From the very beginning, he had been Under Genjutsu.
There had been no warning signs, nor had it been the Sharingan. There had not even been any Chakra fluctuations.
A bone-chilling sensation, accompanied by fear of the unknown, was slowly devouring Aburame Ryoma's sanity.
No. This guy was definitely not an ordinary jonin!
He had to pass this intelligence on. Uchiha Sōgetsu had deliberately concealed his strength; he was definitely plotting some kind of conspiracy!
With almost no hesitation, Aburame Ryoma made a swift decision. He abandoned the pursuit mission and fled with all his strength. As long as he could escape the Forest of Death, then no matter how powerful Uchiha Sōgetsu was, he would never dare kill an Anbu agent in the street. Otherwise, he would be no different from a rogue ninja!
"Running away? That really is the Anbu style." Sōgetsu rested his right hand against his forehead and sighed softly. "Honestly, can't you just stay here obediently?"
Frenzy!
As Aburame Ryoma fled, he suddenly felt as though a bomb had exploded inside his brain.
"Ah—" Aburame Ryoma screamed, clutching his head as he fell from the tree and slammed heavily into the ground.
Pain!
Excruciating pain!
It was just like every nerve in his body was being gnawed on by ants.
Terrifying pain, accompanied by maddening whispers, continuously eroded Aburame Ryoma's mental world. He suffered unbearably, blood pouring from his seven orifices as he looked like a man possessed by madness.
"Uchiha Sōgetsu... what exactly... did you do to me?!" He clutched his head and rolled around in the mud in agony. Both eyes were bloodshot, his cries growing increasingly miserable. Veins bulged across his face, making him look utterly terrifying, like an Evil Ghost.
"Nothing much. As everyone knows, I'm a Psychologist." Sōgetsu spread his hands. "Just now, I merely 'detonated' your mind."
'Frenzy' was an ability of a Sequence 7 Psychologist on the Spectator Pathway.
By detonating a target's emotions or mental state, it could plunge the target into Frenzy and inflict severe damage on the spiritual level.
Hiss.
Sōgetsu's brow suddenly twitched. A burning pain shot through his nerves, and his concentration began to scatter.
"This is bad. Using Beyonder abilities consecutively in such a short time has consumed too much of my Spirituality." He pinched the bridge of his nose, withdrew from Spiritual Vision, and took a deep breath, suppressing the agitated potion within him. "I need to be more careful. I don't want to lose control this early."
The Potion System of Lord of the Mysteries was like a double-edged sword.
While it allowed mortals to step into the Divine Domain, it was also accompanied by madness and loss of control. A single misstep could turn one into a pile of 'materials.'
Sōgetsu slowly walked toward Aburame Ryoma. He intended to bring this matter to a perfect conclusion.
Intimidation!
"N-No, don't!" Aburame Ryoma, who had been tormented mentally, now saw Sōgetsu approaching him as though he had seen something terrifying. His face was filled with horror as he scrambled backward on all fours, screaming and wildly waving his hands, trying to get away from him. "Don't come near me—Uchiha Sōgetsu!"
In that instant just now, he seemed to have seen... a dragon?
Its enormous Pale Gold vertical pupils were like blazing stars, scorching his mind and soul. Those scales engraved with mysterious runes were like invisible giant hands, crushing and twisting his sanity.
Uchiha Sōgetsu... was this guy really 'human'?!
"Are you afraid, Aburame Ryoma?"
Sōgetsu's voice was low, yet it did not feel distant. Instead, it sounded like he was greeting a friend he had not seen in a long time.
"Don't... don't come near me!" Aburame Ryoma's back struck a tree trunk. With nowhere left to retreat, he maintained that terrified expression on his face. "What exactly are you, Uchiha Sōgetsu?!"
"Human? Monster? Think whatever you like."
Sōgetsu approached him step by step. Behind him, his shadow stretched into a long line beneath the dappled sunlight.
