"Try to stall him as much as possible, don't give him a chance to touch me with that dagger."
"Wood Release: Wood Golem Jutsu!"
As Neji formed hand seals, the ground suddenly shook, and dozens of giant wooden figures, equal in number to Neji, rose from the earth.
With so many wood golems appearing at once, the wind pressure alone caused falling rocks and trees around them to clang loudly.
"There's such an ability too?" The Shinigami blinked in surprise, a hint of envy flashing in his eyes as he looked at this power. It wasn't for any particular reason, it was purely like a child seeing a giant robot.
"I'll reluctantly accept you then, strongest among mortals." The Shinigami grinned, his wide robe unfurling completely, and he brought the dagger in his hand to his mouth.
"While I'd love to play with you, I'm sorry, I have more important things to do, so... just accept your death peacefully."
Cracks appeared in front of the Shinigami, and withered purple hands emerged from his abdomen, disappearing into them and reappearing before the wood clones.
As the purple withered hands pierced the wood clones, they immediately turned into rotten wood and fell apart, and the Wood Golem Jutsu they were used for collapsed one after another.
"What's that? No way, Dead Demon Consuming Seal??" Neji looked at all this in confusion. The move the Shinigami was using was undeniably the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
A mutual destruction, sacrificing your soul to the Shinigami?
How could he sacrifice himself?
Using his strongest sealing jutsu without taking any damage?
Neji felt like cursing. What is this, a bug?
While Neji was stunned, the Shinigami suddenly burst into laughter. Although the wood clones weren't the real body, they still carried a trace of soul. When he used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to devour these wood clones, the Shinigami actually found them delicious.
This discovery shocked him. Could he actually devour souls?
In the Shinigami's eyes, Neji's strength was undoubtedly the strongest among mortals, so his soul must also be the most delicious. The taste of that brief moment still lingered.
In his opinion, Neji was already his food. The thought of being able to have Neji's soul all to himself made the Shinigami swallow, a greedy smile on his face.
"I can't wait, let me devour you." The Shinigami raised a slender withered hand, and pure, unaligned chakra gathered on his fingertips.
Instantly, a small dark red ball formed on his fingertips, an energy ball formed by the gathering of chakra. He aimed it at all the remaining enemies and fired dark red chakra bullets one after another.
In no time, all the wood clones were destroyed, and even Neji's main body took a surprise hit and was sent flying backward from the wood golem.
"You're the only one left on the field now, you must be the real one." The Shinigami traversed space, appearing before Neji in a single step.
"Not good!"
Bang!
Just as Neji was about to be grabbed by the Shinigami, Kaguya's Byakugan widened, and a repulsive force directly blasted the Shinigami away. However, this caused Kaguya's body to suffer backlash again, and her abdomen churned once more, emitting a faint groan.
"Kaguya..."
Squelch!
Neji's momentary tension at Kaguya's pained cry caused him to want to turn and check on her. At that moment, the Shinigami reappeared beside Neji and plunged his sharp fingers into Neji's chest.
The sound of a sharp object piercing flesh and bone was heard. Kaguya stared blankly as the Shinigami's sharp claws embedded themselves in Neji's body, her eyes seeming to lose all color for a moment.
"Neji!!"
It wasn't until a blue, ghost-fire-like substance was pulled out of Neji's chest by the Shinigami that Kaguya screamed with all her might.
"That's why superfluous emotions are a joke. Powerful individuals like the two of you have ended up in this predicament precisely because of those vague, ephemeral things." The Shinigami grinned, his scarlet tongue leaving a few drops of saliva. He couldn't wait to savor Neji's soul.
Unlike the anxious and impatient expressions of the two beside him, Neji was utterly bewildered. He had been pierced by sharp claws, his soul even extracted, but why...
Why did he suddenly feel much lighter?
Yes, lighter. No pain, and he didn't feel any decrease in his soul. Instead, he felt his physical condition was excellent, as if a bottleneck of turbid air in his body had suddenly vanished.
He even felt that the power of the Gelel Stone was merging completely with his own. He suddenly felt he might be even more powerful than Kaguya now.
This feeling was strange.
"Be excited, be proud. You're about to become one with me and live forever." The Shinigami smiled, biting down on the extracted soul. He tore at it, devouring the soul piece by piece.
"No way, right?" Neji looked at the soul emerging from his stomach and a nascent idea suddenly formed in his mind.
This soul, could it be the true Neji's residual being here?
If he thought about it, it was very likely.
Didn't novels often say that someone's soul or body was mixed, preventing them from receiving true inheritance and power? This would explain why he couldn't fully utilize the Gelel Stone's power.
It must be like this.
Whether anyone else believed it or not, Neji believed it.
"So pitiful."
Watching the soul of Neji being devoured by the Shinigami bit by bit, Neji shook his head inwardly. This was an unfortunate soul. He died from the Wood Release in the original story, died inexplicably three years ago, and now his last remaining soul was being devoured.
This... sigh, truly pitiful.
"Even though I said it at the beginning, I'll say it again." Neji took a deep breath and said to himself:
"I'll take care of your house and inheritance, and I'll also look after your sister and wife for you."
After a series of unimaginably horrific treatments, the original Neji's soul finally dissipated, and this body truly belonged to the current Neji.
"Hahaha, what a delicious soul." The Shinigami laughed heartily, licking his lips. Disgusting, just like Orochimaru.
"Yes, it feels so comfortable." Neji chuckled strangely.
"Yes, it... huh?"
The Shinigami's expression suddenly froze. He looked at Neji as if he had seen a ghost. Kaguya, who had been weeping behind Neji, also raised her eyes, her expression incredibly vivid.
"You, you, how, how can you be alive?" The Shinigami spoke with dread. Can someone whose soul has died still survive?
It's impossible!
"Cough, cough. I won't say too much. To thank you, I'll give you a punch." Neji said with a relaxed expression.