Genjutsu Interrogation, Devouring Martial Soul Origins

"Urgh... ah..."

In an instant, Chisen, the Soul Emperor who had been so arrogantly invincible just moments ago, completely lost the ability to move.

Though Amaterasu's black flames had only touched him briefly, they had already burned through every meridian and muscle fiber in his body.

He now lay on the ground like a boneless dead dog, continuously letting out agonized howls. Only air escaped him; none entered.

Huo Yuhao walked over to him, his scarlet left eye spinning once more.

"Kagutsuchi."

With a thought, the black flames that had originally refused to die were instantly subdued under the control of Mangekyou eye power, then vanished into thin air.

After all, if Chisen were burned to ash, there would be no way to question him.

Huo Yuhao bent down and stared at the terrified, charred Soul Emperor, a mocking curve rising at the corner of his lips.

"Finally behaving yourself?"

"Weren't you shouting about killing me just now?"

He reached out and patted Chisen's face, which had already been burned beyond recognition.

"Talk. Who sent you?"

Chisen trembled all over, his single eye filled with despair and terror.

He had never imagined that this slaughter mission, which he had thought would be effortlessly easy, would end with him in such a state.

They had a Soul Emperor, a Soul King, and four Soul Ancestors!

Such a lineup could even surround and kill several Soul Emperors.

Yet now, they had been wiped out in an instant by a mere Two-Ring Soul Master?

This boy... was simply a monster wearing human skin!

If I don't talk, I'll die.

But if I do...

Chisen thought of the White Tiger Family's cruel rules, as well as his wife, children, and elderly parents still in the family.

This brat definitely has an extraordinary background.

If the White Tiger Family learns that I leaked their secret, my family will suffer worse than death!

"Cough, cough... pfft..."

Chisen spat out a mouthful of black blood mixed with fragments of organs. His gaze turned lifeless and resolute.

"Don't even think about it..."

"I won't tell you anything! If you've got the guts, kill me!"

Huo Yuhao sneered, not the least bit surprised.

"Not talking?"

"Stubborn bones."

Huo Yuhao slowly crouched down, his eerie eyes locking firmly onto Chisen's.

"Since you don't want to talk, I'll see for myself."

"Genjutsu!"

Buzz!

Three Tomoe spun wildly within Huo Yuhao's pupils, and a vast, tyrannical eye power brutally surged into Chisen's spiritual world, which was already on the verge of collapse.

Chisen's body suddenly stiffened, and his lone eye instantly lost focus.

Immediately afterward, three black Tomoe eerily appeared in his eyeball.

Control complete.

Before the Genjutsu enhanced by White Zetsu, a power-attack Soul Emperor with inherently weak spiritual power had no secrets to hide.

"Speak. Who was behind this?" Huo Yuhao's voice sounded like a divine decree.

Chisen's expression became vacant, his lips opening and closing mechanically.

"It was... Young Master Dai Huabin..."

"He was humiliated by you during the Freshman Tournament and bore a grudge... so he deployed us, the White Tiger Family death warriors personally assigned by Lord Dai Hao, the White Tiger Duke, to protect him..."

"To... assassinate you."

Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes.

"The White Tiger Family?"

Chisen answered mechanically, "Yes... the Duke Mansion is merely Lord Dai Hao's private residence. The White Tiger Family's true foundation and clan elders... are all at their ancestral estate in Star Luo City..."

"Interesting."

Huo Yuhao understood.

No wonder the strongest person in the Duke Mansion in the original story had only been that Soul Emperor captain of the guards.

Huo Yuhao rose to his feet, the killing intent in his eyes intensifying.

"Very good, Dai Huabin."

"You really dared to send people to assassinate me."

In Huo Yuhao's mind appeared an icon from the Obito template series on the System Screen, a special form that had yet to be unlocked.

It depicted a figure wearing a red mask and wielding a long blade.

