dmims Page 244
Page 244
Gaara's soul let out a final, heart-wrenching cry.
He watched helplessly as the enormous figure that had accompanied him as he grew up and had long since become a part of him vanished into eternal darkness.
His outstretched hand grasped only a handful of empty sand.
Endless coldness and despair overwhelmed him like a tide, and his last glimmer of spiritual light was extinguished in this grief.
The entire spiritual world was plunged into a deathly, eternal darkness.
Outside, inside the cave.
As Shukaku's last bit of chakra was completely stripped away and absorbed.
The eye socket of the Gedo Mazo, which represents the One-Tailed Beast, suddenly lit up with a dark light!
A violent and ancient chakra wave belonging to a tailed beast instantly filled the entire cave, and was then slowly subdued by the golem.
Gaara, who was suspended in mid-air, suddenly stiffened, like a puppet with its strings cut.
The last faint breath of life in his body was extinguished completely, like a candle flickering in the wind.
That face, which always carried a hint of gloom yet remained resolute, had lost all its color.
It turned as pale and cold as marble.
His body lost its support and fell helplessly from mid-air, crashing heavily onto the cold, rocky ground with a dull thud.
Gaara, the Kazekage of Sunagakure, has fallen.
"Phew...it's finally over!"
Wearing a vortex mask, Afei stretched exaggeratedly.
He rubbed his lower back and complained in a deliberately quirky tone, "I've been in this position for days, my body's practically rusted! Hmm! Creating a work of art really does require patience!"
He jumped around a couple of times, as if to stretch his muscles.
Just then, Orochimaru's sinister voice, like the hiss of a venomous snake, rang out.
The message, delivered through the illusionary magic of the lamp, echoed in everyone's minds, carrying a hint of amusement: "Ladies and gentlemen, I have some less-than-pleasant news."
Pain's emotionless, wavy pupils turned to Orochimaru's phantom: "Speak."
"Hidan and Kakuzu's Edo Tensei,"
Orochimaru's voice carried a hint of deliberate regret: "I... have completely lost contact with them."
"Moreover, it wasn't simply defeated, it was... sealed away."
“Someone completely imprisoned their impure bodies, severing my connection with them.”
"what?!"
Deidara's true form was near the cave entrance. Hearing this, he raised an eyebrow: "Those two idiots were killed? And sealed away? Hmm? What a waste!"
His tone was laced with undisguised contempt.
Kisame, carrying Samehada, grinned savagely and chuckled softly, "Heh heh heh... what a piece of trash."
"They were given immortality, yet they were still dealt with so quickly. It seems the reinforcements sent by Konoha are a bit more troublesome than we expected?"
Orochimaru's golden snake eyes gleamed with calculation: "They certainly wasted a lot of my time unsealing their souls."
When Orochimaru found the seal in the Land of Waves, he immediately realized that it was Minato's doing.
After all, apart from him and the Uzumaki clan, no one in the world could create such a complex sealing technique.
Pain: "Speaking of which, did Kakuzu and the others report what they encountered in the Land of Waves?"
"The opponent must be no nobody to have dealt with Kakuzu and Hidan, who were both resurrected through Edo Tensei, so cleanly and efficiently."
All eyes were on Orochimaru: "According to what I've heard from them, they seem to have encountered an extremely powerful being on the coast of the Land of Waves and were instantly defeated."
"But they failed to provide any useful intelligence, and it seems they were wiped out before they could even see what the enemy looked like."
His voice remained cold and emotionless.
That's what he said, but Orochimaru wasn't telling the truth—
Kakuzu and Hidan were instantly killed by the combined souls of Madara Uchiha and Minato Namikaze in the Land of Waves!
But he would never share this intelligence with the Akatsuki.
He joined Akatsuki solely to acquire resources and intelligence to advance his research into immortality.
The Akatsuki's insane plan to destroy the world was completely at odds with his pursuit of personal immortality.
Therefore, they are hoping that the Akatsuki organization will encounter more setbacks.
Concealing the existence of Madara and Minato would allow them to maintain their information advantage while also causing trouble for the Akatsuki organization. Why not do it?
"A powerful being... instantly annihilated the Impure World Reincarnation body..."
Payne's voice carried a hint of seriousness: "The fact that Kakuzu was eliminated without even being able to resist shows that the opponent's strength is unfathomable."
"Everyone, be extra careful in your future actions. If you encounter any powerful individuals of unknown identity, prioritize gathering intelligence on them."
