"Hahaha! Raise your head and let this Queen have a look at you."
Tamamo Hotaru leaned lazily against a throne that was fully two meters wide. With a black leather whip, she lifted Shinji's chin upward.
Shinji was dressed in the flamboyant, colorful robes of a court singer. Tears glistened in his eyes as he obeyed and looked up.
"Please have mercy on me, Your Majesty~"
"Mercy? No way! This Queen loves it rough! Guards! Carry him to my bedchamber! Wahahahaha!"
...
"Hahaha! Wahahahaha!"
"Now it's your turn! Take a lash from this Queen!"
"Scream all you want! The louder you cry, the more excited I get! Wahahahaha!"
Seeing her mistress grinning wickedly and muttering away in her sleep, Moon wisely retreated to the far corner, terrified she might get splattered with "blood" later.
She could clearly see that Shinji's face was dark as a storm cloud, while he cracked his knuckles with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Oh Mistress, Mistress… even if that's really what you're dreaming about, you absolutely shouldn't be saying it out loud!
Sigh… when your teammate is this useless, there's just no carrying them to victory.
Forget it. You're on your own. You're done for.
Moon simply closed her eyes, stuffed her paws over her ears, and went to sleep.
I'll just come back tomorrow to collect your body…
Then she heard Shinji snort coldly and say in a deep, eerie voice:
"Wake up."
To snap Tamamo Hotaru out of her blissful dreams, he had no choice but to use Cursed Words.
The state of slumber caused by a Cursed Item depended entirely on the victim's own mental strength and willpower to break free.
Ordinary physical methods simply wouldn't work — otherwise, Katagiri Yusuke would never have been able to do as he pleased for so long.
Imagine if you were in the middle of giving someone an injection, and the patient suddenly woke up… how awkward would that be?
But Cursed Words were a form of Jujutsu specifically designed to counter and shatter such effects. They were the perfect countermeasure.
Inside the dream, Tamamo Hotaru was wildly swinging her little whip, lashing away at someone while laughing with absolute abandon and joy.
After all, the effect of the Magic Mirror trapped its victim in a perfect, beautiful fantasy where they never wanted to wake up.
He had no idea why she was dreaming about this, rather than, say, avenging her country.
Could it be that deep down in her subconscious, dominating him was what brought her the greatest pleasure?
He really couldn't wrap his head around it!
Suddenly — Crack!
The dream world woven by the Magic Mirror shattered completely.
Tamamo Hotaru opened her eyes in confusion, feeling a strange sense of emptiness washing over her.
"Huh…? Where is this? Wasn't I just…"
"Shinji… you little slave!"
Oh no… we're doomed!
The very second those words from her dream slipped out, her face turned deathly pale and cold sweat poured down her back.
Because in that instant, she finally distinguished reality from the dream!
She remembered everything: the ambush, the moment before she blacked out… and exactly where she was right now.
"Heh… 'Little slave'?"
The smile on Shinji's face grew terrifying. In the moonlight, his teeth looked sharp and pale, just like a demon ready to devour someone alive.
"N‑No! I… I… I… I was just dreaming! I didn't know what I was saying! I definitely wasn't talking about you!"
Tamamo Hotaru babbled frantically, her words tumbling over each other, not even knowing what nonsense she was spouting.
She quickly scanned the room, looking for Moon. At a time like this, only her cute, adorable little fox might be able to save her life.
But before she could spot her pet, a darkened face radiating terrifying killing intent appeared right in front of her, almost touching the tip of her nose.
"Ah… uhh…"
"Shhh! Don't make a sound… or I'll kill you~"
Tears welled up in Tamamo Hotaru's eyes. She clamped her hands tightly over her mouth and nodded desperately.
"Now… tell me exactly what you dreamed about. Oh, and by the way… I like people who tell the truth. The last person who lied to me? The grass growing on their grave is probably already two meters tall by now."
"Th‑then… if I tell the truth… will you spare me just this once?"
"I promise to make your death quick… and somewhat dignified."
"Waaaaah! I was wrong! I'm sorry!"
...
Early the next morning, everyone noticed that Tamamo Hotaru was acting very strange. She bustled around constantly, working like a servant.
Even during meals, she stood respectfully to the side.
The moment Shinji so much as glanced at her, she would immediately put down her own bowl to serve him more rice or pour water, looking at him with pure ingratiation.
"Hey! Pour me some water too!"
"Me too!"
"Not happening! If you want water, pour it yourselves!"
Tamamo Hotaru rejected Hidan and Tobi's requests without hesitation. But the second she turned back toward Shinji, her expression changed completely again.
"Lord Shinji… is this water at a suitable temperature for you?"
"Too cold."
"O‑Oh right! I'll go change it immediately!"
She hurried away, fetched another cup, and came back.
Shinji took one sip and put it down. "Too hot."
Tamamo Hotaru ground her teeth in frustration. But thinking back to the series of unequal treaties she had signed last night just to save her own skin, she had no choice but to swallow her grievances and bear it.
"I… I'll go get another one…"
"Forget it. Can't even do such a simple thing right."
"…"
Hidan and Tobi exchanged a glance.
"There's something fishy going on here."
"Don't tell me… does she want to get on Shinji's good side?" Hidan whispered.
Tobi looked between them and shook his head, analyzing calmly:
"I don't think so. It's more likely she has some kind of embarrassing secret or weakness that Senpai Shinji now holds over her. That's why she's humbling herself like this."
Hidan raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Not bad, Tobi! You're getting smarter… almost as smart as me!"
Tobi felt a string of curses rise to the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back down. Instead, he replied modestly:
"Where… where… compared to Senpai Hidan, I am still far, far behind."
Hidan nodded in complete agreement. "That's true. Good to see you know your place, kid."
Crack!
The chopsticks in Tobi's hand snapped clean in half.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing… it's just… I suddenly felt an urge to kill someone."
"Oh, that's normal. I used to feel that way all the time — wanting to slaughter everyone I laid eyes on! But you have to learn to control it, you know? Being this impulsive won't get you anywhere. Watch and learn from your Senpai in the future. Even when you have the urge to kill, you can't just show it so openly…"
Tobi slumped in his chair, looking utterly defeated, as he listened to Hidan lecture him at length about how to suppress homicidal urges.
Just then, Shinji spoke up:
"The mission here is complete. Hidan, Tobi — you two go hand over the corpse first, then come back and meet us."
"Eh? What about me?" Tamamo Hotaru asked.
"You stay here and keep filming the movie."
"Huh?"
Tamamo Hotaru was stunned.
"Why? We found the target already. What's the point of me staying here acting?"
She was starting to panic. After her recent experiences, she had definitely realized she didn't enjoy this line of work at all.
Shinji didn't explain much, simply saying:
"Things aren't entirely finished here yet. I need you to keep a close watch on one person from here on out. And… it's going to be dangerous."
He was still missing the eye of one Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
It was time to test that person's true capabilities again.
____________________
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