What Would Have Happened If I Hadn't Saved You Back Then, Itachi?

"Crunch."

"Crack."

Subtle sounds drifted through the abruptly quiet air.

They sounded a little like some rodent tirelessly digging its own little tunnel.

Following Hozuki Suigetsu's gaze, it was easy to identify their source: Jūgo, still in his berserk state!

Although he had lost his mind, the instinct to resist and the will to slaughter still filled his entire consciousness.

His thick arms kept pushing upward, desperately trying to free him from the position in which he had been pinned.

But no matter how hard Jūgo strained, no matter how violently he thrashed,

he could not change his circumstances in the slightest!

The man using him as a stepping stone seemed to weigh thousands upon thousands of tons. There was no resisting him, no overcoming him!!

Yet he was supposed to be the one outsiders, his companions, and even Orochimaru had always regarded as a monster!!

Defiance surged in his chest.

That fiery emotion furiously scorched his blood, his nerves, his flesh and bones!

The instant of clarity born from that utter defiance let him truly experience, for the first time, a crazed obsession much like Sasuke Uchiha's!!

"Kill..."

"Kill you..."

"I'll kill you!!"

The words squeezed out of Jūgo's mouth in fits and starts. His muscular, mountain-like body filled with strength, and that bizarre transformation resembling "woodification" spread wildly across him!!

Feeling the stepping stone beneath his foot begin to stir and rise, Arata lowered his gaze.

For a moment, their eyes met.

But the madness in his prey's eyes did not stir his emotions in the slightest.

"Look, I've got something to do right now. I don't have time to play with you."

"So, could you please quiet down?"

Arata spoke.

But the thrashing beneath his foot did not diminish.

Jūgo seemed to have completely degenerated into a