Whether what the Goat Monster said was true or false no longer mattered.
Because he was already dead.
Shinji and his group hadn't done it. He had suddenly dropped dead, and immediately afterward, a mass of black shadows seeped into the ground and vanished.
It was clear: from the very beginning, his life and death had been entirely under the control of the Master of Black Mountain.
"What do we do now?"
Shinji thought for a moment. "Save the people first. If a real fight breaks out later, we probably won't have time to worry about them."
After all, there were thousands of lives at stake. Plus, he had made a promise to Princess Haruna earlier.
Consider it doing a good deed for once.
It wasn't like it cost him anything; just something to do along the way.
No one objected, and the group continued deeper inside.
Every certain distance, they embedded glowing fluorite crystals into the walls.
Thankfully, they were well-prepared — and had Tobi acting as a mobile warehouse — otherwise, navigating this pitch-black environment, they wouldn't even notice if they were ambushed.
Then came the third wave of attacks.
This time, it was a mixed group: Cursed Spirits plus modified monsters.
Even though Shinji and the others knew these monsters were originally innocent humans, they showed no mercy. Nor were they held back by hesitation or sentimental thoughts.
Shinji's mindset was simple: since there was no saving them anymore, death was actually a release. Otherwise, letting them roam around as monsters would only cause more harm.
Besides, back in the days of the Cult of Jashin, he had endured every kind of trial imaginable.
He understood one thing very clearly: all life was fragile.
Only Tamamo Hotaru hesitated. She couldn't bring herself to strike down, and because of that, nearly got hurt several times.
If Sasuke hadn't stepped in to save her a few times — mostly out of respect for Shinji's earlier instructions — she would have been dead and buried by now.
"If you're only going to be dead weight, I suggest you get as far away from us as possible. Don't think someone will always be there to save you."
The moody, unlikable boy glared coldly at her.
Tamamo Hotaru felt deeply wronged. She had never been treated with any respect here anyway, and now she was being scolded by a kid half her age. Worse yet, she couldn't even argue back.
She couldn't quite understand how Sasuke and the others could kill so calmly and without hesitation, even though they knew some of these creatures used to be human...
Then she was suddenly tackled to the ground by a monster that still retained faint traces of human features.
It looked like no one had seen it happen. Or more likely — they had seen it, but pretended not to.
After all, they were tired of acting like babysitters.
And the payment promised at the start had never been properly delivered.
Kagetsu, trying to save her, instantly grew to a large size and rammed the monster away.
But these modified creatures weren't easy to deal with. Though they had lost their intelligence and sanity, they still acted on pure instinct.
One of them raised its hand and struck Kagetsu hard right across the face.
Seeing her beloved fox get hit, Tamamo Hotaru flew into a rage. She no longer cared whether they used to be human or not. She transformed into her giant fox form and tore the creature apart.
Once she made that first strike, the rest came naturally.
Hidan, meanwhile, was having the time of his life. Now wielding his new Bloody March Scythe, group battles were exactly what he enjoyed most.
Every monster he killed made him stronger. Combined with his immortal body, he moved through the battlefield like it was empty space!
There wasn't a single enemy there capable of blocking even one of his blows.
Shinji focused purely on efficiency. He combined Red Blood Manipulation with Cursed Speech, launching area-of-effect attacks without holding back.
With his current strength, anything below Special Grade was instantly killed.
But then, everything changed.
From within Hidan's own shadow, countless sharp spikes shot out, piercing him all over when he least expected it.
At the exact same time, Shinji and everyone else came under attack.
Tobi — who had been lazing around and doing nothing this whole time — was slashed by three blades aimed straight at his vital points: throat, heart, and lower body.
He didn't even see what attacked him, yet.....absolutely nothing happened to him.
The three attackers who ambushed him stood frozen, their faces filled with utter shock, confusion, and disbelief.
It was the first time they had ever failed.
Sasuke, in that instant, was blinded. Everything went pitch black.
His response: Chidori — Repulsion!
He gathered powerful lightning energy in his hand, listening intently to every sound and movement around him, ready to strike and kill at any moment.
But the enemies were far more cunning than he expected.
He attacked based on sound — only to pierce through an empty outer cloak, thrown deliberately as bait.
He had fallen right into their trap.
Realizing his mistake, Sasuke knew he was in trouble.
Suddenly, a huge white fox crashed into the enemy just as they were about to finish him off.
Moments later, Sasuke's vision returned.
During that brief period, Tamamo Hotaru — fused with Kagetsu — had been protecting him.
Before he could speak, she said first: "You saved me before. Now I saved you. We're even."
Sasuke nodded silently and turned away. Instantly, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated, and a fierce, murderous aura flickered across his face.
He was clearly furious at himself for falling for such a cheap trick. He swore he would find and kill the one responsible.
Tamamo Hotaru, watching Sasuke just nod and walk away, felt unhappy with his cold attitude.
But she was the one who had said they were even. She couldn't very well demand his gratitude now — that would just contradict herself.
While she was sulking, her foot suddenly stepped on empty air, and her whole body began sinking downward.
She looked down and saw herself surrounded by darkness, slowly being swallowed up.
It instantly brought back terrible memories from the Land of Salt.
How can these abilities be exactly the same?!
Could that hideous dwarf back in the Land of Salt have also escaped from this very place?
But there was one big difference this time: Tamamo Hotaru had time to fight back!
She knew the attacker was hiding right inside the shadow beneath her.
And she knew physical objects could be sent into it too.
She decisively activated a stack of Exploding Tags she had secretly kept hidden, and threw them straight into the shadow.
If she got dragged in before they exploded... fine. They would all die together.
If not... the enemy would either have to jump out immediately or risk everything.
The attacker clearly didn't expect her to be so ruthless, willing to take them both down.
And of course, he didn't want to die.
After all, what kind of person would choose to stay behind, transformed into a monster and serving a master, unless they were desperate just to survive one more day?
If not for the desire to live, they would have killed themselves long ago.
He leaped out of the shadow instantly and pulled the darkness away with him.
But Tamamo Hotaru had been waiting for exactly that moment. She lunged and knocked him flat with one paw strike.
Before she could celebrate or finish him off, three or four dark chains shot out, aiming straight for her neck.
She quickly retreated from the trap and began dodging and fighting them.
Looking at the situation... it seemed the group who chose to attack Shinji had drawn the shortest straw and were suffering the worst fate.
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