166 Final Boss

In the blink of an eye, Shino found himself tumbling through an otherworldly expanse, a vast space that defied explanation.

Instinctively, his back protruded, sprouting a pair of wings that allowed him to hover and maintain balance in the air. Beside him, Karina also manifested chakra wings, holding onto Shino to stabilize herself.

Konan, floating before Shino, partially transformed her body into paper and allowed a layer of paper to coat her exposed skin. Moments later, she had already donned her paper-transformed outfit, hovering before Shino as her hands calmly adjusted his pants into place.

Arriving besides Shino, her neutral expression concealed any sense of embarrassment, and her paper butterflies fluttered out to scout the surroundings, their white forms contrasting against the strange backdrop.

With a frown on his face, Shino surveyed the scene to locate the one who disturbed his happy activities.

It didn't take much effort for the trio to locate their enemy this time. Their adversary wasn't far away, hovering brazenly in the open as if he disdained to hide.

He cut a striking figure, a tall and pale-skinned elderly man with a distinguished goatee cascading down to his waist. Spiky, shoulder-length, pale brown hair framed his face, and a braided lock draped in front of his left ear. Protruding from either side of his forehead were horn-like appendages, while a red, Rinnegan-like marking adorned the center.

Beneath those, his pupil-less white eyes locked onto Shino. Although it was their first meeting, the old man's white full-length kimono with a pattern of six black magatama already gave Shino an inkling of his identity - the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki!

As an intimidating presence rippled out from him, Hagoromo's serene gaze held Shino captive as he spoke with a sense of ancient wisdom, "You know me?"

Vigilant and calculating within, Shino threw out a carefully prepared excuse, "We've gathered many tales, legends, and scriptures from the world, piecing together fragments that offer glimpses of remarkable existences such as yours. According to these tales, you departed this world long ago, yet it seems legends are not always true. Still, it appears that your true self has transcended this realm, leaving behind only a consciousness. But I can't fathom why a powerful being like yourself would single me out."

Hagoromo observed Shino with keen interest, "You are correct. I no longer belong to the realm of the living, and I usually refrain from interfering in the world's affairs. However, an old friend of mine foretold the world's impending doom - a child of destruction, a harbinger of endless disaster upon all life. This dire prophecy unsettled me, and I've kept a watchful eye ever since. It didn't take long for me to notice that the course of the world had been disrupted, and I soon traced it back to you."

Shino inwardly cursed, aware that the old toad sage's scrutiny had finally led to this confrontation. He had long been aware of the prophecy through Jiraiya's surveillance and now finally faced the consequences of that foreshadowing.

This encounter served as another confirmation of the world's meddling, for prophecies were but an extension of the world's will - a method of disseminating information regarding itself to chosen ones.

But Shino wasn't prepared to give up so easily, "Do you truly believe in a prophecy? If it were true, then what you are trying to stop will eventually be fulfilled. What if I never had any intentions to destroy the world? What if you become the reason for my change of attitude?"

"Even the wisest among us cannot see all ends." Hagoromo's gentle smile persisted, his response measured and composed, brimming with confidence, "But as long as I resolve you here, there will be no issues."

In the face of Hagoromo's unwavering determination, Shino knew that any hope of peaceful resolution had evaporated. By his side, Karina and Konan braced themselves, their carapace armor encasing them, prepared for the imminent battle as their voices rung in Shino's mind.

[My dear, our current coordinates have been locked, and the zergs can be summoned at any moment.]

[Shino, I'm ready to be the support to hold your bridge up.]

As his own carapace armor gradually enveloped him, Shino sighed, "Some fates can be changed, but some destinies are inevitable."

On the other side, nine orbs of ominous black chakra materialized around Hagoromo, forming a circular arrangement beneath him. Materializing in his hand was a dual-headed shakujo, a black Buddhist ringed staff, exuding an air of power and mastery.

Shino's instincts warned him of the deadly threat posed by the Truth-Seeking balls, but even without that warning, he knew better than to touch them.

