That was a truly forbidden technique. In his current state, if he really used it, this White Zetsu Tobi would likely be ruined. "No need," Shadow said. "I only have one request."
He laughed softly and pointed behind him toward Kusagakure. "Leave those people to me, how about it?" He knew very well the violence boiling in Nagato's heart. If he were not still unsure about the fate of his clansmen, Nagato would have already gone to make Kusagakure feel pain.
Nagato looked at him deeply and finally nodded. "Then I will leave it to you." Realizing that these three were trying to save her mother, Karin finally stopped struggling and became quiet.
Shadow walked up to the woman and swept his gaze across her face. There was no doubt that she was a great mother. At the moment of death, she must have carried deep hatred and obsession.
"It is a pity that Orochimaru's soul devouring technique is not finished yet," he sighed. Treating it as an experiment, he silently recited in his heart, "Extract the target soul, implant it, one time soul devouring technique."
After a pause, he added, "According to the setup I gave Orochimaru, there should be a black outer body and a white mask, and there must be a hollow in the chest..." A prompt appeared, asking whether to manifest it at the cost of 2000 points.
"So she has not entered the Pure Land yet," Shadow muttered, "otherwise it would not be this price." Shadow, or rather Ryuji Hyuga, winced inwardly and whispered, "Manifest, manifest."
Buzz. At the moment the thought formed, he suddenly felt a faint connection with the woman before him. This feeling was different from the souls he had collected from those who died in the Underground Palace or were killed by Hidan.
Those souls were merely confined in a closed space within the Underground Palace. The woman before him was different. This was a master servant bond at the level of the soul, and no matter where she was placed in the Ninja World, she would not be forcibly taken away by the Six Paths's Pure Land.
At the same time, in Nagato's slightly widened eyes, a black soul stood up from within the woman's body. "Go," Shadow said softly with a smile. "Bite them, devour them, hate them."
"Now, it is your turn to gnaw on them."
It was deep night. Kusagakure lay under its usual low pressure, a mix of caution and numb routine.
"Cheers!" At the night watch post, several Kusagakure Ninja ate grilled meat and gulped down alcohol, their faces flushed with drink. An Kusagakure Jonin who did not join them sighed and said they should stop, warning that the hardliners would scold him again if they were seen.
There was a legend that Grass once opened an ultimate weapon from the era of Sage of Six Paths, the "Box of Ultimate Bliss" that could grant any Wang. It was said they had almost used it to rule the Ninja World. But one day, without warning, Kusagakure was destroyed.
After that, two opposing forces appeared in Kusagakure. One was the pro war Grass Fruit Faction that wanted revival, and the other was the anti war Grass Flower Faction. In truth, they only valued different interests, and there was no real difference between them.
This small squad belonged to the so called anti war Grass Flower Faction. To be precise, they were the compromise faction.
"Boss, why are you so serious? We are about to change shifts." A red faced Kusagakure Chunin complained that with the current situation in the Ninja World, no one knew when Iwagakure might join in and turn the Land of Grass into a battlefield again. He laughed and said that if he died then, he would not even get a drink.
"If that day comes, I will bring that woman with me," one said. "Get hurt and take a bite, it can save your life." "Do not forget the little one too. Maybe her effect is even better." The Kusagakure Ninja laughed loudly, speaking as if Karin and her mother were not people at all.
In fact, from top to bottom, all of Kusagakure treated them the same way. If even one person had stood up to stop it, Karin's mother would not have been drained of life and killed.
"By the way, what has Muei been busy with lately? I have not seen him for a long time." "He is at Hozuki Castle of course. That work addict is always like that."
Seeing them continue, the Kusagakure Jonin stood up helplessly and said he would guard outside, telling them to keep drinking but not go too far. Before anyone replied, he stepped out of the room.
The night was dark, with thin fog spreading through the rough village houses and adding a damp chill. Yellow light flickered from windows, and distant arguments or sleep talk came and went, making Kusagakure feel empty and lifeless.
The Kusagakure Jonin frowned and pulled his clothes tighter. Kusagakure felt colder than usual, and the night felt deeper than before. The air seemed to stop moving, and even the wind went quiet.
At that moment, he felt a sudden chill that made his hair stand up. He turned his head and saw the air in front of him twist. Something stood there, between form and nothing.
A low hum sounded. His body stiffened, and his heart felt as if it were grabbed and stopped for a moment. Then something passed through him, tearing his soul apart and pulling it free.
The pain came from the deepest part of him. He could not cry out, because his soul was already separated and he could no longer control his body. He could only watch as his skin lost its color and his view drifted away from his body.
In his spirit state, he finally saw it clearly. A shadow wrapped in black robes, like thick dark liquid flowing over its form, stood before him. Its head was covered by a pale bone mask with black hollow eyes, bared teeth, and a large black hole in its chest.
Moonlight passed through her body, leaving no shadow on the ground, only a vague outline. "What is this?" was his final thought, before his white spirit was swallowed completely.
His body fell to the ground with a dull thud. Inside, one of the drunk Kusagakure Ninja suddenly said they heard something outside. Even through the haze of alcohol, the strange sound made them stand up in alarm.
Before they could act, the temperature dropped sharply, and they saw a twisted, unseen figure. White mental energy was torn from their mouths, noses, eyes, ears, and even their pores. They collapsed stiffly to the floor, eyes dull and without life.
Death kept walking in the dark. A heavily drunk Kusagakure Chunin slumped over the counter and lost all signs of life. A Jonin handling documents had his soul taken in silent cold and fell onto his desk.
Whether the target was a sleeping Genin, a drunk Chunin, or an alert Jonin, no one was spared. There was no warning, no cries, and no escape.
There were no loud noises and no signs of Ninjutsu. There were no screams, only spreading death. Faces froze in fear at the moment their souls were eaten.
Finally, someone noticed the strange deaths. A sharp whistle cut through the night as the first Kusagakure Ninja sounded the alarm. In an instant, half of Kusagakure was stirred.
"What happened?" "Is it an enemy attack?" Grass Ninja rushed out with weapons, looking around in panic, but they saw only a silent night.
"What is that?" someone shouted as they saw the distorted figure. Kunai, Shuriken, and even Explosive Tag were thrown, but they passed through it like air. A Jonin tried to block it with Earth Release, yet the body slipped through without pause.
Ninjutsu struck it and went through without effect, cutting only empty air. It moved forward slowly and could not be stopped, erasing life wherever it passed, like a bringer of death.
"What is that thing?" "Is it a monster?" Fear spread quickly among the Kusagakure Ninja.
They were facing something that could not be touched by physical attacks. This was not force against flesh, but the swallowing of souls. Their resistance looked weak and pointless.
Someone shouted in rage and fear, calling for the Sealing Technique team. But Kusagakure's so called Sealing Technique team had only five people, and all of them had already lost their souls.
The steps of the "void" never stopped. It passed through thick earth walls and simple wooden doors, quietly taking the souls inside. It searched every corner and dragged out those hiding.
Every place it reached, someone died. Someone finally broke down and screamed that it was a ghost, trying to flee Kusagakure. At the edge of the village, they saw five talismans marked with the word "forbidden."
At that moment, Shadow, Nagato, and Kakuzu stood on high ground, coldly watching the struggle inside the Barrier Technique. Five C rank Barrier Technique formed a sealed area by placing talismans linked to the caster's Chakra at five points.
Once activated, the Barrier Technique could not be broken unless all talismans were destroyed at the same time. It had no attack power, but its defensive sealing ability was extremely strong. This was the Barrier Technique Nagato used to hide and protect the Outer Path Statue, and Kusagakure had no way to break it.