The Advancing Evil Spirit

Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen show interest, the village chief struck while the iron was hot.

"If you, my lord, can help us deal with the man-eating demon,"

"We would be eternally grateful!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up the tea in front of him and took another sip.

"So, your way of showing eternal gratitude is to poison the tea?"

The village chief's expression froze, though he tried his best to maintain his composure.

"My lord..."

"What are you saying..."

"How could I possibly put poison in the tea?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen waved his hand, overturning the table in front of him, sending the tea and food scattering across the floor as a dignified aura radiated from his upright frame.

"It seems the weak always harbor wishful thinking."

"So let me guess..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen engaged the brain of the Professor of Ninjutsu, closing in on the truth in an instant.

"You intended to offer me to that man-eating creature?"

"And those women and children weren't hidden away..."

"They were eaten, weren't they?"

Upon hearing this, the village chief lowered his head in silence for a moment before admitting with a gloomy expression, "That drug was supposed to have a delayed effect..."

"It seems you truly are a well-trained ninja."

The Warring States period undoubtedly had ninjas, but they were far removed from the ninjas of the Hokage world, being at most death-sworn warriors with some methods for killing.

As for the so-called drug, it would be strange if a mortal world's poison could affect a ninja with chakra.

To poison a Kage, one would need to be a pharmacist on the level of Chiyo or Tsunade at the very least.

Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't be bothered to correct him and asked directly.

"You know that man-eating demon, don't you."

"Tell me about it..."

"Give me the intelligence on that demon."

The village chief let out a strange laugh, his expression twisted and hideous.

"Hahahaha."

"If I tell you, will you let me go?!"

"It's useless."

"Humans could never be a match for the demon!"

"You'll be joining me soon!"

"It's just a pity..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.

"Pity what?!"

"Whoosh!"

The village chief suddenly pulled a sharp kitchen knife from beneath him, swinging it with a whistling wind toward the top of Sarutobi Hiruzen's head.

Judging by his stance, he was clearly a skilled warrior in his youth.

"Clang!"

"What?!"

The village chief's hideous face froze in place, for his knife had struck the top of his opponent's head, yet it felt as if he had struck hard granite, emitting a metallic clanging sound!

"Earth Style: Hardening Technique."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression remained unchanged as the area above his neck quietly turned a yellowish hue.

"Clatter!"

An incomprehensible, supernatural event had occurred, causing the village chief to lose all will to resist as the kitchen knife slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

"I know!"

"You're a demon too, aren't you!"

"Don't kill me!"

"I can provide you with fresh blood and meat!"

"I am also willing to be transformed into a demon!"

The village chief immediately prostrated himself, kowtowing repeatedly as he begged Sarutobi Hiruzen for mercy, believing that Sarutobi Hiruzen was also a demon possessing supernatural powers.

"How truly pathetic."

"It seems the man-eating demon promised to transform you into a demon as well."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression held a trace of pity, mixed with a hint of disgust.

Then, without a moment's hesitation, he struck down with his palm, his condensed chakra shattering the man's internal organs.

Watching the village chief collapse with a hideous expression on his face, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt not a ripple of emotion in his heart.

He felt no guilt in finishing off a guy who lacked even a shred of humanity and had pushed the women and children of an entire village into the abyss.

"I acted too quickly."

Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head.

"I forgot to ask for the location of the demon's hideout..."

"However..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen crouched down and formed hand seals.

"Ninpō: Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

"This must be the place where it's hiding."

"The so-called man-eating demon."

Sarutobi Hiruzen leaped down from a tree dozens of meters high, his superior ninja footwork allowing him to run with the speed of a machine.

The distance of over ten kilometers vanished in an instant.

Looking at the terrain of the valley before him, Sarutobi Hiruzen twitched his nose.

"This scent of blood..."

"It's as thick as if a war had been fought here."

Even Sarutobi Hiruzen had only smelled such a concentrated stench of blood during brutal wars.

With a sense of foreboding, Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped into the valley.

Sure enough, corpses were strewn everywhere, and blood flowed like a river.

The bodies of women and children were scattered about, and they were far from intact.

Whether it was internal organs or limbs, there were traces of being gnawed on by beasts, leaving behind only heads with eyes wide open in death, their expressions frozen in despair.

The scene was so tragic that even Sarutobi Hiruzen, who possessed memories of ninja wars, could not help but frown.

"Man-eating demon."

Sarutobi Hiruzen saw the image of the demon from the village chief's memories, and he already had some answers in his heart.

As Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped through the sticky gore and walked a short distance forward, he saw a hunched figure hunched over a corpse.

The sound of it loudly chewing on hard matter reached his ears, enough to make one's teeth ache.

"Hm?!"

"More food has arrived?!"

The demon's voice was no different from a normal person's, though its tone carried a deep, insatiable greed.

"It seems the food that guy promised me..."

"Is even more plentiful than expected."

The demon looked back toward Sarutobi Hiruzen with a satisfied expression.

A pair of blood-red pupils unlike those of a human, a mouth full of sharp fangs, and dark red bloodstains on its face—

The sheer intimidation of these brutal elements combined was enough to make an ordinary person lose all ability to resist instantly.

Yet, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the demon before him with an equally scrutinizing gaze.

"It has completely detached itself from humanity, hasn't it?"

"The supernatural power of this world."

Although its appearance was not much different from an ordinary human, the brutal, bloody aura it exuded and the rapid flow of blood within its body...

In Sarutobi Hiruzen's perception, it already posed a certain level of threat.

"It's roughly at the level of a chūnin's energy..."

"And..."

"It's still rising rapidly..."

"Is it because it has consumed so much flesh and blood?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen estimated based on the power scaling of the Hokage world.

"However, to be certain, I will have to test it myself..."

As he spoke, Sarutobi Hiruzen vanished from where he stood in an instant.

"What?!"

The man-eating demon before him was stunned, having suddenly lost sight of the human's figure.

"Bang!"

Chakra erupted violently against the demon's cheek, and a force far exceeding that of an ordinary person sent it flying instantly.

Crumbled rocks and dust kicked up against the cliffside, swallowing the demon's form.

Yet, Sarutobi Hiruzen did not focus his gaze ahead; instead, he tilted his body slightly, relying on his astonishing combat judgment to dodge a sharp, blood-scented claw.

The biting wind of the claw made Sarutobi Hiruzen's cheek sting, passing mere inches away.

But at this moment, his expression remained remarkably calm.

Or rather, a certain combat instinct that had been dormant within his body was rapidly awakening.

Even a long career as the Hokage could not erase the memories of dancing on the battlefield.

This is the terrifying nature of the profession known as a ninja.

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