The leader of the thieves' voice remained ethereal, making it impossible to discern whether it was male or female. Moreover, he remained seated in complete darkness, seemingly wearing a mask, making it difficult for Shiyu to guess his true identity.
"Boss, how could that be? I've always been a member of our thief gang!" Shiyu said again, feigning concern.
"Haha! Whether you're faking it or not, there are many ways to verify, like eating you? Wouldn't that tell us?"
"Eat it?" Shiyu was also a little puzzled, but she seemed to vaguely remember something.
Immediately afterwards, the leader stood up, her purple hair falling behind her. She was clearly a woman in appearance, but her way of speaking was very much like that of a rough man, which seemed extremely incongruous.
"How was it? Not bad, right? But this isn't my real body!"
"This girl was a female ninja from Konoha. After I ate her brain, I used her appearance to kill all her comrades and teachers, ahahaha!"
"You have no idea how satisfying it is to kill the people closest to you every time! But I don't even know this woman's name. However, her strength is quite impressive."
"She does have many memories of Shiyu. If you want to prove you're not Shiyu, then let me devour your brain in one gulp!"
The leader of the thieves' gang was also getting closer and closer to Shiyu.
Shiyu's heart was already ice-cold to the extreme.
"Let me tell you! Her name is Violet! And I am Uchiha Shigure!" Shiyu no longer concealed his identity. He immediately dispelled his Transformation Technique, because the identity of the person in front of him was already obvious, and in Shiyu, he was already doomed.
"Your bandit gang is called Tanuki, right? And your name is Shosei-ji?! Am I right? Your Corpse Clone Technique can devour the brains of your opponents, thereby acquiring all their appearance, abilities, and memories?! Am I right?" Shiyu exposed the identity of the leader before him in one sentence.
The leader before him was clearly startled, but quickly regained his composure and said, "It seems you really are Uchiha Shigure. This young girl's heart is completely devoted to you. It's clear you've influenced her entire life. She loves you and sees you as her role model. Are you really willing to kill her?"
Shosei-ji then removed his mask, revealing Violet's face. Shiyu hadn't seen Violet in a long time, and was momentarily stunned upon seeing Violet.
Immediately afterward Shosei-ji grinned, thinking he had a chance, and rushed towards Shiyu.
He quickly Hand Seals and unleashed his Wind Release Ninjutsu.
Shiyu's eyes widened, and a terrifying repulsive force sent Shosei-ji flying. Shosei-ji was shocked and looked incredulous. He struggled to his feet.
"His body didn't move at all. How did he attack me? This guy doesn't seem to remember this move." Shosei-ji was also at a loss for what to do.
"Who cares! Let's seize the initiative first! I know this guy is fast! But mine isn't slow either!" Immediately afterward Shosei-ji also rushed towards Shiyu.
However, before Shosei-ji could catch Shiyu, he Shosei-ji himself unable to breathe at all.
"Um... Shosei-ji realized that his body was being held by a huge gray bone hand."
"What an annoying person!" Shiyu suppressed his anger. Although he was holding Shosei-ji's body, Violet was, after all, an old friend of Shiyu's from Konoha, Shiyu couldn't bear to crush the person in front of him.
"Bang!" Shiyu flung Shosei-ji away, sending him crashing heavily to the ground.
Dust billowed up instantly, and the surrounding area was immediately filled with smoke and dust.
However, Shosei-ji did laugh out loud, "Haha! Uchiha Shigure, I didn't expect you to be such a loyal and righteous person, huh?"
Although Shosei-ji appeared fearless and even teased Shiyu, he was actually seriously injured. Compared to Shiyu now, Shosei-ji was not even worthy of carrying Shigure's shoes. To be honest, Shosei-ji didn't even have a chance to fight.
However, Shosei-ji still had something to rely on in his heart. Shiyu walk towards him step by step, Shosei-ji immediately changed his expression and the tone of his voice.
She still looks like Violet, but her voice and way of speaking are exactly the same as Violet's.
"Shiyu, I'm sorry. If it weren't for this guy's sneak attack, I wouldn't have caused the deaths of Teacher Suzuki and Katsuhira."
"Shiyu, I'm sorry. We encountered their bandit gang while on a mission outside a village. I was too careless and fell into their ambush, where I was devoured by them."
"Shiyu. Actually, you know that Hinata Kurenai really likes you. After fighting with you, I've always looked up to you, but you've only pulled me further and further away. I've become so envious of Kurenai, because she gets to do missions with you every time."
"How I wish I were your partner, but I'm not Shiyu. Actually, I like you a lot too, even knowing that you left Konoha and became missing-nin. But I still like you."
"So... so I hope you can quietly let me eat your brain!" The feeling of Violet disappeared, Shosei-ji bit off Shiyu's head in one gulp. It turned out that Shosei-ji had unknowingly used Violet to divert Shiyu's attention, but in reality, he had already slowly approached Shiyu.
"Haha. Hmm. You call yourself a master? A little girl's sweet talk and you've lost your life! Haha. Eh. Hmm. What's going on!?" Shosei-ji chewed on Shiyu's head, but then realized something was very wrong, because Shiyu's body was still standing in front of Shosei-ji, unyielding.
"How was it? Did the lava taste good?" Shiyu asked after emerging from another location.
"Lava. How is this possible?!" Shosei-ji's eyes widened in disbelief as the scalding heat instantly burned his mouth, esophagus, and stomach.
The Shiyu Shosei-ji just bit off the head of the Four-Tails was naturally Lava Clone created by Shiyu using Shiyu Four-Tails' chakra.
"You!" Shosei-ji was in agony and collapsed to the ground. His Violet appearance gradually disappeared, and he returned to his original fat appearance with sideburns and a beard.
"I believe Violet's words are sincere, but you shouldn't take advantage of her feelings for me and my feelings for her to hurt me."
"Shosei-ji, if Violet didn't have a place in my heart, I would have killed you the moment you began to doubt me. You should thank Violet for letting you live these precious few more minutes."
"You, Shosei-ji, want to resist, but you simply can't."
"Die, Shosei-ji!"