Something Not Quite Clean

It was the same routine as before. With the insider Shuichi leading the way, they moved unhindered through the Uji Clan's secret base, while Yura sized up its members.

Aside from the blond-haired White and other typical features of the Land of Lightning, the most striking thing was the expressions on these people's faces—or rather, their general air.

I'm crazy.

Yeah, I'm pretending.

That was something Yura couldn't miss.

People adapted their behavior to the atmosphere around them. It was a kind of defensive strategy.

In other words, in an environment full of lunatics, it was best to act like one. Otherwise, they would think you were crazy and treat you like a heretic.

Most of the Uji Clan's members were surely normal people. But in the brutal, abnormal Warring States era, it was inevitable that their minds would be a little frayed. Worst of all, the clan had an extreme mental case leading them down the path to madness.

Yura could sense that dozens of people here were mentally unstable. That was an unusually high proportion.

For example, the man in front of her—the head of the Uji Clan—looked quite rational and normal.

The moment they met, he stared straight at Yura and noticed her presence.

Interesting.

Yura smiled faintly, discovering another way someone could perceive her.

Standing at the doorway, Yura said nothing. The two sides stared at each other in silence.

"Can you look right at me because your sanity has hit zero?"

The man's mental state was one of permanent insanity. Once someone had gone mad, what was there left to fear from demons and monsters? Faced with Yura, he didn't instinctively overlook her. In short, perhaps he had seen something even more terrifying.

Putting someone like that in charge of a clan would be disastrous. No one could know when he might snap—or what he might do.

"I'm starting to find you interesting... Human, what exactly have you seen?"

A monster? Jashin? The Death God? Or something else?

"Die!" The blond man looked perfectly rational on the surface, but didn't bother to talk. He pushed his refined, rimless glasses up, clapped his hands together, opened his mouth, and fired a blast of water.

Water Release: Water Cannon Technique

Yura's pupils contracted. He clapped his hands together?

That's scary!

A mighty blow exploded in midair right in front of Yura, as if it had struck an invisible barrier. Yura lowered her head and looked at the ground.

Water seeped silently through the floorboards.

Grabbing Shuichi beside her by the hair, Yura remained still as she and Shuichi shot backward through the air. The next instant, a dense mass of water spikes burst from the spot where Yura had just been standing.

Yura landed in the courtyard, dropped Shuichi, and looked toward the entrance of the main house.

A mass of water floated in midair, absorbing moisture from the air and swelling into a deformed, big-headed little girl made of water.

The little girl glared at Yura with hatred and madness. Then she grinned and said, "Daddy, are we eating this big sister today?"

Looking at the little girl, Yura was sure that the man had just spat her out. Was this the Water Cannon Technique?

"Kill her." The man pushed up his glasses and said coldly, "Kyoko."

"Yes, Daddy~" The little girl's eyes lit up. With a terrifying, maniacal laugh, she hurtled toward Yura. Water rippled across her body, and countless tiny spikes covered her like scales. One stream of water after another, each as thick as a finger, suddenly shot toward Yura, writhing through the air like snakes along bizarre, unpredictable paths.

At the same time, after a booming shout, a gigantic water dragon burst through the roof of the main house, leapt into the air, wheeled around, and crashed down toward Yura.

Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet

The attacks came in a coordinated rush. Yura tilted her head, and her hair surged out, slashing through the air.

Black Secret Technique: Outer Style: Sixteen Swallow Reversals

The hair struck first. The dense streams of water were severed in midair in an instant, the slashes racing along their length. In the blink of an eye, the big-headed little girl flying through the air was cut apart, exploding into a spray of water.

Black Secret Technique: Outer Style: First Spiral Gate

Eight more locks of hair extended and intertwined, forming a massive oni-faced shield. It spun rapidly in midair, and the diving water dragon slammed into it, bursting with a crash into a spray of water. A sudden downpour pattered across the courtyard.

The man standing inside the house pushed up his glasses. With a flick of his hand, a long sword made of water appeared in his grasp. "Ridiculous. How could water possibly be cut down by a sword?"

Yura smiled faintly. If this had happened before today, it really would have been a bit troublesome.

The next instant, the water droplets filling the air abruptly stopped. They rushed toward a single point, swirling into a vortex. The enormous big-headed little girl rapidly re-formed, half her hideous head taking shape as a pair of huge eyes glared at Yura with hatred.

This time, she had absorbed the water from the Water Dragon Bullet, growing larger as a result.

"Aaaaaahhh—!!!" The little girl shrieked, her piercing scream tearing through the air and echoing in wave after wave. She bellowed, "I hate you!!! Die!!!"

Yura tilted her head, studying the furious little girl.

This little girl was that water-based secret technique. It seemed she had become a complete, independent life-form.

The man adjusted his glasses, a cruel, crazed smile tugging at his lips. "My daughter, tear her apart!"

In the blink of an eye, the little girl's enormous body had grown large enough to nearly fill the courtyard. She abruptly raised an arm. The limb visibly swelled at high speed, becoming a gigantic fist several meters wide, poised to smash down on Yura.

The next instant, a flash of steel cut through the air.

Onikiri!

Yura's hair coiled around Onikiri at her waist. The blade flashed and cut straight down from the top of the little girl's head. Then the blade flashed again and again in a storm of slashes. Cuts spread across the little girl's entire body in an instant. As if it had lost some kind of support, her body broke apart piece by piece, each cut perfectly smooth.

