World No. 3 was already destroyed. Now, within the entire 'World Annihilation Society', only World No. 6 remained—the lamb waiting to be slaughtered, as the Bewitching Hegemon put it.
Before returning to the Shinobi World, Shinji took a rest in World No. 6.
This was mainly because battling the Bewitching Hegemon not only damaged and polluted the body but, more importantly, inflicted severe trauma on the spirit.
Only Shinji could handle this. If it were anyone else, just one encounter with the Bewitching Hegemon would likely cause schizophrenia and a mental breakdown.
The next day, Shinji quietly descended upon the Research Institute without alerting anyone.
Seeing Shinji suddenly appear, Amado was startled. He immediately reported the results of yesterday's ritual to Shinji.
Shinji was actually present throughout the whole process, but he didn't point it out. He took the report handed by Amado and read it in detail.
According to the Research Institute's preliminary tests, the experimental subject of the sixth ritual surpassed the subjects of the previous rituals in terms of speed, strength, and total chakra volume.
Shinji closed the report and asked, "Is this unexpected?"
Amado nodded: "Yes, the effect of the ritual showed an enhancement beyond our expectations, and this enhancement is progressive. Initially, we didn't pay much attention, thinking it was just the effect of optimizing the ritual, but this time it's clearly somewhat abnormal!"
From Orochimaru to Owl, and from Owl to Yamada Juichi, the effect of the ritual had actually been progressing.
However, firstly, the magnitude of this progression wasn't large, making it impossible to judge whether it was a coincidence. Secondly, the Research Institute's optimization of the ritual never stopped, so the slight improvement in ritual effect didn't arouse much suspicion.
But the situation this time was clearly abnormal, breaking the probabilistic coincidence.
Shinji continued to ask, "Has he awakened a Shinjutsu?"
Amado answered honestly: "Not yet for the time being, but I think the probability of him awakening a Shinjutsu is very high!"
Shinji instructed: "Hand them over to me!"
Amado was stunned: "Both of them together?"
"Yes, both together!"
Shinji nodded.
This time in World No. 3, both of his God Trees had stored enough energy to nurture 'Chakra Fruits', so he could nurture two 'Chakra Fruits' at once this time.
Waves of shock rose in Amado's heart. Shinji's demand for Otsutsuki sacrifices was so high and so frequent that it completely exceeded his imagination, leaving him puzzled.
Regarding the God Tree and 'Chakra Fruit', he had also done some research recently.
Thanks to the Research Institute's continuous expansion of influence in the Shinobi World, he collected a lot of obscure information originally hidden in various corners of the Shinobi World. Based on the description of this information, he speculated that Kaguya Otsutsuki planted the God Tree in the Shinobi World back then and guarded it for a full thousand years before nurturing a 'Chakra Fruit'.
In other words, under normal circumstances, a 'Chakra Fruit' might take hundreds or thousands of years to nurture.
According to Amado's speculation, Shinji had already used two Otsutsuki sacrifices, Isshiki Otsutsuki and Owl, meaning he had nurtured at least two 'Chakra Fruits'. If counting the two Otsutsuki sacrifices Shinji needed now, it meant that in just one year, Shinji likely used four Otsutsuki sacrifices.
This speed seemed inconceivable to him.
Of course, Amado didn't know that besides Isshiki Otsutsuki and Owl, Shinji had also sacrificed Obito, so the number of Otsutsuki sacrifices Shinji used wasn't four, but five!
No matter how shocked he was inside, Amado nodded on the surface and said, "I'll arrange it right away!"
Shinji nodded: "Go!"
Before long, Yamada Juichi and the experimental subject who had just undergone the sixth ritual were secretly taken out of the Research Institute.
Seeing Shinji in the deep mountains, Yamada Juichi and the other experimental subject were both stunned, then bowed respectfully: "My Lord!"
"Follow me!"
Shinji waved his hand, then opened a space portal.
The two looked at each other, finding unease in each other's eyes, but things having come to this, they had to brace themselves and follow Shinji through the space portal.
Connected to the space portal was a desolate alternate dimension.
After crossing the space portal, what came into view were two giant trees piercing into the clouds.
"G-God Tree!?"
The two turned pale with fright.
Information about the Ten-Tails and God Tree, secrets of the Shinobi World, were actually not secrets in the Research Institute. Being experimental subjects who survived the ritual, they had heard something about it more or less.
Yamada Juichi spoke first, asking: "My Lord, why did you bring us here?"
The other experimental subject was secretly on guard, looking ready to strike at the slightest disagreement.
In their view, 'A' might truly be the strongest in the Shinobi World. One-on-one, neither of them was confident in confronting 'A'. But if the two joined forces, they were confident that even against 'A', they had the strength to fight!
Under normal circumstances, Shinji might have let them die knowing why. But now, the noise left in Shinji's brain by the Bewitching Hegemon annoyed him to no end, so he wasn't in the mood to chat with the two. He flashed directly in front of Yamada Juichi, reached out his right hand, and grabbed Yamada Juichi's neck.
"You!?"
Yamada Juichi was full of astonishment. He never expected Shinji to attack just like that.
Seeing this, the other experimental subject instantly exploded his chakra. His whole body swelled rapidly like an inflated balloon, increasing from a normal height of over one meter to three meters. Then, stomping his foot and collapsing a large area of ground, he pounced on Shinji.
Bang!
In the next instant, the punch thrown by the experimental subject was blocked by Shinji raising his hand!
The experimental subject's eyes widened: "H-How is this possible!?"
His full-force strike was actually blocked by Shinji simply raising his arm. Let alone injuring Shinji, it didn't even make Shinji move a step.
Yamada Juichi, being choked by the neck, was also stunned seeing this scene: "Wh-What kind of monster are you exactly?"
Shinji didn't answer. He glanced coldly at Yamada Juichi, then kicked the experimental subject beside him away. Subsequently, carrying Yamada Juichi, he leaped to the top of a God Tree and threw the terrified Yamada Juichi into the flower bud at the top of the God Tree.
Swish...
Then, Shinji flashed back to the ground, knocked down the experimental subject who had just gotten up with a punch, and then, following the same pattern, threw the experimental subject into the flower bud at the top of the other God Tree just like he dealt with Yamada Juichi.
After sacrificing an Otsutsuki sacrifice to each of the two God Trees respectively, Shinji sat on his own God Tree and closed his eyes to rest.
Nowadays, the experimental subjects who were considered top combat powers in the Shinobi World were no different from young children in his hands. The strength of the two sides was no longer on the same level.