Ch.256 Service!

Miyagusuku, who had been calm, composed, and ruthless just moments ago, completely lost his composure upon realizing Shinji's identity as an Uchiha.

Clearly.

In the eyes of the Chinoike clan, the Uchiha were their natural nemesis.

Having been exiled here, they must have attempted rebellions or escapes in the past. Yet, the fact that they still resided in Hell Valley indicated that all their previous attempts had failed.

Thus, the moment Miyagusuku encountered the Sharingan, his confidence naturally wavered.

However, he quickly regained his composure. "Aren't the Uchiha already wiped out? Even so, you still won't let us go?"

Shinji remained silent, simply staring at Miyagusuku.

Miyagusuku took a few steps back. The more Shinji remained silent, the more uneasy he became.

Among the current generation of the Chinoike clan, Miyagusuku's strength was among the best. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to take on five opponents and kill all of his clansmen.

Yet, during their brief encounter, he realized that his opponent's ocular power far surpassed his own. His genjutsu had been instantly broken, indicating that his opponent was no ordinary figure.

Shinji's silence wasn't an act of arrogance; he was assessing Miyagusuku's ocular power.

After observing the earlier battle, Shinji could roughly confirm that Miyagusuku's strength was at the level of a Jonin, possibly even an elite Jonin.

Additionally, Miyagusuku's ocular power was remarkable, as it had managed to bypass Shinji's Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan's immunity to genjutsu, which surprised him.

Given that shinobi of such strength were usually difficult to subdue, Shinji couldn't understand how the Uchiha clan had managed to suppress the Chinoike clan in Hell Valley for so long. Alternatively, Miyagusuku might be an exception among the Chinoike clan, having grown significantly in strength over the past decade.

Suppressing his curiosity, Shinji focused his gaze on Miyagusuku's Ketsuryūgan.

Shinji didn't know much about the Ketsuryūgan.

Its storyline took place after the Fourth Great Shinobi War, and before his transmigration, he had only heard bits and pieces about it.

However, one thing he was certain of was that the girl named Chino, whom Miyagusuku was holding, had, in the original timeline, successfully cast a genjutsu on Sasuke, who possessed both the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and the Rinnegan, and was half a step into the "Six Paths" level. She had broken through Sasuke's genjutsu immunity and dragged him into a Ketsuryūgan illusion.

Undoubtedly.

The Sharingan itself possessed a certain level of genjutsu resistance, and the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan could even immunize against most basic genjutsu. Therefore, breaking through the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan's genjutsu immunity was no easy feat.

In the original timeline, Chino had broken through Sasuke's genjutsu immunity, and now Miyagusuku had broken through Shinji's. This alone was enough to prove the Ketsuryūgan's prowess in genjutsu.

Seeing that Shinji remained silent, Miyagusuku steeled himself and lunged at Yugito, the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, who was standing beside Shinji, hoping to take a hostage to negotiate with Shinji.

However, the moment he moved, Yugito also moved.

Clang! Clang!

After a few metallic clashes, the two figures crossed paths!

Miyagusuku glanced at the wound on his right arm, his expression growing even darker. He realized that Shinji's subordinate was no weakling either!

Yugito, under Shinji's genjutsu control, had no emotions.

Once she identified Miyagusuku as an enemy, she immediately unleashed her Tailed Beast chakra. In an instant, her body was cloaked in a layer of Tailed Beast chakra.

Feeling the狂暴的 Tailed Beast chakra emanating from Yugito, Miyagusuku's face turned pale. This wasn't just "not weak"—it was overwhelmingly strong!

Having fought multiple battles earlier, Miyagusuku's chakra was nearly depleted. Moreover, he was still holding Chino in his arms, leaving him with no chance of victory.

Just as Miyagusuku thought he was doomed, Shinji raised his hand, signaling Yugito to stand down. He then stepped aside, clearing a path.

Miyagusuku asked warily, "What do you mean by this?"

Shinji spoke slowly, "I can let you go, but you must serve me."

"Serve you?"

Miyagusuku frowned.

"Live and serve me..." Shinji paused, then glanced past Miyagusuku at the fallen Chinoike clansmen behind him. "...or die here like them."

Miyagusuku's expression shifted repeatedly. After a long while, he knelt on one knee and said bitterly, "I, Miyagusuku En, am willing to serve you."

Shinji replied indifferently, "Good. You may leave."

"Leave?!"

Miyagusuku thought he had misheard.

"You may do as you wish. I won't interfere. But when I need you, you must come at my call." Shinji smiled and continued, "Of course, you can also go into hiding, as long as I don't find you."

Intimidated by Shinji's presence, Miyagusuku's demeanor became more respectful. He changed his tone and said, "My lord, I will remain active near the Land of Hot Water. If you have any orders, you can notify me at any time."

Shinji then waved his hand dismissively.

Miyagusuku noticed that Shinji neither removed his mask to reveal his face nor provided his name, title, or contact information. This left him puzzled.

In his view, Shinji's behavior suggested one of two things: either Shinji was deceiving him, or Shinji possessed immense confidence and wasn't worried about Miyagusuku running away.

Given that Shinji held the absolute advantage, there was no need for deception. Thus, Miyagusuku concluded that the latter was true.

Without further ado, Miyagusuku quickly disappeared into the distance, still holding Chino in his arms.

Watching Miyagusuku's retreating figure, Shinji smirked.

In truth, Shinji hadn't expected Miyagusuku to faithfully serve him. His offer was merely an excuse to let Miyagusuku go.

After all, the Chinoike clan had already suffered enough at the hands of the Uchiha. As an Uchiha himself, Shinji saw no need to exterminate the Chinoike clan entirely!

What Shinji didn't expect was that his casual demeanor, in Miyagusuku's eyes, came across as a display of overwhelming confidence. Thus, Miyagusuku's agreement to serve wasn't empty words—he was genuinely prepared to serve Shinji.

After instructing Yugito to keep watch, Shinji took out his surgical tools and began collecting the Ketsuryūgan from the corpses of the Chinoike clansmen.

At this moment, dozens of Chinoike clan members lay dead in Hell Valley.

However, like the Sharingan, the Ketsuryūgan required awakening. Not every Chinoike clan member possessed it.

Excluding the elderly and children who had been caught in the crossfire, only about eight or nine Chinoike clan members had awakened the Ketsuryūgan. Among them, several had damaged their eyes during the battle. After some effort, Shinji managed to collect eight intact pairs of Ketsuryūgan.