Freed from their restraints, the three fell from the tree and hit the ground in agonizing pain. After several labored breaths, they each struggled to their feet and looked up at Yura, floating in midair.
"Damn it! What did you do to me!?" Qian Gui Aoi demanded sharply, fear still lingering in her eyes.
The pain had been etched too deeply into her memory. It had felt as though thousands upon thousands of iron-wire worms were burrowing through the flesh deep inside her body, like the torment of being sliced apart by a thousand blades. Perhaps nothing could be worse.
Especially her brain—it had been trembling.
The sensation of needles stabbing into her brain had been a nightmare.
If she could help it, she didn't want to experience it a second time.
Shuichi and Shin-getsu stayed silent, staring fixedly at Yura. They were a little smarter, and had vaguely sensed...
Was this technique...?
"Don't be nervous..." Yura said with a faint smile, savoring the fear of the four people present. Fear value +1 +1...
Everything Yura did was based on creating negative emotions, all for the simple purpose of getting enough to eat.
In other words, hitting people a few times whenever she felt like it. She had nothing better to do.
There was practically no one who wouldn't react emotionally to being beaten.
"I just planted a little something in your bodies..."
Invisible strands of hair stretched from the three of them to Yura's fingers.
"If you don't behave, you'll have to suffer a little."
As she finished speaking, Yura snapped her fingers.
Black Secret Technique: Bone-Eroding Brainworm
The next second, screams erupted from the three of them once more. They collapsed to the ground, trembling in agony, writhing and contorting like worms as sweat poured off them.
Whether they were the Kusanagi, Qian-Gui, or Uji, Yura didn't trust any of the three clans. Even if these three were supposedly oddballs within their clans, any ninja clan that had come through the Warring States period—and any active shinobi in the present day—had to be mentally unwell to some degree. There was no such thing as innocence.
After a while, Yura stopped the punishment.
The strands connected to her fingers snapped. For now, all of Yura's strands had to remain connected to her limbs. They could only be controlled directly from their ends; they couldn't leave Yura and exist independently.
So when the strands broke, the supposed control over their bodies ended.
But the three of them didn't know that.
Huan stood off to one side, trembling with fear. If you've beaten them, you won't beat me too. She did her best to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.
After a good while, the three of them gasped and struggled back to their feet. This time, when they looked at Yura, their eyes were clear. Their defiance was gone, and they all lowered their heads obediently.
Although Shin-getsu looked like Orochimaru, he wasn't Orochimaru after all.
Shuichi was undoubtedly clever. He stepped forward and bowed respectfully. "Lady Yura, may I ask why you summoned us?"
"You're familiar with your clan, aren't you?" Yura asked Uji Shuichi.
Uji meant bridge, while Uchiha meant fan. Put plainly, Shuichi's name was Bridge Shuichi, and Madara's was Fan Madara.
Very rustic names and surnames.
"Yes." Shuichi nodded. He was genuinely afraid of Yura; his body still trembled with pain. "I know most things about the clan."
"What exactly is the Ox-Hour Worship technique?" Yura asked.
"Well..." Shuichi was drenched in sweat. He stammered for a long while before saying, "I don't know."
Yura wasn't too disappointed. Ordinary clan members wouldn't know a secret of that level. It was like the Uchiha's Mangekyo; all she needed from him was a guide.
Although Water Release and a secret technique like the Ox-Hour Worship had nothing to do with each other, the same was true of the Uchiha's Sharingan and Fire Release.
"Then, Uji Lucy, how much do you know?" Yura continued.
"I've only heard rumors..." Shuichi said. "She's a weapon of war the clan has secretly cultivated."
"That's it?" Yura frowned. "Is there anything special about her?"
From what Yura could sense, Lucy was an extremely strange presence, which was why she hadn't rashly approached her at close range to begin with.
"There's a rumor in the clan..." Shuichi said hesitantly. "It seems she awakened the clan's Kekkei Genkai, but no one in the clan has awakened a Kekkei Genkai for a long time. In a great battle between the Senju and the Uchiha long ago, the clan's records on Kekkei Genkai were deliberately destroyed."
Could that have been the battle between Asura and Indra?
"In any case, the clan is very afraid of her," Shuichi said. "The elders have said that Lucy has the power to drive others mad and destroy them. It's no weaker than the Uchiha's Mangekyo."
In the Shinobi World of today, the Mangekyo was renowned. Many people had witnessed its power firsthand. It wasn't like later, when it would become a legendary divine power in just a few decades.
He still didn't know much. That meant she would have to meet Lucy herself.
Yura waved a hand and said coolly, "You may leave. In four days, Huan will notify you when it's time to assemble for the operation."
The three answered and hurriedly used the Body Flicker Technique to leave.
They didn't want to stay in this place a moment longer.
Seeing that everything was over, Huan gave an awkward laugh. "Yura, shall we get some rest?"
"Get up early tomorrow. We're going to retrieve the Hero Water."
"Yes." Huan nodded, then said, "Yura, I have to warn you: if you drink too much Hero Water, you'll die."
Yura strolled back to the Black Nest and sat down, ignoring her.
Seeing this, Huan went to one side, curled up with her knees hugged to her chest, and muttered under her breath, looking aggrieved.
The next day, Yura set out with Huan and infiltrated Takigakure. Following Huan's directions, they entered the heart of the village through a different secret waterway and made their way into the God Tree's trunk.
There were no guards inside the God Tree. It was practically as if the doors had been left wide open, allowing anyone to come and go.
That was why Yura had never found the place.
Leading Yura through a hidden barrier, Huan opened the shrine and took out a large bottle filled with Hero Water, handing it to Yura.
"This is all the stock our clan has accumulated over a thousand years," Huan said. "There was another bottle before, but we used it to capture the Tailed Beast."
Yura took the Hero Water and examined it, then asked casually, "Did they have glass in the Shinobi World a thousand years ago?"
The transparent glass bottle looked as if it could hold two or three bottles of mineral water.
"Huh?" Huan was puzzled by Yura's strange question. "Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong." Yura sealed away the Hero Water and glanced at Huan with a faintly amused expression. "Let's just say that's all the stock you have."
"How could it be?" Huan laughed awkwardly. "I'm not lying."
It wasn't all of it. She still had half a bottle at home—the Hero Water she'd taken out earlier.
"Now that we're done, let's go."
After one last glance at the God Tree, Yura turned away. Its interior contained a vast space that didn't match the size of the tree's exterior, and it could even produce Hero Water. But Yura had no intention of investigating its secrets. Without evidence or information to go on, she probably wouldn't get anywhere.
By comparison, Yura was more interested in the Hero Water she'd acquired.
Like Chili Pills, the two were undoubtedly the same thing. Both overstimulated the body's potential and unleashed large amounts of chakra. The risk of death they posed was useless against Yura's immortal body.
What interested Yura more was what triggered the massive release of chakra from the body.
Besides helping make up for her lack of chakra, it was also a decent research subject.
After leaving the village once more and leaving Huan behind, Yura went alone that same day to the underground cavern where the Jinchuriki was hiding.
Before you continue