Hyuga Shigeo stood hidden in the rock, watching.
"This is the Sky Country's secret? The treasure's activated here?" Shennong-san's face lit up; his eyes were bright with excitement.
On the vast white floor, twisted stone carvings spiraled outward, and at the very center faint blue chakra pulsed up like mist.
Wu Youka-san stared around, her fist clenching tighter. She reached out and grabbed Musen (the girl) by the throat.
Hyuga Shigeo was about to spring forward when a sharp cry split the air.
Musen shouted, "You old witch! Where's my mother?"
It turned out Wu Youka had just removed the seal from Musen's mouth.
"Your mother is here. If you behave, I'll release you both and you can go live the life you want," Wu Youka said with a smile in the corner of her eye, looking coldly at the girl.
Musen spat back, "Don't think I'm stupid. You kept us because we're useful. If I'd agreed to obey, you'd have killed us both long ago."
"You're clever, but times have changed. Back then I could spare you. Now, if you don't cooperate, I'll have to be ruthless." Wu Youka tapped a finger once.
From a side corridor a group of seven or eight "kifā" — human-skin puppets — were driven forward.
"Bu-fujin, Bu-ojisan, Little Zhen…" the captives were Bu-san's family.
"Bu Yuran was loyal to you and his family, but he took the proof that I'm an impostor and disappeared. Did he find anyone to help you expose me? No. Now his family is here. Decide how you want them handled. I'll follow your choice," Wu Youka said with bored amusement, glancing at her nails as if none of this mattered.
"I want them released!" Musen demanded.
"Fine—open the device and I'll free them," Wu Youka replied.
"No way. The treasure cannot be triggered—never!" Musen's eyes filled with tears.
Wu Youka's fingertip tapped the floor. Immediately a kifā reached forward and tore a heart from someone's chest.
"Uncle Bu!" Musen screamed.
Hyuga Shigeo's fists clenched as he watched.
"Who's next? Oh—Xiaozhen, you called her name just now? She'll be next!" Wu Youka said, and the kifā lunged for the smallest girl in the group.
Before it could reach her, Hyuga Shigeo unleashed: "Jinton: Genkai Hakuri no Jutsu (Dust Release: Boundary Severing Technique)!"
A geometrical cube of dust locked the kifā in place and it collapsed into nothing like gray ash.
Wu Youka's head snapped toward the cave mouth. "You—brat! You're still alive!"
"It's me," Hyuga Shigeo said, stepping down.
Wu Youka realized she couldn't face him directly. She grabbed Musen and clutched the girl's neck tight.
"This time I won't be fooled. You care for her. You won't let her die," Wu Youka hissed—she knew how to manipulate hearts. Hyuga Shigeo's presence proved it: the girl mattered to him.
Hyuga Shigeo made a hand sign; a wooden clone (mokubunshin) split off and held position. The real Shigeo darted to Bu's family.
"Run—I'll get you out!" he said, shepherding the remaining seven people toward the exit.
A whistle sounded and more kifā appeared outside.
Flames roared, and a molten-release (yoton) blast erupted; the kifā countered with water release (suiton) to douse the flames, producing hissing steam. The wind-use of other kifā blew the steam aside, and in the confusion Shigeo and the seven had vanished.
Hyuga Shigeo used isekai tenshi (Dimensional Transfer) to transport the seven away.
Back at the center, the wooden clone formed hand seals and launched an attack at Wu Youka.
She wasn't about to give him the opening. Her fingers were still clamped around Musen's throat. "Come try me!" she snarled.
Her long nails sliced Musen's neck.
When Hyuga Shigeo returned, he saw blood on Musen's throat. "You really think you'll win?" he said.
Wu Youka laughed. "Maybe. If Musen dies, there's still the real 'Wu Youka'—and the treasure will open no matter what!"
Her nail had pierced the skin but had avoided a fatal artery; if she dug deeper she would cut the girl's life short.
Hyuga Shigeo froze and tried to stop her. "Alright—don't—stop—I'll back off!"
But Musen suddenly shouted, "Don't spare me—kill her! Kill her!"
She began to struggle violently. Wu Youka's eyes were cold: "You think I only have your mother and the Bu family as bargaining chips? Look!"
On cue, iron cages embedded in the cavern walls were revealed, each with people inside. A guard thrust a blade into a cage and killed someone on the spot.
"Save me, Miss! Save me!" voices cried from the cages.
Musen, exhausted, sank to the floor and stared at the ground glyphs; the guards resumed killing as ordered.
Hyuga Shigeo moved to intervene but Musen shook her head weakly. "Don't—if I had cooperated earlier, none of them would have died. I was naïve."
"This isn't your fault," he said, but she had no words. Instead she removed a hairpin from her head, cut her palm, and pressed it over the sigils on the floor.
(End of Chapter)
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