Tagorihime

"So-called immortality is nothing but a scam. I only want to ask you one question: who are you, and where do you come from?" The people around twisted their limbs stiffly like puppets, their joints grinding out a grating, teeth-aching sound as they stared blankly at Zi Xu with emotionless eyes.

The old man found it utterly absurd. He had thought Zi Xu might ask something earth-shattering, but in the end, it was such a simple question—nothing more than thunder with no rain, a bluff.

"Hmph, what kind of question is that? Anyone here could answer it. But after that, you'll have to apologize for your disrespect toward Lady Tagorihime..." The wrinkles at the corners of the old man's eyes could have crushed a few mosquitoes. Zi Xu quietly took a few steps toward the stone door and nodded.

"Of course. Go ahead, I'm listening."

"We have lived here since ancient times. Our ancestors, fleeing the wars of the various countries, brought their families and neighbors here to settle, never leaving, cut off from the outside world. With Lady Tagorihime's help, everyone lives in peace, with ample food and clothing..." The old man's tone carried a hint of pride, and a look of longing appeared on his face, as if lost in memories of the past.

"So you're completely isolated from the outside world? Unaware of any changes out there?" Zi Xu asked unhurriedly, secretly scanning his surroundings. He noticed that everyone seemed to have hit pause, stopping their actions to watch them.

"Naturally. Everything outside has nothing to do with us. Why concern ourselves with a chaotic, war-torn world when we can enjoy peace and tranquility here..."

"Then why are you wearing the same clothes as people outside? And why do you have the headbands of outside ninja villages?"

"Wh... what?!"

"Do I need to repeat myself? Stop deceiving yourselves. You haven't been living here all along... You're just... trapped in a self-willed beautiful dream."

Zi Xu's words were harsh and merciless. The song, dance, and peaceful comfort here were indeed tempting, but it was nothing more than self-deception. Judging by their attire, these people were most likely ninjas who had come to Ryūchi Cave to train in Senjutsu, only to forget their identities for some reason.

"Nonsense! We're not ninjas! We... we..." The silent crowd suddenly erupted into chaotic shouts. Zi Xu's words were like a bomb dropped into water, shattering the false calm and raising waves.

"Think carefully about why you came here. Is indulging in a false illusion truly your intention? Wake up!" Zi Xu showed no mercy, his words like sharp blades, each one precisely and ruthlessly stabbing into the hearts of everyone present, piercing the fragile peace.

"...I came to train... Why did I forget that?... Why?... Did I fail?... Hehehehe, hahahaha!"

Chaos and doubt spread like a plague among the puppet-like crowd. Many recalled something important, letting out desperate, helpless roars.

"I failed... I'm sorry, Mizukage-sama..."

"Why? Why? Wasn't it good to stay immersed in the dream with us? Why wake us up? Why?"

"It's hopeless. By now, the village must be destroyed. Too late..."

The expressions on the faces around him varied, their reactions to the shattered dream differing. To Zi Xu, they were like puppets that had lost their strings—gaining brief freedom but also losing the will to move.

After all, not everyone had the courage to face a reality where decades of connection had been lost. Forcing someone who had lived in a dream for decades to leave it and integrate into reality was cruel. What we outsiders saw as a dream might have been their reality.

Ignoring what these people thought, Zi Xu had already slipped away in the chaos. Compared to the secrets here, he cared more about whether he could pass the trial. He had no desire to spend a false life in a dream.

The people naturally noticed Zi Xu sneaking off, but they had no time to worry about him. Each was lost in the pain of their collapsing dream.

Without much effort, Zi Xu arrived again at the familiar stone door. He pushed it with all his strength, feeling that this time might be the final cycle.

Zi Xu slowly stepped through the stone door. Before leaving, he turned back for a deep look at the crowd behind him—collapse, despair, relief—various expressions telling their final feelings. Committing it all to memory, he fully entered the other side of the stone door.

The familiar sensation of teleportation washed over him, just like when he first arrived. Zi Xu's heart still raced a little—what if he was wrong and had to go back to face those crazed residents?

