The glow faded, and my crappy little Konoha orphan room suddenly wasn't so empty anymore.
Standing right there, barefoot on the creaky floorboards, was a woman in a black kimono, pale as the moon, holding a biwa like it was part of her soul. Her long hair draped over her face, and the moment her eyes lifted toward me… oh man, I swear my heart almost stopped.
I knew that face... I really fucking knew that face.
"No way… no freaking way…" I muttered, already sweating bullets.
It was Nakime.
The demon lady from Demon Slayer. Keeper of the Infinity Castle. Upper Rank Four.
You know, The demon who could warp space like she was just shuffling a deck of cards.
"System, you bastard," I hissed under my breath, forcing a crooked smile.
"You really trying to get me eaten first summon?! Couldn't give me, I don't know, Kon from Bleach or something safe?!"
Nakime blinked at me, tilting her head.
He broke into a cold sweat, his lips twitching into a shaky smile.
"...System… she won't eat me, right? Please tell me she won't eat me…"
Then she bowed—bowed—like a knight kneeling before a king.
"My lord," she said softly, voice calm but filled with something I didn't expect.
Respect. Devotion. "I am yours to command."
I froze.
My brain was screaming: Wait… what?!
Then it hit me.
Oh. Right.
The system literally told me—every character I summon is always loyal to me and me alone.
…And like the genius I am, I'd almost forgotten that tiny, life-saving detail.
"Ahahaha… right, of course. I totally remembered that," I muttered, wiping sweat off my forehead.
She didn't even flinch.
Just stared at me with that steady, loyal gaze, like I was her entire world.
"You're not… gonna eat me?" I asked anyway, because hey, paranoia's healthy.
"Never," she answered without hesitation.
"You are my master. My king. My life belongs to you now."
…Well damn. Talk about a plot twist.
The truth was, Nakime wasn't just spooky. She had a tragic past that made her ten times scarier.
Once, she was just a human girl, insanely talented at playing the biwa.
People actually stopped to hear her play. But life ripped that away from her. When she became a demon, her beautiful melodies turned into random, off-key plucks, echoing through a castle that no one ever applauded in.
Now here she was… calling me her lord.
"You gotta be kidding me…" I muttered.
But hey—if the system wanted me to have an insanely powerful demon subordinate ain't gonna argue.
Still, let's be real.
I was weak.
Like, "trip on a stone and die" weak.
No chakra, no superpowers, nothing.
Meanwhile, Nakime could warp space itself, spawn creepy eyeballs, and control an entire alternate dimension just by strumming her biwa.
Which meant one thing.
If I ever pissed her off, loyalty system or not… I was still screwed.
Hiroshi suddenly snapped out of it.
"Wait… crap." His eyes darted around his crappy little orphan room.
The floorboards, the walls, even the window.
This was Konoha, the village of shinobi. If anywhere had nosy bastards peeking in, it was here.
"There's probably some rat ANBU dude spying on me right now…"
He turned to Nakime, who was standing there like a silent shadow, waiting for his word.
Hiroshi nervously cleared his throat.
"Uh, Nakime… do me a favor and check if someone's watching?"
She didn't even speak—just plucked a single sharp note from her biwa.
PLUNK.
The sound cut through the air like a cold knife.
An eyeball detached from her body and rolled across the floor, vanishing into the cracks.
A few seconds later, she bowed her head slightly.
"No intruders, my lord."
Hiroshi exhaled, his shoulders dropping.
"Phew… good. I almost forgot this is the land of ninjas, not some safe Minecraft spawn point.
If one of them caught a glimpse of you—" he motioned at her pale demon face "—they'd sprint to the Hokage faster than I can say 'respawn.' And then we're done for."
He rubbed his face, thinking fast. "Alright. Not staying here.
Too risky.
"We're going to your place."
Nakime gave a small nod, raised her hand, and strummed her biwa again.
PLUNK.
The sound wasn't music—it was wrong, dissonant, like someone smashing the wrong piano key on purpose.
The air in front of them cracked, and a tatami door slid open out of nothing.
Hiroshi froze, staring. "...Okay, that's metal as hell."
They stepped inside, and reality shifted.
Hiroshi blinked and found himself inside the Infinity Castle.
His jaw dropped.
Stairs spiraled into nothing, doors clung sideways to walls, platforms floated where floors shouldn't exist.
The place was alive, endless, and terrifyingly beautiful.
"This is… holy crap. This is literally my old laptop wallpaper. I swear I downloaded this off Pinterest or something."
He leaned over the railing, but the view stretched forever, like a nightmare that wouldn't stop.
Hiroshi swallowed.
"Bro… I can't even tell how big this place is.
Ten miles? A hundred? Infinite? …damn."
Nakime stood behind him silently, biwa in hand, as if the entire world bent to that one eerie PLUNK.
Hiroshi forced a laugh and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"O-okay… this is busted. Like, full cheat-code level. Just… don't eat me, alright? I'm the boss here. Remember that."