"No..."
"I don't want to die..."
"I don't want to die!"
Watching the monster sweeping across the battlefield, a Suna ninja trembled, pouring all his chakra frantically into the short blade in his hand.
The short blade erupted with a blinding blue light.
A slash of blade light, condensed to the extreme, fiercely slashed at the incoming giant claw, like a dying viper's desperate strike.
Boom!
The instant that chakra-infused strike touched Rika's massive palm, it was like snow under the sun, vanishing silently without even a ripple.
The short blade shattered beneath her hand, and so did the Suna ninja who tried to resist.
Despair froze on the faces of the remaining Suna ninjas.
Their resistance, before the monster's power, seemed laughably insignificant.
The next moment, Rika's enormous hand came crashing down mercilessly on the Suna ninjas.
Flesh flew, bones shattered.
When she raised her hand again, all that remained on the ground were mangled limbs and bloodied flesh.
The scene utterly crushed the will of every Suna ninja who witnessed it.
Fear spread like a plague.
"M-Monster!"
While Rika rampaged, Shiratori raised his hand, healing the wounded Ame ninjas nearby.
[Gratitude detected]
[Multiple sources: +5000 points each]
[Total accumulated: 250,000 points]
[Energy transferred to Smallpox Deity]
[Development progress: 100%]
[Smallpox Deity: Maximum level achieved]
He looked toward the Ame ninja in front of him.
The ninja forced a tearful smile.
"Don't waste your chakra on us..."
His eyes were bloodshot, his facial muscles twitching uncontrollably.
Shiratori gave him a smile.
"No! Saving you isn't a waste. Not saving you, that's the real waste of my chakra."
The ninja closed his eyes, lips trembling, unable to say a word.
[Affection detected]
[Multiple sources: +10,000 points each]
[Total accumulated: 280,000 points]
[Curse Growth - Love: 28%]
Curse Growth? What's that? he asked mentally.
[Cursed spirits' strength correlates with curse growth value]
[Higher growth value = stronger manifested cursed spirits]
He narrowed his eyes, a thought forming in his mind.
At that moment, the Suna ninjas on the battlefield fell one after another, their bodies dropping like harvested wheat, dying in miserable fashion.
Pakura watched the scene before her with tightly furrowed brows and a solemn gaze. She descended before Rika like a falling meteor.
Her torn hair flew wildly in the storm. In her pupils burned the flames of hatred and rage. She extended her arms, and before her floated several orbs glowing with terrifying heat, like miniature suns.
Her voice echoed across the battlefield, filled with despair.
"Ninjas of Suna!"
"Have you forgotten your comrades who died miserably?"
"Have you forgotten the loved ones waiting for you back in our village?"
"Do you want your families to feel the same fear of being slaughtered by monsters?"
"Regroup!"
"Avenge our fallen comrades!"
"Fight to protect our homeland!"
"Bury the enemies and the monster they summoned right here!"
"Leave no one alive!"
Her words stirred waves of emotion in the hearts of the Suna ninjas.
Right!
Were they really going to let their wives, children, parents, and siblings suffer this kind of pain and despair?
No!
They couldn't!
Even if it cost them their lives, they had to kill the monster before them.
The once-collapsing Suna ninjas now seemed to have found their backbone again. Fighting spirit reignited in their eyes. Flames of anger and resolve burned fiercely in their pupils. They quickly closed in on Rika, surrounding her.
Standing opposite Rika, Pakura's cold gaze locked onto Shiratori. Just like the rest of the Suna ninjas, she had already resolved to die if necessary.
No matter what it took, she had to kill this boy, for the sake of Suna.
He was too great a threat to the village.
[Killing Intent detected: Pakura +10,000 points]
[Energy transferred to Sukuna]
[Development progress: 90.12%]
This monster was summoned by that boy. She had even witnessed him heal an Ame ninja who was on the brink of death.
