The Witch

The cavern saw no sunlight year-round, save for the flickering of a few dim candles.

At the center of the cavern lay a small island in the middle of a lake, upon which sat an ancient shrine. A stone path stretched from the shrine's entrance, leading nowhere, while four vermilion torii gates stood at the cardinal directions, a sealing barrier enveloping the entire island.

Without a doubt, this was a specially constructed prison.

Standing before the tunnel opening on the cliff's edge, Yura looked down at the island shrine.

Within her perception, two massive sources of malice were entangled—one was a jinchuriki, the other a Tailed Beast, and the jinchuriki's hatred far surpassed that of the beast.

Though one might assume that the larger the creature, the larger its temper, negative emotions did not necessarily correlate with physical size.

Ultimately, Tailed Beasts—viewed by ninjas as natural disasters and collective manifestations of hatred—were quite subtle. In Yura's eyes, any of the one-to-nine-tailed beasts could be considered harmless pets; their fundamental nature was, at its core, simple and kind.

So, why was there such immense negative emotion?

It was inseparable from chakra.

And what was chakra? It was a fusion of spiritual and physical energy. As massive reservoirs of chakra, Tailed Beasts were essentially massive reservoirs of spiritual energy, so it was normal for them to carry a bit of miscellaneous emotion.

In other words, this jinchuriki's spiritual energy might actually exceed that of the Tailed Beast.

Just as the Uzumaki clan could suppress the Nine-Tails through their vast life force and chakra, possessing immense spiritual energy could likewise suppress a Tailed Beast—the Sharingan being the classic example.

Aside from Senju Hashirama, this was the strongest presence Yura had ever witnessed with her own eyes.

"It is truly..."

"So wonderful..."

Hatred +1+1+1...

Resentment +1+1+1+1...

Jealousy +1+1+1+1+1...

To Yura, it felt as if she were drifting in an ocean of chocolate and honey.

Within her perception, there were two other weak spiritual sources, flickering like fragile candle flames, their hearts filled with malice, irritability, resentment, jealousy, and hatred.

They were the two Jonin guards.

But their mental states were clearly abnormal. A normal person's mind did not function this way; negative emotions usually peaked and fluctuated, rising and falling, even in the case of a psychopath.

These two Jonin, however, kept their mental states at a constant peak, crossing one threshold after another, climbing steadily. If they could not maintain a dynamic balance, vent those emotions, and return to the baseline—and if they lacked the spiritual strength to endure it—then, over time, they would be driven by these emotions toward self-destruction.

To summarize it in two words: madness.

This was not something a Tailed Beast could achieve. While a Tailed Beast could cause similar effects, that was merely indirect influence and mental pressure upon the jinchuriki.

This was a problem caused by the jinchuriki himself—a power sufficient to drive others to madness and ruin.

It was quite interesting. Unlike Mochizuki Gen's hypnosis, this was a form of direct mental influence and control; it was a power that manipulated the human heart.

Generally speaking, chakra is the source of energy for ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu, composed of physical and spiritual energy. It is a material existence. But on the other hand, chakra also refers to the power the Sage of Six Paths used to connect the spiritual energy and hearts of people.

The Sage of Six Paths used chakra to connect spiritual energy; in other words, spiritual energy was not originally a part of chakra.

Later, when people stopped using chakra to connect with one another and instead used it to connect their own spiritual and physical energies, the chakra commonly recognized in the ninja world today emerged. Like Kaguya, they began to use chakra as a weapon.

This proves that chakra is, in fact, a key—a key that connects physical and spiritual energy to release power.

According to the mechanism of Senjutsu, when chakra connects with spiritual energy, it becomes chakra; when it connects with natural energy, it becomes Senjutsu chakra.

Essentially, there are three primordial forces in this world: life energy, spiritual energy, and natural energy. They require a key to be converted and utilized.

Yura had long pondered what her own demonic power was. After much thought, she reached a conclusion: it, too, was a key—a key to releasing spiritual energy. Due to the difference in its operating mechanism, its manifestation naturally differed from that of chakra.

And unlike ninjas, who connect to their own spirit, Yura connected to the spiritual energy of others.

Based on this, for Yura, the living were actually more valuable than the dead.

Yura was not a bloodthirsty demon, either.

As for why her ability took its current form, Yura had her guesses. Based on her own understanding, at the moment of her death, much like awakening a Mangekyo, she had awakened her power through an incredibly intense negative spiritual force. Like a mirror of the heart, it manifested her deepest desires into reality—for instance, immortality.

