Let Me Test My Blade

After finding a decent-looking inn in town to check into, Yura decided to stay for a while.

Before heading to Takigakure to seize their secret techniques, she needed to organize the abilities currently at her disposal.

Yura had spent the last three days contemplating this, even attempting some simple development.

First were the jutsus she had mastered: the basic Three Body Techniques—Clone, Substitution, and Transformation—followed by the Body Flicker Technique, which a Chunin could typically grasp. These were very standard, auxiliary ninjutsu; had she not been integrated into Takigakure, she wouldn't even know these, let alone how to walk on water or climb trees.

The only thing that could be called a true ninjutsu was a single Earth Release technique: Earth Spear. This had been a "last meal" reward bestowed upon her by the village, granted solely because she had attempted to assassinate the God of Shinobi.

Consequently, in just half a month, she had barely managed to master it.

Although the technique was powerful, offering both offense and defense, it was useless if she couldn't deploy it.

During the village's free assessment, she learned her chakra affinities were Earth and Water. Beyond basic chakra control, Yura's combat prowess in her previous life had been concentrated entirely on a ruthless style of swordsmanship.

As Yura was now a yokai, her chakra reserves hadn't increased much; they remained at a mediocre Chunin level, nowhere near the capacity of a single Kage-level ninja.

However, the other power within her body was growing steadily and rapidly. It didn't require refinement like chakra; it was constantly increasing, and Yura was certain that as time passed, it would naturally grow to a terrifying degree.

Simply put, it was—

Fear +1+1+1, Resentment +1+1+1+1, and so on...

There was no helping it; that was the nature of a yokai.

Yura had tried to combine it with chakra, similar to Sage Mode, but she couldn't manage it yet. If she forced a fusion, it would inevitably explode inside her, tearing bloody holes in her body. But these were mere fatal wounds, nothing worth mentioning—such was the nature of an immortal body.

This meant that aside from a few innate abilities that required small amounts of demonic power, she had no way to utilize the rest.

Yura guessed that, much like using chakra to cast ninjutsu, she lacked the key formulas to release her demonic power—that is, "demon arts." She had no clue how to effectively develop such techniques.

Relying on her innate ability to control hair and ghost fire, however, she didn't lack for development ideas.

Sitting on the inn bed, Yura raised her hand to look at a ball of blue flame in her palm. This blue color was a natural transformation resulting from the high concentration of the fire. In terms of lethality, it surpassed ordinary Fire Release. As an innate ability, it required no hand seals, which was an extreme advantage in actual combat.

In terms of fire, she could push toward greater lethality and scale, in some ways similar to Pakura's Scorch Release.

Yura clenched her fist, extinguishing the flame in her palm. Closing her eyes slightly, she focused her mind, and five balls of ghostly blue fire floated around her. Under her conscious control, they circled her, flying with high speed and agility. Wherever they passed, the high temperature caused the air and light to distort, churning up truly warped heat waves. Vaguely, one could see the silent, howling ghosts and skulls churning within the watermelon-sized fireballs.

Looking closely, one could see a tiny hairball at the center of each fireball, with fine threads extending all the way to Yura's hair.

The core of this fire-manipulation ability still relied on Yura's hair.

Red Secret Technique: Five-Ghost Manipulation.

As she willed it, there was no need for precise chakra manipulation; the five fireballs instantly transformed into five hideous, burning skulls. A moment later, the five fireballs around Yura extinguished into thin air.

By comparison, Yura valued her hair-manipulation technique more—an ability roughly equivalent to the String-String Fruit, flexible, eerie, and versatile.

She could freely control an uncountable number of fine threads—her hair—and change them at will, like magic that allowed her to manipulate her hair as easily as her own limbs.

Thus, countless combat methods could be derived from it; it was a terrifying close-quarters technique that could change in a thousand ways.

The manipulation style of Yura of the Hair from Inuyasha had finesse but lacked power, while the style of Doflamingo from One Piece had power but lacked finesse. Combining the two, the representative figure would be the first-class mage from Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, the terrifying scythe-wielder whose hair reeked of blood: the "Pacifist," Zanze.

His unique hair magic involved layering various magical imprints onto his hair to reinforce it, turning it into a weapon that possessed power, technique, destruction, and defense. Such hair could easily destroy defensive magic or human bodies.

