Ghoul

"Ah!!!"

The agonized, miserable wail echoed endlessly through the room.

The man had fallen to his knees, raising his pale, twisted face. His hands hung limply at his sides, while the veins bulging across his body seemed filled with countless writhing insects.

At that moment, he felt as though a giant hand had tightly gripped every blood vessel and tendon in his body, then violently pulled them out through his lower back.

Countless bloodshot veins spread through his eyes. The next second, a massive dark-purple centipede burst out of his lower back!

Its dark-purple exoskeleton reflected an armor-like sheen, and the densely packed limbs along both sides were as sharp as sickles, capable of effortlessly tearing a human body apart.

"This is..."

The suspicion on Sakamoto's face turned entirely into shock the instant the centipede burst from the man's body.

He had never imagined that what Simu said was actually true.

Just by swallowing that tiny thing, one's body could undergo such a massive transformation!

The next second, an unexpected change occurred.

The waiter suddenly raised his head and fixed Sakamoto with scarlet eyes. He abruptly swung his enormous Weihe like a greatsword, slashing heavily at Sakamoto!

Sakamoto's expression changed dramatically, but fortunately, the subordinate beside him reacted in time.

"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

A thick wall suddenly rose from the ground beneath their feet, dividing the entire room in two.

The powerful Weihe slammed heavily against the stone wall. Rocks immediately flew everywhere, and crack after crack appeared across the thick wall.

"Chairman, watch out!"

Another subordinate suddenly appeared behind Sakamoto, wrapped both arms around him, and rapidly retreated.

At that very moment, the earthen wall serving as a shield collapsed with a thunderous crash, filling the room with dust.

Then, a black shadow emerged from the yellowish-gray haze. The thick centipede Weihe pierced through the smoke and charged at Sakamoto again.

At that moment, another ninja appeared.

Pale-blue Chakra wrapped around the blade, which sliced a small gash into the Weihe from the side.

The Chakra blade's strike greatly disrupted the Weihe's aim. It plunged directly into the wall roughly three or four meters to Sakamoto's left.

After narrowly escaping death again and again, Sakamoto clenched his fists and said with killing intent, "Take him out!"

"Yes!"

The subordinate ninja immediately accepted the order. After rapidly forming hand seals, he slammed both palms onto the ground.

"Earth Style: Earth Flow!"

The earth-nature Chakra he had gathered in advance flowed through his palms into the ground, swiftly breaking down the hard floor into countless grains of sand and spreading beneath the waiter's feet!

The waiter, currently in a berserk state, had clearly lost the ability to think for himself.

He probably did not even know who he was anymore, much less react to an enemy's attack.

Caught off guard, his feet immediately sank deep into the sand. The more he struggled, the deeper he sank.

Even controlling his Weihe to repeatedly attack the ground proved useless.

First, earth-nature Chakra is refined. Then, after the corresponding hand seals are formed, the Chakra can be injected into the ground, changing its form and turning it into sand along a predetermined path.

Simu lightly pushed up his glasses, silently deducing how Chakra operated.

In the end, the waiter implanted with a Kagune was completely restrained within the sand pit.

"Clap clap clap."

A round of applause rang out in the wrecked room.

Sakamoto was clapping his hands.

Not only was he not angry at Simu over the sudden attack, he instead wore an excited expression.

"As expected of the omnipotent Lord Jashin. You really can transform an ordinary person into..."

Sakamoto did not continue.

Because even he did not know how to describe this kind of person.

Or rather, this kind of creature.

Fortunately, Simu promptly finished his sentence for him. "Mr. Sakamoto can call them..."

"[Ghouls]."

Sakamoto raised an eyebrow and pondered it briefly, the smile on his face growing even brighter.

"Ghouls? What a fine name."

"However, I have a question."

Simu said calmly, "Please ask."

Sakamoto looked at the 'Ghoul' buried in the sand pit. "Mr. God Child, will everyone implanted with a Kagune lose their sanity?"

This was a very important matter.

He had already witnessed the power unleashed after a Kagune implantation. It was indeed extremely formidable.

In a one-on-one fight, it could already rival an ordinary Genin.

Some might look down on Genin, but to ordinary people, a Genin who had just mastered ninjutsu was already an invincible existence.

If he could mass-produce Ghouls capable of fighting ninjas...

Forget a mere Gato—perhaps he could gain the strength to challenge a ninja village!

Faced with Sakamoto's question, Simu shook his head. "Not all Ghouls will enter such a crazed state. The effects of Kagune implantation vary from person to person."

Upon hearing this, Sakamoto immediately revealed an excited expression and impatiently asked, "Then that means I can create Ghouls who retain their sanity and obey orders?"

Simu nodded and said in an exceptionally calm voice, "A Kagune merely amplifies and influences what lies within a person's heart. So long as their willpower is strong enough and they can control their inner selves, they can theoretically retain their sanity."

Even Simu had no way to completely eliminate that issue.

After all, a Kagune was essentially a parasite born from genetic fusion and mutation. The nature of the Insect Swarm was plunder and slaughter, so personality changes after Kagune implantation were perfectly normal.

Of course, Simu himself did not have this problem.

After all, he was the king of all Jashin Races. A mere Kagune could not affect him at all.

As for Hidan?

That guy had been crazy from the start and was already immune to this kind of mental attack.

After hearing Simu's reply, Sakamoto became even more excited. He immediately gathered his subordinates and prepared to begin Kagune experiments.

Just then, one of his subordinates stepped forward and whispered something into his ear.

Sakamoto's brows immediately drew together. Anyone familiar with him would know this was a sign that Sakamoto was about to lose his temper.

Yet for some reason, Sakamoto restrained his anger this time.

He looked at Simu and asked, "Mr. God Child, did any other members of the Jashin Cult accompany you here this time?"

Simu raised an eyebrow and understood what had happened in less than a second.

It seemed Shiraishi Mori, the one who had stolen his necklace, had caused some trouble and been caught by someone from Sakamoto Trading Company.

Sure enough, he checked through the Black Beetle.

That kid had actually gone to the dungeon on his own and happened to be discovered by Sakamoto's subordinates. They had merely refrained from arresting him immediately due to his identity as a member of the Jashin Cult.

Thinking this, Simu pretended to be unconcerned and shook his head. "Probably not."

Sakamoto's eyes immediately narrowed, terrifying killing intent surging within them.