Chapter 464

"Detected that the host has encountered a battle, the Heart of Steel treasure chest has begun to accumulate..."

Click—

Following the system's prompt in his mind, Uchiha Gin stopped his steps with a strange expression, and the two women following behind also stopped upon seeing this.

"Gin, is it a bit too conspicuous to take off here?"

Uchiha Hikari measured the distance between them and Loulan City, finding it to be no more than ten miles, so she asked with some uncertainty.

The massive Susanoo Sixth-Generation Big Gray Machine took off from the ground; it would be difficult not to attract the attention of the Loulan Sand Ninjas.

"No, someone has come to our door."

Uchiha Gin shook his head. The system's prompts had never been wrong; there were definitely unknown enemies nearby.

"Enemies?"

Hearing the solemnity in Uchiha Gin's tone, the two women frowned slightly. Their red and white eyes lit up instantly, and they began to vigilantly look around, searching for the unknown enemies.

"Where?"

Uchiha Gin wasn't that stupid. Staring with eyes wide open in a sandstorm to search—wasn't that looking for trouble for himself? Wasn't he afraid of getting sand in his eyes?

He immediately activated his super-strong perception, and three intense Chakra reaction sources instantly appeared on his radar.

"Stop looking blindly, over there."

Pointing remotely at the rolling sand dunes in the distance, Uchiha Gin reminded the two women behind him who were rubbing their eyes frantically.

Look, didn't they get sand in their eyes?

"Praiseworthy perception."

And in a place no more than a few miles away from Uchiha Gin and the others, Jigen rubbed his blood-red eyes with a blank expression, his words carrying a trace of astonishment.

"That human discovered you."

As a member of the Otsutsuki clan, Jigen naturally had means to avoid perception. Compared to the exposure of the three experimental subjects, he was more curious about what kind of sacred being this human was who could perform such a level of perception ninjutsu.

"Is it the Uzumaki clan?"

Jigen thought of a relatively famous family in the Ninja World. Although they didn't have special dominant Kekkei Genkai, they were world-renowned for their thick life force and super-strong perception, and their innate talent for sealing jutsu was second to none.

"It's the seed left by that traitor Kaguya again. Really troublesome."

That Senju Hashirama who almost beat him to waste was Kaguya's descendant. The culprit who appeared now and took the fruit away in advance was likely also Kaguya's descendant.

However, there shouldn't be any human stronger than Senju Hashirama, right?

After a burst of grumbling, Jigen looked at the three experimental subjects ready to go in front of him, and the worry that had just risen in his heart instantly dissipated.

The experimental subjects in his hands were clones that perfectly replicated Senju Hashirama's strength, and on the basis of the original version, they also added the tissue cells of the juvenile Ten-Tails in his hands.

Now, each experimental subject was equivalent to a small Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, except that due to the lack of Chakra, many abilities had not been activated.

But even so, the strength displayed by the experimental subjects at the current stage was already firmly above Senju Hashirama, the gene provider.

"They're here."

Sensing that the fruit he planted was getting closer and closer, Number One slowly raised his head, and a flash of hidden desire flickered in his originally dull eyes.

"Don't let me down."

Jigen nodded lightly, and a dark red portal rose up behind him according to his thoughts. He prepared to find the best viewing position to appreciate the performance of his masterpiece.

Just the next moment after he disappeared, the figures of Uchiha Gin and the three landed on the sand dunes not far away. Uchiha Hikari and Otsutsuki Otsutsuki Yueji were secretly shocked when they saw the three black-robed people with identical builds.

"Gin, could they be..."

"Should be correct."

Uchiha Gin, who was also sizing up the three, nodded slightly, and a faint look of confusion floated in his half-squinted dead-fish eyes.

"Strange."

In the feedback of Uchiha Gin's super-strong perception, the aura components emitted by these three black-robed people were extremely complex, not only blending Senju Hashirama and the Tailed Beast Chakra he was familiar with, but also a strange aura that was very difficult to detect.

The cruelty and chaos emitted from this aura made Uchiha Gin frown slightly.

Who on earth were these people?

However, it wasn't just Uchiha Gin who discovered this strange aura. Kaguya, who was standing in the pupil technique space, was actually hugging her arms tightly at this moment, her delicate body trembling slightly, and that beautiful face, which was usually calm, carried a look of fear that had never appeared before.

She stared fixedly at the three black-robed people with her white eyes, muttering to herself.

"He... he has finally come after all."

Looking at the black-robed people who had no reaction to their arrival, Uchiha Gin spoke first. His voice wasn't loud, but it passed through the shrill wind and landed steadily in the ears of the few people present.