Like this...

In an instant, Yura's short hair grew wildly, floating up behind her. In the blink of an eye, it bundled together, splitting into eight strands that transformed into eight pitch-black scythes. They hovered around her like vipers waiting for an opportunity, making her look like a giant, eight-legged humanoid spider demon.

The curved hair-scythes were pitch-black, gleaming with a cold, metallic luster. The scythe blades alone were over a meter long, and including the thick handles connected to her head, the range was...

With a sharp, piercing whistle, the scythes shot out like vipers, turning into a blurred black shadow. In the blink of an eye, they crossed the five or six meters of the room. Following her will, they stopped abruptly in front of the opposite wall. The tips of the blades tapped lightly against the surface, pinning a fly to the wall by piercing its torso without damaging the wall in the slightest—a display of effortless precision.

However, the inn room was too small, and she couldn't fully stretch out. Yura felt her range was more than just five or six meters; it could be several times that.

The scythes slowly retracted, hovering and resting beside Yura along with the other seven.

With this, her hard-practiced swordsmanship finally had a stage where it could truly shine.

Black Secret Technique: Outer Style: Eight-Swallow Return.

The family that adopted Yura had long ago been a samurai clan. Having foreseen the inevitable decline of the samurai, they had transitioned into a ninja clan early on, becoming famous in the Warring States period for their sharp, ruthless swordsmanship, much like the Hatake clan.

Over hundreds of years of inheritance, many talented individuals had emerged within the family. Compared to the orthodox ancient-style swordsmanship passed down by the family, the swordsmanship independently researched by outsiders like Yura was collectively referred to as "Outer Style."

Yura was not a genius at ninjutsu; the family had taken notice of her because she was a genius at swordsmanship.

The day the family dug her out of a pile of corpses at age three, they had mercilessly thrown a kunai to end her life. Instinctively, Yura had pulled a broken blade from the pile of corpses to parry the kunai, and in that moment, they saw her talent for the blade.

"Swallow Return" was a sword technique created by Sasaki Kojiro, named for the legend of it cutting down a flying swallow. The technique centered on a super-high-speed draw, utilizing the reach advantage of a nodachi to deliver a fatal, unavoidable strike in an instant.

Adopted at three, after a year of brutal beatings, starvation, and conditioning, four-year-old Yura was thrown onto the battlefield after hastily learning to refine chakra. In the narrow gap between life and death, she perfected this lethal secret technique.

The small katana at Yura's waist was her first weapon from those days; it was the only treasure that gave her a sense of security, and she had protected and cherished it ever since.

In short, the Outer Style was all about innovation and free expression.

Then...

Black Secret Technique: Outer Style: Sixteen-Swallow Return.

The next second, as her hair grew wildly, the scythes around her split in two. Without losing any volume, they transformed into sixteen scythes circling her body.

Following her will, the sixteen scythes danced silently in her hands, like sixteen arms under her complete control. The scythes trembled, resembling sixteen agile swallows fluttering up and down. Based on her long-term insights into swordsmanship, Yura could feel that this was not yet her limit.

So.

Black Secret Technique: Outer Style - Thirty-Two Swallow Reversal.

Splitting once more, thirty-two cold, gleaming sickles hovered densely around her, a fierce and bloodthirsty aura permeating the air, terrifying to behold.

"Hmm..."

Yura stroked her chin in contemplation. More blades aren't necessarily better; this quantity, attacking simultaneously, was enough to seal off any path of evasion for an enemy. It created a phenomenon similar to a multi-dimensional distortion, a secret sword technique where blades approaching from three sides "simultaneously" sliced the opponent's head off. What was even more terrifying was that, to the enemy, these were likely invisible blades—in a sense, an inescapable, lethal strike.

But one shouldn't be too absolute. Theoretically inescapable, but in reality, it would absolutely be dodged, wouldn't it? Otherwise, it would be as laughable as the "Absolute Defense" in the ninja world.

Still, this level was sufficient. Yura's Secret Sword: Swallow Reversal focused on the advantage of dense, mid-to-close-range combat.

Other people's ninja swords were 60 centimeters long; Yura's might as well be 60 meters.

