Zetsu was angry. When a jinchūriki dies, the tailed beast dies too; who knew when it would revive, or where it would hide.
But what Black Zetsu did not know was that the Four-Tails and the Nine-Tails would not revive again.
"That person is dangerous. I'm keeping my distance."
Hearing this, White Zetsu was quite surprised:
"Wow, little Black bro, first time I've seen you so cautious. Does that guy take more dumps than others?"
Black Zetsu glared. "Get lost!"
"Ah-re, great. I never liked sticking together anyway. You never bathe."
"Shut up, idiot!"