It didn't matter if she didn't know the specifics. For now, Yura stepped forward to the edge of the cliff and stepped into the void. Her body fell naturally from the ten-meter-high precipice, landing with a thud upon the calm, ripple-less water.

The sound naturally drew the attention of the guard ninjas.

"Who is it!!!"

The two ninjas looked toward the sound. At first, they saw nothing, but then, accompanied by a faint, ghostly chuckle, their gaze locked onto Yura, who had appeared abruptly on the lake surface like a phantom.

One of the Jonin let out a sharp, fierce shout.

"Trespassers in the forbidden zone—die!"

Two black shadows blurred from the darkness, moving in tandem with the Body Flicker Technique...

The moment they launched their attack, Yura could perceive their malice. In other words, no matter what kind of attack they unleashed, it could not escape her detection.

In a sense, it was mind-reading.

Yura rotated her scarlet eyes. Thanks to her years of sword training, her already excellent eyesight was further enhanced by her demonic power. Her terrifying dynamic vision captured the scene with clarity, seeing the two figures as if time had frozen.

One was a wrinkled little old man, the other a tall, thin youth.

Ninjutsu-Taijutsu Secret Technique: Expansion Technique.

Like an inflated balloon, the wrinkled old man transformed into a round, short cannonball, charging straight toward Yura.

Meanwhile, the other thin, tall youth crouched low, his hands weaving through hand seals with lightning speed. He inhaled deeply, his stomach distended, and a foul gale erupted from his mouth.

Wind Style: Kamaitachi Decapitation Technique.

In an instant, the pincer attack arrived from the front and sides. Around Yura, eight floating black blades hovered in a silent, menacing orbit.

The next second, the old man reached a distance of three meters from Yura, spinning his body to lash out with a whip-like kick.

Ninjutsu-Taijutsu Secret Technique: Stretching Technique.

His inflated, stubby leg extended like a spear, smashing toward Yura's face. Standing perfectly still, a hint of mockery in her eyes, Yura tilted her head slightly—but she wasn't dodging the old man's foul foot.

She was dodging a roaring gale, a wind blade compressed to a foot in length. The moment it whistled past her ear, Yura's hair-blade scythes closed in faster than the old man.

Blood bloomed violently in mid-air as a blade slashed across the old man's face. The inflated muscles on his face clamped down on the blade like a tire in a life-or-death struggle, yet the wound carved by the edge was still deep enough to expose bone. The old man's pupils trembled.

"Oh?" Yura let out a soft exclamation.

The cut was too shallow...

However, the whip-leg the old man had swung exploded into minced meat in mid-air and scattered.

Seeing that he had nearly lost half his head and had already lost a leg, the old man broke into a cold sweat. Unable to even see his opponent's attacks, his rich combat experience led him to decide on a temporary retreat. His round body suddenly went limp, deflating entirely as a burst of air exploded around him. While still in mid-air, he used the propulsion of the air to push himself backward, simultaneously knocking the blade away.

"As expected of..."

Here is a bit of common knowledge: the closer the distance in a fight, the greater the force behind Yura's hair-based weapons.

"...a Jonin."

The remaining seven black blades arrived, swinging silently as a frenzy of blade-light flickered incessantly in the air.

In just a heartbeat, the old man, still suspended in mid-air, stiffened. Following that, dense lines of blood bloomed across his body, and he fell from the sky in fragmented pieces, sinking into the water.

The thin, tall youth's pupils trembled in sheer terror. His hands, which had not stopped weaving seals, moved in a blur of phantom motions, ready to strike. Just as he opened his mouth, a black spear thrust up from beneath the water. Spanning a distance of nearly fifty meters, the spearhead pierced through the youth's mouth and out the back of his head, the impact carrying him off the water's surface to hang suspended in the air.

The wind blade he had unleashed finally slammed into the cliffside, leaving a half-foot-deep gash in the rock face.

Such an injury was not immediately fatal. He made difficult, rattling sounds in his throat, his hands trembling as they went limp, and the chakra he had refined dissipated naturally. His bloodshot, terrified eyes stared fixedly at Yura, who tilted her head to look at him.

What... kind of sacred monster is this!

"Your hand-seal speed is quite fast," Yura chuckled.

"Hrk... hrk..."

But he was not long for this world.

As his vision began to blacken, she tossed the hair-spear aside carelessly. His body tumbled and fell onto the water's surface, sinking into the depths.

Yura stepped forward, walking until she reached the barrier.

Inside the barrier, a girl with short golden hair sat on the steps in front of the shrine gate. Dressed in a red and white miko outfit, she exuded an air of mystery and sanctity, staring back at Yura with curiosity.

Although her smile was brilliant, it felt subtly sinister.