The Dead

"Something's strange here," Chiba said in a deep voice.

Hearing his words, the three of them turned their gazes to him simultaneously.

Chiba told them everything that had just happened.

"Genjutsu?" Laxus frowned, then said, "But I didn't sense anyone else's presence at all. Is there such a thing as a long-range Genjutsu?"

Chiba shook his head. "I don't know."

Although he possesses the Sharingan, his Mangekyō Sharingan is Straight Tomoe Sharingan, which is more suited for combat. To be honest, he isn't particularly skilled in Genjutsu.

But what just happened was indeed Genjutsu. Moreover, this Genjutsu was so subtle that even he himself probably wouldn't have noticed it if Feiyin hadn't sensed something amiss.

"But..." Mira frowned, "Among us, you're the only one skilled in Genjutsu. If the sorcerer wanted to harm us, they could have used Genjutsu on any one of us. Why would they specifically target you? Even if they randomly chose you, their luck wouldn't be this bad, would it?"

"A single-target Genjutsu, bad luck? Or was your target from the beginning?" Erza also denied the possibility of chance.

Chiba recalled carefully, and then it suddenly dawned on him that the little girl's lips seemed to have turned up quite a bit when she disappeared.

A chilling smile!

"But why was I her target from the start? Only Mira knows about my ability to see, and even you didn't know before that," Chiba said to Erza.

But after saying that, he suddenly realized something—no! It wasn't just Mira, there was also...

That mysterious man!

After he regained consciousness, he met that man once, in the hospital. When the man walked in, time seemed to stand still, the scene exactly as it had just been. Everyone was frozen in that moment, only he and the man could move freely.

He was preparing to use his Mangekyō Sharingan to dispel the illusion, believing it to be Genjutsu. But the man spoke, and his words nearly suffocated him.

"I know you have the Mangekyō Sharingan, but your current eye power is insufficient to break my Genjutsu, so there's no need to waste your time."

He was stunned, because he had never imagined that in the magical world of Earth-land, besides him and Feiyin, someone would actually use the term "Mangekyō Sharingan".

When he called out to Feiyin, wanting to find out what was going on, he was horrified to discover that even Feiyin had not been able to escape his Genjutsu.

From this perspective, the man's Genjutsu to be stronger than the little girl's.

If... the man and the little girl knew each other, then everything... can be explained!

Could it be... that he was lured into this mission again? A strange expression appeared on his face.

Having learned from his first mission experience, he now proceeds with extreme caution even when accepting new ones. Damn it, he's sensed more than once that many people are eyeing the Tailed Beast within him.

Those people didn't know what it was, but some big shots felt that he had some powerful energy stored inside him, and many people wanted to capture him and dissect him.

Getting back to the main point, since the little girl didn't intend to harm them, what was the purpose of using Genjutsu on him?

"Think about it, did that little girl reveal any information to you?" Erza asked.

Since we don't know the details, we can only look for clues through the little girl who appeared in the Genjutsu.

Chiba said, "Her name is Menair. She was orphaned at a young age... uh... she grew up being fed by many families."

"Then let's start with the name [Menair]," Erza said in a deep voice. "Since she can use Genjutsu that even Chiba can't detect, she's definitely a master of Genjutsu. Perhaps... she's connected to the target we're currently working on."

A magnificent and grand manor, in the village chief's home.

"Menair?"

On the sofa, the village chief wore a strange expression.

"Well, the little girl we met said her name is Menair, village chief. Do you think... there's someone like that in the village?" Chiba didn't tell him that the little girl appeared from Genjutsu.

"Menair... she was indeed from our village... but..." The village chief hesitated, "She died several years ago, and... she was a woman in her twenties, not the little girl you're describing."

"Could you... be fooled by a child?" the village chief asked.

Chiba was terrified. He'd rather believe he'd been tricked by a mischievous little brat, but the crucial point was... this brat possessed incredibly powerful Genjutsu...

A dead person unleashing incredibly powerful Genjutsu? And someone who's been dead for several years? That sounds even more unbelievable.

"Could you... take us to where Menair lives?" Chiba asked.

"No!" the village chief said firmly. "Menair, that woman cursed by the demon—if you wish to investigate, I absolutely cannot allow it."

The four exchanged glances, sensing that if they continued to ask, the village chief might turn on them.

They bid farewell to the village chief and left the courtyard. But the moment they stepped out of the courtyard, Mira suddenly seemed to lose all her strength and collapsed into Chiba's arms.

Chiba was startled and hugged her, saying, "Mira, what's wrong?!"

Mira slowly opened her eyes, her pretty face deathly pale. She whispered, "I saw the little girl you mentioned. She told us to go to the hillside on the outskirts of the village; that's where she used to live."

"So we have no choice but to go?" Laxus frowned; he really disliked this feeling of being manipulated.

"No!" Chiba objected. Looking at Mira's weak appearance, he said, "Let's take Mira to rest first, then the rest of us will go."

But right after he said those words, the world suddenly froze at that moment.

"Big brother!"

A clear, girlish voice rang out from behind him. Chiba suddenly turned around, and there stood the familiar little girl standing prettily behind him.

Chiba's anger surged for no apparent reason. "Who exactly are you?"

The little girl... or rather, Menair, smiled and said, "My name is Menair, big brother, have you forgotten?"

"I'm asking you, what exactly is your identity?!" Chiba roared.

"Are you curious about my identity, big brother?" Menair blinked and said innocently.

Chiba sneered, "Anyone would be curious, wouldn't they? Why did you use Genjutsu on me and Mira?"

"I chose you at first... but later I found out... she was the most suitable person..." The little girl looked at Mira, whom Chiba was holding, and smiled with her eyes crinkling. She raised her little hand, and a beam of light instantly shot into Mira's body.

Her body began to break apart, but that ambiguous, laughing voice seemed to linger in her ears for a long time.