Moreover, this number of blades was not the limit of Yura's innate ability, but the limit of her mental precision. Any more, and Yura intuitively felt she couldn't control them; she didn't want to experience some foolish incident like tripping over her own feet.

Extending them too far would also weaken their destructive power due to a lack of force behind the swings; limp swords couldn't cut anyone.

This technique would end here; she would continue to hone her sword skills in the future, increasing the precision and force of her control.

Next, with a thought from Yura, the thirty-six sickles suddenly deformed. The blades twisted from their central axes, transforming into thirty-six giant, bowl-thick spiral spikes that began to rotate rapidly with a violent, shrill whistle.

Facing sturdy defenses, these drills possessed greater penetration capabilities, and since they didn't require continuous swinging, they also had a longer range.

Black Secret Technique: Outer Style - Thirty-Two Pointed Azure.

The next moment, the drills stopped rotating. The left and right halves combined, forming four giant, grimacing face shields that hovered and circled around Yura's front, back, left, and right. The four ghost faces acted as round shields, the hair on their curved surfaces rotating rapidly like a vortex. They then adhered together, covering Yura tightly without a gap, locking onto the ground.

Black Secret Technique: Outer Style - First Layer Spiral Gate.

Subsequently, the hair dispersed entirely, rapidly reorganizing and growing wildly until a giant, pitch-black spider, five meters in length and massive in form, crouched in the middle of the room.

Black Secret Technique: Spider Style - Nest Carriage.

The spider tilted its head, and the center line of its head split open. Yura's figure emerged, floating as if flying, supported by the strands of hair, and landed lightly on the ground with her bare feet.

The spider behind her vanished into a cloud of fly ash in an instant. A head of beautiful, jet-black hair falling to her waist returned to Yura's back. Yura raised her hand, brushing the hair aside from her ear, and examined a strand of black hair wrapped around her fingertip.

Yura's hair was fireproof and sufficiently tough. It could cut objects according to her will, its sharpness exceeding that of piano wire, even slicing through metal harder than steel. In tests along the way, kunai couldn't block it, and neither could finely crafted ninja swords. If it were infused with Armament Haki...

Uh, there was no Haki in the ninja world, but there was chakra.

Yura's hair, to a certain extent, was a condensation of her demonic power. It wasn't metal wire, but part of her own body, a type of protein. Which meant...

Although it couldn't be fused, it could conduct chakra.

As chakra was injected, flowing along the strands of hair, it naturally formed tough chakra threads. On the surface, the hair didn't seem to change at all...

Yura pulled up the hair infused with chakra and brought it close to a strand without chakra. The moment they touched, the hair without chakra was sliced through and severed.

"Heh, just as I thought..."

In this way, it was equivalent to reinforcement. She could use various composite magics, like Zanze's hair magic, to strengthen her own hair, turning it into a versatile combat weapon that combined power, technique, speed, precision, destructive force, and defense.

For example, Yura raised both hands and began to weave hand seals slowly and methodically.

Earth Style: Earth Spear.

Chakra with nature transformation surged and flowed into her entire head of hair. There wasn't much of a change; Yura lifted a strand to examine it.

"It seems to have gotten a bit darker..."

If the Earth Spear technique were attached to her hair, theoretically, her hair would also become visible to the naked eye.

"Tsk..." Yura clicked her tongue, feeling subtly dissatisfied. "The texture has become stiff..."

So what if it's visible? Can they block it?

Attaching just one Earth Spear was far from the limit of her hair.

She would call this move: Black Secret Technique: Inner Style - Chakra Earth Spear Mode.

In the family, "Inner Style" meant a trump card technique.

Yura flicked her hair, and the long hair behind her danced, rapidly retracting into a short hairstyle in the blink of an eye.

Humming a cheerful tune, she meticulously tidied up her living space.

"Hao'er Yao~ Hao'er Yao~"

"They fed me rat poison~"

"After eating two bags, I feel so high~"

The song was cute, a kind of hellish cuteness.

After tidying the room, Yura left the inn to forage for food in the streets. She found a barbecue restaurant, calmly ordered a pile of food for herself, and devoured it all once served, as if she were a starving ghost reincarnated. Soon, a mountain of plates piled up beside her. Yura simply wanted to make up for the nutrition she had lost in the past; since eating wouldn't kill her, she ate until she couldn't anymore. Thus, Yura was a very greedy person.

