Bloodbath in the Valley of Hell

Inside the dungeon, Jōen collapsed in agony, pounding his forehead against the ground without pause.

"Someone—anyone, help me undo this seal."

"I have to go save my wife."

The youth looked tormented, but the seal on his face could not be broken by brute force alone.

His head striking the floor was merely an outlet for the helplessness churning inside him.

To complete the vile ritual, a clansman who had awakened the Ketsuryūgan was needed as a sacrifice.

Jōen's talent was exceptional, his combat prowess extraordinary—the Chinoike Clan had no desire to lose their strongest fighter so easily.

That left few viable targets.

In the end, the youth's wife became the unfortunate sacrifice. He had the power to resist, but he naively trusted in his clansmen's conscience.

To escape torment and take revenge on those who had wronged them, there was nothing the Chinoike Clan wouldn't do.

If necessary, they would offer up even more sacrifices, just to complete the legendary evil ritual.

"I... I should have killed you all back then."

"That's right—you're nothing but demons. You wanted to kill a mother right in front of her child."

Jōen's voice was thick with self-reproach.

If only he had seen through them sooner, his wife would still be alive.

Bang!

"Who's there?!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The clamor of fighting drew the youth's attention. He tilted his head slightly, as if straining to listen.

Within seconds, footsteps sounded outside, and then he heard someone open his cell.

Crackle! A sound like birdsong rang out, and the next moment, the cloth strips sealing Jōen were torn to shreds.

The youth slowly opened his eyes. Before him stood a stranger—a boy.

The pitch-black tomoe in his eyes were unmistakable. An Uchiha, then. But none of that mattered anymore.

A dark purple, single-line pupil gradually surfaced. The whites of the youth's eyes flooded with blood. He raised his palm slowly, aiming it at the reinforcements rushing in from afar.

"Blood Hail!"

Rice-grain-sized droplets of blood pierced through his fingertips, one after another, filling the space between them in an instant.

Even Sosuke, standing nearby, felt his own blood churning restlessly.

At last, the onlookers witnessed the sight they dreaded most: the Chinoike Clan's strongest had broken free.

"Damn it. I said we should have killed him."

"Hmph. Don't forget who Jōen's master is. Would he have let us lay a hand on him?"

"Then what now? You want to go up against the Ketsuryūgan?"

"Maybe we should retreat for now."

Before the words faded, a storm of blood droplets engulfed both men entirely.

By the time the others reacted, the blood floating in the air had multiplied tenfold.

Killing fed his strength—the more lives he took, the more power the youth could unleash.

"Let's go." Jōen walked ahead, his expression flat. By the time the two stepped out of the corridor, no one alive remained in the dungeon.

Gazing at the sea of blood hovering overhead, Sosuke frowned. He had finally witnessed the true power of the Ketsuryūgan.

Even he didn't want to fight the man before him now.

Outside, all members of the Chinoike Clan had gathered. As the two walked out slowly, someone couldn't help but shout, "Jōen, don't be fooled! The Uchiha are just trying to stop us from succeeding—kill that man!"

"That's right! Our grand ambition is about to be realized. We can't fail now!"

"Think about it—how much suffering and torment have we endured all these years? Don't we deserve revenge?!"

The clansmen spoke with heartfelt sincerity, as if they truly had no choice. But Jōen's eyes were fixed only on the woman bound to the altar.

"Jōen!" Suddenly, a familiar voice made him falter. His gaze finally shifted from his wife.

The speaker was an old man, his body withered from prolonged torment. He was the master who had raised the youth.

"Don't do anything foolish." The elder sighed softly, his tone earnest. "I won't say much more—you understand. I'll only ask you this: are you really willing to abandon your entire clan for the sake of one woman?"

Hearing this, the youth did not answer immediately. Instead, his eyes swept slowly across every face in the crowd.

Finally, they settled on the master he loved and respected most.

He asked a very strange question.

"Master, why wasn't it your daughter who became the sacrifice?"

The moment the words left his lips, blood transformed into a flexible whip and, in the blink of an eye, sliced across the neck of the man he had once revered most.

Not a single word could he utter. The old man, head severed from body, collapsed and died gruesomely.

"Damn, what a waste." Sosuke couldn't wait any longer. This bastard really had the ability to single-handedly annihilate the Chinoike Clan.

If he didn't come out soon, forget about eating meat—he wouldn't even get the purines in the broth.

Before long, the once-great Chinoike Clan was completely consigned to history.

The blood that had coiled in the sky had now transformed into several ferocious blood dragons. Even after slaughtering their powerful enemy, they still hadn't dissipated.

Sosuke could feel it—they were staring dead at him.

"Hey hey, you're not going to repay kindness with enmity, are you?" Sosuke's tone was casual, showing no particular tension.

Nonsense. Why would a mere Shadow Clone of his be nervous? The real body, that sneaky bastard, would never recklessly barge into the unknown Valley of Hell.

Better to earn fewer points than to throw his life away.

If things went south, at worst he'd lose a Shadow Clone. If things succeeded, with the clone there, he could still find a way to scrape together some points.

Turning his head to give him a deep look, Oyakajōen asked flatly, "Tell me, why did you help me?"

"I was only helping myself." Sosuke wasn't lying to him.

The young man didn't understand, but that didn't stop him from grasping the meaning behind the other's words.

Some things—don't pry into them. It's better for everyone.

With a thunderous roar, the blood dragons in the sky finally fell. Oyakajōen didn't bother with him further and went to rescue his trapped wife and daughter.

Before he left, Sosuke couldn't help but call out to him: "Don't forget—you're now the criminal who massacred the Chinoike Clan. I was never here today."

"Fine." Oyakajōen nodded, deciding to bear this huge burden alone.

Consider it a small repayment.

"Uh, a friendly reminder—it'd be best if you don't use your original name from now on."

After thinking it over briefly, the young man felt the other had a point.

"Then from now on, I'll call myself Oyakajōen."

Watching the family of three gradually disappear, Sosuke smiled faintly and voluntarily dispelled his Shadow Clone.

Regardless, at least the Valley of Hell problem was permanently resolved.

First, he no longer had to stay stationed here.

Second, the other clan members could finally leave this hell.

Third, the points he'd earned from this trip were no small haul.

Even though most of the kills had been snatched away, the Shadow Clone had still managed to cut down some people in a desperate fight.

An absolute bounty of gains.