"Are you the ones hunting Tailed Beast knights?"

Jigen found a suitable position not far away, sitting elegantly on the viewing seat he had prepared, sizing up Uchiha Gin and the three with great interest.

"Hidden Leaf people, huh..."

From the forehead protector worn by Uchiha Gin, Jigen judged the identities of the three, and couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile of malicious interest.

When they saw their most respected leader become a puppet, would they lose their will to fight on the spot?

"Hand over the One-Tail fruit."

The eyes under the cloak of the Number One experimental subject swept over Uchiha Gin and the three, finally landing on that fluffy curly hair. The mechanical, staccato voice made people's skin crawl.

Sure enough.

Looking thoughtfully at the black-robed person who spoke, Uchiha Gin finally confirmed his conjecture. The ultimate goal of these guys attacking Tailed Beast knights was the tumor he had dug out from Shamon's body earlier.

"I'm very curious, what are you doing collecting these fruits?"

Taking out the irregular fruit from his backpack, Uchiha Gin tossed it up and down in his hand, asking with a very annoying expression.

"Fruit confirmed..."

The eyes of the three experimental subjects were instantly attracted by the fruit emitting a rich Chakra aura. Number One, in particular, had eyes shining, and his steady breathing also became rapid.

His body was telling him that as long as he ate that, he could complete the next step of evolution.

"Gin, why are you wasting words with them?"

Seeing that Uchiha Gin actually had the leisure to chat with the enemy, Uchiha Hikari, whose hands were extremely itchy, walked up clenching her small fists. Her black pupils were dyed with bloodthirsty scarlet following her voice, and the three manifested tomoe also began to spin rapidly.

"Isn't this just questioning as usual?"

Looking at the girl full of fighting spirit, Uchiha Gin scratched his head with an innocent expression. Isn't that how it's acted in TV shows?

If he didn't ask now, he was afraid he could only cry while holding three corpses later.

"Throw a punch first, and ask all the questions while fighting."

Uchiha Hikari leaped up and landed steadily in front of the three black-robed people. Even in the desert with temperatures over forty degrees, everyone could feel the coldness seeping out from her scarlet eyes.

"Are you coming one by one, or together? Forget it, I'm in a hurry, you all come together!"

Having finally had the chance to go on vacation with Gin, Uchiha Hikari was also planning to take advantage of her position as a pilot to take Uchiha Gin to a nearby small hotel to experience some local flavor later.

Now that the good thing had been disturbed by these guys who suddenly appeared, it would be a lie to say she wasn't angry.

"Wait!"

Just as Uchiha Hikari was rubbing her hands, Otsutsuki Otsutsuki Yueji, who was unconvinced, landed beside her.

"You want to compete for this too?"

Uchiha Hikari glanced at the white-eyed girl beside her.

"Don't think about hogging the limelight alone."

Otsutsuki Otsutsuki Yueji's idea was very simple. If Uchiha Hikari performed alone, Uchiha Gin's gentle gaze would always be on her.

Thinking of herself becoming a transparent person that no one paid attention to, Otsutsuki Otsutsuki Yueji felt inexplicably depressed.

"Can you not come and steal the monsters? Moon person!"

"These monsters are randomly spawned; is your name written on their heads?"

"..."

Looking at the two women who were arguing endlessly for some reason, the Number One experimental subject frowned slightly and ordered the two experimental subjects beside him.

"You two go and deal with them."

For the two women who didn't have the fruit in their hands, he didn't have the slightest interest in making a move.

"Received."

Just now, Jigen had ordered Number Three and Number Four to unconditionally assist Number One in the mission, so these two experimental subjects had no objections and simultaneously performed the Body Flicker Jutsu, disappearing from where they were.

"Careful!"

Uchiha Gin, who discovered the two black-robed people disappearing, reminded the two women who were stealing monsters.

"Hmph~ I'll settle the score with you after finishing the business!" *2

After hearing the reminder, the two put aside their dispute for the time being, their red and white eyes looking at each side.

Uchiha Hikari raised her hand to set up the starting stance of the Uchiha clan's taijutsu, her red Sharingan capturing the movement trajectory of the black-robed person first.

The moment the other party landed after the Body Flicker Jutsu and was about to attack, the girl bent down slightly, successfully lowering her head to dodge a brute-force straight punch from the Number Three experimental subject.

"Huh?"

Number Three, who had missed the punch, paused, but only for a moment. He quickly reacted, changing the punch to a chop, and a hand blade carrying a faint blue light slashed mercilessly toward the weak Uchiha Hikari.

"Hmph!"

