Naruto: I have an attribute panel

Chapter 476 Behind the Scenes

"I will come back————"

Before he finished speaking, the body, bound by layers of chains, suddenly began to writhe violently.

It wasn't a muscle contraction, but a more bizarre change, as if the skin contained not flesh and blood, but some kind of viscous liquid.

The form of the demon began to twist and deform, losing its fixed shape like a melting wax figure.

"Not good!" Taiyi's expression changed drastically in the sky.

He reacted almost the instant the demon spoke. Eight Vajra chains shot up from behind him, twisted in mid-air, and pierced the demon's mutating body like eight golden snakes.

"Reinforce the seal!"

Taiichi's shout brought the sealed ninja back to their senses.

The twenty people gritted their teeth and increased their chakra output, causing the runes on the chains to shine brightly in an attempt to suppress the strange movement.

However, the mutation of the demon seems to have triggered some kind of unconventional mechanism.

The chains stretched taut across the twisted body, creaking under the strain, yet they could not stop the eerie melting process.

Two minutes.

For everyone on the battlefield, those two minutes felt like an eternity.

They watched helplessly as the demon's body deformed and swelled under the chains, its scales peeling away piece by piece to reveal a purplish-black, mud-like substance beneath.

"Hold on!" Huang Tu roared from afar, "It's about to explode!!!"

The deafening explosion interrupted him.

It was not an explosion of flames or chakra, but a kind of rift.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the enormous body of the demon exploded like a sack filled with sewage.

There was no flying blood and flesh, only an overwhelming purplish-black liquid.

The foul-smelling sewage swept outwards like a tsunami, instantly submerging all areas within a radius of 100 meters.

Taiyi rapidly ascended into the sky, avoiding the impact of the polluted waves. He looked down, his face so gloomy it could drip water.

"What... what's going on?" a young Konoha sealing ninja murmured, his voice trembling with tears.

No one could answer him.

Taiyi slowly descended from the sky, his toes lightly touching an unpolluted rock. He looked around at the bewildered, shocked, and resentful faces, and took a deep breath.

"Reform the formation." His voice was terrifyingly calm. "Prepare for the onslaught of the Ghost Legion."

The order was like cold water, waking the still-dazed ninjas.

Yes, although the demons "disappeared" in this bizarre way, the ghost army is still here.

Moreover, judging from their continued frenzied attacks, the true nature of the demons has not been eliminated.

"Quick! Move fast!" Huang Tu was the first to react, his Rock Fist shattering an oncoming vengeful spirit. "Everyone, move towards the center! Earth Release teams, construct a circular defense!"

The ninjas gritted their teeth and dragged their weary bodies back together. The defensive formation was reassembled, but this time, the unwavering belief in victory was gone from their faces, replaced by bewilderment and unease.

As soon as Taiichi landed in the formation, he was surrounded by Chiyo, Kyoto, Tsuchida, and others.

"Taiyi, what was that just now—" Huangtu's voice held a final glimmer of hope, "The demon self-destructed, does that mean—it's dead?"

Taiyi was silent for two seconds, then slowly shook his head: "It failed."

Those three words struck everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.

"It didn't die." Taiyi looked at the ghostly legion still gathering in the distance. "That explosion wasn't death, it was more like—an escape mechanism. It transformed itself back into pure negative energy and merged into this land."

A moment of silence fell over everyone, all taken aback by the news.

Tu Tai reacted quickly, noticing the dejected state of those around him. To prevent morale from plummeting, he immediately encouraged them, saying, "It's alright. With this experience, we'll be able to seal it easily next time."

After listening to Tu Tai's words, everyone rallied and, reflecting on what had just happened, realized that, as Tu Tai had said, the most important thing was—

Everyone looked at Taiyi, and couldn't help but sigh in their hearts, "It's so good that someone can take care of things."

Taiyi looked at the excited crowd, but his heart sank to the bottom. He felt the chakra in the Yin Seal, and only a small portion of it remained. At most, it could be used for one more high-intensity battle.

Looking at the assault team, they were in even worse shape. After such a long battle, many ninjas were running out of chakra. If they fought another battle and failed, they wouldn't even have the strength to retreat.

More importantly, can their sealing techniques really seal away the demons?

However, he did not say these things directly, and he believed that there were many intelligent people present, and that he was not the only one who could see these problems.

