As the lord of Moon City, losing his chakra had left Shichidō's body frail and his heart filled with fear—fear of being replaced, of dying helplessly at home, of becoming prey on someone's cutting board.
Living in that constant anxiety, he became desperate. When members of the Orchid Sect expanded their base and discovered a hidden altar within the mountain, along with ancient stone inscriptions, Shichidō believed he had found salvation. The inscriptions claimed that if one followed their instructions, they could obtain a pill of immortality, regain youth, and gain the power to move heaven and earth.
So he abandoned all restraint. If it meant restoring his youth, achieving eternal life, and regaining chakra, he would do anything.
That obsession etched itself deeply into his mind, twisting his sense of morality. To him, none of his crimes were wrong.
For such a man, simple death was too light a punishment.
Only the souls of the dead could strike his own, make him feel their despair and helplessness, and force true fear upon him.
Killing him would be easy—making him repent was the true challenge.
Countless ghosts surged forward. The sky darkened with dense clouds. Bloodshot eyes wide with terror, Shichidō watched the spirits close in.
He felt his neck slit again and again, blood pouring out. Before the horrified crowd, he was bled like an animal. His long-dead parents wept, powerless to save him. Everyone watched as he was torn apart. No one stepped forward.
He had sought eternal life but had never considered what those women felt as they were tortured and slain.
Now, the vengeful spirits once bound by the Inkonrei (Soul-Summoning Bell) took turns forcing him to experience every agony they had endured.
"Don't come closer! Don't—!" Shichidō clutched his throat and screamed.
All around, people watched silently—Orchid Sect remnants, Moon City citizens, and the more than three hundred women Shigeo had rescued. All saw divine retribution falling upon the guilty.
"I'm sorry! I was wrong! It's all my fault! I killed you for my own sake—I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry!" Shichidō collapsed to his knees, sobbing and begging.
Shigeo glanced toward Hizashi and then reached into the dimensional space, pulling out Hyūga Akira.
After giving a brief explanation about the cave and the experiments, he handed the survivor over to them.
Hizashi's face showed deep shock. He murmured, "Unbelievable… they went this far just to obtain eyes. But I wonder… they…"
He couldn't finish the sentence. Shame tightened his throat. The Hyūga clan's members had been kidnapped, forced into marriages, and used for human experiments to extract their cells and create artificial humans. And he, the clan head, had resolved nothing.
It was Shigeo—the one long disregarded by the clan—who solved everything. It was humiliating.
Shigeo understood what he meant. "As far as I know, only one artificial human succeeded—and I killed it. I didn't find any others alive."
Hizashi nodded repeatedly. At last, the matter was settled.
Turning, Shigeo addressed Mei. "Nee-san, I'll leave the interrogations to you. I trust Kirigakure and the Land of Water will give Moon City's people justice. Since I've found my missing ninja from Ink Village, I'll take my leave."
The rest was political and procedural. He had no interest in staying.
"Why is it always me doing cleanup?" Mei complained, scowling. "I'm not doing it."
Shigeo nodded calmly. "Fine then. I'll have the Ink Village ninjas handle it. I heard the Land of Water's Daimyō is paying a generous reward for this job."
At that, Mei lunged forward, wrapping her arms around him.
"Little brother, heh… I misunderstood you! I'm the best person for cleanup work! You go handle your business—leave this to me! Thank you! Hahaha!"
She laughed heartily but refused to let go of him.
The three hundred rescued women glared at the sight. "Hey, old woman, let him go! He's our savior! You can't just hug him like that!"
They charged forward.
"He's mine!"
"No, mine!"
Chaos exploded again.
Technically, Mei was supposed to handle the aftermath, but now several women had her by the hair, refusing to release her. She could have fought back easily—but these weren't enemies, only overzealous women who misunderstood. She couldn't harm them.
So she could only struggle, cry out in frustration, and shout orders between yanks of her hair for the Kirigakure ninjas to secure Shichidō.
Amid the uproar, Shigeo simply walked away.
Behind him followed twenty kunoichi of the Blue Gate Division, including Jade and Ruri.
"Who could've thought," one of the kunoichi said, "that the great and mysterious leader of the Orchid Sect was just a frail old man with no chakra? I heard he used to be a ninja, but look at him now. The people he manipulated must regret everything."
"Yeah," another added. "I didn't expect such a huge contrast either. I thought their leader would be some powerful, sinister master. Turns out it was the opposite."
Shigeo's eyes narrowed. "Seems brains alone can control people just as well as power."
"My lord, there's something I still don't understand," another woman said.
"What is it?" Shigeo asked.
"Why did the Orchid Sect target us? We had no grudge with them. When they kidnapped us, it felt like an order—like they were following specific instructions, not just random abductions."
"Because your group, the Blue Gate Division (Aoshamon), and the Orchid Sect share the same-sounding word 'Lan' or 'Ao.' The characters are different, but the pronunciation's the same."
Shigeo had learned this from scanning the minds of the sect's members.
"That's it? Such a petty reason?" one woman exclaimed.
"Petty men cause big trouble," Shigeo replied flatly.
He turned back toward the western sea and the dark mountains beyond.
A series of explosions echoed—boom, boom—rolling through the air.
He had destroyed everything the Orchid Sect had built.
From this day forward, the ninja world would never see the Orchid Sect again.
Back in the Ink Village, inside the office of the Ink Shadow, Shigeo sat quietly, staring at the rubbings laid out before him. His gaze was sharp and distant.
They were the very rubbings Shichidō had taken from the stone altar after its discovery.
Only after Shigeo's analysis did he realize that the so-called blood sacrifice described on them possessed strange, dangerous properties.
(End of Chapter)
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