Shirou's Thirty Million Avatars

"Is this... a newcomer?" Tohsaka Shirou murmured.

"Let's go check it out."

Celestial Dragon Shirou followed the sound of snoring and strode ahead.

As they drew closer, the snoring grew louder and louder.

Soon, a new creature came into view.

At the center, a massive Black Western Dragon lay sleeping on the ground, the snoring coming from him.

Beside his head, a Water Blue Slime lay motionless, looking like a spherical toy.

On the dragon's other side, four young men with identical faces were forming hand seals.

The words "Fourth Generation Water Shadow" were written on the cloaks at their backs, making their origin obvious.

"What are you doing, Mizukage Shirou?" Celestial Dragon Shirou called out loudly.

In that instant, all four Mizukage Shirous stopped their seals and rushed over, surrounding him from all sides.

"Where did you hear the name Shirou? I've never mentioned it to anyone. Could it be... I'm under a genjutsu? Release!"

Celestial Dragon Shirou paused briefly, then quickly caught on and laughed.

"How long have you been transmigrating? Not only are you overly cautious, but when I said 'Mizukage Shirou,' you didn't even react."

"If I hadn't come in without my Bubble Helmet today, you'd have seen my identity right away."

"Bubble Helmet?" Mizukage Shirou looked him over and asked tentatively, "A Celestial Dragon?"

"That's right, exactly."

"Main God Space?"

"Uh... not at all! We're both Shirou Originally Surnamed Kotomine, Double Transmigrators. That should make it clear, right?"

Mizukage Shirou looked puzzled, froze for a few seconds, then suddenly understood.

"I get it! Clone Style."

"You're way too slow on the uptake, aren't you?" Celestial Dragon Shirou said, exasperated, glancing at the Slime circling him. "Even it caught on faster than you."

"Haha... a Slime, huh." Mizukage Shirou sighed. "This is quite a surprise. Can memories and abilities be shared?"

"Of course, just shake hands." Celestial Dragon Shirou paused, then added, "Any body part works—as long as there's physical contact, memories and abilities are shared instantly."

"Ooh...! Let's do it."

Mizukage Shirou eagerly extended his right hand.

"Hold on." A somewhat feminine voice came from the Slime. "In that case, that Black Dragon over there should be one of us too, right? Shouldn't we shake hands with him as well?"

"He's sleeping. No rush." Mizukage Shirou eyed the Slime curiously. "So you can talk after all. You were quiet the whole time, so I thought you couldn't."

"I didn't know what you were doing earlier, so I had to observe carefully."

An arm gradually emerged from the Slime's body, touching both Mizukage Shirou and Celestial Dragon Shirou at the same time.

In that moment, different memories flooded into all three minds.

Mizukage Shirou, seventeen years old, had been transmigrated for thirteen years.

As a civilian, at age ten, he encountered Uchiha ninjas during a mission outside the village and nearly died.

From then on, he abandoned his moral boundaries and began conducting human experiments in secret.

At thirteen, he transplanted Uchiha genes into himself.

Two months later, through genjutsu stimulation, he awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.

His left eye could emit a light that turned any man it hit into a woman, ineffective on women;

His right eye could also emit light, causing whatever it touched to break—humans or objects alike.

Three months after that, through cloning, he advanced his Mangekyo to the Eternal Mangekyo.

From then on, an unknown masked man appeared in the Ninja World, the number of female ninjas surged, and the gender ratio began to skew.

In this climate of fear, the Fourth Mizukage was succeeded by a civilian named Shirou.

That same year, the Fourth Mizukage married his childhood friend Mei Terumi, adding the surname Terumi to his name.

Celestial Dragon Shirou let go of Mizukage Shirou's hand and teased, "Mangekyo abilities are tied to the user's deepest desires. What were you craving to get such a bizarre power?"

"We're all the same person. Even if I don't say it, you know the reason. Wishing to be the only male in the world—a lot of people have probably thought about that, right?" Mizukage Shirou gave an awkward smile.

"Thought about it, sure, but actually doing it is another story. And you got married at sixteen—you animal!"

"Pfft...! You're the one to envy, aren't you? A Celestial Dragon. When you grow up, that'll be something else."

Chapter 26: Black Dragon's Roar

Section 26, Chapter 26: Black Dragon's Roar

"Who knows what the future holds?"

Celestial Dragon Shirou shook his head with a smile, then turned to look at the slime, sighing in admiration:

"Your mimicry ability is really handy. This way, once I set sail in the future, I can turn into a bird and easily fly across the Four Seas."

Slime Shirou looked up and met his gaze for a few seconds, then asked:

"Our strength is already pretty solid now. Even if we set sail, we shouldn't run into much danger, right?"

"I can turn into anything I've eaten. You should have already gotten all my abilities."

"That way, if we encounter an enemy, you can just shift into an animal form and burrow away to escape."

"No." Celestial Dragon Shirou shook his head slightly. "More quantity doesn't matter if the quality isn't there. Mizukage and your abilities have great variety, but their quality isn't that high. If we run into a monster like Kaido out at sea, wouldn't that just be feeding ourselves to him?"

"So you mean, you want to become the strongest in the world before setting sail?" Slime Shirou looked at him speechlessly.

