Boom!
Four massive palms slammed into each other repeatedly, shaking the air around them to a momentary standstill. However, the evil god was at the peak of its power at this moment, and its main body had arrived, putting it far beyond Neji in strength.
Just then, the maiden made her move. Several purple fist energies directly struck the two blood-red palms. The blood-red palms slowly scattered, but the purple fist energies didn't stop, continuing to surge forward.
In an instant, the evil god also took a heavy blow. The immense power sent it flying backward, crashing into the mountainside with a rumble. Half of its body was obliterated.
"What?!"
This finally made it furious and shocked. It allowed people to possess this kind of power, allowed these two to harm it, but there were limits.
When it realized these two could potentially threaten it, it knew they couldn't be left alive.
Rumble!
After climbing out of the mountainside, its appearance changed drastically. Red horns extended from its forehead, its entire skin turned dark red, and its body began to swell. A pair of blackish-red wings, sharp as steel bars, emerged. Its already monstrous face now looked utterly demonic.
"Die!"
The evil god roared. As soon as it spoke, its fist was already close to Neji. Neji's Chakra cloak naturally protected him, but even so, Neji couldn't withstand the evil god's attack.
With a bang, Neji was smashed into a deep pit. He didn't even know how he had fallen.
"How is this possible? Is this the true power of the evil god?"
Whoosh!
He had just leaped out of the deep pit when a soft, white body slammed into him head-on. Both of them were sent flying backward together.
"Damn it!!"
Neji embraced the maiden with both arms. Two large hands extended from his Chakra cloak, digging firmly into the ground.
Facing the pursuing evil god, Neji was helpless. Merely stopping them had already consumed too much of his strength. He currently had no ability to counterattack. He had wanted to know the extent of the evil god's power for a long time, and now he finally saw it, but if possible, he wished he had never learned the answer.
Watching the evil god get closer and closer, Neji gritted his teeth and shielded the maiden behind him. Veins bulged around his eyes, and an extremely powerful repulsive force surged towards the evil god instantly.
"This move again? How could the same move work twice!" the evil god growled. After a brief pause, it swept its wings, meeting Neji with even greater speed, its entire being like a black streak of light, causing panic.
"That's not necessarily true. Those who have said that in the past have been slapped by reality."
Neji looked at the evil god, which had arrived right before him, and said with a smile. As the evil god paused slightly, the maiden behind Neji poured all her strength into her attack. Dozens of giant purple fists continuously hit the evil god.
Bang!
Although the gap in their strength was considerable, this was the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack. Taking such a blow head-on with no defense, even the fully powered evil god was sent flying horizontally by this force, leaving a very obvious mud pit on the ground.
"Damn you, how dare you trick me," the evil god said hatefully as it climbed up from the ground.
However, when it returned to its original spot, it found that both of them had vanished.
"Hmph! You can't run away," the evil god roared. Although it didn't know why Neji carried its scent, it could use this to track them.
Using the Earth Dragon Underground Technique, Neji led the maiden to a secluded cave and escaped from the evil god. But Neji understood this was only temporary. He still had the evil god's blood energy within him, making escape unrealistic.
"Damn it, what bad luck that I ended up in this era," Neji muttered, pinching his forehead. He didn't know what kind of expression to make.
Transported to the ninja world a thousand years in the past, he didn't know whether to be grateful or complain.
If he complained, few people in this era would use Chakra, so he generally wouldn't be in danger. But if he was grateful, then if he encountered anyone who could use Chakra, there was no doubt they would be stronger than him.
"Neji, I'm sorry..."
Kaguya cautiously walked up to Neji. Seeing Neji's changing facial expressions, she dejectedly lowered her head. She fidgeted with her hands, unsure where to put them. She had even prepared herself to be scolded by Neji.
For a princess of her clan, destined to become the clan leader, when had she ever spoken to someone so dejectedly? But she felt this was the best way to get Neji to forgive her.
Neji sighed silently. Looking at the innocent and cute woman who had been by his side for a month, it would be a lie to say he wasn't shocked. He had never expected her to be the powerful figure who would shake the ninja world in later generations.
Her temperament, her strength, and even her state of mind were completely different.
"You knew all along, didn't you."
Over the past month, Neji, with nothing better to do, had told her everything about the ninja world. He had originally hoped to use her help to find a way back to his era, but he hadn't expected to indirectly tell this "enemy" future intelligence.
Thinking about it made him depressed.
But that meant, being intelligent as she was, she must have known his origins long ago.
"Yes," Kaguya nodded nervously.
Neji took a deep breath and asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"
Kaguya showed a vulnerable side for the first time. Her voice slightly trembling, she quietly said, "I... I was afraid you would leave me. In the future, you are destined to stop me from breaking free. Logically speaking, killing you now would be best. But... but I couldn't."
"I don't understand how you feel about the people you care about. I also don't know what this thing called emotion that you always talk about is. I only know that when you are sad, I am sad too. When you are happy, I am happy too. When you say you might leave me, I even feel like I might as well die right here."
"When I first arrived on this planet, I intended to turn its inhabitants into my slaves to help me fend off pursuers. But Neji, your appearance made me abandon that idea. I want to believe you, to believe in the path you've chosen."
Tears flowed unconsciously down Kaguya's cheeks. She tightly held Neji's hand against her heart.
Neji fell silent. He didn't know how to face Kaguya. They were supposed to be enemies, yet now they had become like this.
Could he go back?
Even if he did, which side would he help?
Neji's heart was in turmoil. He wanted to be alone. He gently pulled his hand away from where Kaguya held it to her heart and walked out of the cave, a sense of confusion washing over him as he flew into the distance.