She would never allow this boy to grow stronger. As long as he was killed, the monster would disappear too.
Her killing intent was almost tangible.
Rika seemed to sense it. Her massive body subtly shifted, her gaze locking onto Pakura's position.
A tsunami of icy killing intent surged toward Pakura. A fierce windstorm, with Rika at its center, swept across the battlefield.
Even though the Suna ninjas still felt soul-chilling fear, and their movements were stiff and unnatural, they no longer completely collapsed like before.
Pakura's words had reignited their fighting spirit.
"AAAAHHH!!
The Suna ninjas exchanged glances, formed hand signs in unison, and roared out across the battlefield.
A violent gale rose from the ground.
Pakura extended her hand, unleashing dozens of high-temperature orange-red beams, like a meteor shower, shooting toward Rika.
Sand and wind were instantly whipped into a storm by their attacks, obscuring everyone's vision.
Pakura's figure disappeared into the sandstorm. When she appeared again, she was standing behind Shiratori.
"Look out!"
The Ame ninja who was being healed didn't hesitate, he lunged toward Pakura.
His pupils widened. He was too slow.
The kunai in Pakura's hand was less than five centimeters away from Shiratori's back. Hatred gleamed in her eyes.
This boy had killed countless Suna ninjas. Now was the time to take revenge for her fallen comrades.
Suddenly, a purple vortex appeared out of thin air behind Shiratori. The space twisted like a distorted painting.
A hand covered in stitches reached out from within.
"Hello there!"
The hand was pierced straight through by Pakura's kunai, but it didn't seem to feel any pain. Instead, it grabbed Pakura's hand.
The air was so thick it was suffocating.
The sky had already taken on a faint bluish hue.
Dawn was approaching.
A cold, slimy dread crept silently up Pakura's spine.
"Ahhhhh!"
"A monster!"
The terrified cries of the Suna ninjas behind her gradually faded from her ears.
She stared fixedly at the hand emerging from the purple vortex.
It was as if she could see nothing else, only that hand.
It clutched her arm tightly, its nails deeply embedded in her flesh.
"Ugh..."
She froze instantly.
The light in her eyes suddenly disappeared.
This hand, ice cold and utterly lifeless, seemed to pierce straight through her skin and into the depths of her soul.
"Huh... huh..."
Her pupils contracted to the limit. Her body began to tremble violently. A choking, raspy sound came from her throat. She felt as if her soul had been laid bare like a toy. Her soul was like a lump of clay, cold fingers kneading and toying with it at will.
[Fear detected: Pakura +10,000 points]
[Energy transferred to Hanami]
[Development progress: 73.7%]
This was the true terror of Mahito!
No matter the gap in strength, once he touched your body unguarded, it was essentially death.
Mahito's entire body emerged from the purple vortex.
He gripped Pakura's hand, mismatched pupils gleaming with excitement. To him, it didn't feel like holding someone's hand. It felt like he'd found a fascinating new toy. He didn't want to let go, just like a child.
"Ah..."
He let out a trembling sigh of satisfaction. His voice coiled around Pakura's neck like a venomous snake.
"I've found it... your soul... What a beautiful shape it has! Your soul is far better than those rough, ugly ones!"
Mahito tilted his head slightly, savoring the trembling of Pakura's soul. The delighted smile on his face widened until the corners of his mouth nearly reached his ears, exposing rows of sharp, white teeth.
[Fear detected: Pakura +10,000 points]
[Energy transferred to Hanami]
[Development progress: 74.7%]
Shiratori couldn't help but think, Hanami really was getting a free ride. Didn't even have to show up, and allies were powering it up.
"This is amazing..."
Mahito's laughter echoed across the battlefield.
Suddenly, he turned his head and looked at Shiratori, a hint of grievance flickering in his eyes:
"Can I kill her now? Last time you pulled me back so quickly... I didn't even get to finish playing."
His tone was almost whiny.
