So Scary

To obtain Hero Water, one must seek out the Hero Clan.

During the Warring States period, the Hero Clan was not a clan in the traditional sense. They possessed no surname, and their origins likely stemmed from a group of commoners who gathered together, possessing a smattering of ninja techniques, and banded together to survive the chaos of the era. Consequently, their family traditions lacked depth; they were eclectic and messy, knowing a little bit of everything but lacking the distinct style or characteristics of a true ninja clan.

What they relied on was simply the courage to risk their lives. The head of the clan had to be prepared to consume a large amount of Hero Water to fight at critical moments, knowing that even if they achieved victory, they would die after the battle due to the rapid depletion of their life force caused by the side effects of the Hero Water.

Furthermore, to prevent clan members from drinking the Hero Water recklessly and using its power wantonly, the supply was always kept in the hands of the clan head.

Fortunately, the previous clan head died like a hero after consuming a large amount of Hero Water during the operation to capture the Seven-Tails. Now, the only person who knows the secrets of the Hero Water is the young clan leader.

Yura had seen her a few times in the village—a seventeen-year-old girl named Huan. In her previous life, Yura had simply thought of her as an annoyingly radiant person, but looking at her now, she seemed more like a social butterfly dancing in long sleeves.

Currently residing within the Hero Clan's territory in Takigakure, kidnapping her without anyone noticing was a task of high difficulty. To avoid alerting the enemy, Yura had to patiently wait for an opportunity.

Therefore, Yura settled down outside the village, and aside from her training, she never relaxed her surveillance of the village.

Four days later, the opportunity arrived unexpectedly.

It is common knowledge that ninjas must perform missions, and Takigakure was no exception. The village always had a large number of ninjas out on missions; some were commissions, while others were classified village tasks. Though Takigakure was small, it had an estimated two to three thousand ninjas, and all those mouths had to be fed.

Although it was somewhat abstract for the young clan leader to be out on a mission, there were naturally reasons for it. To Yura, that was unimportant; what mattered was that she had come out.

Outside Takigakure, a group of three ninjas was advancing rapidly through the dense forest, heading in the direction of the Land of Earth.

Combining this with intelligence gathered from the village elders' high-level meetings, this trip was specifically for negotiating alliances with countries like the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind. They had dispatched an envoy with sufficient status and standing: the young leader of the Hero Clan, the next Takikage.

With the failure of the assassination attempt on the God of Shinobi, the village had to prepare for the worst. There was no other reason: Takigakure was too far from heaven and too close to Konoha. The village's fear of Senju Hashirama and Konoha was bone-deep.

Moving through the treetops was a Nadeshiko-style girl with long black hair and black eyes. She had a slender, tall figure and wore simple, loose, light-blue casual clothes. Most striking was the somewhat tattered red scarf around her neck, which looked ancient at a glance. Her overall image was a bit rustic and countrified, yet she did not lack a maiden's beauty.

The two ninjas accompanying her to scout the path ahead came from the Qian Gui Clan and the Kusanagi Clan, respectively.

The one from the Qian Gui Clan was an ugly man with thick body hair, while the one from the Kusanagi Clan was a young man wielding a blade.

The characteristics of the Kusanagi Clan were very obvious: their skin was extremely pale, and their pupils looked more like those of a beast than a human.

Yura found him quite familiar.

What kind of beast did he resemble?

A snake.

He carried a sense of cold, sinister malice.

Yura did not harbor any deep-seated hatred for the Kusanagi Clan; the family system was just that way, and it wasn't specifically targeting Yura. Besides, the sword instructor who had abused Yura back then had long since died in the Warring States period.

So, Yura simply crooked her finger.

In the path of the two ninjas, crisscrossing threads silently blocked the way, forming a lethal web.

Black Secret Technique: Birdcage

In terrain like a dense forest, it was perfect for Yura to set traps.

The next second, ten meters in front of Huan, the two ninjas were silently and naturally sliced apart in an instant before her eyes. They didn't even have time to scream, abruptly scattering into two piles of bloody chunks that fell silently from mid-air.

They had simply walked into Yura's Birdcage without realizing it, but such a scene was utterly terrifying, even for a seventeen-year-old girl accustomed to the cruelty of the Warring States period.

In an instant, her pupils shrank to the size of needles in sudden horror. With Huan in mid-air and nowhere to leverage, the sensation of death followed her like a shadow. Cold sweat broke out in layers, and as her hair stood on end, she landed on a tree branch.

