With Uxas dead, the Veil that had covered the entire Black Mountain from the outside vanished as well.
The more than a thousand people trapped inside began to scatter and flee in every direction.
Shinji paid them no mind, nor did he care how many of the survivors came from the Land of Greens.
In his view, he had already done enough.
Without his intervention, not a single one of them would have made it out alive.
After searching through the mountain one last time and finding nothing else of value, the group left, bringing Uxas's corpse with them.
Though it was useless to him personally, it could be traded for a great many resources.
The organizations behind the exchange markets would be more than happy to act as willing buyers.
He wondered what research these groups had developed over the years.
Hidden Mist, Hidden Sand, and even Orochimaru had already revealed some of their findings — so it stood to reason that the others were making similar progress.
After all, the body of a Special Grade Cursed Spirit was always a highly sought-after commodity.
Just thinking about it made Shinji's heart ache.
There had been several times before when he had completely obliterated his enemies, leaving nothing but dust behind.
Looking back, he must have lost the equivalent of hundreds of millions in potential value!
Though he kept reminding himself to try and leave his opponents' bodies intact, it was easier said than done. When fighting such dangerous foes, it was hard to hold back just enough.
Just like this time — he had barely managed to win even while giving it everything he had. How could he worry about preserving the body in the heat of battle?
Still, it was a relief that this time he had something to show for it.
When they reunited with Sasuke, Tamamo Hotaru rushed over and hugged Kagetsu's head, checking her all over with great concern.
Only after confirming that the fox was truly unhurt did she finally relax, then turned to Shinji with an embarrassed expression.
She looked exactly like someone who had lent out their most prized possession and now rushed to claim it back.
"Kagetsu helped a great deal this time. For her sake, I'll let your payment remain outstanding for now. I won't sell you to Hidden Cloud just yet."
Hearing this, Tamamo Hotaru felt both wronged and helpless — yet in the end, she had no choice but to mutter a quiet thank you.
She never imagined that one day she would have to rely on Kagetsu's favor. Who exactly was the master here anyway?
And Shinji, as usual, was utterly unscrupulous. He had already found the Fox Immortal Token, but deliberately pretended he knew nothing about it.
Worse still, he had more questions to ask.
"By the way, you said there are four of these jade tokens, right? One belonging to each of your four great clans. Let's not mention the Inuzuka Clan for now — but where is the fourth one?"
Of course, Shinji already had his eyes set on the final token.
It was worth 20,000 Cursed Soul Points — how could he not be tempted?
As for the one held by the Inuzuka Clan, there was no point going after it.
Their clan had not been wiped out completely, so no concentrated artifact of resentment could have formed. That one would be useless to him anyway.
"You mean the Boar God Token of the Seal Fang Clan? To be honest, I don't know where it is. When we escaped, I carried the Fox Immortal Token, and another child around my age had the Bear King Token. But in the end, only I survived — which is why those two came into my possession."
"If you really want it, there's a very high chance it fell into the hands of Hidden Cloud. At the time, the situation was…"
Seeing her trail off, Shinji nodded to show he understood.
He had intended to retrieve it if it was easy enough, but if it was in Hidden Cloud Village, it was not worth the trouble.
Fighting an entire village just for 20,000 points? That would be far more costly than any possible gain.
He wasn't saying it was impossible — just that it made no sense.
If it were worth 200,000 points, he would have turned around and marched straight to Hidden Cloud without hesitation.
Push him far enough, and he would even tear off the Raikage's head itself! That was just how reckless he could be.
On the other side, seeing Shinji simply nod and say nothing more, a flicker of disappointment crossed Tamamo Hotaru's eyes.
She longed to take revenge on Hidden Cloud, but alone, she knew it would likely never happen in her lifetime.
Yet after traveling with Shinji and the others, she had begun to see a glimmer of hope. Their strength and reliability went far beyond simple words.
But standing before such powerful allies, she faced an awkward truth: she had nothing valuable enough to offer as payment.
Even for their first contract, she had been forced to leave the reward unpaid.
What more could she possibly ask for? Did she have to offer herself instead?
Even if she was willing, he might not even see her as worth it.
It was frustrating — what she considered her greatest asset seemed completely worthless in his eyes, less even than a broken old jade token.
What choice did she have?
If she left now, death would surely follow. Hidden Cloud would never stop hunting her.
But staying had its own logic: she still owed payment for their previous job. As long as she shamelessly clung to that fact, they would have no reason to kick her out.
Tamamo Hotaru made up her mind. She would stay by their side, even if she had to play the helpless victim. The alternative was waking up one day surrounded by enemies once again.
Shinji always claimed he was no good man — but in Tamamo Hotaru's experience, aside from ordering her to do some work along the way, he had never forced her into anything against her will.
That alone was why she had agreed to leave Kagetsu behind to help him.
---
After leaving Black Mountain, the group rested for a few days in the nearest village.
Once ready, they set out with Uxas's corpse to the underground exchange market to trade for supplies and resources.
Before going, however, Shinji combined the items he had earned: 11 Random Cursed Technique Fragments and 5 Cursed Technique Enhancement Scroll Fragments.
The result was one Random Cursed Technique Scroll, one Cursed Technique Enhancement Scroll, and one extra leftover fragment.
He immediately used the Random Cursed Technique Scroll and successfully obtained a new innate technique — Unrighteous Exchange.
Though he felt a little disappointed it wasn't Infinity, the ability used by Gojo Satoru, it was only to be expected. Such powerful techniques were never easy to come by.
Still, Unrighteous Exchange was more than decent. It would greatly increase his flexibility in battle.
---
Cursed Technique — Unrighteous Exchange
Effect: By clapping your hands as the trigger, swap the positions of any two targets within range who possess sufficient cursed energy or chakra. You do not have to clap your own hands alone — high-fiving or striking hands with another person can also activate the technique.
Range and power scale according to the user's own cursed energy reserves.
---
This was a supportive and team-oriented technique. Not only could it be used creatively in normal combat, but it would prove absolutely devastating in certain specific situations.
Satisfied with his new ability, Shinji immediately used the Cursed Technique Enhancement Scroll and successfully mastered its highest form — Supreme Verse.
Once again, his overall power had grown noticeably stronger.
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