Hagoromo seemed amused, seemingly untroubled by the trio's show of power, "Initially, I had no intention of intervening, as I wished to preserve this consciousness for other matters. However, you've gone too far this time and the balance of this world would be thrown into turmoil due to your actions. So, I can only resolve matters by eliminating the source. This is the righteous path. There's no need for meaningless struggles."

Exasperation filled Shino, and he couldn't help but sigh.

Shino knew he wasn't the protagonist and definitely will not suddenly explode with power to overcome any situation. If he were facing the legendary true body of the Six Sage at the peak of his power, wielding creation-level abilities, he might have just laid flat and surrendered outright because he won't even have the chance to struggle.

But this was only a remnant soul! Shino believed he still had a fighting chance, and he refused to back down! He also saw this as an opportunity to gather data and measure himself against the Six Paths level.

Moreover, he knew that there was no reason for the anyone to give up without a fight, unless it was a comedic absurdity. And this was far from a comedy.

With fierce determination in his eyes hidden behind his mask, Shino sent out a signal and vanished from his position, ready to engage in the battle ahead.

Swoosh! Hagoromo's calm gaze followed the purple streak that zipped through the air. With a wave of his staff, he effortlessly repelled a wave of paper encasing him from all sides-

BOOM! The explosive tags, hidden within the paper barrage, exploded, but they failed to even ruffle his clothes. Yet, it succeeded in shrouding Hagoromo in fumes and smoke.

Suddenly, a barrage of adamantine chains sneakily shot through the smoke, attempting to ensnare Hagoromo, followed by a barrage of paper with intricate symbols. But Hagoromo only sneered, dismissing the attempt, "Sealing techniques? At this level, it matters not."

With a whoosh, the black orbs rotating around Hagoromo surged forward, colliding with the chains, shattering them in an instant. The paper barrage also proved futile, unable to break through an invisible barrier protecting the old man.

Outside the smoke, Karina wiped the blood from her mouth, gritting her teeth as her broken chains dangled behind her, slowly recovering.

[Shino, it's confirmed. Sealing techniques won't work against him. His mastery in this field surpasses ours. Even as a remnant soul, we can't seal him. I'm deploying our emergency stash of zergs from the system space now. Temporarily setting exit to secondary transmission point...]

As Karina summoned forth their hidden army around Konan, who was hovering at another location, Konan continued to wave her hands, surrounding Hagoromo with a storm of white paper. At the same time, behind her, paper with special symbols and patterns began to interconnect with one another, gradually forming a giant paper disk.

[Konan, open up a route for the zergs.] Karina ordered.

[On it.]

As the curtain of white paper parted, the mutalisks charged towards the paper storm, diving through the scorching flames and smoke.

Within, Hagoromo noticed the new enemies, but remained composed, casually waving his staff.

Strong currents of wind suddenly sliced through the air, transforming into lethal blades that swiftly decimated the approaching mutalisks. The strong gust of wind continued to rush outwards, and the paper storm barrier surrounding him was blown away along with the smoke, clearing his vision with ease!

But in the midst of this intense confrontation, Hagoromo's keen senses detected an air disturbance behind him.

His eyes glinted and his senses passed through a veil of bugs, revealing the situation within.

Hiding within the veil, he perceived Shino hovering mid-air, using two mutalisks as a foothold. On Shino's back, the fleshy wings were replaced by two grotesque, cannon-like protrusions and at each of their tips was a giant rotating fuma shurikens, formed from chakra and energy that gave them an ominous violet hue!

Knowing he had been discovered, the curtain of bugs parted and with a grin, Shino locked his gaze on Hagoromo, "Rasenshuriken."

With his declaration, the two chakra-formed shurikens launched towards Hagoromo with incredible force, causing Shino's body to throttle backward through the air due to the recoil!

Swoosh! The two giant shurikens screeched through the air, quickly approaching Hagoromo!

However, Hagoromo showed no sign of dodging. Instead, two of his Truth-seeking balls rushed out, morphing into small blankets and completely enveloping the incoming rasenshurikens with little effort.

