A swirling vortex of energy emanated from his palm, rapidly transforming into a hemispherical spatial barrier that instantly enveloped all three of them. The barrier was not large, roughly ten meters in diameter.

The Raikage and Ai, their bodies radiating terrifying killing intent, had already closed the distance to almost nothing. They felt that in the next instant, his body would be torn apart completely.

Swoosh.

Without any warning, their target vanished. In his place floated a rock.

The Raikage and Ai’s expressions froze.

A second later, the Third Raikage’s superhuman reflexes kicked in. He spun instantly and slashed downward. His wrist, enveloped in powerful lightning-attribute chakra, fiercely struck a figure that had inexplicably appeared pressed against him from behind.

It was Yuji.

"Space-time ninjutsu!"

Seeing this, both of them felt as though they had been plunged into ice water.

"Remarkable. Even within such an extreme reaction window, they can still mount a counterattack."

Yuji’s heart stirred with genuine acknowledgment even in the midst of what was happening.

The Third Raikage’s wrist connected. The impact shattered through Yuji’s shoulder and the wound tore all the way down to his abdomen. But Yuji had already moved first.

A blood-infused long blade slashed.

The Third Raikage’s body was split at the waist. Even his extraordinarily strong Lightning Release Armor seemed unable to withstand the blood blade at this range and angle. Blood splattered outward.

Then something strange became visible.

Although the Raikage’s body had been severed, there was not a single drop of blood at the wound site itself. His internal organs were clearly visible in the two separated halves. It was as though what had been cut was not the body itself but the spatial layer supporting it. The Raikage’s consciousness, bodily functions, and chakra operation remained completely unaffected. It was purely a physical separation within the Room’s effect.

This was something neither the Raikage nor Ai had ever encountered before. But their instincts screamed that something was catastrophically wrong.

With the Third Raikage’s internal space now exposed through the separation, Yuji’s fresh blood immediately bypassed the Lightning Release Armor entirely, surging directly into the open interior of his body. At the same time, the tremendous force of the Raikage’s own wrist strike sent Yuji flying with enormous power.

Thud.

The Third Raikage’s upper half fell to the ground. He had been cut in two and yet his consciousness, bodily functions, and chakra operation remained intact for the moment.

However, the massive flood of poisonous blood that had entered his body through the exposed interior had immediately begun consuming his organs from within through its corrosive properties. His life force began fading rapidly. The Lightning Release Armor dissipated. In that instant he understood clearly.

Death was coming.

"Go!"

Without a moment of hesitation, the Raikage spoke to Ai in a low voice.

Ai was visibly stunned. The situation had escalated so rapidly and so completely that his mind struggled to process it simultaneously.

"Run!"

Only when the Raikage shouted it forcefully did Ai’s frozen mind snap back. After one last look at his father, he instantly drove his body to its absolute limit and fled.

The Raikage quickly assessed his own remaining state, slammed his hand into the ground, and a black lightning bolt surged upward, striking directly at the spot where Yuji had been heading.

Although his life force was already fading, enough strength remained for one final attack, creating a critical window for Ai to escape.

In the distance, Yuji had crashed into a massive rock and slid to the ground, covered in blood. The Raikage’s wrist strike had been devastating, nearly severing half of his body as well.

His wounds were rapidly healing, but a second later the black lightning struck him again, pulverizing the rock behind him. Tiny black electrical currents spread across his body. His entire body went numb and his limbs stopped responding.

He lifted his head, face covered in blood, his cold eyes staring at the figure attempting to flee from within the Room’s domain.

With a flick of his finger, the backpack Ai had been carrying was instantly teleported from Ai’s possession and reappeared beside Yuji. Ai, realizing too late that the sealed scroll containing the Sand Village’s medicinal resources had been taken back, fled in a flash and disappeared without a trace.

Approximately ten seconds passed.

The black lightning emanating from Yuji’s body completely dissipated. After a brief moment, his injuries had fully recovered. He brushed the dust from his body and slowly stood up.

He walked step by step toward the remains of the Third Raikage lying on the ground. The Third Raikage was lifeless. The upper half lay where it had fallen. The lower half had remained standing where it had been cut.

