Shen Mo had carefully balanced his newfound abilities. While the coveted, world-transcending ability of full-time travel remained beyond his reach, his purchase of Absolute Temporal Stasis—the ability to freeze time—had come at a massive cost.
The original, prohibitive side effect of shortening his lifespan had been mitigated (thanks to his unique physical constitution and the regeneration of his Wolverine's Immortality), replaced by the immense drain on his mental energy.
The ability still cost him 27 million trading points. Coupled with his physical enhancements, he was now left with only 20 million points for future emergencies. Every point earned in the Land of Waves had been reinvested in his personal security and in tools to drive the business.
I need to replenish my funds, and I still need to save up for Icarus.
Shen Mo walked deliberately toward the frozen figures, determined to make his demonstration utterly unforgettable.
He reached Tsunade, the Legendary Sannin frozen mid-sentence, her expression intense. Shen Mo carefully removed her treasured heirloom—the First Hokage's Necklace—from her neck.
He paused, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. That wasn't quite enough.
He produced a permanent marker from his pocket dimension and moved around the gathered elite. A quick, precise line of black ink was drawn across the necks of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hiashi Hyuga, Kurenai Yuhi, and all the others.
Then, he returned to Tsunade. He didn't ink her neck, but he couldn't resist her face. A vibrant, winding dragon tattoo was swiftly drawn onto her left cheek, a rainbow on the right, and a large, comical sea turtle was perfectly placed on her forehead.
There. Balance.
He slowly returned to his original position, holding the necklace.
Time Freeze: Release!
To the Konoha ninja, the event was instantaneous. Shen Mo had seemingly merely swayed slightly, and the position of the necklace in his hand had changed.
"What do you mean, it doesn't have to be this complex—" Tsunade's final words of the interrupted sentence died in her throat.
She saw the familiar, colossal necklace dangling from Shen Mo's fingers. Then she looked down at her own neck. Only the small, simple cross necklace remained.
He stole it.
Her eyes scanned the surrounding Jonin one by one. Her lips pressed into a tight, silent line.
Every single Jonin, including the formidable Sandaime, now bore a single, distinct black ink line slashed across their jugular.
They stood in stunned, absolute silence. They were experienced veterans, and they knew precisely what the ink line represented.
If Shen Mo had possessed murderous intent...
We were all instantly decapitated.
How?
Every shinobi mind scrambled, searching for a Ninjutsu, a Genjutsu, any logical explanation for an attack that bypassed their Senses, their Guard, and their Speed. A profound, bone-chilling terror ran down their collective spines.
"As expected, I am not qualified to challenge you," Tsunade finally managed, her voice oddly steady. Her expression held no disappointment; the shock was absorbed by the sheer scale of the power, exactly as she had intended.
And also... she realized, Everyone has the death mark on their neck. Except me. A flicker of absurd, feminine satisfaction sparked within her.
"How did you achieve that?" Hiashi Hyuga, the first to move, demanded. His Byakugan instantly activated, scanning Tsunade's face for clues. "It's just ink, but that marking doesn't look like anything you could have done casually without us noticing."
"A marking?" Tsunade froze again.
Kurenai Yuhi quickly extended the small, hand-held mirror she always carried.
Tsunade looked into the glass. Her delicate, beautiful features were a canvas of mockery: a vivid dragon snaking across her left cheek, a brightly colored rainbow on the right, and the absurd, sprawling sea turtle on her forehead.
Shen Mo, meanwhile, chuckled gently in response to Hiashi Hyuga's question.
"It's quite simple, really. I merely paused time, walked slowly, completed my drawing, and then slowly walked back." He casually tossed the necklace back to Tsunade. It was still faintly warm from his touch.
Tsunade caught the necklace, looking from Shen Mo's placid, sincere expression to her own comical reflection. A murderous tickle started in her jaw. If I can get him in a fight...
But the Jonin focused on the words: "I merely paused time."
"You mock us!" Might Guy suddenly roared, his ridiculous green spandex seeming to swell with indignation. He burst from the crowd, adopting a ferocious fighting stance. "I don't know what trick that was, but I demand a rematch! My youth will not be defeated so easily!"
They accepted Shen Mo was powerful, but they refused to accept the literal truth of his statement. It was an elaborate Genjutsu, an unimaginable speed Ninjutsu—anything but the ridiculous claim that the world had frozen around them.
"You don't believe me?" Shen Mo raised his finger slowly, appearing genuinely surprised by Guy's denial. "Very well. Then this time, I won't stop your time."
He tapped his finger lightly in the air.
Invisible ripples spread outward, as if a droplet of water had fallen into a perfectly still lake.
The world stopped.
Time truly ceased. Everything outside of the select observers—the flow of air, the rustling leaves, the distant sounds of Konoha—froze instantly, as if trapped inside a photorealistic oil painting.
Two butterflies caught mid-flight were suspended motionless in the air.
Might Guy, having been excluded from the stasis, stumbled back two steps, the only one moving. Two distinct footprints were crushed into the grass, the bent blades maintaining their crushed form without swaying back.
"Kurenai," Asuma Sarutobi murmured, his voice tight.
"This is not a Genjutsu," Kurenai confirmed, her disbelieving expression mirrored by everyone else.
The entire world was frozen. The only sounds were the frantic rhythms amplified inside their own bodies: their heartbeats, their breathing, the rush of blood. The miracle, the absolute, undeniable, horrifying miracle, had occurred.
"Many of my guests have told me that this kind of world is quite disconcerting," Shen Mo said calmly. He strolled toward the two frozen butterflies, raised his hand, and gently brushed them aside.
SNAP!
As they left the field of stasis, they instantly flapped their wings, but gravity instantly took hold. They circled helplessly to the ground, unable to fly, because the air itself was frozen. There was no airflow, no medium to push against.
"Your life energy is not yet sufficient to adapt to a reality where time is decoupled from your perception," Shen Mo explained, his gaze settling on Tsunade and the furiously bewildered Might Guy. "Shall we continue the competition?"
To personally experience the complete cessation of time, to witness its absolute management, and to see the world frozen around them, eliminated all possibility of rationalizing the event away as an illusion.
"No need," Tsunade slowly nodded, her eyes fixed on the struggling, earthbound butterflies. "Space felt like a child's toy in your hand, but I never imagined time would be treated the same way."
The ink lines were a joke. This was the truth. Whatever unique skills they possessed, whatever level of power they had attained, they were nothing but laughingstocks in the face of absolute temporal manipulation. The demonstration had achieved its intended, terrifying effect.