Moreover, he had one last piece of information to confirm.

Time passed second by second. The Ghost Legion was attacking, and Taiyi's shadow clones had already dispersed to investigate.

They didn't have to wait long. This time, the demon didn't reappear in their sight, and naturally, the assault team didn't notice it either.

The shadow clone, scouting eastward, found the reborn demon, less than 50 kilometers from the main force of the allied forces.

kilometer.

When Taiyi told everyone about the discovery of the shadow clone, Huangtu immediately responded, "Let's go, let's go and fight him again, this time we'll definitely be able to seal him successfully."

There were many respondents, and the morale that had just been boosted had not yet dissipated.

But soon Huang Tu noticed something was wrong. Not only Taiichi, but also Chiyo and Tsuchida looked serious.

Huang Tu looked at Tai Yi with confusion, not understanding why they were still dawdling at a time like this, when everyone was already exhausted.

Taiyi looked at the yellow earth whose eyes were gradually dimming, sighed, but still gave the order: "Adjust formation. Mission failed. We retreat."

"What?!"

"How could that be? We were clearly in the lead the whole time."

"Let's try again, Taiichi. This time we'll definitely succeed."

Various expressions of surprise, doubt, and advice arose one after another. No one understood why they were suddenly retreating, even though they had already discovered the traces of the demon.

"This is an order. Time waits for no one. We must return as soon as possible and report the situation to the Allied Forces." Taiyi said decisively, leaving no room for compromise.

The group looked bewildered, glancing at Taiichi, then at Chiyo and Tsuchida. Seeing that they were also nodding solemnly, they reluctantly regrouped and prepared to leave.

Along the way, the group was in a low mood. Although everyone obeyed the orders, they were still very puzzled. Had all their previous battles been in vain?

Huang Tu took the initiative to approach Taiyi and, in a voice that everyone could hear, asked the question that had been bothering him.

"Commander, we still had a chance, why did we give up?"

Taiyi glanced at Huangtu and knew that he wasn't asking for himself, but for the 1000 comrades who were fighting. He secretly praised Huangtu for being "rough on the outside but meticulous on the inside", but still gave an answer aloud.

"You didn't directly participate in the sealing, so your experience isn't real. The changes in the demons in the final stage aren't ordinary physical changes. I still don't understand the principle behind it. Even if we seal them again, the success rate will be less than 30%."

Actually, 30% is an exaggeration by Taiyi. He was just trying to save face for the twenty sealing ninjas. According to Taiyi's own estimate, it should be less than half a percent.

Seeing that everyone was listening to his explanation, Taiyi continued, "You may not have realized it, but everyone's current condition isn't good. Some of you are probably already out of chakra!"

Upon hearing this, many people looked around and indeed saw that many people were pale, which was a sign of excessive chakra consumption. In such a state, they definitely could not withstand another battle.

"I believe that Chiyo and Tsuchida also discovered the most important point."

Taiyi looked at the two people beside him, who simply nodded with solemn expressions.

The second rebirth occurred dozens of kilometers away from us, and it was even moving closer to the heart of the Land of Demons.

What if we fail to seal it again, and the demon is reborn for the third time, appearing in a more distant place? What will happen to our defenses then?

Or, to put it another way, if the demon were to be reborn within the Allied Forces, given its destructive power, could the Allied Forces withstand it?

This step-by-step explanation completely dispelled everyone's confusion. Just thinking about the tragic scene that would occur sent chills down their spines.

"Gentlemen, I brought you out here, and I also want to take you all back. You are all capable people, and we cannot waste your lives on useless things. When we get back, you all have a mission to complete."

This was Taiyi's final consolation to everyone, and they all nodded silently and began their journey in quiet.

As time moved forward, just as the assault team first encountered the demons, twenty kilometers to their west, in a hidden cave, four figures dressed in black robes with red cloud patterns were sitting cross-legged.

One of them sat in front, while the other three sat scattered behind him, each with their hands on his back. Their eyes were closed, but from their trembling eyelids and changing expressions, it was easy to tell that they were not at peace.

That's right, this is the four-person temporary team that Akatsuki sent out to recruit talent: Zetsu, Kakuzu, Hiruko, and Blood Raven.

At this moment, Zetsu is using the White Zetsu lurking around the battlefield to transmit the real-time footage to his three companions behind him via consciousness.