But in Aburame Ryoma's eyes, that mass of shadow was writhing, like a savage beast poised to devour someone.
Unease and fear coiled around the depths of his mind like a nightmare. The whispers in his ears drew closer and closer, their noisy, piercing sounds nearly driving him mad.
"Don't, don't come near me! Please, don't come near me!" Aburame Ryoma, one of the Anbu's most elite members, was now weeping bitterly as he humbly begged Uchiha Sōgetsu. "Please... please... please..."
The endlessly muttering screams were about to drive him insane.
The dragon from the earlier hallucination was also gradually becoming clearer in his mind. Those twisted, frenzied mysterious runes felt as though they were about to burst his brain apart.
"Aburame Ryoma, have you ever considered what people live for?" Sōgetsu stopped walking, his back to the sunlight as he asked.
Dappled rays of sunlight filtered through the leaves, shining from behind him toward the front.
From Aburame Ryoma's perspective, Sōgetsu stood beneath the sunlight like a Holy Angel, bathed in golden radiance and emanating a sacred aura.
Those mad whispers gradually receded from him.
The twisted world before my eyes and the frenzied runes all vanished like a nightmare.
The radiance emanating from Sōgetsu's body was like that of a savior, pulling Ryoma from the abyss of madness and insanity, like driftwood to a drowning man.
His mind had never been so calm.
"I don't know." Aburame Ryoma subconsciously lowered his head and answered his question.
Perhaps even he had not realized that, in that brief instant, he had developed a trace of awe toward Uchiha Sōgetsu deep within the heart.
"I believe it is a sense of security."
Sōgetsu spoke calmly.
"A sense of security?"
A hint of confusion appeared on Aburame Ryoma's face.
"That's right. A 'sense of security,' Ryoma."
Sōgetsu spread his hands, a gentle smile at the corners of his lips as he explained, "Everyone lives to overcome unease and fear, to make themselves feel secure!"
He paced slowly, like a priest patiently resolving the doubts in the hearts of praying believers.
"Obtaining great fame and controlling others, or amassing enormous wealth, are all done to make oneself feel secure!"
"Marriage and friendship are also for the sake of security!"
"Devoting oneself to others, pursuing love and peace, all of it is merely to make oneself feel secure!"
"At the root of it all, people live in pursuit of a 'sense of security'!"
A sense of security. Those three simple words struck Aburame Ryoma's heart like a heavy hammer, causing him to sink into thought without realizing it.
"The reason people feel fear is because of 'unease.'"
Sōgetsu's gaze seemed capable of seeing through people's hearts.
And the deep vortex hidden in his eyes seemed as though it would draw Aburame Ryoma in.
The unease vanished.
The unease and fear that had constantly lingered deep within the heart while he had served under Danzo now seemed to melt away like spring snow.
Just one look was enough to make him feel an unparalleled sense of security.
It was like an infant wrapped in amniotic fluid inside its mother's womb. A comfortable sense of security enveloped him, immersing Ryoma's mind within it and making him unwilling to break free.
"You are uneasy, and you are suffering."
"Since that is the case, why not choose to be loyal to me, Aburame Ryoma?" At that moment, Sōgetsu paced behind Aburame Ryoma, bent down slightly, and gently placed both hands on his shoulders. He slowly brought his lips close to Ryoma's ear and whispered, "What is wrong with seeking security?"
Yeah.
People lived in pursuit of security.
Since he could not obtain 'security' from Danzo, what was wrong with submitting to someone who could make him feel 'secure'?
"Lord Sōgetsu."
Aburame Ryoma lowered his head, obedient and respectful.
"Very good, Ryoma."
Sōgetsu smiled and reached out to stroke Ryoma's head. "I will grant you the security you desire!"
Feeling the warmth of that hand, Aburame Ryoma experienced a peace he had never known before.
That was right. This was the security he had sought, someone truly worthy of offering everything to, rather than that 'rat' forever hiding in a dark corner!
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