Youying

Yuzuru's body had ultimately developed problems. Over the past few years, the rate at which his fleshly body broke down had begun to slowly increase...

Yuzuru had originally sealed away most of his power, and using Jigen's body through expedient means for several thousand years would not have been a problem. But an accident had occurred after all.

At first, in order to subdue Qinglong and Black Tortoise, he had loosened some of his own restrictions. That had still been within a controllable range, but when he encountered Youying, the accident happened...

Youying initially possessed no will. She was a strange mass of energy resembling an egg-like lifeform. Her existence was based on the will and core energy of the Shinobi World's planet. She had originally been born to destroy the God Tree Kaguya had planted, but unfortunately, her birth process was far too slow. Moreover, the God Tree was constantly absorbing and devouring the Shinobi World's planetary energy, making her already sluggish formation even more unlikely to reach completion.

Yuzuru had only learned of Youying's existence from Black Tortoise, so out of curiosity, he followed Black Tortoise to an island overseas.

The island's climates were sharply divided. One half was summer, brimming with life and covered in flowers; the other half was winter, blanketed in falling snow and left with only a vast expanse of pale white.

At the border between those opposing seasons, above a natural hot spring, a strange mass of energy resembling an egg-like lifeform stood quietly. Yuzuru could see the "egg" steadily absorbing vast amounts of surrounding energy, as though it were breathing.

The sight surprised Yuzuru, but it also delighted him. The "egg" before him was highly likely to be a powerful Yokai that had yet to be fully born. Judging by her condition, she was already so extraordinary before even being born. Once she emerged, her strength would definitely not be inferior to Black Tortoise and Qinglong!

With that thought in mind, Yuzuru prepared to personally hasten her birth. That way, an inseverable soul link would form between them, and she would become his most trusted subordinate!

Next, Yuzuru injected his own energy into the shell of the "egg" and left behind his soul mark.

The energy was smoothly absorbed by the "egg," which was a good thing. But bad news soon followed.

The energy Yuzuru poured into the "egg" was absorbed too quickly. Worse still, a strange force latched directly onto both his hands, forcibly drawing the energy from within his body!

This made Yuzuru panic somewhat, but he was no fledgling who had just entered the Shinobi World. He had encountered quite a few powerful Yokai with bizarre abilities, so he quickly calmed down. Having his energy forcibly drained was beyond his control, but using energy to hasten this "egg's" birth had been Yuzuru's original purpose. Thus, rather than trying to sever his connection with the "egg," he squeezed out as much energy from his body as possible and continued rapidly sending it over for her to absorb.

As time slowly passed, the energy within Yuzuru's body was completely exhausted, while the "egg" stopped drawing from him at just the right moment, as though it had eaten its fill.

Thus, this "egg," which had existed for who knew how many years, naturally cracked open and was born.

A twin-tailed girl who looked seven or eight years old appeared prettily before Yuzuru. The pale purple crescent mark on her forehead resembled the seal of a deity, filled with an air of nobility. Her orange eyes, devoid of human emotion, coldly studied Yuzuru, a creature both strange and familiar to her.

The will of the Shinobi World's planet undoubtedly far outweighed the influence of Yuzuru's soul mark on the girl. After merely looking him over, she bypassed him and began flying into the distance. Her purpose in being born and existing was to destroy the God Tree that absorbed the Shinobi World's planetary energy!

"Catch her!"

Yuzuru, whose energy had been exhausted, had no way of stopping the girl for the moment, so he could only loudly order Black Tortoise, who was standing guard outside the island.

At the command, Black Tortoise's ferocious turtle body surfaced from the sea. The serpent body forming his tail stretched out like rubber and swiftly lunged toward the girl in the sky, biting at her.

The girl's orange eyes remained cold. Facing Nether Serpent's attack, she merely calmly extended her right hand. It swiftly transformed into a huge, thick shield of hard carapace, effortlessly blocking Nether Serpent's bite.

Yuzuru was stunned by the sight. Nether Serpent's bite force might not have been as great as Black Tortoise's, but it was not something an ordinary Yokai could withstand!

Nether Serpent also seemed surprised. He had intended to trap the girl in his mouth and prevent her from escaping, but he had not expected to miss so badly.

Seeing this, Black Tortoise immediately controlled the seawater, transforming it into three enormous water pythons that surged up from the surface. In that moment of perfect coordination, Nether Serpent quickly released his bite, exposing the girl to the attack range of the three giant water pythons.

The next moment, Yuzuru saw the girl's right hand return to normal. Then, four pairs of broad wings as thin as cicada wings instantly sprouted from her back. With a light flap, she vanished from where she stood. When she reappeared, she was already over a hundred meters away, having effortlessly evaded Black Tortoise's water python attack!

The girl hovered in midair. Though her body was small, she stared coldly at the Yokai obstructing her like a deity. Any creature that dared impede her actions deserved to be destroyed by her!

With that thought in mind, the girl did not flee using her speed. Instead, she looked down at Black Tortoise. The pale purple crescent mark on her forehead then spread across her entire body like a curse seal, and her form changed with it.

Her body changed from that of a seven- or eight-year-old girl into that of a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old maiden. An unknown black substance covered her from head to toe like armor, forming a pitch-black mask upon her face that bore the image of a ferocious evil ghost and concealed her cold expression. The four pairs of broad cicada-wing wings on her back transformed into demonic flesh wings covered in savage keratin. A single gentle flap stirred up fierce winds and waves!

Through Yuzuru's Byakugan, he could see that the energy within the maiden's body had nearly multiplied several times over. The unknown black armor on her body was also filled with enormous natural energy!

In terms of natural energy reserves alone, the maiden had already far surpassed Black Tortoise...

But how was that possible?

Black Tortoise was an ancient Yokai who had lived for over a thousand years. Even if the natural energy contained within his body was not immense, it was not something a newborn Yokai could compare to!

Yet the truth was right before him. Yuzuru had no choice but to believe it...

While Yuzuru stood astonished, Youying moved. Flapping her four pairs of bone-spiked demonic flesh wings, she appeared above Black Tortoise's shell with teleportation-like speed. As she swung her right hand, a sharp black spear condensed in her palm.

The spear pierced straight through Black Tortoise's hard shell and stabbed into his body, immediately drawing pained cries from both Black Tortoise and Nether Serpent!

In agony, Black Tortoise immediately controlled water to counterattack, while Nether Serpent followed by using his own abilities to attack the girl.

The seawater controlled by Black Tortoise turned into crystalline solid ice and froze upward from the shell toward the girl above. At the same time, an intensely corrosive viscous liquid spewed from Nether Serpent's mouth and rained down from above...