"You Sky Ninja are researching the Tailed Beast, aren't you? Where is it? Hand it over."
Ruri's cold words were full of command, her domineering and ruthless attitude looking down from above. She wasn't negotiating with Shinno.
Shinno coughed up blood from his mouth, understanding the meaning within Ruri's words, and started laughing, "So that's it, you're here for the 'Zero-tailed,' huh?"
He could clearly sense that monstrous power within Ruri. The body he was so proud of couldn't even take one of her punches. Faced with such overwhelming force, he had no chance of victory on his own.
"Zero-tailed?"
Ruri raised an eyebrow, hearing this name for the first time.
"Yeah, it's something pretty remarkable. Though it wasn't created by our Land of the Sky, our country was the first to discover its existence."
There was pride in Shinno's tone.
"I'm not interested in your country's history. Where is that thing?"
Ruri didn't waste words and asked directly.
"Let me go first, and I'll take you to it."
A sly smile flashed across Shinno's face but quickly vanished.
"Don't play any tricks."
Ruri moved her foot away from Shinno's head.
"Relax. With your kind of power, even a hundred of me wouldn't be a match for you. As expected of the Uchiha bloodline, such enviable strength. If only I could make it mine."
Shinno staggered to his feet, brushing the dust off his clothes. Blood was running down his forehead, making his smile look hideous and ridiculous.
"Are you done talking shit yet?"
"Cough cough, you really are a rude little girl. Since you want the Zero-tailed so badly, I'll take you there."
Seeing Ruri's cold stare, Shinno knew she was running out of patience, so he didn't waste any more time.
He walked over to the pillar connected to the stone throne, placed his palm on it, and glowing Curse Seal runes immediately appeared on the surface. The pillar lit up, revealing a hidden opening, only big enough to fit a hand inside.
Under Ruri's watchful eye, Shinno calmly reached his hand into the opening and pressed a button inside.
A hatch immediately appeared on the floor next to Shinno, leading down into the level below.
"Follow me, Zero-tailed is right down here. That thing's not easy to handle."
Shinno jumped first into the hole, dropping down into the depths below.
Ruri didn't hesitate and followed Shinno down, entering the underground chamber where the Zero-tailed was kept.
Landing on her feet, Ruri stood firmly. The underground space was shaped like a cylinder, and ahead stood a huge, elongated instrument that looked like a tombstone.
In front of the device was a massive cocoon-like object, supported and entwined by several transparent tubes extending from the cylindrical walls, causing it to hover in midair.
The cocoon's exterior was translucent, glowing faintly. Inside curled a giant snake-like creature, its body jet black. Its eyes on its head were closed, and it wore a white mask, its breaths reverberating with the rhythm of life inside the cocoon.
Black, fluid substances flowed within the transparent tubes wrapped around the cocoon, continuously nourishing the giant black snake inside.
Though it wasn't obvious, Ruri could still sense that the creature within was undergoing some kind of transformation.
But due to insufficient energy supply, it was currently in a state like a hibernating snake.
"Hahahahahahahaha!"
For some reason, Shinno under the cocoon suddenly burst into a deranged laugh, catching Ruri's attention.
He turned, looking at Ruri, his face full of mockery and ridicule. He pointed rudely at her, his sneer contemptuous:
"To think you'd actually follow me in so blindly. I've heard the Uchiha Clan's ninja are arrogant as hell, looks like you're no different, you little brat. Hahaha, you'll die here as food for the Zero-tailed."
Ruri gave Shinno a chilling glance, forming hand seals with both hands while channeling chakra in her mouth. She didn't want to hear another word of his annoying, raspy laugh—it was pollution to her ears.
"?"
No Fireball came from her mouth—no, it wasn't just that. As soon as she spat the fire out, it immediately shrank, became a tiny flame one meter away, and faded out in the air. The sudden change made Ruri narrow her eyes.
"Heh heh, your Fire Style is useless here. Sorry, but this is the Zero-tailed's resting place. Any chakra you use here will just be absorbed by the Zero-tailed and used as energy for the Royal Capital Fortress."
"So you want to feed me to it as energy?"
Ruri glanced thoughtfully at Shinno.
"Heh, too late for you to realize that now."
Shinno took a remote from his pocket, pressed a button, and the passage above them closed, turning the place into an inescapable cage.
"Now that you can't use chakra, how are you gonna escape? Show me that pitiful, desperate face as you die. The Zero-tailed just loves absorbing the chakra of those drowning in despair."
Shinno struck a triumphant pose, his shoulders trembling in excitement.
Inside the cocoon, the giant black snake—the Zero-tailed—also started to stir, writhing in the translucent cocoon, as if it had devoured chakra of remarkable quality.
The mask at the head slowly lifted to gaze at Ruri. The eyes revealed through the white mask radiated a chilling aura of evil and darkness, brimming with greedy hunger.