"Your command—"
Thus answering, Rashōmon, like a black nightmare breaking its bonds, gradually extended outward from Hii Kōri's shadow, finally completely detaching and merging into the shadows of the surrounding torn ruins, rising to the surface through the connections of the darkness.
In the lightless, thick fog, visibility was obstructed, and the boundaries of shadows became blurred and ambiguous. As an extension of shadow, Rashōmon could expand its own scale more freely and rapidly.
The shadows, whose boundaries should have been indistinguishable in the thick fog, suddenly solidified, like ink splashed on rice paper, rapidly saturated the grounds of the shrine itself and the surrounding area over ten meters.
The shrine staff, their minds chaotic from curse infection, didn't even have a chance to react before they fell, along with the wood, stone, and debris, into that lightless abyss amidst violent crashing sounds.
The shrine's remains, shattered wood and rubble, the earth and stone that carried it all, along with the hollowed-out structure of the laboratory below, vanished in an instant, leaving only an abyss churning with boundless darkness—as if chewed and swallowed by an invisible giant maw.
After scarcely a single breath's pause—[Technique Release: Shadow Beast - Rashōmon]
Countless fine black threads, like blood vessels or plant roots, spreading from the edges of the pit, intertwining and intertwining, aggregated into a massive humanoid form composed of what looked like burning black mud.
The black shadow flowed like burning asphalt, churning up traces that resembled painful human faces or twisted limbs, only to be drowned by new waves.
That blue-black flame light was especially conspicuous even within the mist-shrouded Kirigakure, attracting everyone's attention like a massive bonfire five or six stories tall.
"ROOOOAR!!!"
The black mud giant that climbed out from the void raised its faceless "head" and let out a deafening roar.
That irrational wail was filled with pain and hatred, like the instinctive howl of a wounded beast.
Such a huge commotion finally broke the superficial still, oppressive silence of Kirigakure.
The Kirigakure ninjas, whom Hii Kōri had rarely seen on his way here, now rushed out from every corner of the mist-shrouded village, like a disturbed swarm of bees.
Most of them wore Kirigakure's characteristic face masks, revealing only eyes whose humanity had been worn away by successive conflicts.
Even upon seeing that enormous aberration, astonishment did not linger long in their eyes before being replaced by the indifference and killing intent honed by training.
"What is that thing?!" "It came from the shrine direction!" "Curse—has the curse under the shrine erupted?!" "Don't panic! Form up! Water Release squad, prepare!"
Warning whistles and urgent commands mixed together, almost drowning out the sound of wind from the ninjas rapidly approaching.
The first thirty or forty Kirigakure to arrive, under the command of several jōnin among them, rapidly spread out, forming a loose encirclement around the nearly twenty-meter-tall black mud giant, maintaining a distance of several meters.
There was no need for understanding or questioning judging from the giant's form and behavior that it had no discernible intelligence, the Kirigakure ninjas immediately made hand seals and launched the first wave of probing attacks.
"Water Release: Water Fang Bullet!"
Under the control of the Kirigakure ninjas, spiraling high-pressure water jets traced trajectories through the air, striking toward the giant's "back," "armpits," and other locations.
But the moment they made contact, those high-pressure water jets passed straight through as if the giant standing there was merely an illusion without stirring so much as a ripple.
At the same time the Kirigakure ninjas were forming seals and performing techniques, the black giant swung its arm down, slamming it into the ground in front of it like a vent.
Upon its viscous body, a blue-black flash suddenly rose.
Rashōmon: Sōbi!
The next instant, countless sharp shadow spikes, like bracken ferns, "sprouted" from the ground, walls, and rooftops within a radius of nearly a hundred meters.
"Gwah!" "Agh!" "Get away!"
Cries of agony suddenly rose.
Over a dozen Kirigakure ninjas, unable to dodge in time, were instantly pierced through the feet by several shadow spikes. The intense pain caused them to lose balance and collapse headfirst into the thicket of spikes, riddled with holes, reduced to still-twitching corpses.
At the same time, over a dozen vicious arms shot out from behind the black mud giant, spreading their giant demon claws still massive compared to humans and ferociously grabbed at the Kirigakure ninjas who had leaped high into the air, attempting to attack or observe from above.
Rashōmon: Gyō!
"What?!" "Scatter!"
