Chapter 161: The King of the Phantom Clan

The king of the Ghost clan glowed with an eerie, ghostly green light. Wearing a crown, he looked at Orochimaru and his group with a fierce and delighted expression.

"You've finally come!"

He repeated himself, overwhelmed with excitement, and immediately stood up from his throne.

Lacking a physical body and possessing only a ghostly green soul form, he floated in mid-air, trembling all over.

He was truly thrilled! The moment had finally arrived.

"Die!"

Without another word, he made his move instantly, unleashing his ultimate technique. With a flick of his massive hand, numerous ghostly green flying needles materialized in mid-air and violently pierced toward Orochimaru and the others.

Faced with the attack from the Ghost king, none of them seemed to care. In fact, seeing that Orochimaru had no intention of moving, the others simply looked at one another.

Uchiha Itachi glanced at Yakushi Kabuto, who turned to look at Sasuke beside him, and Sasuke, in turn, looked at Naruto.

Naruto looked to his left and right, but there was no one left for him to pass the buck to.

"Fine, I'll handle it then."

Reluctantly, he stepped forward and stood at the very front of the group.

Orochimaru and the others were passing the responsibility around, acting as if they didn't take him seriously at all, which filled the Ghost king with immense rage.

"Roar!"

He roared like a fierce beast, and the radiance around his body instantly flared tenfold, turning him into a humanoid green sun.

"Don't underestimate me!"

From his body, dense arrays of ghostly green flying needles shot out once more, every single needle carrying a chilling, lethal aura.

Naruto paid no attention to those needles whatsoever. As the very first needle flew close to him, he simply stomped his foot, and a massive green tree instantly burst out of the ground.

The tree was thick and sturdy, with vines whipping through the air. Not only were the flying needles blocked by the tree, but the whipping vines also batted them right back, turning them into counter-attacks against the Ghost king.

The reflected needles passed straight through the Ghost king's body, but it was like sinking into a muddy swamp.

Not only did they cause no damage to the Ghost king, but they actually seemed to nourish him, having a restorative effect.

The Ghost king sneered, "Heh, you are honored as one of the Sage of Six Paths' top ten subordinates, Uzumaki Naruto. I want to test if you truly live up to that title!"

He lunged forward abruptly, abandoning the flying needles to engage in close-quarters hand-to-hand combat.

The bodies of the Ghost clan were peculiar; they were spiritual entities, yet through spiritual mutation, they could acquire physical properties.

Thus, they were entirely capable of engaging in physical taijutsu clashes.

It was evident that the Ghost king and Naruto were fighting tooth and nail.

However, a strange phenomenon occurred. Every time the Ghost king exchanged blows with Naruto, fragments of ghostly green light chipped off his body.

It was as if his very form was being shattered by the impact.

Before long, these fragments could be found not only around Naruto in the heat of battle, but also scattered across the spots where Orochimaru and the others were standing.

Bending down, Orochimaru and each of his companions picked up a piece of the ghostly green fragment. Inspecting them closely with their eyes, they quickly saw right through the composition of the fragments.

These items were fragments of the Ghost king's own body, imbued with the aura of a certain technique. Most likely, the Ghost king had shed them intentionally.

Realizing this, Orochimaru and the others tossed the fragments away, paying them no further mind.

The battle between Naruto and the Ghost king had reached a stalemate. Naruto's strength was indeed far superior to the Ghost king's, but ending the fight instantly was out of the question.

It would still take time.

Suddenly, the Ghost king burst into loud laughter and declared, "You're finished!"

After exchanging one more blow with Naruto, he retreated a few steps, hovering in mid-air, and said, "Take a look around you!"

Naruto didn't rush to attack. He glanced around and saw that the surroundings were littered with scattered pieces of ghostly green fragments.

The Ghost king proclaimed, "This is a unique technique of our Ghost clan—Body Division! Every single divided piece remains under my absolute control! It is the prelude to the Technique of Raging Flying Needles!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head and asked, "What kind of technique is that?"

Feeling profoundly insulted, the Ghost king gritted his teeth and activated the technique. The ghostly green radiance on his body flared yet another ten times brighter.

If he had previously looked like a small humanoid green sun, he now resembled one ten times over.

