Late at night.
In the apartment, Uchiha Shinji, fully equipped, was quietly waiting.
Unlike the previous night, tonight he was no longer excited or eager but rather calm and composed.
[Prepare to face the invasion.]
The mysterious voice rang in his ears as expected.
"Exhale."
He took a breath and put on his mask.
The next moment, with a swift "swish", his figure disappeared from the apartment.
When he regained his senses, Shinji found himself standing at the foot of a large mountain.
"Where is this?"
He scanned his surroundings.
Before his eyes was a mountain range stretching for dozens of miles. It looked unfamiliar to him and was definitely not near the Hidden Leaf Village. However, the dense vegetation and the temperature and humidity were similar to that of the Hidden Leaf, so it was highly likely still within the Land of Fire.
"My authority is still too low..."
He muttered to himself.
If he were already the official Lamp Bearer of the shinobi world, he wouldn't be as clueless and devoid of information as he was now.
Pushing the thought aside, he turned to face the mountain.
This mountain gave him a single overwhelming impression: silence.
Standing tall under the night sky, it resembled a massive beast, holding its breath, waiting for its prey to come closer.
"Maybe... I should come back another day?"
Shinji joked to himself to ease the tension, then with a swift leap, he dashed toward the mountain.
As Shinji darted through the mountain forest, he increasingly felt something was off.
Even in the dead of night, in a forest as dense as this, there should have been the sounds of insects and birds, yet it was unnervingly silent here.
Swish.
Suddenly, a dark figure lunged at him from the shadows.
With his Mangekyō Sharingan already activated, Shinji immediately noticed the attacker. His right hand swiftly reached into his shinobi pouch and pulled out a kunai, ready to counter.
Clang!
The sharp sound of metal clashing echoed through the dark, silent forest.
After deflecting the attack, Shinji leaped back and realized that his attacker was wearing a Hidden Leaf forehead protector.
"A Leaf shinobi? No, something's wrong!"
In an instant, he realized the problem.
The Hidden Leaf shinobi who had ambushed him had a terrified expression, nothing like that of an ambusher. His body was connected to several threads, through which chakra flowed, and these threads extended deep into the forest.
For an ordinary person, such a scene might have been horrifying enough to cause panic.
But to a shinobi with dojutsu, the chakra-infused threads hidden in the darkness were as clear as day. The flow of chakra even pointed directly to the enemy's real location.
"Hmph, trying to act mysterious?"
Shinji snorted and, without bothering with the controlled Leaf shinobi, focused on the chakra-infused threads and rushed into the forest.
The enemy's technique was reminiscent of the puppet masters from the Hidden Sand, but he quickly dismissed that possibility—puppet masters couldn't control their puppets from such a long distance.
Moreover, since this was a defense against an invasion, he had a hunch about who was on the other end of those threads.
With his Breathing Techniques enhancing his speed, Shinji flew through the dark forest, which posed no obstacle to his Mangekyō Sharingan.
In moments.
He broke out of the forest and into an open area, and what he saw caused his expression to change.
The owner of the threads was exactly who he had suspected: the white-haired, white-robed Mother Spider Demon from Mount Natagumo.
But what shocked him was the seven Hidden Leaf shinobi being controlled around her like puppets, guarding her.
"Counting the one earlier, that makes eight Leaf shinobi, a full two squads."
Shinji was genuinely surprised that so many Leaf shinobi had fallen under her control.
But after thinking it over, it wasn't that strange. Ordinary shinobi, without knowing the nature of demons, being caught off guard was nothing unusual.
Moreover, ordinary shinobi weren't necessarily stronger than the top Demon Slayer swordsmen who had mastered Breathing Techniques.
After all, even the samurai of the Land of Iron, who couldn't use ninjutsu, had carved out a place in the shinobi world through their sharp swordsmanship and unwavering will.
And in the shinobi world, Jōnins, or even Kage-level figures, could lose their lives in an instant if they were careless.
For example, the Third Kazekage, revered as the strongest Kazekage, was taken down by Sasori in secret, leaving even his body to be turned into a puppet.
The truly terrifying thing about the shinobi world was its high ceiling.
The strongest combatants could slice through the moon and traverse galaxies!
Of course.
Those with such power were exceedingly rare in the shinobi world.
More commonly, shinobi, including Shinji himself, fought using kunai and explosive tags. None of them, including Shinji, had the luxury of underestimating demons!
After adjusting his mindset, Shinji glanced at Mother Spider Demon, his expression becoming more serious.
Previously, he had hoped that the chakra flowing through the threads was just leaking from the controlled Leaf shinobi. But now, seeing the Mother Spider Demon up close, he had to admit that the demon standing before him had already integrated chakra into her body.
Just as he had learned the Breathing Techniques, the invading demons were also attempting to master chakra.
Moreover, these demons had a significant advantage—they could devour people from the shinobi world, absorbing their chakra by consuming their flesh and blood.
Across from him, Mother Spider Demon had not expected Shinji to find her so quickly. She stood frozen for a moment as Shinji observed her.
But she quickly came to her senses and commanded the Leaf shinobi under her control to attack. "Kill him!"
In an instant.
The seven Leaf shinobi, terror evident on their faces, were forcibly controlled by the threads, rushing toward Shinji.
"Total Concentration!"
With a bang, Shinji exploded forward, his foot leaving a crack in the ground, his body shooting through the encirclement like an arrow from a bowstring.
Swish.
His kunai sliced through the air in a smooth arc, precisely severing the chakra threads controlling the seven Leaf shinobi.
Freed in an instant, the seven Leaf shinobi gasped in shock and instinctively turned to look at Shinji.
Shinji gave them a brief glance.
Thud, thud, thud!
In moments, the sound of bodies hitting the ground echoed.
The seven Leaf shinobi, already exhausted from the Mother Spider Demon's torment, collapsed and lost consciousness the moment their eyes met Shinji's, succumbing to his genjutsu.
"What... what's going on with these people?!"
Mother Spider Demon was stunned, her face filled with disbelief.
She couldn't comprehend how Shinji had simply glanced at them, and seven skilled swordsmen had fallen unconscious.
At this moment.
Shinji's eerie, glowing eyes slowly turned toward Mother Spider Demon. "Hey, it's your turn!"