Inside the Demonic Ice Mirrors.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The four demons were furiously attacking the mirrors that surrounded them, but no matter how hard they hit, they couldn't shatter the ice mirrors. At most, they could only create one or two cracks on the surface.
And whenever these cracks appeared, they were instantly repaired by Haku, who was hiding inside the mirrors.
"Damn it!"
"This cursed shinobi!"
"When we catch him, we'll make sure he doesn't die quickly!"
The demons cursed as they realized that while their flesh could regenerate infinitely, their power was ultimately limited, and they couldn't break through the ice mirrors radiating cold.
Of course, these demons didn't know that these seemingly ordinary ice mirrors were actually the result of combining Water and Wind Release chakra natures—a Bloodline Limit!
Their strength far surpassed ordinary single-element ninjutsu.
However, Haku, who was hiding within the mirrors, wasn't as relaxed as he seemed.
The demons he had trapped didn't tire, weren't afraid of injury, and even if their arms were broken by slamming into the mirrors, they would regenerate quickly. This forced him to continuously expend chakra to repair the mirrors.
Glancing at the sky, Haku's face was serious.
With six or seven hours until sunrise, he began to doubt whether he could hold out until then.
As if sensing Haku's worry, one of the demons taunted, "How long do you think you can last? I can already smell the fear on you. You're scared out of your mind, aren't you?"
Haku calmly responded, "Even if I die, I won't let you leave here alive."
At this moment, one of the demons with the crossed-out symbol "Lower Five" in its eyes said to the other three, "Give me some of your chakra. I'll use my Blood Demon Art to break through this brat's ice!"
The other three demons grumbled but, unable to think of a better solution, allowed the demon to devour part of their bodies.
"Disgusting!"
Watching the demon devour the others, Haku felt nauseated.
After consuming parts of the other three demons, the demon's chakra surged, and it roared, "Blood Demon Art—Demonic Shadow!"
The demon launched itself at Haku's ice mirrors, moving at lightning speed.
Crack!
With a sharp sound, four or five cracks appeared on the ice mirror that was hit!
"Not good!"
Haku didn't bother conserving chakra. He immediately formed hand signs, reinforcing the cracked mirror.
Seeing that the attack was working, the other three demons started shouting, "Hurry up and smash these damn mirrors! We're starving!"
The demon that used the Blood Demon Art grinned wickedly, "Don't worry, I'll deal with this shinobi soon!"
For demons, chakra depletion wasn't a concern. They could easily replenish it by eating enough humans.
So the demon continued to strengthen its Blood Demon Art by burning through chakra, repeatedly slamming into Haku's ice mirrors.
Bang, bang, bang...
In the constant barrage of attacks, more and more cracks spread across the ice mirrors. At only eight or nine years old, Haku couldn't sustain this kind of chakra expenditure for long, and soon, his chakra was nearly drained.
Boom!
Finally, with a deafening crash, the shattered ice mirrors triggered a chain reaction, causing the entire ice dome to collapse.
Seeing the ice dome that had trapped them for so long finally break, the four demons grinned viciously.
But as the ice shards and cold mist cleared, the cruel smiles on their faces suddenly froze.
Because they saw, standing just outside the broken ice dome, a towering yellow half-bodied giant!
"Leader!"
Seeing the yellow half-bodied giant and Uchiha Shinji standing below it with Karin, the exhausted Haku was filled with joy instead of despair.
"Well done!"
Uchiha Shinji nodded at Haku, then commanded his Susanoo to grab the demon that had devoured parts of the other three.
He glanced at the remaining three demons.
"Ahhh!"
In an instant, the three demons were engulfed in black flames and, amidst their screams, turned to ashes.
Seeing his three companions reduced to nothing, the demon trapped in Uchiha Shinji's Susanoo was terrified: "W-What are those black flames?!"
Uchiha Shinji paid no attention to the demon's question and immediately cast a genjutsu on it, interrogating, "Why did you invade the shinobi world? What is your goal?"
Faced with Uchiha Shinji's Mangekyo Sharingan, the demon offered no resistance and fell into a trance, answering blankly, "We came here because..."
Boom.
Before the demon could finish speaking, it exploded without warning.
Uchiha Shinji frowned, So, it's like that, huh...
He had suspected that these invading demons might have been tampered with by the mysterious Lampbearer, and now his suspicion was confirmed—there would be no useful information to extract.
The demon didn't regenerate; it vanished as if it had been beheaded by a Nichirin Blade, turning into ashes.
Turning his gaze to where Enmu had been, Uchiha Shinji saw that the demon was gone. He asked Haku, "Where is that other demon?"
Snapped out of his shock, Haku replied, "Not long ago, it suddenly turned to ash and disappeared, just like the other demons."
Uchiha Shinji nodded thoughtfully.
In the dreamscape, he hadn't actually used Amaterasu on Enmu. In dreams, he really couldn't use ninjutsu.
He had only created the illusion of casting Amaterasu using his Mangekyo Sharingan. To his surprise, Enmu, the demon who manipulated dreams, had actually been burned to death by the illusion he created in the dreamscape.
Injuries inflicted in the real world manifested in the dream, and injuries sustained in the dream also had real-world consequences.
So, Enmu had literally scared himself to death in his own dream. How ironic!
"Counting the drum demon, there were six demons that invaded the shinobi world this time, right?" Uchiha Shinji mused for a moment, then instructed Karin, "Sense if there are any remaining demons in the town."
Having survived the earlier crisis, Karin had grown more composed. She immediately activated her Mind's Eye of the Kagura, scanning the town before reporting, "It seems there are no more."
[The invasion has been successfully repelled.]
[The rift is closing...]
The sound of the Lamp rang in Uchiha Shinji's ear at the perfect moment.
"Whew..."
Hearing the confirmation from the Lamp, Uchiha Shinji let out a sigh of relief. This invasion had been more dangerous than expected—he and his newly formed team had almost been wiped out.
[Scanning for spoils.]
[Spoils identified.]
[Spoil: Dream Construct.]
[Spoil: Small Drum (Can alter the spatial layout of buildings.)]
[Spoil: Extreme Speed (A Blood Demon Art converted to shinobi Taijutsu.)]
Watching as a series of glowing orbs were drawn to him by the Lamp, Uchiha Shinji finally smiled, "This is quite the haul!"