The blinding light made it impossible to see clearly, proving exceptionally effective against dojutsu.

The next moment, the ghostly green fragments scattered all around began to emit the exact same brilliance.

This turned the entire grand hall into a glowing realm of emerald light, overflowing with verdant luminescence.

"Go to hell! Technique of Raging Flying Needles!"

With a fierce roar from the Ghost king, countless green flying needles began to sprout from his own body and from every single green fragment scattered around, shooting out explosively from every conceivable angle!

In an instant, the entire hall was filled with the afterimages of green flying needles.

"Clang, crash, rattle..."

Following the execution of this technique, the entire grand hall collapsed, and the intensely bright ghostly green light vanished. The Ghost king panted heavily as he floated in mid-air, the ghostly green glow on his body dimming significantly.

Clearly, the previous attack had consumed an immense amount of energy.

"Did it work?" he muttered.

Naruto wiped the sweat from his forehead. The moment the Ghost king initiated the "Technique of Raging Flying Needles," he had immediately deployed the Super Wood Golem Technique.

Summoning a gigantic wooden humanoid to encase and shield them, all the flying needle attacks landed on the wooden giant.

The needles possessed immense power, reducing the wooden golem to a tattered mess, but it had successfully held the line.

As the green light dissipated, the Ghost king saw the dilapidated wooden golem, as well as Naruto, Orochimaru, and the others, who were completely unharmed.

He was utterly horrified. Not even a scratch?

Dusting off his clothes, Naruto said, "Since that's how it is, I'll return the favor."

He also wanted to unleash a major technique and let the Ghost king experience it.

Just as he made his move, the Ghost king suddenly lunged straight toward him. Naruto strategically stepped back to evade.

However, the Ghost king did not launch any attack. Instead, upon rushing forward, he immediately bowed—a deep, ninety-degree bow that bent his entire body into the shape of a number seven.

He pleaded, "Please save me! Please save the Ghost clan!"

"Huh???"

Naruto's head filled with question marks. They weren't fighting anymore?

This sudden turn of events caught him completely off guard. He had already finished molding his hand signs; releasing the technique now felt wrong, but holding it back felt awkward, leaving him utterly conflicted.

In the end, he dispersed the technique and let it go.

"Thud."

At that moment, the Ghost king dropped even more decisively to his knees on the ground. Though lacking a physical body and capable of floating, he forced himself to kneel to demonstrate his sincerity.

Moreover, he knelt with considerable force, producing a sharp thud.

Naruto retreated behind Orochimaru, deciding that the matter was no longer his concern.

Orochimaru gazed indifferently at the Ghost king, awaiting his explanation.

The Ghost king quickly blurted out, "It was Kurosawa Yusei! Everything was done because Kurosawa Yusei forced me! He controlled my entire clan, threatening to exterminate us if I didn't obey his commands!

"The Blood Dragon Eye is the natural nemesis of our Ghost clan, and he rounded up all my people!"

Hearing the name "Kurosawa Yusei" spoken by the Ghost king, no one present showed any surprise; they had already guessed it long ago.

Yakushi Kabuto pushed his glasses up his nose and asked, "Where is Kurosawa Yusei?"

The Ghost king pointed toward the ground beneath them and answered, "He is at the Stellar Core. My entire clan is there as well. I beg you, please save my people..."

"Slash!"

Suddenly, before he could finish his sentence, the Ghost king exploded and disintegrated. It was Uchiha Itachi who had struck.

No one embroiled in this conflict was innocent. Besides, the creature had just attacked them; surviving was simply out of the question.

Itachi had just been testing the might of his Sharingan. The results were quite satisfactory, proving that it indeed possessed a suppressive effect against the Ghost clan.

He remarked, "The Ghost clan members are spiritual entities. High-level illusory eyes like the Blood Dragon Eye and the Sharingan hold a suppressive advantage against them."

Orochimaru nodded, having already perceived all of this.

He cast his gaze downward toward the earth and said, "Let's head to the Stellar Core."

The dagger was now exposed from its wrapper; although he knew the specific details of the situation, he still didn't understand the underlying motivation for these actions.

What on earth was their ultimate goal?