This near-lag-free image transmission made the four of them feel as if they were in the middle of a battlefield, personally experiencing the brutality of the demons and the terror of Taiyi.

Whenever the two sides clashed fiercely, the shockwaves that rippled outwards and the blows that leveled the mountaintops made the four men's scalps tingle and their bodies tremble.

Is this the kind of person their organization needs to deal with?

Are these inhuman monsters really something they can handle?

One question after another kept popping into the minds of Kakuzu, Hiruko, and Blood Raven, making them begin to doubt the future of the organization.

The scene continued until the demon was resurrected for the third time, and Taiyi's team abandoned their mission and began to retreat, at which point the synchronized transmission of consciousness stopped.

The cave was silent as everyone savored the details of the battle they had just fought, remaining speechless for a long time.

"Oh dear, what's wrong with everyone? You all look like you've lost your parents. Oh, wait, I forgot, your parents died a long time ago."

That smug tone, that way of speaking that makes you want to punch him, you don't even need to look to know it's White Zetsu.

White Zetsu manipulated his body, leaping up from the ground and swinging his arms and legs wildly, looking quite comical.

Kakuzu and the other two glared murderously at White Zetsu. Blood Raven's hand was on his ninja tool pouch, and White Zetsu seemed to be frightened, standing on one leg, stiff and motionless.

But undoubtedly, the previously subdued atmosphere was completely dispelled by Bai Jue's antics.

The next moment, the stiff White Zetsu's body trembled, and the comical crooked expression on his face returned to calm, as Black Zetsu had taken over the body.

"No need to worry. No matter how well Matsushita Taichi performs, he is still just a mortal with power. That power has its limits. Our leader, however, possesses the Rinnegan, which is the power of the Sage of Six Paths. It is the strongest power that created the ninja world."

Hei Jue looked at everyone and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that their expressions had finally eased. If their morale collapsed, he wouldn't be able to lead the team in the future.

Composing himself, he immediately changed the subject.

"Currently, our plan is actually progressing smoothly. The demons have been released, and the strength of various countries has been weakened. Now, all we need to do is wait for the right moment to intervene at the last minute."

"Get involved?" Blood Raven curled his lip, quite dismissive. "I don't think that demon is a match for Matsushita Taichi. It would be better to sacrifice him to the evil god. The great evil god will surely grant me more power."

"Indeed." Hiruko nodded in agreement. "That demon has already been defeated twice. Could it really have been killed by Matsushita Taichi?"

Kakuzu's eyes also showed doubt. Although Blood Raven's claim about sacrificing the evil god was pure nonsense, it was true that the demon was no match for Matsushita Taichi.

"You don't need to worry about that. The immortality of the demon is tied to negative energy. As long as there is negative energy, it will keep regenerating. It can't be solved by simply killing and sealing it. Unless they have the level of the Sage of Six Paths, it is impossible to completely kill the demon."

"So?" Kakuzu seemed to have figured something out, and his gaze towards Black Zetsu changed.

"So in the end, they could only turn to the priestesses. Only the priestesses of that lineage have the power to restrain the demons and prevent them from self-destructing and regenerating in the final stage of the sealing process."

"I see. That's why Matsushita Taichi and the others failed to seal it in the end."

Everyone nodded in realization, understanding why the seal had suddenly failed in the final stage; it turned out the demon had such methods.

Seeing that everyone was deep in thought, Black Zetsu, who was no longer as devastated as before, turned and walked out of the cave.

He gazed at the polluted, purplish-black earth, but his heart was not as confident as he had previously claimed.

It's not a matter of subduing the demons, but rather the ninja world, the Allied Forces, and Matsushita Taichi.

In order to deal with the demon, all the ninja villages in the ninja world contributed their efforts and eventually formed an allied force with great tacit understanding, which was something that Black Zetsu did not expect.

This also made Black Zetsu realize the strength of the ninja world and its determination to deal with external enemies. In particular, given this precedent, if his plans were to threaten the entire ninja world in the future, the villages would react even faster, which was not good news for him.

Then there's Matsushita Taichi. He's only ever seen such power in Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara. If he takes another step forward, he'll be able to reach the same level as Indra and Ashura back then.

This person already possesses the ability to change the course of the battle. It's a pity that Madara's Rinnegan awakened too late. If he had a few more years, he would have killed Matsushita Taichi now, even at the risk of being exposed.