"…"
Shadow and Kakuzu walked in, and seeing the scene before them, they fell into a prolonged silence.
"Hmph, those Hidden Grass Village guys!"
Even the desensitized Kakuzu couldn't help but let out a cold snort. Ninja were undeniably bloody, their hands stained with blood; there was no need to deny this, nor would Kakuzu argue against it. But even when killing, it was usually a swift end. He, despite his blood-stained hands, had never treated anyone like this. The actions of the Hidden Grass Village were truly too disgusting, too ugly, and too nauseating.
Just as Nagato was about to step forward, a figure suddenly blocked his path. It was Karin, only four years old this year.
"You, you all…"
Her legs trembled violently, her teeth chattered, and her small face was deathly pale, devoid of any color. Her red eyes, behind her glasses, were filled with tears from fear. But she still spread her arms, using her frail, paper-thin body to desperately shield her mother.
"No, you… you're not allowed to touch Mama!" Her voice trembled and was choked with sobs.
Nagato froze at the sight, momentarily at a loss for what to do. Finally, Kakuzu extended his black threads, like tentacles, effortlessly lifting Karin who stood in front.
"Kid, calm down," his voice rumbled from behind his mask. "If we wanted to kill you and your mother, we would have done so already."
Shadow walked over to the woman's side, but when he truly saw her condition, his face beneath the shadows subtly creased into a frown. At this moment, he more profoundly realized that the original manga's depiction had been beautified. How could bite marks be as neat as if stamped on? The real scene was far more shocking than what the manga showed.
Her body had collapsed, as if the flesh and blood sustaining her life had been completely drained. Her wide, ragged clothes hung on her, like a covering draped over craggy rocks. The bones of her shoulders and arms protruded sharply and fragilely beyond her skin, their grating edges clearly visible. New and old, layered bite marks covered her entire body. From relatively "fresh" deep purple scars, still bearing dark red bruises and lacerations, to old, darkened, sunken imprints like lunar craters. They were densely packed, like ugly brands, deep enough to expose bone, with hardly a single patch of unblemished skin spared.
"How is it?" Nagato asked.
"…" Shadow silently shook his head.
It was too exaggerated. Even Nagato, also from the Uzumaki clan and possessing extremely strong vitality, had only truly died after continuously enduring the Rinnegan, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and the Rinne Rebirth Jutsu. But these guys had actually sucked the life out of an Uzumaki clan member, bit by bit, to the point of death. It was impossible to imagine what Karin's mother had endured in the Hidden Grass Village. Even he, who considered his own moral bottom line to be quite low, had to admit that these Hidden Grass Village thugs were even more beastly.
"Wh-what?"
Karin, who had been struggling in Kakuzu's grasp, stiffened, staring blankly at Shadow who shook his head, seemingly not understanding what he meant. Nagato's brows furrowed, and he said in a deep voice, "Is there no chance of saving her?"
In truth, as a fellow Uzumaki clan member who had also had his vitality extracted, how could he not know the answer to this question? But he still held a sliver of hope for this mysterious individual before him.
"This body is indeed dead. Its vitality has been completely drained, not a single trace left. I don't even know how she held on until now."
At this, Shadow slightly turned his head, looking at a speechless Karin, knowing that the woman had survived until now simply because of her daughter, Karin.
Vitality isn't like a health bar in a game, where you only die when it's completely depleted. Nagato, after being drained by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, was already half-dead. It must be because she knew that after her death, Karin would inherit her fate and become a blood bag for the Hidden Grass Village ninja, that she had endured until now. But even the strongest will cannot make up for a completely depleted body.
"Ah ah… Mm!"
Karin was about to cry out, but Kakuzu suddenly covered her mouth.
"You just said, 'this body' is dead, right?" Kakuzu, an immortal, keenly noticed the particularity in Shadow's words.
"Yes."
Shadow nodded, smiling: "In my opinion, death is not frightening. Death is never the end of life, merely a long slumber."
Hearing this, Nagato, who had fallen silent, looked up, and felt as if he met Shadow's gaze.
"Me?" Nagato hesitated.
He thought Shadow was referring to the Outer Path: Rinne Rebirth Jutsu. But that was a true forbidden jutsu. In his current state, if he actually used it, this White Zetsu, Tobi, would likely be useless.
"No need, I only have one request."
Shadow couldn't help but chuckle, raising a hand and pointing towards the Hidden Grass Village behind him: "Leave those guys to me, how about it?"
He naturally knew the brutality in Nagato's heart right now. If it weren't for still being unsure about the fate of his own clan, Nagato would have already gone to make the Hidden Grass Village feel pain.
"…" Nagato looked at him deeply, and finally nodded, saying, "Then I'll leave it to you."
Seemingly realizing that these three were saving her mother, Karin, who had been struggling, now quieted down.
Shadow walked to the woman's front, his gaze sweeping over her face. Undoubtedly, this was a great mother. Likewise, when she died, she must have harbored extremely deep hatred and obsession.
"Too bad Orochimaru's Soul Consumption Jutsu isn't developed yet."
He sighed, thinking of it as an experiment. He silently thought: "Extract the soul of the specified target, implant it, a one-time soul consumption jutsu." He paused, then added: "According to the settings I gave Orochimaru, a black outer body and a white mask, and a hollow chest…"
[Spend 2000 points, materialize?]
"It seems she hasn't entered the Pure Land yet, otherwise the price wouldn't be this."
Shadow, or rather, Hyuga Kawa, muttered with a bit of a pang: "Materialize, materialize."
Buzz!!
The moment the thought arose, he suddenly felt a connection to the woman before him. This feeling was different from the souls he had collected from those who died in the underground palace or were killed by Hidan; those souls were simply imprisoned within the confined space of the underground palace. But the woman before him was different. This was a master-subordinate relationship originating at the soul level. No matter where it was placed in the shinobi world, it would not be forcibly taken away by the Six Paths' Pure Land.
At the same time, in Nagato's slightly widened pupils, a black soul rose from the woman's body.
"Go."
Looking at the Hollow before him, Shadow chuckled softly: "Devour, consume, resent."
"Now, it's your turn to gnaw at them!"