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The two ascended to the second floor, where the Sand Village's jōnin were currently holding back Shikaku's group from breaking through.
The Nara clan was renowned for their Shadow Techniques, capable of extending their own shadows to connect with those of their enemies, effectively immobilizing them. In the narrow corridors, this technique left the Sand shinobi with almost no room to evade, causing them significant trouble.
Karin observed the explosions echoing ahead and tapped the wall beside her. "The walls have been reinforced; ordinary ninjutsu likely won't be able to destroy them," she remarked.
A nearby Sand shinobi confirmed her assessment. "Our original plan was to use ninjutsu to collapse the Hokage Tower and then take advantage of the chaos to eliminate survivors. However, they activated a barrier to reinforce the structure beforehand, so we've had to fight our way through floor by floor."
BOOM!
Another explosion erupted ahead, scattering wind blades that ricocheted between the walls, leaving only faint white marks on the surface.
Mujin paused to consider the situation. Even if they managed to defeat Shikaku, the Sand shinobi wouldn't allow them to enter the confidential archives alone. It would be best to eliminate both the Leaf and Sand forces simultaneously.
Moreover, with the acquisition of the Eye of Eido, certain techniques that were previously difficult to execute could now be utilized.
He turned to the Sand shinobi and asked, "If I can break Nara Shikaku's technique, will you be able to deal with him?"
"Of course," the Sand shinobi replied. "But earlier, when we tried using sandstorms to block out light, the Leaf side countered with Lightning Release to create artificial illumination. That tactic didn't work."
Mujin waved dismissively. "Don't worry about that. Orochimaru-sama sent us here with means to counter him. Just prepare your men."
The Sand jōnin gave Mujin a long, scrutinizing look. "I hope your method truly works."
With that, he discreetly signaled his team. Soon, the sounds of battle ahead began to subside as both sides conserved their strength for the decisive strike.
At that moment, Mujin and Karin stepped into the battlefield.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the corridor, Nara Shikaku furrowed his brow. "Why has the Sand's assault stalled?"
One of the Konoha shinobi hesitantly suggested, "Perhaps they're regrouping to strengthen their defenses below?"
Shikaku frowned deeply, contemplating the situation before responding firmly, "No, it's not that simple. With their current strength, they can't break this deadlock. There must be reinforcements arriving—someone capable of countering me. Otherwise, the Sand shinobi wouldn't coordinate like this…"
Upon hearing this, the Konoha shinobi immediately urged, "If that's the case, please retreat to the rear. Let us test their strength first."
"No," Shikaku rejected the suggestion without hesitation. His tone was resolute. "Reinforcements haven't arrived yet, which means the village's situation might be worse than we imagined. They aim to take me out in one fell swoop—but isn't this also an opportunity for us?"
"But this is far too dangerous…" the shinobi persisted.
Shikaku cut him off, his gaze unwavering. "Enough. Prepare yourselves. This… is all for the sake of the village!"
As Mujin entered the battlefield, he instantly became the focus of the Konoha shinobi. Various attacks converged on him, but with Karin standing guard at his side, he remained unscathed.
Ahead of him stood Nara Shikaku, poised as bait.
Shikaku clasped his hands together and formed a hand seal. "Ninja Art: Shadow Imitation Technique!"
The shadow beneath his feet surged forward like a spear, connecting with Mujin's shadow in the blink of an eye.
However, Shikaku showed no sign of triumph upon seeing this—it only confirmed that his opponent was unfazed.
"Who are you? You're not who you appear to be, are you?" Shikaku questioned sharply, suspicion evident in his voice.
Mujin offered no response. He tested moving his fingers but found them nearly immobile, capable of only slight tremors.
Impressive indeed—the Shadow Imitation Technique lived up to its reputation as one of the strongest control-based jutsu, even restricting someone of his caliber.
Yet, despite its power, the technique had a critical flaw: it relied entirely on controlling shadows!
In simple terms, any detail not present in the shadow was beyond Shikaku's control. This meant Mujin could blink, speak, and even channel chakra within his body...
"The Eye of Ido."
As soon as Mujin finished speaking, a pitch-black eye opened on his forehead, its pupil deep and ominous.
Instantly, countless runes erupted into existence under the gaze of the black eye!
The more powerful a sealing or barrier technique, the more intricate and time-consuming its execution typically was. Before acquiring the Eye of Ido, Mujin had been unable to utilize such advanced techniques during combat. The Twelve Heavenly Demon Lords pre-engraved on his body were already the pinnacle of what he could deploy in battle.
But with the Eye of Ido...
Everything changed!
The runes that appeared swiftly interconnected, forming the foundational structure of an enormous sealing array. It was as if a hundred invisible hands were simultaneously inscribing every detail at lightning speed. What would normally take over half an hour to complete—a large-scale sealing array—was now fully formed in the blink of an eye!
"This is...!? Hurry and—" Nara Shikaku felt a sudden surge of dread. He tried to urge his companions to activate their previously planned strategy, but before he could finish his sentence, the massive array on the ground blazed with radiant light!
Mujin no longer needed to form hand seals. With a soft voice, he uttered:
"Sealing Technique: Primordial Seal! From the Great Beginning to the End!"
"Thirty years make one generation! Twelve generations make one cycle! Thirty cycles make one assembly! Twelve assemblies make one primordial era!"
"One primordial era begins anew! All phenomena come to an end!"
A blinding flash of light erupted, freezing everyone within the array's range in place as though they had been struck by a paralysis jutsu. Every movement ceased instantly.
At the same moment, in Shikaku's perception, his world ground to a halt—not just himself and his companions, but everything around him. The kunai flying through the air, the flames from explosions, the floating dust particles, the glowing array, and even Mujin with his black eye—all were frozen like a paused video frame.
Why was this happening? Was it because of that technique?
Time stopped?
No, that couldn't be right. No one cast a jutsu that also froze their own time, and he could still think clearly. So...
This wasn't time stopping—it was mind acceleration!
Shikaku immediately began trying to regain control of his body, only to realize in despair that the jutsu hadn't physically restricted him at all. However...
It might take thousands of years for him to so much as twitch the tip of his finger.
In the first month, Shikaku meticulously reviewed every detail of the Chunin Exam incidents and devised countermeasures.
After a year, he began reflecting on his life.
After ten years, he attempted to create something meaningful.
After a hundred years, he had forgotten how to write or speak.
After five hundred years, he no longer remembered who he was.
After a thousand years, his ability to think faded entirely, leaving behind only incomprehensible murmurs of "ahh" and "uhh."
Five thousand years later...
Ten thousand years later...
Until...
129,600 years later!
Back in reality, after Mujin completed the Primordial Seal, merely a second had passed. But everyone—including the Suna shinobi—collapsed to the ground.
In that single second, they had lived through 129,600 years of solitary existence. Their bodies remained alive, but their minds were long dead, reduced to empty shells devoid of consciousness.
Even resurrection techniques like Edo Tensei would fail them now, for their souls had become hollow, meaningless voids.
Thus, it was clear that Konoha's master strategist, Nara Shikaku, had fallen here—
Defeated!