At this moment, Asuna, seemingly certain that the enemy was dead, rushed towards them.
On the ground, Asuna already possessed a speed akin to the Flying Thunder God Technique's jumps, and now, propelled by the Wind Wings, her speed was even greater.
Of course, this difference could only be distinguished by someone with similar extreme speed.
Asuna quickly stabilized her body, her golden eyes, transformed by Sage Mode, glanced at Black Zetsu and the others on the ground.
At this moment, Asuna was like a true immortal, transcending humanity.
Although Black Zetsu would not die from ordinary means, it still felt a tingling sensation on its scalp when faced with Asuna's gaze, reminding it of the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, from the past.
"...Sage Mode, a cultivation method originating from Asura, truly a hateful thing," Black Zetsu muttered to itself.
Black Zetsu believed in its heart that such power should not be obtained by anyone else.
Its ideology aligned with Kaguya Otsutsuki's: all chakra should belong to Kaguya Otsutsuki, not to those ant-like humans, and even Hagoromo and Hamura Otsutsuki should not possess it.
However, regardless of Black Zetsu's thoughts, this power truly existed in the ninja world.
Asuna held her hands level in front of her, then suddenly flung them, and three faintly visible, serrated wind wheels were thrown out—the Eight-Dividing Wind Wheel.
While the Eight-Dividing Wind Wheel was inferior to Asuna's Vertical Slice in sharpness and speed, it was superior in maneuverability.
Under Asuna's control, all the plant tendrils summoned by Black Zetsu were severed at once.
"Good opportunity!" Kakashi Hatake's father, Sakumo Hatake, exclaimed, his eyes wide.
The others understood immediately.
Shigeru Inuzuka let out a loud cry and, spinning with his ninja dog partner, charged forward, clearing away all the vines on one side.
In their previous state, they might have been accidentally entangled, but now it was different.
Mizuki, standing nearby, also used Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu, burning away all the vine plants on the other side, leaving Black Zetsu and the others completely unobstructed.
At the same time, the Eight-Dividing Wind Wheels Asuna had thrown earlier suddenly exploded, and the resulting storm caused Black Zetsu, the Jashinists, and others to momentarily halt their movements.
Sakumo Hatake did not let this good opportunity slip away.
Stimulated by Lightning Style chakra, he swiftly moved in front of the three, and a cold glint flashed as the heads of Black Zetsu and the Jashinists were instantly separated from their bodies.
Even if the Jashinists would not die, their body control still relied on their heads.
Now that their heads were severed, their remaining bodies slumped to the ground, only twitching slightly due to the stimulation of the Lightning Style.
As for Black Zetsu, there was no need to worry about that guy.
Its entire body could be controlled by its consciousness.
It understood that the situation was dire and, without any hesitation, its form melted into the ground like water.
By the time Sakumo Hatake wanted to stop it, it was too late.
Moreover, he felt that he might not even be able to prevent Black Zetsu's departure; the existence of that guy was truly bizarre.
Asuna, who was in the sky, began to descend.
Mizuki quickly ran over, waving to Asuna and shouting, "You scared me to death!
It looks like what Akemi-nee gave you helped a lot."
"Yes, if it weren't for this thing my sister gave me, it probably wouldn't have been so easy," Asuna nodded slightly.
The battle just now seemed smooth, but in reality, she almost lost.
Without the Wind Wings, Asuna could only gamble on whether a large-scale Wind Style could clear all the enemy's illusions, and whether she could escape to find Sakumo Hatake and the others, or whether she could absorb enough senjutsu chakra.
If not, the outcome would be very dangerous, and Asuna might truly die there.
The enemy's confident appearance naturally meant they had confidence, but they didn't expect Asuna to possess the Wind Wings.
It was this variable that foiled their plan.
"Asuna, you charged too fast.
You should have waited for us.
Luckily, you had this, otherwise, the outcome would have been hard to predict," Shigeru Inuzuka said earnestly.
"I'm sorry, Uncle Shigeru, for making you all worry," Asuna said, addressing everyone.
She had indeed been careless this time.
"Regardless, this time it was a close call.