Yura's hair brought Onikiri flying back into her hand. Holding the sword in one hand, she waved it with a hint of disgust to shake off the blood. Rows of water droplets splattered onto the ground, bursting into little sprays. Yura returned the sword to its sheath.

Looks like I cut down something that wasn't quite clean.

"Daddyyyy~~~" The severed little girl began to cry. She wanted to turn around, but couldn't. She could only cry out, "It's so cold—!! So cold, so cold—!! I'm scared—!!"

Cold?

Amid her piercing wails, the little girl's form burst apart and collapsed, turning into water that rained down across the ground.

The man's crazed smile froze. Watching the scene, he fixed his eyes on the sword at Yura's waist and cried out in shock, "Onikiri!!!"

Madness flared in his eyes. Clutching his water sword, he walked slowly toward Yura.

"Oh? You're coming straight at me instead of running away?" Yura smiled faintly. A lunatic, all right. Her crimson eyes fixed on him. "What other interesting performances do you have for me?"

"You're from the Kusanagi Clan..." The man's smile twisted, growing more and more deranged. "How can I kill you if I don't get close?"

The logic made sense, but was he really not afraid of getting cut just by walking up to her like that?

A normal ninja definitely wouldn't do this.

Amid a series of whooshes, the Uji Clan's ninja, drawn by the battle, appeared atop the walls, some crouching, others standing. Their clan head hadn't given an order, so none of them attacked. They simply kept their eyes fixed on the black-haired, red-eyed girl in the courtyard.

The man stopped seven or eight meters from Yura. With a cruel smile, he stabbed the water sword into his own left hand. Then he formed hand seals and pressed one palm to the ground.

That was a basic Summoning Technique hand seal.

But with that much blood, would the Summoning Technique even work? Use your brain.

Yura tilted her head, unable to understand the thoughts of a lunatic.

"Die!!!"

The summoning smoke burst across the courtyard. But when it cleared, nothing had appeared.

Yura looked up at the ugly spirit floating in midair. It was twisted, terrifying, and grotesque. It looked like a person.

Yura frowned slightly. It was ugly enough to make her wince.

To put it plainly, it looked like a maggot with a human head. Three candles stuck out of its skull, their cold flames flickering. It had no feet. It held a nail in one hand and a hammer in the other, and its body was fat, with ring after ring of tire-like rolls wrapped around it. Sparse hair covered its head. It had a woman's face and two shriveled water bags hanging from its chest. All in all, it was only about the size of a baby.

Was this the "adorably weird" thing Little Monster had mentioned?

It was indeed a spirit, something like the Spirit Transformation Technique.

"Now!!! Kill that woman!"

By the principle of attacking the nearest target, this peculiar little thing should have locked onto Yura first.

Yura met its gaze...

It could see her. They both understood that now.

Yura rested her hand on Onikiri's hilt.

The creature turned its head and vanished from Yura's sight with a whoosh.

The next instant, a Uji ninja on the wall clutched his head and screamed. His body trembled uncontrollably as he toppled off the wall. The surrounding ninja erupted into chaos. The peculiar little thing gripped its nail and hammer, its tongue and water bags swinging as it excitedly and cruelly pounded the ninja's head again and again. In moments, blood poured from the ninja's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. He collapsed, his face contorted in agony, and died. The little thing immediately moved on to its next target.

Watching his clansman die, the man froze, then flew into a rage and began shouting madly.

"No! That's wrong! Kill this woman! Kill this woman!"

Yura pressed a hand to her forehead and swung once.

"Too loud."

In an instant, the man didn't even sense death approaching. His body was split vertically in two.

Screams erupted across the courtyard. The peculiar little thing rampaged through the ranks of the ninja. Faced with invisible attacks they couldn't see, the clansmen had no external wounds, yet died horribly, blood pouring from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Panic filled the Uji ninja. They had no time to worry about Yura anymore. Faced with the summoning creature their clan head had unleashed, some were so terrified they broke down and fled in every direction.

After watching for a while, Yura realized that the attacks varied in strength depending on the target's mental fortitude. Some ninja could endure several hits, while others couldn't take more than a few.

Senju Hashirama could probably take a few hundred hits, more or less...

Now, aside from a Summoning Scroll, the Uji Clan had no other spoils of war. And with that peculiar little thing fighting for her, Yura didn't even have to get involved.

That really was...

"Adorably weird..."

All she had to do now was watch and confirm the outcome.

The only passage connecting the secret base to the outside world was sealed by invisible strands of hair. Not a single person could escape.

"Let's go. The Uji Clan is finished." Yura turned and headed toward the main house. "Go dig out the Summoning Scroll. It'd be even better if you can find a secret scroll."

Shuichi's face was deathly pale. "Lady Yura, what was that thing just now?"

"You saw it?"

"No!" Shuichi shook his head vigorously.

"The true form of the Hour of the Ox Worship," Yura said. "It's better that you didn't see it. Otherwise, you'd have nightmares tonight."

"Lady Yura, you'll protect me, right..." Shuichi asked in a low, uneasy voice.

You little...

Yura turned her head and fixed Shuichi with a dangerous stare from her crimson eyes.

Shuichi gave an awkward chuckle. "I won't trouble you to take care of it, Lady Yura."