[Mysterious Masked Man: Red Night Blade]

Dai Hao, and the White Tiger Family.

When the time is right, I'll personally put on this Red Mask and give you a huge surprise.

As for you, Dai Huabin... I'll make you willingly become the most perfect sacrifice in my plan, step by step.

The interrogation was over.

Huo Yuhao released the Genjutsu.

Chisen instantly regained consciousness. When he realized what he had just said, his eyes filled with despair and regret.

"Now, you can be on your way."

Huo Yuhao did not give him the chance to leave any last words.

Eye power surged through his left eye.

"Kagutsuchi!"

A mass of pitch-black Amaterasu flames condensed in his right hand, shaped into a short black sword of fire through form transformation.

Pfft!

Without hesitation, Huo Yuhao stabbed the black-flame dagger into Chisen's chest.

Just as the black flames touched Chisen's body and prepared to burn him completely to ashes—

"Hmm?"

Huo Yuhao's movement suddenly paused.

He keenly sensed that the Kagutsuchi black flames in his hand seemed to have resonated with something inside Chisen's body.

That was... the origin power of the Blazing Demon Tiger martial soul!

Both were fire-attributed. The ultimate flames of Amaterasu possessed absolute dominion over inferior flames.

At that moment, the dormant Demonic Statue of the Outer Path deep within the Sea of Consciousness stirred violently once again.

It was an even stronger hunger than when it had devoured the Spirit Bone!

Huo Yuhao's heart stirred.

Could it be...

He cautiously controlled Kagutsuchi. Rather than simply destroying, he used it as a medium like a straw, beginning to forcibly draw out the martial soul origin within Chisen's body.

"Aaaahhhhh—!!!"

Chisen let out a scream a hundred times more miserable than before.

A crimson mass of light was forcibly stripped from his body. It was his martial soul, the foundation of his existence as a soul master!

"Come... to me!"

Huo Yuhao gave a low shout.

The crimson martial soul origin flowed continuously along the black flames into Huo Yuhao's body, ultimately all being swallowed in great gulps by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path within the Sea of Consciousness.

Buzzz—!

The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path let out a satisfied low growl, and the dried, wood-like textures on its body seemed to become slightly more lustrous.

Outside—

Having lost his martial soul origin, Chisen's body rapidly shriveled and weathered away.

In the end, under the lingering power of Amaterasu, he completely turned into a pile of ash that scattered with the wind.

Huo Yuhao stood where he was, closing his eyes to sense the changes in the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Though it had not opened another eye, he could clearly feel that the energy stored within the statue had increased by another measure.

So that's how it is.

Huo Yuhao opened his eyes, a wild joy appearing at the corner of his lips.

I can even devour the origin of martial souls?

That makes sense. In a way, the relationship between martial souls and soul masters resembles the relationship between Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts in Naruto!

Huo Yuhao looked at his right hand.

Based on his previous deductions, reviving the Ten-Tails by lighting up the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's eyes would require a massive amount of energy.

It seemed that aside from hunting Spirit Beasts, devouring martial soul origins... was also another path.

But...

Huo Yuhao frowned slightly.

Right now, I can only use Kagutsuchi's attribute suppression to barely draw out the origins of fire-attributed martial souls.

If I want to obtain martial souls of other elements, such as water, earth, or wind...

My current methods won't be enough.

I'll probably need that technique!

In his mind appeared one of the ultimate rewards that would unlock once the Tiger Mask template reached 100% progress.

[Sealing Technique: Tailed Beast Extraction Seal]

A tyrannical Sealing Technique capable of forcibly stripping the Tailed Beast from within a Jinchuriki.

If I learn that...

And combine it with my Demonic Statue of the Outer Path...

Then every top-tier martial soul on this continent will become my nourishment.

Huo Yuhao turned around and looked toward Shrek City, cold light flickering in his eyes.

"Dai Huabin, just you wait."

"Once I complete the mission of this trip, I'll return and properly guide you."