Shiratori felt a chill crawl over him.
He looked at Pakura.
Her pupils were dilated, frozen in place as Mahito gripped her soul in his palm.
"Kill her. And after that, take a strip of her hair."
Shiratori gave the command with a blank expression.
"Okay~!"
Mahito smiled sweetly at him.
The next second, Pakura's body began to twist unnaturally in his hand. With his other hand, he yanked out a handful of hair from the top of her head and handed it to Shiratori.
The sound of cracking bones, faint but sharp, made one's teeth ache.
Shiratori carefully stored away Pakura's hair. Her body was now barely human in form. And in Mahito's hand, a monster was born.
"ROAR!"
The monster let out a furious growl, and lunged toward the Suna ninjas.
"Lady Pakura!"
"What happened?!"
"Lady Pakura!"
"It's that person!"
"That thing isn't a person!"
"It... it turned her into that..."
The Suna ninjas panted heavily, fear overtaking them.
Rika's crisis hadn't even been resolved, and now another Mahito had appeared.
[Fear detected]
[Multiple sources: +3000 points each]
[Total accumulated: 18,000 points]
[Energy transferred to Hanami]
[Development progress: 76.5%]
With Mahito now present, Shiratori recalled Rika.
Mahito had a unique talent when it came to harvesting emotional energy. This kind of job, might as well let him handle it.
"Yuta..."
Rika gently set Shiratori down from her massive body.
"Thanks for your hard work, Rika."
He stroked her lowered head tenderly.
"Yuta~!"
Rika's bashful voice trembled with excitement.
With her keeping watch, Shiratori felt at ease tending to the wounded Ame ninjas before him.
Mahito, meanwhile, looked gleefully at the tense formation of Suna ninjas. He couldn't help but stretch out his arms, his face glowing with a huge smile.
"I'm coming!" he shouted joyfully.
With a leap, Boom, his body seemed weightless as he sprang nearly ten meters into the air, landing in the middle of the Suna ninjas, stirring the air into turbulent gusts.
The Suna ninjas stared him down nervously, breathing ragged.
"Don't fear him!"
"Attack!"
"But even Lady Pakura couldn't beat him!"
"What are we afraid of? Either we die fighting or die running, we don't have a choice!"
The leading Suna ninja tried to comfort his comrades, but the fear in his eyes betrayed his words.
He gritted his teeth, channeling all his chakra into forming hand seals. Instantly, the desert sand erupted.
The sand, like a massive serpent, surged from all directions with a low roar, trying to crush Mahito under its immense weight.
"Ah! How interesting!"
Mahito's smile grew even wider.
He felt no danger. The battlefield, to him, was nothing more than a playground. His grin widened to the point it nearly reached his ears. Not only did he not dodge, he opened his arms in welcome.
The sand wrapped tightly around his limbs with precision.
The ninjas held their breath.
Did it work?
"Got him!"
"This guy is way easier than that monster just now!"
The ninjas couldn't help but let out relieved sighs. But the next second, everything changed.
Mahito's body, tightly bound by sand, suddenly shrank.
From a tall, slender man, he transformed into a child of about seven or eight years old.
He slipped free of the binding with ease and darted across the battlefield.
His high-pitched, bell-like laughter echoed across the field.
[Fear detected]
[Multiple sources: +2000 points each]
[Total accumulated: 12,000 points]
[Energy transferred to Hanami]
[Development progress: 77.7%]
"What is this monster?!"
A Suna ninja screamed in horror.
Mahito burst into crazed laughter, charging straight into the group of ninjas and slapping his hands wildly at them.
Shiratori glanced toward the Ame ninja beside him. He wanted the Suna ninjas' emotional energy... but he wanted the Ame ninjas' too!
"I told you, I would master the power of curses and protect everyone."
"This time, I did it!"
Looking at the Ame ninjas who had survived, Shiratori's eyes turned red, his pupils shining with hope.