He did not give chase, even though he had clearly seen the direction in which Ai had fled.

Activating the Ope Ope no Mi ability had consumed far more chakra than he had anticipated. He needed the Reverse Cursed Technique to heal his remaining injuries first.

The Third Raikage’s desperate counterattack had inflicted real damage, and the technique itself had consumed a considerable additional amount on top of that. Without another Senzu Bean, his judgment was immediate and clear. With his remaining chakra, killing Ai was not realistically achievable.

"Unfortunately. The first time using it, the energy consumption was completely unexpected. The duration was shorter than it needed to be."

"If this ability were not so powerful and the consumption not so extreme, if I had waited longer to accumulate more experience before purchasing it..."

He let the thought trail off.

"I will combine it with other effective abilities later and develop it further."

He had spent seven thousand auxiliary experience points to acquire the Ope Ope no Mi, and currently possessed only its most fundamental capability, the Room and its spatial operation effect. After system assimilation, the range and duration of the field were synchronized with his own chakra reserves.

Because of its unique spatial properties, the chakra requirement was extraordinarily high.

With his current chakra level, the Room could only cover a space of a few dozen meters. But that was already an extraordinarily powerful capability. There was a clear reason for its high price.

He had chosen this ability because it could guarantee absolute damage against the Raikage and Ai regardless of their defenses. It could bypass their Lightning Release Armor entirely.

But precisely because of this, the plan had required careful setup. Because the technique aimed for a guaranteed kill, it could not simply be deployed immediately.

It was absolutely necessary to lay a trap in their minds first, making them believe their defenses were sufficient and that his arsenal had no answer for them.

Otherwise, if these two had been determined to escape from the beginning, or if he had not created the right opening in advance, inflicting effective damage would have been far more difficult.

One had to analyze the enemy’s combat experience and reaction capabilities to understand how to work around them. The possibility of unforeseen complications was high.

It was worth remembering that even when facing the Flying Thunder God Technique, a space-time ninjutsu, Ai had still been able to react in time. The Third Raikage’s capabilities were even further beyond that.

Without first creating a blind spot in their thinking, making them genuinely believe his attacks could not penetrate their defenses and that pressing forward was safe, the outcome would have been far more uncertain.

He had not wanted any unforeseen complications.

The more complex aspect was that the Ope Ope no Mi ability could not be developed the same way as Blood Release techniques. Independent development and integration required purchasing and combining additional items with experience points over time.

Acquiring the fruit itself was only the beginning.

Continued spending was the system’s mechanism for motivation. This appeared to be the reason why items above a certain price threshold required ongoing investment to reach their full potential.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

At this moment, several figures dropped into the canyon one after another. Sand Village members who had been dispatched and had only now caught up.

Every one of them was immediately stunned by what they saw.

The mountains and cliff faces throughout the canyon had been visibly damaged across a wide area. The extent and nature of the destruction made it impossible to fully imagine what kind of battle had taken place here.

The canyon floor was filled with rubble. Even now, the dust and sand swirling above had not completely settled.

"Lord Yuji!"

They quickly spotted a figure in completely tattered clothing and exclaimed in surprise. Upon approaching and seeing Yuji covered in blood, their hearts sank. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"I am fine."

He let out a slow breath, as though releasing the weight he had been carrying throughout the entire ordeal. He appeared to have returned to his usual easy and cheerful self. He turned and smiled at the worried faces gathering around him.

"That is..."

One of the Sand Village ninja noticed a corpse not far away. The others looked over simultaneously. When they saw the face of the corpse, every one of them froze completely where they stood.

"The Third... Raikage?"

One of them rubbed his eyes and cried out in shock, his voice trembling visibly.

They were stunned beyond words. A corpse. Dead.

"Let us go. Let us head back first."

Yuji slung his backpack over his shoulder, apparently unconcerned by the expressions of everyone around him, and chuckled softly.

Of course, he also intended to take the Raikage’s remains with him. For one thing, he could conduct some research on the Third Raikage’s body. For another, giving it to Sasori might prove extremely useful.