Fortunately, when he opened his eyes, he didn't see those residents, nor did he hear the familiar "Young man, want some ramen? Fresh out of the pot, really fragrant." What he saw finally matched the appearance of a cave.

Damp, cold, and dark air, faint hissing whispers in the darkness, jagged stalagmites like snake fangs...

But there was a difference: before him stood countless crooked human-shaped stone pillars, their bodies petrified from the neck down, some faces even cracked like rock.

Dark green moss, like fungus, writhed and covered various parts of the stone pillars. Even more terrifying, each pillar had a small snake coiled atop its head, its jaws stretched wide, swallowing most of the heads of these people—green snakes only as long as a human arm.

Zi Xu didn't act rashly. He noticed that several of the stone pillars had faces resembling people he'd seen in the city. Directly in front of him was a shattered pillar reduced to rubble, mixed with red substances that looked like blood. He knew this pile of rubble was the ramen uncle who had first warned him.

The buildings and food he'd seen earlier also revealed their true forms. The so-called buildings were just massive stone pillars, coiled with thick-bodied snakes. As for the food, no need to guess—it was plates of rat corpses mixed with bloody rubble, with many small green snakes of the same type coiled on the human-shaped pillars, staring hungrily at Zi Xu, their tongues flickering as if they hadn't eaten in ages.

"Wasn't it good to stay immersed in the world of Genjutsu? Isn't a peaceful world with ample food and clothing what you ninjas long for?" As Zi Xu looked around, a clear female voice drifted slowly from behind him. The voice appeared abruptly, without any warning.

Zi Xu stiffly turned his head and saw the owner of the voice.

She was a beautiful young girl, with long, green hair, a golden crown adorned with golden orbs, green ribbons on both sides, pure black pupils, black eyeshadow, pale skin, wearing an ancient white robe with a green magatama-shaped ornament on her chest, sharp teeth, and a blue tongue.

Zi Xu's pupils contracted slightly. This attire immediately made him think of the Tagorihime the residents had mentioned.

"A false peace. True is true, false is false. If you betray the true, the false won't necessarily come into this world..." Although Tagorihime showed no intent to attack, merely floating casually in the air, he dared not relax. He could clearly feel the terrifying Chakra within this woman—something no human could possess.

"Hmm... think what you will. Anyway, you've passed this level. I hope you won't regret not hiding in the dream later." Tagorihime said lazily, stretching languidly in the air.

Zi Xu glanced at the red traces on the rubble on the ground, then looked at the endless human-shaped stone pillars, feeling that he would forever be averse to Genjutsu.

"Since I've passed the trial, can I leave now?"

"That won't do. Either continue the trial and complete the Senjutsu training, or become nourishment for Ryūchi Cave. Only these two ways to leave." As she said this, Tagorihime's expression turned somewhat ferocious. Her black pupils narrowed into thin, golden slits, the corners of her mouth stretched to her ears, revealing four sharp fangs and a forked blue tongue, and her skin grew fine scales—truly terrifying.

"Uh, fine. I'll continue the trial..." Though the scene was somewhat horrifying, Zi Xu showed no fear. Conqueror's Haki granted him strong willpower.

"Go straight ahead and push open that stone door." Tagorihime instantly reverted to her maiden form, casually pointing the way before ignoring him.

Zi Xu walked toward the stone door with some skepticism. When he saw that Tagorihime truly wasn't bothering with him, he quickened his pace.

"Such a strong pressure... Can one become this strong through training?" Zi Xu began to yearn for Sage Mode. If he could combine such power with Demon Power... He had to learn Sage Mode! At first, it might have been due to Orochimaru's threat, but now he genuinely wanted to learn it.

Tagorihime watched Zi Xu walk away, a playful smile curling at the corner of her mouth.

"At such a young age, with such a strong physique, and even a faint, almost negligible trace of Dragon Might... This little one is no ordinary. Such a constitution is naturally suited for training in Ryūchi Cave's Senjutsu. I hope he succeeds—it'll add some spice to my millennia-long life."

With that thought, she slowly vanished into the air. The previous batch of residents, awakened to reality by Zi Xu, would need her time to re-brainwash them. After all, watching the dreams of failures was one of her few pleasures.