Blocked

In the seemingly calm forest, Tsunade's firm voice echoed, her presence commanding attention as she came to a halt, arms crossed in a stance that accentuated her assets.

"So, was what Danzo said true? Have you really come back to destroy Konoha, Aburame brat?" she questioned, her eyes locked on Shino.

Shino raised a brow, his expression nonchalant. "Is there some misunderstanding? Why would I come to destroy Konoha?"

Tsunade's face turned solemn, her voice unwavering as she responded, "I also want to hope it's only a misunderstanding, but Jiraiya had already sent clear evidence of the ninja army you are raising in the capital. And Danzo said he got news that you would appear with your army to attack Konoha today. And here you are, how do you explain these coincidences? And where are you hiding your army?"

Shino shrugged, seemingly unbothered. "Would you believe me if I told you that some nosy Uchiha senior decided to drop me off here after giving me a free ride?"

"Tsk. I don't like that tone of yours. It seems we'll have to bring you back if we want any answers," Tsunade said with a hint of disappointment, her gaze sweeping over the assembled ninjas around them. "This time, you can't escape."

In the depths of Shino's base, his backup clone arrived calmly at the pool area. His eyes fell on Konan, who floated over with a neutral expression as she asked in a monotone voice, "Is it him?"

Shino nodded, a sneer forming on his lips, "I should have guessed. Only he could locate and enter our base so deep below without attracting any attention. But I really didn't expect the ambush to commence so soon. And instead of confronting me head-on, he threw me over into a well-prepared trap."

"How is the situation, Shino?" Kurenai's worry was evident as she inquired about the situation.

Karina chimed in teasingly, "Oh, they're all there, including your ex-lover," as she pulled up a holographic display.

Karina then looked at Shino's clone and asked, "My dear, are you confident?"

"Naturally. Why else would I let the retarded Uchiha take me over? My training over the months is not useless, and the specs of my upgraded self is beyond normal. If I wanted to dodge, it would have been difficult for him to catch me. But…" Shino and Karina exchanged glances, a playful grin appearing on their faces, "Karina, got a lock on his divine space?"

"Of course, Shino. The seeds have already been sent in, and we just need to wait for them to grow." Karina displayed another holographic image, showing zergs gnawing on their temporary platform dwellings within a dark space filled with strange large blocks arranged with small gaps, extending infinitely into the darkness.

"Good. If our plan inside is complete, then we won't have to worry about his Kamui. But that's for the future. For now, let's get you all over to the battlefield. Fighting alone against all of them may be troublesome," Shino commanded as he summoned Yakumo.

One by one, Yakumo obediently brought Kurenai and Konan into Shino's system space. "Mm. See you on the other side, my dear," Karina cheerfully pecked Shino on the cheek before she entered the system space.

Within the system space, Karina stretched her arms, activating the combat protocol with a smile, "Alright, now I'll deploy us to Shino's side, and we'll get to play-"

Suddenly, Karina's voice halted, her eyes sweeping the dispersing dark fog around her. A frown creased her face as she pulled up the 3D system space module and tried to eject their group from the system space... but failed!

"What's wrong?" Konan asked, her paper folding into butterflies and dispersing along with the black mist, scouting the situation with vigilance.

Kurenai sighed, her red pupils trembling, "It really has come down to this."

A wicked grin appeared on Karina's face as she watched the ominous black fog seal the entire system space like a box, "Well, well. Looks like my dear will have to hold on for a while."

As the masked Yakumo silently materialized before them, Kurenai fixed her eyes on the demoness, feeling the malice radiating off her as the eyes of the mask glowed red, "I know it's not possible for Yakumo to do this. So… who exactly are you?"

"He he he…" The chilling cackle of the masked Yakumo echoed in the space, her head creaking abnormally as it tilted.

At the same time, an ominous dark red-black aura spilled forth from her body, sending shivers down Kurenai's spine, but she couldn't help but frown, feeling a strange sense of familiarity with the energy, "This energy..."

Karina, on the other hand, was quick to act, activating various modules to search for the source of the aura. Soon, she identified the source, "A match has been found. A high similarity to the energy present in the Tower of Heaven. Shino had warned us of a malicious guardian hidden within, but we haven't seen any traces of it..."

