Walking past a vendor's stall, she had a pinwheel in her left hand, a bunch of colorful water balloons hanging from her waist, cotton candy in her right hand, and little goldfish in a water-filled bag hanging from her slender wrist. She had takoyaki in her mouth and gazed longingly at the many different masks on the stall.
Little Monster had discovered a little secret: as long as she stared at something longingly, there was a good chance the big monster would buy it for her.
Yura stepped forward and picked up a snake mask to take a closer look.
Unlike plastic, the mask was made of wood, and the workmanship was solid.
When Yura bought things, the first thing she always looked at was quality, then whether she needed the item's function, and only then its value for money. But splurging on equipment was another matter entirely.
Most of the masks on the stall were Noh Masks, modeled after the demons and monsters in stories. Take the wall full of Death God masks in the Uzumaki Clan's mask-storage hall, for instance. Their proper name was Hannya Masks. They depicted people—usually women—who had transformed into demons out of jealousy.
Those with horns and ears were called Hannya; those with horns but no ears were called snakes, or true snakes.
They were the ultimate form of vengeful spirits, demons even more terrifying than Hannya. Their lack of ears meant they couldn't hear anything.
The whole bit with Orochimaru and Hannya was pretty interesting.
As for Zero-Tails, it took the form of a horned creature with a snake-like body and a no-eared mask. It was smooth and bare, and looked a little like a loach. Without the oppressive aura of deep resentment, it didn't seem much like a demon.
Yura's gaze swept over the Tengu Mask on the stall. It had been carved to look quite fierce.
But when it came to a sense of eerie dread, nothing surpassed the masks portraying ordinary women in Noh plays. Their oppressive eeriness was even greater than that of more plainly monstrous demons.
Ko-omote, Waka-onna, Fukai, Yase-onna, and Ro-jo represented women at different ages, each with her own particular brand of eerie terror.
"These masks are kind of cute..." Lucy gazed longingly at the oddly shaped monster masks.
Yura didn't bother replying. She simply lifted the snake mask in her hand and pressed it against Lucy's face.
After fumbling to hold the mask in place, Lucy lifted it onto her head and said, "How did you know I'd like this one?"
Your taste was pretty weird. The stranger and odder the little thing, the more you liked it.
"Like it?" Yura tilted her head at Lucy.
Lucy nodded without thinking, then realized what she'd just said and lowered her head. "I hate this..."
Yura nodded in satisfaction and picked up a mask.
It was a red fox mask, which was pretty strange.
"Customer, you've got a good eye..." the vendor said mysteriously. "This is a cursed mask of calamity! It's said to have a mysterious connection to that legendary Nine-Tails fox..."
"Is that so?" Yura looked at the vendor, who was putting on an act, and said, "You must be pretty brave, then. Has your family been wiped out?"
The vendor's face stiffened. He'd made it himself. How could he not know whether it was cursed or not?
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"Are you buying it, customer?"
Yura smiled faintly, dropped some money, and put the fox mask on her head.
Yura wasn't short on masks. After using the Earth Grudge Fear forbidden technique to take a ninja's heart, she could modify it into a nature mask. Its appearance depended on personal taste; what she could make came down to her imagination and craftsmanship.
Among fox masks, however, the White Fox and Black Fox were regarded as auspicious beasts and messengers of the gods, while the Red Fox was seen as an omen of calamity.
White gave people a sense of transparency, like an unseen god. That was why the gods' messengers were White Foxes.
Then what about red?
On the tiled roof outside the inn, crouched beneath the night sky, White Fox stared intently through her Byakugan at the girl in the crowd wearing a conspicuous red fox mask.
Before she knew it, sweat was running down the ninja's body.
Only when she looked directly at her could she feel that terrifying eeriness and madness.
Why!?
Why was everyone—so many people—acting as though this person didn't exist!?
Could everyone really not see her?
What was she!? Was she a god?
Under the Byakugan's gaze, there was no sign of any technique being used. Her faint chakra was as still as stagnant water, without the slightest ripple. That was absolutely impossible.
When you saw something with your own eyes and ruled out the impossible, then no matter how absurd it seemed, what remained had to be the truth.
"Is it some kind of sorcery?"
She didn't know whether sorcery existed in this world. But if it did, and even her Byakugan couldn't see through it, then this had to be a case of it.
"White Fox, you don't look well. What, still haven't had enough rest?" asked her companion, who was keeping watch beside her. Though he couldn't see White Fox's face, sweat had soaked through the close-fitting clothes beneath her Anbu uniform, outlining a tempting, youthful figure.
"Monkey, do you think there are monsters in this world?" White Fox asked.
"Of course. Everyone says so, don't they? The Byakugan monster..."
White Fox stared at Monkey.
He scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh. "It gets boring watching the place. You looked pretty tense, so I thought I'd crack a little joke."
When he saw the Byakugan monster glaring at him,
"Please forgive me!" He immediately dropped to his knees and prostrated himself.
Faced with a seasoned old hand from the Warring States era, the girl couldn't bring herself to get angry. After taking a deep breath, she turned her gaze back to the target.
After that interruption, most of the wild thoughts swirling in her head had faded away.
How could gods and monsters possibly exist in this world?
Could a talking summoning beast really be called a monster? It still used ninjutsu. As long as something used ninjutsu, there was nothing to fear. The God of Shinobi was an exception, and so was Uchiha Madara.
But...
As a member of the branch family, she had spent her life protecting the Main Family. The experience and instincts forged through the slaughter of the Warring States era left the feeling of unease lingering long after.
Just as Lord Tobirama had said, she was an extremely dangerous person.
That was only natural. She probably wasn't a match for her, but she had her comrades—and everyone in the village.
"Well, did the target notice anything?" Monkey asked as he got back to his feet, apparently forgiven.
"No!" White Fox replied curtly.
"Is that so?" Monkey said. "The Byakugan sure is convenient." He fished out a cigarette and happily lit it. "The Hyuga Main Family's Byakugan is even more powerful, right? I heard the purer the Byakugan, the farther you can see once you've developed it..."
"Senior!" White Fox said icily, her killing intent spilling out. "Please don't smoke beside me!"
"Uh..." Monkey paused with the cigarette in his hand and tentatively asked, "Then should I move farther away?"
"By all means, senior. I can keep watch here by myself," White Fox said.
"I'd feel bad doing that." Though he said that, he vanished in a Body Flicker Technique.
White Fox let out a soft breath. Finally, some peace and quiet.
Crouched on the tiled roof, she sat as motionless as a stone statue, silently watching the girl strolling down the distant street.
She was just out having fun. White Fox kept her eyes fixed on her, reading the girl's lips.
"How is it, Little Monster? Having fun? Smashing watermelons?"
"Ordinary..." Little Monster said regretfully. "It feels like something's missing."
"Of course. It couldn't feel as thrilling as smashing someone's head, and there was no white splattering everywhere. It just felt a little disappointing," Yura said with a faint smile.
Beneath her mask, White Fox's mouth twitched.
What are you even talking about?!
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"It was the beach! The beach! Big Monster!"
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