Next time, you must be careful; someone is already targeting you," Sakumo Hatake walked over, relieved as he looked at Asuna.
At the same time, he became even more curious about the Wind Wings.
It now seemed that the Wind Wings were indeed an excellent ninja tool, but unfortunately, not everyone could utilize them to their fullest potential.
Asuna was undoubtedly the most suitable ninja; she was a Wind Style user, light-bodied, and possessed the powerful physical abilities of Sage Mode.
For her, the Wind Wings were like adding wings to a tiger.
However, Sakumo Hatake could not utilize it as effectively because he was a Lightning Style user.
When using the Wind Wings, the Wind Style it possessed would inevitably affect his use of Lightning Style, making it impossible to maximize its combat potential.
Of course, if there was a high-altitude advantage, it would still have a unique effect.
"This time, the enemy is not only targeting the lord but also my life.
Their origins are not simple, I'm afraid..." Asuna said, and the others vaguely understood.
The Konoha Ninja Village had already confirmed that Tobi was connected to the Jashinists.
The ambush specifically set for Asuna this time, combined with Tobi selecting Asuna and Mizuki as the representatives for the Daimyo's mansion, made its significance self-evident.
"Speaking of which, where's that guy?" Now that the battle was over, Mizuki could focus on other things, and she immediately asked about Tobi's whereabouts.
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
From the start of the battle until now, Tobi had not appeared.
If he wasn't similarly obstructed on the way, then he might have had another objective.
"My opponent was quite powerful, not like an ordinary Jashinist," Asuna said at this point.
Seeing Asuna's gaze, everyone had a slight guess about where Tobi might have gone.
Asuna probably suspected that the person who ambushed her was Tobi.
But Asuna didn't say it, which indicated that the other party had not revealed their identity.
This was just Asuna's guess, and if it were presented as evidence, it might not gain the Daimyo's approval.
"What was going on with that guy just now?" Asuna didn't remain silent but instead asked about other matters.
She was interested in Black Zetsu.
She stared at the nearby plant debris, "Wood Style?"
"Not true Wood Style, just a superficial imitation.
Perhaps it's just somewhat similar to Wood Style; it should really be called Vine Style or something," Mizuki replied.
"But that guy is very strange.
Not only does he not die from being stabbed through the heart or having his head cut off, but his body can also transform into a liquid form, like the Hozuki clan of the Hidden Mist Village," Sakumo Hatake said.
"Not only that, but that guy's mental state is also bizarre.
Those two Jashinists are one thing; they seem to have lost their minds.
But this guy clearly has his own thought process, yet my Mind Disturbance Jutsu had no effect!" Takuma Yamanaka added, chiming in.
In the battle just now, Takuma Yamanaka, who wasn't strong in direct combat, mainly took on the role of support.
He didn't choose the Mind Body Switch Jutsu, which would cause him to lose control of his own body, but rather the Mind Disturbance Jutsu, which could disrupt the opponent's mind, similar to genjutsu in its technique.
However, Takuma Yamanaka was surprised to find that his Mind Disturbance Jutsu had no effect on Black Zetsu.
It was understandable that the two Jashinists, having lost their minds, wouldn't be affected by the Mind Disturbance Jutsu, but Black Zetsu also remained unaffected?
Takuma Yamanaka, of course, didn't know that Black Zetsu was essentially a materialized spiritual body, the will of Kaguya Otsutsuki.
Even though its direct combat ability wasn't strong, its mental abilities could be said to be very powerful, even capable of controlling others' bodies.
However, Black Zetsu needed to infiltrate the opponent's body to control them.
Its mental ability was primarily for itself; although it wouldn't be affected by the Mind Disturbance Jutsu, it also couldn't bounce it back to harm Takuma Yamanaka's mind.
"After it submerged into the ground just now, I couldn't sense its presence anymore," Asuna said, silently looking at the spot where Black Zetsu had disappeared.
"What?" Sakumo Hatake looked at Asuna in surprise, "You can't sense its presence?"
"Mhm," Asuna nodded, kneeling on the ground and reaching out to touch the spot where Black Zetsu had vanished.
This kind of earth also had natural energy flowing through it.