Crouching down, she looked around in terror and shouted sharply, "Who's there! Come out!"

Hiding beneath the tree, Yura did not reveal herself, merely hooking her finger again.

Black Secret Technique: Parasite

Dozens of thin threads scattered in the air circled around the girl, Huan. The invisible lines plummeted like shooting stars. Huan's body shuddered as blossoms of blood bloomed across her torso, limbs, and neck. As tiny red dots emerged, she stood frozen on the branch, unable to move a muscle.

Huan's pupils trembled, filled with shock and fear.

Her body could no longer move, as if bound by invisible threads, her fate gripped by the nape of the neck.

Just then, a drifting female voice echoed through the dense forest.

"No matter who they are, everyone has their own sorrows..."

Following the sound, Huan discovered her standing under a tree not far away, a flicker of tension and fear appearing in her eyes.

She stood in the dappled shade, wisps of morning light circling her body. It was as if she had always been there, yet she also seemed to have appeared suddenly, like a phantom in the woods, appearing somewhat unreal. Yet, in Huan's memory, there was a touch of familiarity.

Staring closely at that fair, delicate little face, a sense of realization dawned in her eyes.

"It's you, Ai!"

Ai was Yura's name—her name in her previous life. In her memories, that young couple who died protecting her had always called her by that name, crying and screaming for her to run, telling her she must live, she must, she must.

"Ai, is it..." Yura's eyes brimmed with memories.

It could only be described as a cute yet weak name. She had changed her name because the one her parents gave her was too embarrassing.

Yura absolutely did not want to be called "Ai-Ai-Ai" by anyone.

"Why..." Huan asked.

Yura hooked her finger, cutting off her subsequent words. Although her body was controlled, her mouth was not sealed. Huan's body shuddered, and under her terrified gaze, she was lifted into the air, dangling as she descended from the canopy to the ground. Following that, as a tearing pain erupted from deep within her body, her limbs moved involuntarily and strangely, stumbling step by step until she stood before Yura.

She was the one behind this!

Her gaze fell upon Yura's slender, constantly curling fingers, which were dancing lightly as if operating a puppet.

At this moment, she was nothing more than a puppet in the other's hands.

Standing still before Yura, blood gushing from her wounds, she felt that Yura's method of controlling puppets was far from gentle. To a certain extent, it was a form of torture—not just physical pain, but a mental helplessness and suppression. Having to watch one's own body being manipulated while being unable to do anything was by no means a pleasant experience.

Looking at those calm, scarlet eyes with a hint of panic, Huan swallowed hard and asked, "What do you want to do?"

"It's not about what I want to do..." Yura smiled faintly. "It's about what you want to do."

What do I want to do?

Huan looked at Yura, who had countered with her own question, and couldn't help but feel lost. As her lips parted slightly, a cold glint flickered within her mouth.

The distance was already very close.

"There are some things that, unless experienced, one can never understand the feeling of being unable to control one's own fate."

Huan was confused... watching her own bewildered reflection in those scarlet pupils.

"The drifting shadow of sin, the pathetic fate, the lost path, the two mirrors shattered by hating and being hated—they are dual shackles, emerging from the intertwined time and darkness..."

It was as if she had said something, yet also as if she had said nothing at all.

Huan stared at the calm-faced Yura, gradually steadying herself. Her throat moved, the senbon hidden within her windpipe poised and ready to strike.

"Your resentment..." Yura gazed into Huan's eyes, those eyes harboring surging hatred, and said flatly, "What are you resenting?"

Capable of absorbing the negative emotions from the depths of the human heart, Yura was, in other words, a demon who could perceive the darkness hidden deep within people.

She was a demon capable of insight into the human heart.

To some extent, this ability was known as malice perception.

Huan's pupils trembled violently. After a long while, she lowered her head powerlessly, the senbon retracting and sliding back down into her stomach.

"What should I hate? Should I hate the wretched fate that dictates I must eventually drink the Hero Water?"

Heh...

Just as expected.

Yura let out a soft chuckle; the breakthrough point was right here.

"Are you afraid of death? Isn't it good to become a hero?"

"A hero?" A trace of mockery appeared in Huan's eyes as she laughed, "In other words, everyone is just waiting for the day I die."

"How terrifying." Yura clapped her hands and said, "So, you don't want to die?"

Huan shook her head, then nodded. She looked up, studying Yura earnestly, and said, "Ai, compared to before, you've really changed a lot."