Uchiha Hikari curled her lips with disdain, her slender legs kicking out fiercely, the move also dyed with a faint blue light.

"Boom!"

With a muffled sound, Number Three's burly body was kicked dozens of meters away by the girl's slender calf, smashing heavily onto the scorching sand dune, stirring up sand and gravel flying all over the sky.

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

Looking at the black-robed person trapped in the sand pit, looking disheveled, Uchiha Gin shook his head with a tsking sound.

Never be deceived by Hikari's weak image. Her taijutsu attainments were something even Uchiha Gin was wary of, and it could be said to be her strongest item besides pupil techniques.

"Hi!"

Adhering to the principle of beating a dog in the water, the girl pursued the victory, waving her pair of delicate fists, and smashed toward Number Three who had just poked his head out of the sand pit.

Facing the aggressive girl, Number Three, who had just pulled himself out, had long since put away his previous contempt. His fists were dyed with the faint blue of brute force, colliding with Uchiha Hikari's fists.

"Boom!"

The collision of brute force erupted with a deafening sound. The figures of the two crossed, and the ping-pong sound of hitting was endless.

Facing the black-robed person's tidal-like attacks, Hikari easily dodged every fatal attack by relying on the Sharingan's insight, and also caused damage one after another in the parts where the other party revealed flaws.

"Boom!"

Finally, the girl found an opportunity again, kicking the black-robed person's chest fiercely, and the savage giant force knocked him flying dozens of meters away.

She landed steadily herself, glanced at the slightly dirty corner of her clothes, and a trace of smugness appeared on her pretty face.

"..."

This time, after Number Three experimental subject climbed up, he didn't choose to attack rashly again. Instead, he put his hands together, and an aura that Uchiha Gin was very familiar with gushed out.

"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu."

The hideous wooden dragon broke through the sand. Its grayish-brown appearance, slightly different from that of Uchiha Gin and the others, lacked a bit of life force and had a bit more deathly decay.

"Hikari! Pay attention to safety."

Uchiha Gin took in the girl's performance. Seeing the enemy start to use Wood Release, out of worry, he reminded her loudly.

"Hee hee, got it, Gin~"

The girl smiled beautifully, glanced at Otsutsuki Otsutsuki Yueji not far away without a trace, her eyes full of provocation.

"Oh? Forcing out Number Three's Wood Release so quickly, this human is a bit interesting."

Jigen, who was watching the battle, had a look of faint surprise in his eyes, his gaze falling on Uchiha Hikari's Sharingan, which was emitting a cold aura, and he revealed a look of sudden realization.

"With this level of pupil technique, no wonder."

In his eyes, the Sharingan born from the power of the God Tree could be considered a mutated subspecies of the Rinnegan, and its abilities could not be underestimated.

On the other side,

"Damn it!"

Otsutsuki Otsutsuki Yueji, who was pointed at by the eyes of her rival, discovered that Uchiha Gin's gaze was indeed all attracted by Uchiha Hikari. The sour and strange emotion in her heart instantly reached its peak.

"You, are you ready to die?"

Turning her head to look at the black-robed person who was ignoring her, Otsutsuki Otsutsuki Yueji flashed a ruthless look in her cold white eyes, raised her hand, and threw out a green light ball.

"..."

Number Four, who didn't know he was caught in the crossfire, flew backward to dodge this light ball symbolizing a declaration of war.

After landing, he set up the same starting stance as the other experimental subjects, and his burly body emitted waves of faint blue light.

"Heh."

Otsutsuki Otsutsuki Yueji sneered, simply removing her clumsy disguise. Her black hair gradually dyed silver-white, and the momentum around her body also began to climb.

Raising one hand, her beautiful white eyes quickly locked onto the weak point of the black-robed person, and an invisible force instantly left her hand.

Whoosh!

Divine Air Strike!

"Boom!"

Number Four, who was still maintaining a blocking posture, was stunned. His whole body flew backward, landing heavily on the ground, and a terrifying collapse appeared on his chest.

"Nani?"

Jigen, who saw this scene, stood up abruptly, his eyes full of rare horror. This move...

If Uchiha Hikari's performance made his eyes light up, then Otsutsuki Otsutsuki Yueji's move gave him a sense of déjà vu of an old friend.

"This woman... Heh, so that's how it is."

Jigen carefully observed Otsutsuki Otsutsuki Yueji, who had returned to her original appearance, and soon discovered the clues, his eyes adding a few more traces of inexplicable teasing.

"I never expected this planet to still have such a pure-blooded Otsutsuki. It's estimated that a second one can't be found. Could Kaguya's Karma be on her body?" (End of chapter)