[Current Balance: 4,755,411,970,800 Mon]
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Night had fully claimed Nagasaki.
From Alaric's vantage point high atop the tallest pagoda of the Sōfuku-ji temple complex, perched on a hillside overlooking the city, Alaric had a perfect view.
(Sofuku-ji is a buddhist temple built in 1629 in the Ming Dynasty by Chinese monk Chaonian primarily for Nagasaki's Chinese residents.)
The lights of the city spread out below him like a field of scattered embers. The Nakashima River was a dark ribbon cutting through the center, the stone bridges that crossed it were silent and, for now, empty.
He had left the scene of his one-man riot hours ago, leaving the bugyō and his defeated samurai to grapple with the shame and utter confusion of their encounter.
He had simply flew here, to the highest point he could sense, to think.
The cool night air did little to settle the thoughts churning in his mind. He pulled a fresh cigar from his coat, the last of his current supply, and lit it with a familiar spark from his fingertip. The rich smoke was a small, familiar comfort in this strange, new land.
'To bring true order to the world,' the bugyō had said, reciting Caroline's ambition.
Alaric took a long drag, his eyes narrowing as he gazed down at the sleeping city. 'What kind of order, Caroline? The quiet compliance of a puppet? The peace of a mind that's been hollowed out and filled with someone else's will?'
'Like the templars?'
He felt a familiar mix of anger and a deep, aching pity. Was the sweet, determined girl he remembered truly gone? Fully consumed by the Isu artifact's insidious whispers? The thought of her, his cousin-in-law, becoming a monster, a tyrant in the making... it was a bitter pill to swallow.
He sighed, the smoke from his cigar pluming into the darkness. 'This is all so complicated. Chasing her across the globe, dismantling the chaos she leaves behind... it's a monumental pain in the arse.'
He looked down at the city again, at the thousands of tiny, sleeping lights. The Apple's influence lingered here, a faint but pervasive psychic stain. It had corrupted the samurai, twisted their honor into arrogance and greed.
It had ensnared the bugyō, a powerful and respected leader, in a web of false love and devotion. It was like a subtle poison, seeping into the foundations of the city's society.
And then, a thought struck him.
A simple thought, so obvious he almost laughed at himself for not considering it sooner.
He shook his head, a wry smile touching his lips. "Now that I think about it..." he murmured to the silent night, "I could try something simple to get rid of the effects of the Apple within their minds..."
The Apple of Eden controlled minds. It created illusions, warped perceptions, and enforced the wielder's will. It was, in essence, a hyper-advanced, technologically-driven form of... Genjutsu.
And Genjutsu, no matter how powerful, could be broken.
Alaric sighed one last time, a sound of weary resolve. He carefully placed his half-smoked cigar on the temple railing beside him, making sure it wouldn't roll off.
He closed his eyes.
He stood up, his posture shifting from relaxed observation to one of immense, focused power. He brought his hands together in front of his chest, forming the simple, elegant Ram hand seal.
He began to draw on his chakra. Not a small amount for a simple jutsu, but a vast, tidal wave of energy. He pulled from the massive reserves within his own body, the power gifted by Hashirama's cells and amplified by his own training. He felt the connection to the natural world around him, drawing in ambient energy, the very life force of the earth, thanks to his mastery of Sage Mode.
The air around him grew heavy, thick with power. The tiles of the pagoda roof vibrated faintly. His body began to glow with a faint, shimmering blue aura. He gathered half of his immense chakra pool, a colossal amount of energy that would have been unthinkable for any normal shinobi, condensing it, focusing it for a single, purpose-driven release.
He opened his eyes. They were no longer their usual calm blue. They blazed with the crimson, spinning patterns of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, alight with terrifying power.
He drew one final, deep breath, and then he shouted the word, his voice echoing across the sleeping city with a power that was not sound, but pure will.
"KAI!" (Release!)
It wasn't a pulse like his Foresight ability. It was an explosion.
A silent, invisible tsunami of pure, targeted chakra erupted from him, washing over the entirety of Nagasaki in an instant. It swept through every street, every house, every dojo, every corner of the city.
It wasn't destructive; it was cleansing. It was designed with a single, complex purpose: to identify and shatter external mental interference.
From his perch high above, Alaric felt it.
All across the city, he sensed thousands of tiny, fragile constructs shattering like glass. The lingering threads of the Apple's influence, the psychic residue that had warped the minds of the samurai and enthralled the bugyō, dissolved under the overwhelming force of his chakra.
Down in the streets, people stirred in their sleep, groaning, their dreams beoming suddenly lucid. Samurai who had woken from their humiliating defeat on the bridge suddenly blinked, a wave of profound confusion, followed by a sickening wave of shame, washing over them. They remembered their actions… the extortion, the bullying, the dishonor… as if waking from a fever dream, the motivations for their cruelty suddenly alien and horrifying.
In his opulent residence, Kawamura Zuiken, who had been sitting in stunned silence for hours, gasped as if waking from a drowning. The image of Caroline's face, the feeling of absolute devotion... it shattered, leaving behind only the cold, hard memory of his own foolishness and a deep, biting shame.
Alaric even sensed the old shopkeeper he'd seen earlier scratching his head in confusion as the samurai who had taken his money just hours ago suddenly looked bewildered, staring at the coins in his own hand as if they were foreign objects.
A slow, satisfied smile spread across Alaric's face. He picked up his still-lit cigar and took a contemplative puff.
'Damn... so the Apple's mind control is just a super-advanced, widespread Genjutsu, aye?' he thought, a sense of profound relief mixing with his satisfaction. 'That makes things... so much easier.'
He looked out over Nagasaki one last time. The city felt different now. The underlying tension he'd sensed upon arrival was gone, replaced by a city-wide wave of confusion and dawning self-reflection. It would be a messy morning for the samurai of Nagasaki.
He stood up, brushing off his clothes. He then started to float upwards, the flight seals on his arms activating effortlessly. He rose higher and higher, a silent figure ascending into the night sky.
He smiled, a genuine, warm smile this time. 'I should bring Kassandra and the family here for a vacation someday... it'd be fun.'
With that final thought, he turned and flew northwest after planting a hiraishin seal... he was now a crimson-streaked shadow against the moon.
Towards Edo. Towards Caroline. Towards the next piece of the puzzle.
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