Shino frowned as he watched the two black orbs distort a bit due to the explosion of the two rasenshuriken, but that was it. He had infused natural energy, the supposed weakness of truth-seeking balls, in his rasenshuriken and it still didn't work- That's just utterly broken.

As the clash of Shino's shurikens and Hagoromo's balls occurred, Konan had created two giant spinning chakram-like shaped paper disks, controlling them to rapidly cut through the air towards Hagoromo like lethal saws.

At the same time, with the assistance of water stored within their system space, Karina had summoned forth a tsunami, letting the towering natural disaster surge forward towards Hagaromo, accompanied by hydrolysk swimming within, all aimed at the old sage.

Yet, it appeared that all their efforts were futile. The paper shurikens collided with the Truth-seeking Balls, loosing their momentum and disintegrating into scraps of paper.

Similarly, the balls accurately struck the cores of the tsunami, breaking its momentum and source of energy, resulting in the wave crashing harmlessly to the ground below, leaving the hydrolysk slithering around below, helpless against the powerful foe in the air.

[Darn it. He didn't even need to use anything fancy, just lazily using his balls! This old man still has such powerful balls at his age!] Karina's frustrated curse echoed through their communication.

[Karina, it seems that any ranged ninjutsu won't have any effect on him, regardless of their rank, area of effect, or even if blended with physical objects.] Konan calmly analyzed, as she sent another barrage of airplane bombs forward, creating a smokescreen around Hagoromo.

[Pretty sure all ninjutsu won't work. I've already noted it in the database. The Truth-Seeking balls can nullify all ninjutsu. It seems we'll have to rely on physical attacks, but taijutsu is out of the question because as long as we touch those balls, the consequences will be dire.] The situation seemed grim, but Shino refused to give up, determined to find a way to counter the legendary Sage of Six Paths.

[Then, my dear, it's time for our hydralisks to take the field.]

With Karina's guidance, the hydralisks below had already arranged themselves, ready for a siege. Aiming upwards, they launched a calculated barrage of bony spikes towards Hagoromo from multiple angles, bringing an unexpected surprise on his usually composed face!

However, the Sage of Six Paths quickly countered, transforming multiple truth-seeking balls into rotating black walls that disintegrated any of the incoming physical attacks with ease!

Despite the apparent failure, Shino still saw an opportunity in the situation.

Due to the volume of the spikes, the legendary sage managed to analyze and block most of the attacks with his rotating Truth-seeking balls, but some spikes managed to bypass his defense, forcing him to use his remaining balls for defense!

Chance!

Swoosh! In a flash, Shino appeared above one of the infiltrated spikes, causing Hagoromo to raise a brow as if he had just discovered the Flying Thunder God seal hidden on it.

As he closed the distance, Shino aimed his hands at Hagoromo and hollered out as a distraction, "Hagaromo, did you know that you're under the influence of the world's will and being manipulated to fight us?"

For a moment, Hagoromo's reaction stalled, providing Shino with an opportunity! Distraction no Jutsu success!

In a split second, Shino launched bony spikes from his hands towards Hagoromo at nearly point-blank range!

But Hagoromo can't be underestimated. Despite being momentarily distracted, he responded with remarkable agility, using his truth-seeking staff and mastery of taijutsu to cleanly eliminate the incoming barrage.

But in that fleeting moment, Shino disappeared again, leaving a giant paper ball in his place. With a sweep of his eyes, Hagoromo noticed the thick shell formed by layers of explosive tags and the black oil hidden within-

BOOM!

An enormous explosion engulfed the area. From a safe distance, Shino admired the blast and playfully remarked in the comms. [Ah, art is an explosion. We're burning money. Fortunately, we have Konan-]

[Watch out! Shino!] (x2)

The sudden warning from his teammates made him realize the enemy had appeared behind him! But it was too late to evade because his chakra had completely stagnated, as if sealed away by his foe!

"I've finally located your hidden core dimension. It's time to end this farce," From behind, Hagoromo's calm voice declared his intention to end the battle as his incorporeal hand sunk into Shino's head, "And take back what I created."

The situation had taken a perilous turn. Will Shino survive? Or will it be the end of the story because the author has gotten lazy?