The Land of Water, Mist Hidden Village.
The Mist Hidden Village at this time was in ruins. The destruction of buildings wasn't extensive; they were mostly destroyed by their Mizukage's hand.
The main issue was the casualty count, which was too shocking!
This was the result even after Mei, disregarding the Elder Council's objections, forcibly relocated the civilians to shelters.
Otherwise, this number would have increased exponentially!
Think about those terrifying mutated rats. Ordinary people facing them had almost no other option but death.
If these preparations hadn't been made in advance, the Mist Hidden Village might have truly become history.
The current situation was already a stroke of luck.
Through this war that wasn't quite a war, Mei finally solidified her position as Mizukage.
Yuan Shi chose to relinquish power. Previously, most of the other elders had opposed her decisions to varying degrees, believing she was making a mountain out of a molehill and trusting the wrong people.
Now, those who were still alive were being slapped in the face, so they could no longer do anything to Mist Hidden's hero.
In fact, whether the Elder Council would even need to exist in the future was at Mei's discretion.
In the hospital, Mei personally collected Ao's remains.
To her, Ao wasn't a comrade, but more like a mentor or elder.
He always stopped her from acting recklessly, told her what was right and wrong, what a Mizukage should and shouldn't do.
Every time, she found him nagging and annoying.
But when Ao could no longer speak, she realized the preciousness of that nagging.
"From now on, no one can control me anymore," Mei whispered, then gently covered Ao with a white cloth.
"Accompany me for a walk."
"Now? It's still raining outside."
"It's just rain, not knives. What are you afraid of?"
"…Are you sure? As Mizukage, shouldn't this be your busiest time?"
"Don't you want the item anymore?"
"Sigh, if you don't care, why should I? Let's go."
Having changed into clean clothes, Mei and Shinji went outside, each holding an umbrella and strolling in the rain.
Shinji could tell that this woman was probably feeling down.
She had many things she couldn't confide in anyone, so she asked him out for a walk.
"Do you know what these so-called curse spirits are?"
"I do."
"You know?"
Mei hadn't expected an accurate answer; she just wanted to start a conversation, but unexpectedly, a pleasant surprise?
"Yes, I know."
Mei took a deep breath. "Give me a price."
Shinji smiled. "Forget it. Considering you let me pick up so many unexpected gains, I'll tell you whatever you want to know today. If I don't know, I'll make up an answer for you."
He was telling the truth. Without Mist Hidden holding the front line, he wouldn't have had such great gains.
Coupled with his interest in Mist Hidden's hidden reserves, he decided to be generous.
Mei didn't know this. She thought he was willing to reveal information out of consideration for a 'compatriot,' just like before.
"Curse spirits are actually creatures born from human negative emotions like fear and hatred towards various things. After birth, their strength and abilities vary, based on what they were born from, their abilities tend to lean towards that thing."
"For example, that octopus-head who countered your abilities was likely a curse spirit born from human fear of the sea. You can consider it a manifestation of the sea's image, but not the kind of beautiful aspiration."
"So you should understand how foolish it is to play with water in front of the 'sea'."
Shinji added a teasing remark at the end.
Mei finally had a moment of realization. Many things that she couldn't understand before suddenly became clear.
The embodiment of the sea—just thinking about it made her realize how terrifying it must be.
"Then what is a domain?"
"That's a bit difficult to explain to you. You can consider it the pinnacle of power, a forbidden technique of X-level, above S-rank ninjutsu. It shapes a space that is absolutely advantageous to oneself, and here, all one's attacks are guaranteed to hit. You've likely already experienced its power."
"This power is indeed terrifying."
Mei nodded, then asked, "What about you? Why do you possess this power?"
Shinji seemed to have expected this question and smiled nonchalantly, "Perhaps because I'm an anomaly? Just kidding. This power isn't exclusive to curse spirits. Long before curse spirits appeared, I already possessed this power. Perhaps there are others like me in many places."
"Oh, right. I named this power 'curse energy,' and 'curse techniques.'"
"I feel like you're just making up an answer for me right now." Mei glanced at him and didn't delve deeper into the question.
Because the question itself wasn't important.
Now, various countries, including the Land of Water, were fully researching curse spirits and the new system of power they possessed.
This would be a revolution!
And those who possessed this new power would undoubtedly be at the forefront of this revolution!
Therefore, it didn't matter how Shinji acquired this power; what mattered was his attitude and stance.
Mei only needed to know that he was on the human side.
Then she asked many more questions that were on her mind. Shinji answered the common sense questions when he could, and glossed over those that were difficult to explain, as no one would know if what he said was true or false.
As for why he knew?
Mei tacitly did not ask.
"The rain seems to be getting heavier. Shouldn't we be going back? I've answered so many of your questions for free, it's really a big loss."
"No rush, come with me to a place. We're almost there."
Following Mei, the two of them arrived at a secret underground facility.
"Where is this?"
"Mist Hidden's top-secret research base, and also where the curse objects are stored. I shouldn't have brought you here, but your previous answers made me realize that you might be the one who understands curse spirits the most. Perhaps seeing the research here might offer some help, so I made an exception."
Before opening the door, Mei looked at him again. "Don't say I didn't take care of you. After we enter the curse object storage room, you can choose one curse object yourself, as a satisfactory thank you for answering those questions. Remember, you only get one choice."
Shinji's interest was immediately piqued.
Curse objects were extremely valuable to him, especially curse objects that suited him, which were rare and hard to come by.
Even a powerful curse spirit like Tuogen didn't drop any curse objects, which made him complain internally.
However, the reward of 30,000 Curse Soul Points and 3 [Domain Fragments] had already made him incredibly rich.
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