In the dungeon, Jōen lay sprawled on the ground in agony, repeatedly banging his forehead against the floor.
"Somebody! Please, somebody help me break this seal!"
"I have to save my wife."
The young man looked utterly miserable, but there was no way to break the seal on his face by brute force.
He was only pounding the floor to vent his helplessness.
To complete the wicked ritual, they needed a member of the clan who had awakened the Ketsuryūgan as a sacrifice.
Jōen was exceptionally talented and a formidable fighter. The Chinoike Clan didn't want to lose their strongest warrior so easily.
That left few other possible targets.
In the end, the young man's wife had been chosen as the sacrifice. He could have resisted, but he had naively believed in his clanmates' conscience.
There was nothing the Chinoike Clan wouldn't do to escape their torment and take revenge on those who had hurt them.
If necessary, they would offer even more sacrifices, all to complete the legendary wicked ritual.
"I... I should have killed you all back then."
"That's right. You're a bunch of demons! You were actually going to kill her mother right in front of a child."
Jōen's voice was filled with remorse.
If only he had seen through them sooner, his wife wouldn't have come to harm.
Bang!
"Who's there?!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The commotion of a fight caught the young man's attention. He turned his head slightly, seeming to strain to hear what was going on.
A few seconds later, footsteps sounded outside. Then he heard someone open his cell.
A crackling sound rang out, like birds chirping. The next moment, the strips of cloth sealing Jōen were torn to shreds.
The young man slowly opened his eyes. A strange boy stood before him.
The black Tomoe in the boy's eyes were unmistakable. He seemed to be an Uchiha, but none of that mattered anymore.
Dark purple, slit-shaped pupils slowly emerged. The whites of the young man's eyes grew bloodshot as he raised a hand and aimed at the reinforcements approaching in the distance.
"Blood Hail!"
Blood beads no bigger than grains of rice pierced his fingers, one after another, filling the space between them in an instant.
Even Sosuke, standing nearby, felt the blood in his veins churning wildly.
At last, the people saw the sight they had dreaded most: the Chinoike Clan's strongest fighter had broken free.
"Damn it, I said we should've killed him!"
"Hmph. Don't forget who Jōen's master is. Do you think he'd let us lay a hand on him?"
"Then what do we do? Are you going to face the Ketsuryūgan?"
"Maybe we should retreat for now."
Before the words had left his mouth, blood beads blanketed the two men from head to toe.
By the time the others reacted, the blood floating in the sky had grown more than tenfold.
The more he killed, the stronger the young man became.
"Let's go." Jōen walked ahead with an impassive expression. By the time the two of them left the passageway, there wasn't a single living person left in the dungeon.
Looking up at the sea of blood overhead, Sosuke frowned. At last, he had seen the Ketsuryūgan's true power.
Even he didn't want to fight the man before him now.
Outside, the Chinoike Clan had gathered in full. Watching the two men walk out, someone couldn't help shouting, "Jōen, don't fall for it! The Uchiha must be here to stop us from achieving our goal. Kill him!"
"That's right! Our great undertaking is on the verge of success. We can't let it fail at the last moment!"
"Think about all the suffering and torment we've endured over the years. Don't we deserve revenge?!"
The clan members spoke with heartfelt conviction, as if they truly had no other choice. Yet Jōen's eyes were fixed only on the woman bound to the altar.
"Jōen!" A familiar voice suddenly made him stir. At last, he turned his gaze away from his wife.
An old man approached, emaciated from years of torment. He was the master who had raised and taught the young man.
"Don't do anything foolish." The old man sighed softly and advised him earnestly, "I won't waste words. You understand well enough. I'll just ask you this: are you really going to abandon your entire clan for one woman?"
The young man didn't answer at once. He simply looked over each person's face in turn.
At last, his gaze settled on the master he had loved and respected most.
He asked a very strange question.
"Master, why wasn't your daughter chosen as the sacrifice?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the blood formed a supple whip and swept across the neck of the teacher he had once respected most.
The old man couldn't utter a word. His head severed from his body, he fell to the ground and died.
"Damn, what a waste." Sosuke couldn't wait any longer. This bastard really could wipe out the entire Chinoike Clan on his own.
If he didn't step in now, he wouldn't even get a taste of the soup, let alone the meat.
Before long, the Chinoike Clan had become a thing of the past.
The blood that had gathered in the sky had transformed into several fierce blood dragons. Even after their enemies were dead, they still didn't vanish.
Sosuke could feel them staring straight at him.
"Hey, hey, you're not going to repay my kindness with betrayal, are you?" Sosuke sounded casual, not particularly nervous.
Obviously, there was no reason for his Shadow Clone to be nervous. His real self was too cautious to rush into the Valley of Hell without knowing what was going on.
Better to earn fewer Points than risk his life.
If things went wrong, he'd only lose a Shadow Clone. If they went well, he could still find a way to earn some Points with the clone around.
Jōen turned and gave him a long look before asking calmly, "Tell me, why did you help me?"
"I was only helping myself." Sosuke wasn't lying.
The young man didn't understand, but that didn't stop him from grasping the meaning behind the words.
Some things were better left unasked. It was better for everyone.
With a thunderous boom, the blood dragons in the sky finally crashed down. Jōen paid him no further attention and went to rescue his wife and daughter.
Before he left, Sosuke couldn't help calling after him, "Don't forget, you're now the criminal who slaughtered the Chinoike Clan. I was never here today."
"Okay." Jōen nodded, deciding to shoulder the blame himself.
It was a small token of gratitude.
"Uh, just a friendly tip: from now on, you'd better stop using your old name."
After thinking it over, the young man decided the advice made sense.
"Then from now on, I'll be called Oyakajōen."
Watching the family of three disappear into the distance, Sosuke smiled and dispelled his Shadow Clone.
No matter what, the Valley of Hell's problem had been solved for good.
First, he wouldn't have to keep guarding this place.
Second, the other clan members could finally leave this hell.
Third, the Points he'd earned from this trip were substantial.
Although most of the kills had been stolen from him, the Shadow Clone had still managed to take down a few people before it was gone.
Definitely a very rewarding trip.
Before you continue