I Quit!

Boom.

With a rumble, a yellow phantom image was projected from Shinji's body, instantly breaking free from the Hand Demon's grasp. It then transformed into a giant, skeletal torso phantom made of bone.

In the swirling dust, Shinji, standing beneath the colossal phantom, looked like a god.

His blood-red eyes reflected a Mangekyo pattern of three interwoven rings, his entire being radiating a chilling killing intent!

The Hand Demon was shocked. "Wh-what exactly are you?"

Before the Hand Demon could finish speaking, Shinji activated Susanoo, unleashing a devastating punch from above onto the Hand Demon.

Squelch.

The Hand Demon's seemingly solid body was no match for the terrifying might of Susanoo. With a burst of sound, it shattered into pieces, flesh and blood scattering everywhere.

In an instant, the already blood-soaked courtyard became even more chaotic.

However, after only a few breaths, the flesh and blood in the crater began to writhe, then rapidly expand, quickly restoring the Hand Demon to its original form.

"As expected of 'Light'!" The Hand Demon covered its mouth and chuckled. "Ohoho, you can't kill me, you can't kill me!"

"Tch!"

Shinji wasted no words, activating Susanoo once more and smashing down with another punch.

Without any surprise, the Hand Demon was crushed again by Shinji.

This time, however, Shinji didn't wait for the Hand Demon to fully recover. Just as its flesh and blood began to writhe, he threw another punch.

Boom, boom, boom.

The continuous, heavy blows of Susanoo widened the crater on the ground, its cracks extending for dozens of meters.

The surrounding buildings were affected one after another, collapsing. Even the main hall, which was further away, had a corner crumble.

A moment later, Shinji stopped his assault.

Compared to the beginning, the flesh and blood were recovering much slower. The Hand Demon eventually regenerated, but its size had shrunk considerably from when it had just devoured over a hundred guards.

"M-miserable!"

The feeling of weakness erased the Hand Demon's previous frenzy, replacing it with deep fear.

It had never imagined facing such a monster. Just looking at Shinji's Mangekyo Sharingan made it tremble with dread.

It wanted to escape, to continue devouring humans to regain its strength, but Susanoo, standing before it, blocked all such ambitions.

The Hand Demon trembled and instinctively took a step back. "No, you don't even have a sword, how can I die by your hand!"

Shinji slowly walked towards the Hand Demon. "It seems you still don't understand what this place is. Soon, you'll be longing for sunlight and a Nichirin Blade."

"He knows! He knows my weakness! I'm going to die!"

The Hand Demon's pupils constricted sharply, its entire being consumed by fear, its will instantly disintegrating.

Sensing this moment, Shinji didn't hesitate. He moved swiftly, activating Susanoo again and throwing a punch towards the Hand Demon.

Boom.

The Hand Demon's body was smashed to pieces once more.

But this time, the flesh and blood on the ground did not writhe and gather again. Instead, it dissipated into the air like ashes.

[Invasion successfully blocked]
[Rift closed.]

Hearing the voice in his ear, Shinji let out a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the ground. The giant Susanoo that had enveloped him instantly vanished.

"Why does protecting the Ninja World fall to me, a remnant of the Uchiha!"

He was beginning to understand now.

The so-called invasion was likely the incursion of creatures from another dimension, like the Hand Demon, into the Ninja World.

And he, whom the Hand Demon called 'Light', was most likely tasked with eliminating these invading interdimensional beings and protecting the safety of the Ninja World.

Though he understood, he strongly resisted it in his heart.

He had been inexplicably thrown here and inexplicably fought a battle against a monster. If not for his Mangekyo Sharingan, he would already be inside the Hand Demon's belly.

"Hey, I'll let this one slide, but don't let there be a next time! I quit!"

Although he didn't know if the mysterious voice could hear him, Shinji still shouted loudly.

[Loot detected.]
[Analyzing loot.]
[Loot is Basic Breathing Technique - Water Breathing]

Suddenly, a blurry mass of light appeared where the Hand Demon had turned to ash.

"Huh, there's loot too?"

Shinji walked towards the light mass.

Breathing Techniques in Demon Slayer were skills that strengthened the cardiopulmonary function through breathing, greatly enhancing ordinary people's speed and strength, allowing fragile humans to fight demons.

Because it was achieved purely through breathing, there were no bloodline limitations to learning Breathing Techniques. As long as one had talent and worked hard enough, everyone could achieve some degree of improvement from Breathing Techniques.

As for how much improvement they could achieve, that varied from person to person.

However, this technique, which didn't involve complex Chakra nature transformations, was undoubtedly a good thing for Shinji at the moment, so he reached out and grabbed the ball of light.

Instantly.

Fragments of memories of learning 'Water Breathing' were absorbed into his mind.

At the same time, he understood why the spoils of defeating the Hand Demon were 'Water Breathing'.

It was clearly because the Hand Demon had devoured over a dozen swordsmen who had learned 'Water Breathing', and the memory fragments of these swordsmen had merged into its flesh and blood.

[Calculating rewards]

[Rating: E]

[Received Ninja World's Gift: Chakra (Small amount).]

Many points of light surged around him and flowed into Shinji's body one by one.

"Ah~"

The feeling was like being thrown into a hot spring when he was exhausted, so comfortable that he couldn't help but cry out.

"Ninja World's Gift?" He paused and thought, There's actually a reward!

The amount of Chakra that had just flowed into his body was almost equivalent to his own Chakra. This meant that in just a short moment, his Chakra had doubled.

However, recalling the content of the mysterious voice just now, he came to his senses: "Hey, you don't have to specifically emphasize 'small amount'!"

After rewarding a 'small amount' of Chakra, his Chakra had directly doubled.

Doesn't this mean that his original Chakra amount is approximately equal to a 'small amount'?

He also noticed that the rating given to him was E, which was clearly not a good rating.

He looked around and pondered, "Is it because the Hand Demon's invasion caused too much destruction to the Ninja World, affecting the rating? Or did the invasion last too long, affecting the rating?"

Crunch

Suddenly, a noise came from not far away.

"A survivor?"

Shinji turned his head sharply, looking in the direction of the sound.

He saw a small head poking out from the ruins of the main hall, its big eyes looking at him in the courtyard.

"This is bad!"

Realizing that his Mangekyo Sharingan had been exposed, Shinji's heart tightened.

If this secret were to leak, neither Danzo in the village nor Orochimaru outside the village would let him go.

Even some villages and organizations that were temporarily unrelated to him would hunt him down for coveting the Mangekyo Sharingan.

This would be a huge problem.

So, to confirm, he walked over quickly.

When he got closer, he realized he had some impression of the small, dusty figure in the ruins. After identifying it carefully, he muttered to himself, "These purple eyes. Is it Shion?"

Shion curiously asked, "Big brother with red eyes, do you know me?"

"So this is the palace of the Land of Demons Miko."

Shinji mumbled, his mind struggling.

Thank you all for your votes and rewards. I see many familiar faces, thank you so much!