Returning to the inn, she flopped happily onto the soft bed, patted her bulging little belly, covered herself with the quilt, and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. It was a sleep of total exhaustion, and she was enveloped in a sense of security she had never felt before. With an immortal body, she no longer had to fear that someone would stab her while she slept.

Yet, her petite frame remained curled up tightly like a little mouse, clutching her precious small katana to her chest.

"Mama... wuu..."

In her unconscious whimpering, the habits formed over many years were not things that could be changed so easily.

The night passed quietly. As the sky brightened, Yura sat up stiffly in a daze. She looked around, seemingly remembering something, and then flopped straight back down. After a long while, a pair of small feet lifted into the air, kicking frantically and irritably. Having made up her mind, she sat up once more.

I didn't really want to leave the dream, but one must always return to reality.

I washed up, headed out, ate breakfast, and after leaving the town, found a secluded patch of forest to begin my training.

That guy Kakuzu must definitely be locked up by the village by now; the lad is still too young and hasn't deeply grasped the essence of this cruel ninja world, so there's no need to rush back—better to improve my strength first.

I trained until noon. I hadn't brought a lunch, but I wasn't hungry; I simply tore open a candy wrapper and tossed a piece into my mouth. The faint sweetness was comforting. I tilted my head back and collapsed onto the soft grass of the forest floor, the gentle sunlight filtering through the trees and spilling onto Yura's small face, causing her to squint in comfort.

Even if one is a monster, one must know how to enjoy life.

After a half-hour nap, I continued training until evening, stepping happily along the moonlight and my own shadow, finishing up to head back to town as the electric lights flickered on in the distance.

I headed straight for a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. The money I had was almost entirely spent on that barbecue yesterday, but Yura wasn't panicked. I ate wildly in my own way, and soon another mountain of plates was piled up, making the fat owner's face bloom with joy.

This time, Yura had learned her lesson. Although I was still gorging myself, countless fine strands of hair surged out from my stomach, esophagus, and throat, layering over each other to slice the food into fine, liquid-like matter, assisting in my meal.

Black Secret Technique: Double-Eating Jutsu.

When it came time to pay, Yura raised a hand and slapped ten Explosive Tags onto the counter.

The owner frowned.

"Customer?"

Yura tilted her head at a forty-five-degree angle, maintaining a deadpan, expressionless face while glancing sideways at the owner.

"Explosive Tags. Payment."

Those who know, know.

The owner's expression stiffened.

"Customer, this isn't right."

Yura tilted her head back slightly, revealing the small katana at her waist, and flicked her thumb to unsheathe a portion of the blade.

"I am a ninja."

The owner looked bitter, struggling for a moment.

"Fine, fine... alright..."

The deterrent power of the original body is truly great. Yura pushed the blade back into its scabbard, walked happily back to the inn, jumped, dove, and pulled the covers over herself in one fluid motion. The moment my head hit the pillow, I fell into a deep sleep, curling into a small ball with high-quality rest.

The next day the sun rose, and everything continued as usual: revenge-eating, sleeping, and training. Day after day, where the heart is directed, progress is certain.

In her previous life, Yura had long been accustomed to loneliness, though she had a small habit of talking neurotically to her precious little katana, a quirk she still hadn't managed to break.

"I've never given you a name all this time. Little Blade, from now on you shall be called Hongxia~ Hehe~"

On the fifth day, another group of bandits came to attack the town. Their numbers were a bit higher than last time, but Yura ignored them, savoring the emotions from the sidelines. Once they had killed enough and retreated, I continued my own training.

It wasn't until the dusk of five days later that special guests arrived in the town.

Standing on the city wall, Yura looked down from above at the three people entering the town.

Three ninjas.

"As expected." A cold, faint smile curled the corners of Yura's mouth.

The guy who was a former daimyo and current town mayor had, unsurprisingly, issued a request to the ninja village to wipe out the surrounding bandits.

Judging by their attire, they were ninjas from Konoha: one with a pineapple hairstyle, one with yellow hair, and one big fatty—the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. They were in their twenties, strong enough in combat, elite ninjas who had fought their way up from the Warring States period.

"Let me test my blade..."

In those scarlet eyes, surging killing intent lay hidden and roiling.