The airborne ninjas were greatly alarmed, frantically throwing shuriken or using techniques to block, while simultaneously using the Body Flicker Technique to try to evade.
But those demon claws seemed to have learned the movement trajectories of their earlier Water Fang Bullet techniques, evading some water techniques with tricky and flexible methods, and precisely grabbing eight Kirigakure who were slightly slower or had been used as "stepping stones" by their "comrades" to dodge backward.
With a squelch, those eight ninjas were crushed into dirty fireworks without even a chance to cry out.
With a wave of its arm, the flesh and blood clinging to the demon claws' fingers dispersed as blood mist into Kirigakure's thick fog, along with the shuriken that had been embedded inside.
As the culmination of Hii Kōri's work in Yin Release, Rashōmon—whose essence was his shadow—had always existed in a state between "existing" and "not existing."
Due to the characteristics of Yin Release creations, Rashōmon could change its nature at any time, from illusory shadow to materialized hard blades—anything imaginable was possible. And if chakra supply was sufficient, it could also expand and extend almost limitlessly.
In a certain sense, as long as Hii Kōri was intact, even in its "materialized" state, Rashōmon did not possess the concept of being "injured."
Unless Yin-Yang Release is involved, the vast majority of ninjutsu and physical impacts could be simply ignored by Rashōmon by turning intangible, or simply absorbed into its body.
Of course, just as people need to eat, as a creation somewhat similar to tailed beasts but without their independent energy source, Rashōmon normally requires energy supply from Hii Kōri or external sources.
At this moment, however, it was using the Land of Water's curse as fuel, freely unleashing that blazing, spreading flame of cursed energy!
The blue-black flame-wreathed giant suddenly collapsed before the horified gazes of the surviving Kirigakure ninjas, transforming into a black tidal wave crashing down from above.
Just as they were about to retreat, they discovered that the ground beneath their feet was also capsized under the "wave"—no, that was simply being swallowed by a giant "jaw"!
Rashōmon: Gokumon Agito!
In the blink of an eye, the blue-black beast's jaw had swallowed the remaining Kirigakure completely.
And further away, the several elite jōnin who had actually arrived at the scene much earlier had expressions even more ugly.
As high-ranking members of Kirigakure, they knew more than the ordinary ninjas.
What lay buried beneath that shrine needed no explanation.
As a hidden village, once they had become aware of the existence of "curses," how could Kirigakure possibly ignore such a vast power—one capable of influencing the entire nation?
The fact that the laboratory had been transformed into a "battery" to store curses using the ninja academy students over the years was simply a matter of last resort, making use of waste.
In other words, that laboratory was also the place in all of Kirigakure with the highest concentration of negative emotions.
And with Rashōmon wielding cursed energy in this form, combined with its location of manifestation, it would serve as an excellent misdirection at this moment.
Compared to someone infiltrating Kirigakure without anyone noticing, making their way directly into that laboratory, and then causing such a commotion, the Kirigakure higher-ups, who were no strangers to the phenomenon of "curse eruption," would naturally be more inclined to believe that the curse in that place had simply become uncontainable.
"The curse in that place has erupted to this degree?!"
A jōnin with graying hair and a vicious scar on his face growled, barely suppressing his shock and anger. "Damn it! Where's the Sealing Team?! Why haven't they arrived yet?!"
"We sent for them ages ago! But dealing with a curse of this level takes preparation, doesn't it?!"
Another jōnin shot back without turning his head, continuing to direct others to move forward: "Everyone, don't get close! Pin down that thing's movements from range as much as possible! Wait for the Sealing Team!"
Under that jōnin's orders, the Kirigakure ninjas formed another encirclement at a greater distance, launching rhythmic harassment attacks with various ninjutsu and ninja tools.
Rashōmon's knowledge and perception were, after all, connected to Hii Kōri's; it naturally understood curses better than these people. Its seemingly mindless behavior was deliberately put on.
Seeing Kirigakure's response, it was happy to continue pretending to be mindless, "pinned down" here while waiting for an opportunity to deal them an even greater blow.
A few minutes later, a team of about forty ninjas, wearing different attire and carrying large scrolls on their backs, hurried to the scene.
That was Kirigakure's Sealing Team.
The elderly woman leading them had a dignified expression as she spread out a layer of talismans, stepped forward, quickly observed the black mud giant's condition and the surrounding environment, and then directed the Sealing Team behind her to take action.