"Now, we know where it is," Karina's alert eyes suddenly narrowing as she activated the self-defense modules, expelling an ominous strip of black energy from Kurenai and her own body, "As expected, it seeped in during our study of the tower. Their means are too abnormal and discreet. What a blunder."

"But why choose Yakumo?" Kurenai frowned as she watched the expelled energy flow towards Yakumo and being absorbed by her.

"Tch-" Karina sneered, drawing conclusions from the scenarios in the database, "If it was just malice, it wouldn't affect Shino's space much. But to completely block space like this, there must be another player, one with control over the rules of space. If I guess correctly…"

"Should I call you the demon Ido?" Karina fixed her eyes on Yakumo, "Or… The controller of this world? Child of the world? No? Then, the %&@#?"

Yakumo's grin slowly subsided as she silently stared at Karina. Finally, her lips parted as she spoke, "How did you know?"

Karina's sneer revealed her confidence. "When you first appeared besides Shino, I already had some suspicions. I didn't believe you could be a doll with no intelligence. The coincidental discovery of our base heightened my suspicions. Both Shino and I knew you could be the variable besides the shadow clone. When I discovered your occupation within Shino's space, most of my speculations were confirmed. It matched what the higher dimensional lifeforms of any realm would do in many cases in our database. Expansion is in their instincts… When they encounters a new worthy plane, the first thought is to assimilate it or conquer it, and to do so, there must be an anchor."

"Just based on these?" Yakumo growled in a low tone, her cackle resuming, "But it matters not if you know. It's too late."

"Your tricks are really adept compared to the non-intelligent consciousness we initially speculated, but it's still not enough to take us down," Karina declared with confidence, Kurenai flanking her right side and Konan floating by her other side.

Yakumo's grin returned as she summoned two combatants beside her.

One of them unfurled chakra wings on her back, hovering in the air to face Konan. This was Natsuhi, her face twisted with anger and grievances.

The other had the same visage as the masked Yakumo and appeared before Kurenai, uttering in a weak voice, "Teacher…"

"Ying…" Kurenai clenched her kunai, biting her lips in response.

"Now, the numbers are evened out. But this fight was never fair from the start," Yakumo declared, unleashing an intangible force and eclipsing everyone within, distorting their surrounding environment, "Welcome to my domain!"

"It seems things just got out of hand..."

In the forest near Konoha, a sense of urgency gripped Shino's calm demeanor as he felt the situation spiraling out of control within his own space.

Shino's face turned slightly ugly, knowing that the intruder had successfully blocked most of his authority over the system space. While they couldn't fully take over his space, they had left him severely handicapped.

In this unexpected trap, Shino's strongest combat forces were now trapped within the space. His genjutsu domain had also been locked down by the enemy!

Not only that, his bugs and zergs within, which were usually at his disposal, were now out of reach, unable to be summoned, rendering him a lone warrior against Konoha.

He has went from a one-man army to an army of one man!

And this was all according to the enemy's manipulation. After establishing an anchor in his space, they sent him directly into a deadly trap.

The enemy had orchestrated a situation where once he perished, it could seize full control of his system space, possibly merging it with the world itself. Perhaps, in the future, there will be another divine space user like Obito!

His head bowed in contemplation, Shino's body trembled with the weight of the situation.

"Truly well-calculated," he muttered, a mix of admiration and frustration in his voice. "Everyone here, even the unsuspecting villains, are mere pawns in its grand design. Imperceptibly affected by the world, they are oblivious to the obvious plot holes in the events, and they are all determined to go against me… Not only that, even my most powerful genjutsu domain had been hampered at this critical moment… Clearly, the end game. But since you are pushing me into a dead end…"

With measured determination, Shino removed his glasses, discarding them with a decisive toss. Raising his head, Shino revealed his fierce, electrifying orange-glowing pupils, now alight with fiery resolve. His gaze swept over his former teachers, clan-mates, and allies surrounding him, no longer restrained by doubt.

"Then there's no need for me to hold back any longer."