"At least I need to be able to protect myself, right? Once I develop the ability to freeze time, I'll set sail immediately."

"That takes too long! The Snow-Snow Fruit isn't the Ice-Ice Fruit after all. You can only control ice indirectly."

"But there's still hope, isn't there? This is the best method I can think of."

As he said this, Celestial Dragon Shirou's gaze unconsciously shifted to Mizukage Shirou, and he smiled:

"A waterfront pavilion gets the moonlight first. As Mizukage, you should be able to get your hands on the Yukigakure Clan's Kekkei Genkai pretty easily, right?"

"I can. But are you really set on going all the way with ice?" Mizukage Shirou paused. "It's not that strong of an ability. Even if you can freeze time, once the intel leaks out, a single Shadow Clone from someone else and your ability becomes useless."

"True, but for escaping, isn't it incredibly useful?" Celestial Dragon Shirou said with a laugh.

"Fair enough. Before I went to the battlefield, the first few jutsu I learned were all for self-preservation and escape. The people who mocked me back then? Their graves are overgrown with weeds now."

Perhaps because the voices of the several Shirous were too loud, the distant Black Dragon suddenly opened its eyes, opened its mouth, and let out a roar.

Instantly!

A massive black energy wave came rushing straight at them.

Slime Shirou suddenly expanded, a huge blue mouth splitting open on his body, swallowing the energy wave whole.

"Calm down! Black Dragon, we're all Shirou here. We're on the same side."

But the Black Dragon didn't respond. It flapped its wings and shot straight into the sky.

In the air, it spat out another black energy wave.

"Don't push it! Mimicry—Veldora."

The slime bounced on the ground twice, then abruptly transformed into a massive blue dragon, flapping its wings to soar into the sky as well.

The moment the slime turned into a blue dragon, the Black Dragon erupted with an overwhelming surge of black magic power. Its eyes turned bloodshot, staring at it as if it harbored a deep, burning hatred.

In the sky, two colossal dragon species immediately clashed.

"Ooh...! Now this is a real spectacle."

Celestial Dragon Shirou held a plate of snacks in his hand, sitting in a chair, staring intently at the sky.

"Definitely worth watching." Mizukage Shirou grabbed a piece of pastry from his plate, eating as he spoke. "The Veldora he mimicked might be a fake, but compared to an ordinary dragon, it's not much weaker."

As they spoke, both of them unconsciously recalled Slime Shirou's past.

He had only been reincarnated as Rimuru for a short time—less than a month.

But with his knowledge of the plot, his rate of growth was like a rocket.

If their abilities weren't shared, he would undoubtedly be the strongest among all the Shirous right now.

As they talked, the Black Dragon in the sky suddenly hovered midair. After a roar, an eerie black magic power began to surge around its body.

At the same time, an intensely oppressive feeling rose in the hearts of all the Shirous, making their bodies tremble involuntarily.

"Hey, hey...! You've got to be kidding me? This guy's killing intent alone is freezing my body solid. And I'm a battle-hardened Mizukage!"

"What the hell is up with that guy?" Celestial Dragon Shirou stared at the sky in shock. "Was he just toying with us this whole time?"

Tohsaka Shirou gritted his teeth, stepped forward, and shouted loudly:

"Hey...! We're all Shirou here. Are you trying to kill yourself?"

The slime, which had been locked in a fierce battle with the Black Dragon, had already fallen from the sky once the Black Dragon got serious.

At the same time, it reverted to its blue slime form.

Hearing Tohsaka Shirou's question, he couldn't help but speak up:

"It's useless. He has no rationality. Only instinct controls his body. There's no way he'll respond to us."

"I see! No wonder he seemed off."

Sensing that the Black Dragon seemed about to dive down, Tohsaka Shirou quickly said:

"In that case, we'll have to find a way to make physical contact with him. That might be able to pull his rationality back."

"Alright. Let's all go together."

Since they were all Shirou, there was naturally no disagreement.

If anything, this proposal was a shared thought among all the Shirous.

"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!"

"Snow Burial!"

"Lightning Style: Earth Run!"

"Water Clone Jutsu! Lightning Style: Lightning Binding!"

All the Shirous surged forward at once, each unleashing the ninjutsu they deemed most suitable.

"ROOOAR...!!"

The Black Dragon made no other move—just a single roar. Every Shirou was blasted back simultaneously, and all the clones created by the jutsu were instantly obliterated.

Mizukage Shirou hit the ground and tried to rise, only to find his legs give way beneath him, nearly sending him sprawling.

"Haha... I'm actually shaking in my boots! The gap's just too huge, isn't it?"

"Sorry, everyone. Looks like the only option is to run."

Tohsaka Shirou's heart sank as he instinctively glanced behind him.

In that direction lay all the treasures they shared.

Compared to Celestial Dragon Shirou's hoard, the only thing he had placed there was a single Black Grail.

Running back to grab it and flee—no, there was no time for that.

If he left directly, and that mindless Black Dragon got its claws on the Grail, who knew what might happen.

"I have an idea. His rampage just now was probably triggered by Veldora, the one who turned into a slime."

"I don't know the Black Dragon's past, but he clearly despises other dragons."

"So, here's my proposal!"

"We all mimic Veldora at once, draw his attention from the front. Meanwhile, the slime seizes the chance to charge in and make physical contact."