"Deploy the 'Soul Sealing Barrier Method,' then add calming and purifying talismans on the outer layer. Move quickly!"
The Sealing Team members acknowledged and rapidly dispersed to the four directions, laying down special talismans behind the defensive line formed by the Kirigakure ninjas.
Thanks to the continuous ninjutsu being unleashed by the Kirigakure forces, the thick fog in this area had also been mostly consumed.
Without needing additional processing, the Sealing Team ninjas could see signals from the other directions.
"Soul Sealing Barrier Method, activate!"
At the signal, the Sealing Team members who had laid the talismans simultaneously channeled chakra. A faint blue-glowing sealing technique formation rapidly, with complex runes appearing in the air and on the ground, enveloping the black mud giant in a cubic light prison.
The black mud giant seemed to feel discomfort from this light; its movements gradually slowed.
"It's working! Increase output!"
Seeing this scene, the elderly woman ninja signaled the other three directions of the Sealing Team while directing the Kirigakure ninjas also within the sealing formation to evacuate outward.
But just then, a pair of crimson eyes suddenly opened on the black mud giant's faceless head.
"Ah... thank you for your hard work. And then... goodbye."
Rashōmon declared in an even tone. Its chest suddenly tore open, revealing the mechanical bird Tokoyo no Uzume no Naganaki that it had been keeping parcel inside.
And the already preheated Scorch Release Incineration Cannon.
"SCREEE!"
The mechanical bird, letting out the cry of a bird of prey worthy of a best voice actor award, eagerly released its maximum-output armament.
Incineration Cannon: Converging Cannon Mode!
With Rashōmon's intrusive energy supply, the Converging Cannon Mode Incineration Cannon almost instantly reached the critical value for melting down.
A blinding beam of light, four meters wide, instantly burst forth!
As if mocking the futile efforts of Kirigakure's Sealing Team, Rashōmon braced its body with its arms and leaned backward. That incandescent beam, too bright to look at directly, like a hot scraper inserted into a block of cheese, with Rashōmon's movement, sliced the cubic barrier in half, leaving a shrill scorch mark on Kirigakure's land in its wake.
A barrier? This craftsmanship pales in comparison to Kōri's.
Thus mocking Kirigakure within its consciousness, Rashōmon spun its body again. The Scorch Release beam, which was simultaneously evaporating the mist from the sky, swept across its surroundings in a rotating arc.
"That thing isn't a curse—"
Before the Kirigakure higher-ups could even utter such last words, they, along with the common ninjas surrounding them and the hundreds of buildings behind them, were instantly reduced to drifting ash.
"SCREEE!!!"
Having finished firing the Scorch Release beam, the mechanical bird broke free from Rashōmon's intrusive energy supply, flapped its wings to fly out from its body, chose a direction at random, and flew off excitedly, gleefully unleashing its firepower.
Then, a mechanical wolf of similar scale also leaped out from behind Rashōmon, emitting a deep growl toward it.
Mechanical Fang: Gojin no Shinjin.
"Gojin," "Great Mouth True God," "Great Deity," "Noble Deity" these were all deified appellations for the Japanese wolf, a beast that had gone extinct in modern times.
If one were to name a mechanical wolf after a deity, no name would be more suitable.
If the mechanical bird, whose prototype was associated with the "sun," had been given armaments of Scorch Release like the blazing sun then the wolf god that raced through the mountains and forests possessed the howling storm.
At the cost of sacrificing all long-range, projectile-based armaments, the additional nozzles and balancing devices could improve the Mechanical Fang's speed, jumping ability, and stability to the extreme.
The engines within its limbs and torso had the function of recovering impact and kinetic energy, then converting it back into usable energy.
Unlike the brilliant gold, the steel wolf—whose overall tone was light, bright silver-white—lit up its crimson eyes. The engines hidden beneath the cloud-shaped armor at the tips of its limbs roared with thunderous roar.
Great Mouth True God, wreathed in rolling wind and thunder, transformed into a howling storm as it dashed forward. Dozens of magatama-shaped floating armaments shot out from its mane-shaped armor.
The magatama shape evoked thoughts of souls, fetuses, and, of course, "teeth."
"GWOOF!"
The racing wolf god, in its roar, deployed its final armament—the last one it possessed beyond its fangs and claws.
For the sole purpose of gnawing all of its creator's enemies to nothing.
***
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