Just as Payne finished speaking!
The Red Sand Scorpion kept its eyes closed, sensing the barrier outside the cave.
Suddenly, a cold, emotionless mechanical voice rang out: "The barrier has been breached. There are guests... at the door."
His senses, formed by chakra threads, clearly detected the shockwave of the five seals being instantly shattered by an extremely domineering force!
Payne's wavy pupils contracted slightly, and without the slightest hesitation, he decisively ordered, "Disperse!"
At his command, the massive demonic statue emitted a deep hum.
Its enormous body instantly transformed into thick smoke and dissipated into the cave, as if it had never existed.
The suffocating pressure inside the cave suddenly eased.
The holographic images of Akatsuki members also disappeared one after another, as if a signal had been interrupted.
In the blink of an eye, only Deidara's true form and Sasori of the Red Sand, shrouded in the Hiruko puppet and exuding a chilling aura, remained in the vast cave.
And... Gaara's cold, silent corpse on the ground.
Chapter 266 Emotional loss of control
Deidara tossed the clay spider in his hand, a smug and cruel smile spreading across his face: "Heh heh, it's finally here?"
"My hands are itching to get started! Hmm! Brother Scorpion, this time I'm determined to make you acknowledge my art!"
Scorpion's Scarlet Amber Puppet made no movement; only its cold puppet eyes, hidden beneath the cloak, coldly "stared" at the boulder at the cave entrance.
He was waiting, waiting for the door to be opened, waiting to reunite with his old friend... or, perhaps, to say goodbye forever.
Before the boulder, the smoke and dust had not yet completely dissipated.
Kakashi, Chiyo, and Sasuke were still reeling from the shock of Naruto's audacious and unreasonable breakthrough of the Five Seals barrier.
"The...the barrier...is it really broken?"
Kakashi stared intently at the black energy fragments remaining on the boulder, which were rapidly dissipating.
And the clearly visible outline of the massive stone gate.
He felt that his understanding had been challenged like never before.
Sealing techniques... are they really that terrifying?!
Granny Chiyo's hand, which was holding a cane, trembled slightly, and her cloudy old eyes were fixed on Naruto.
As if trying to see right through him: "Boy... what you just used... could it be... the lost 'Spell Collapse' technique of the Uzumaki clan?"
"No... that domineering... that will to annihilate all rules... it's more like..."
She couldn't find the right word to describe the force she had just felt.
Naruto himself was a little confused, and he looked down at his right hand.
The palm seemed to still retain the lingering warmth of that violent power originating from the bloodline and guided by the mother's will.
He was simply following his mother's instructions in his mind, putting his hand on it, and then... everything happened.
For the first time, he felt so clearly the despair-inducing power of his mother Kushina in the art of sealing techniques!
This is simply...unbelievably strong!
"Mom...you're amazing!" Naruto exclaimed in his mind.
Within the space of consciousness:
Kushina stood with her hands on her hips, her fiery red hair moving without wind, a smug look on her face: "Hmph! See that!"
"Five mere protective barriers are nothing but paper in front of me! Don't overreact to these little things in the future!"
Faced with this scene, even the arrogant Madara had to admit, "What an overwhelming destructive power!"
Nine-Tails lay on the water's surface, lazily swishing its tail: "After all, besides you and Hashirama, only the Uzumaki clan could seal me away."
Minato smiled gently to the side, his eyes full of pride: "My sealing techniques were all taught by Kushina. In terms of sealing techniques alone, none of us can match her."
Sasuke was the first to recover from the shock.
"Ancestors? Never mind! I'll ask them when I have time."
After muttering a few words, Sasuke's crimson Sharingan warily scanned the exposed massive stone door.
He whispered, "There's a very strong chakra fluctuation behind the door."
"Two... no, just as the seal was completed, an extremely large amount of cold chakra disappeared, but the residual aura is still there."
In his field of vision, he could see the lingering effect of a terrifyingly large amount of chakra dissipating, as well as the undisguised hostility between Deidara and Sasori.
Kakashi instantly snapped to attention!
He forcibly suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and the Sharingan beneath his headband flashed with a sharp light: "No time to be surprised! Gaara is inside! Prepare for battle!"
"Sasuke, Naruto, stay close to me! Lady Chiyo, please be careful!"
The four instantly entered combat mode.
Kakashi and Sasuke stood guard on either side of the stone gate, while Naruto took a deep breath.