Logically, as long as it was within her sensory range and was a place where natural energy flowed, she should be able to sense it.
However, Asuna couldn't sense Black Zetsu's presence, which was truly abnormal.
There were ways to render chakra sensing ineffective; for example, the Second Tsuchikage's invisibility jutsu could not be sensed by ordinary chakra sensing.
In the Fourth Great Ninja War, Gaara sensed him through direct contact with sand, and similar methods were used against the Second Tsuchikage before that.
Sakumo Hatake knew about this, so he found it acceptable that Takuma Yamanaka couldn't sense Black Zetsu.
Perhaps Black Zetsu had a jutsu similar to the Second Tsuchikage's, but this method couldn't fool natural energy.
Natural energy circulates throughout the world, and there should be no way to hide from it.
No, if there really was a way to hide from the perception of natural energy, then integrating oneself into natural energy should be a relatively reasonable method.
After all, by merging oneself into the long flow of natural energy, it would naturally become unrecognizable.
However, did Black Zetsu, whose combat ability was so poor that it could only provide support, truly possess such an ability?
For Asuna and Sakumo Hatake, who were unaware of Black Zetsu's true identity, being able to deduce this far was their limit; they couldn't speculate any further.
"In any case, this guy is very strange.
It seems we must report this in detail to the Hokage-sama," Sakumo Hatake mused, receiving everyone's agreement.
"We also captured two Jashinist prisoners.
Although they seem to have lost their minds, there might still be some residual consciousness.
To avoid any complications, let's try to search their memories now," Takuma Yamanaka said.
"Alright, we're counting on you," Sakumo Hatake nodded.
Takuma Yamanaka then walked towards the two Jashinists, with the others following behind.
Takuma Yamanaka came to the head of one of them, let out a soft "tsk," and said, "Normally, the person would have already died, and there would be no memories to see.
It's only because of their immortal body that they're still alive, but that might not necessarily be a blessing."
Sakumo Hatake had no other choice; for Jashinists with immortal bodies, severing their heads was the only way to ensure they lost their ability to act, and it seemed to be true now.
The Jashinist Asuna faced was also dealt with by dismemberment; however, that Jashinist should have been blown to smithereens by Asuna's Vacuum Serial Spheres.
Even with an immortal body, becoming dust was no different from being dead.
If it weren't for the need to gather intelligence, she could have treated these two Jashinists the same way.
Takuma Yamanaka straightened the Jashinist's head, raised his hand to place it on its head, and stared into the Jashinist's eyes.
The opponent's gaze was dull and lifeless.
According to research by the Konoha Medical Department, if the Jashinists continued to consume their secret medicine, they might end up in this state.
This Jashinist, who should have been a high-ranking member of that village, was also in this condition, which made people wonder if there was a higher entity above the Jashinist village, and that the opponent was merely using the Jashinist village as pawns.
"If that's truly the case, then let me get a good look at your true face," Takuma Yamanaka took a deep breath and began to use his Mind Reading Jutsu.
Perhaps because the Jashinist had already lost its mind, there were no sealing jutsus arranged within it, making it very easy to infiltrate its mental world.
And as Takuma Yamanaka expected, the Jashinist's mental world was empty, with only fragmented memories within it.
"What a thorough method.
Who did this?" Takuma Yamanaka pondered while reading the nearby memory fragments, to see if he could find any clues.
"Let me see your true face."
The information Takuma Yamanaka had currently extracted seemed to indicate that after the Jashinist village was attacked, the opponent went to a certain place, seemingly within the Land of Fire.
He had a premonition that what the opponent saw might be the mastermind.
Just as Takuma Yamanaka was anticipating what the opponent looked like, he felt a special chakra within the memory fragments.
The amount of this chakra wasn't large; it might have been left behind by the mastermind during the process of clearing the mind.
And it was this residual chakra that made Takuma Yamanaka feel a great sense of crisis.
Takuma Yamanaka hastily left the mental world, but he was still a step too late and his mind was injured by that special chakra.
Outside, everyone heard Takuma Yamanaka let out a soft groan, and blood flowed from his nose and mouth.
Before everyone could react further, the Jashinist's body and head vanished with a "bang," disappearing into thin air.