After thinking for a moment, Uchiha Zhuang decided to return to town and rest, then come back at night. The journey was uneventful. When night fell, he brought a fishing net to the lake and lay in wait not far from the grassy shallows. Beneath the bright moon and sparse stars, a slender-limbed figure slowly climbed out of the water and onto the shore. It never would have imagined that a human would dare come near the lake at night. A large net dropped from above and wrapped tightly around the Kappa. Uchiha Zhuang immediately rushed forward, kicked it over, and dragged it into the woods. The Kappa thrashed about in the net, screaming in terror. It even spoke in a human voice: "Let me go, you despicable human! I'll feed you to the fish one day!" "Heh. So that fish is yours, then?" Uchiha Zhuang stared intently at the Kappa through his Sharingan. The Kappa roared, "That's right! I raised that fish. I'm going to kill everyone on the shore! Damn it! Temeyarō, bakayarō!" Watching the Kappa grow more and more agitated, Uchiha Zhuang hacked off one of its legs. With a scream, the Kappa clutched its leg and roared furiously, "You bastard! I'll kill you!" A flash of green light, and it tore a huge hole in the net, then crawled toward Uchiha Zhuang. "Fire Release: Flame Bullet!" He unleashed several Flame Bullets in succession, striking the Kappa. How could a creature raised in the water withstand their power? In an instant, the Kappa was left on the verge of death. Uchiha Zhuang stepped closer and looked down at it. "If you're willing to tell me your story and why you did this, I might let you live, Kappa." The light in the Kappa's eyes had already begun to fade, but at his words it immediately rallied. Lying on the ground with its eyes closed, it said, "I'm an avenger. You'll never understand how deep my hatred runs. I'd give up everything just to kill everyone in that town." Tears ran down the Kappa's cheeks. "It all started five years ago. Back then, I lived with my parents in Mount Okura, not far from here. We kept to ourselves and never appeared before humans, and they never discovered us. Then one day, a group of bald-headed men came with a large troop of soldiers and broke into our home. Those baldies could track our location. We couldn't escape them in the mountains, streams, or ponds. In the end, my parents died at their hands protecting me. I saw those monks joking as they talked about using us as ingredients for medicine and subduing demons. I fled with all my might and finally escaped them in Great Marsh Lake. From then on, I swore I'd kill every human here, then find those bald-headed humans and kill them all." Looking at the Kappa's twisted, hideous face, Uchiha Zhuang sighed inwardly. It had already been consumed by bloodlust. There was no saving it. "What about that catfish?" The Kappa gradually calmed down, and the corners of its mouth seemed to lift in a faint smile. "That's my companion, Baka. It's my best friend. We've already killed a lot of people who came to get rid of me, including those most despicable baldies!" "Why kill the innocent townspeople? They never did anything to you." "No. They're all accomplices, all humans who deserve to die! Not a one of them can be spared!" Looking at its reddened eyes, Uchiha Zhuang knew it was beyond saving. It was time to send it on its way. "Lastly, I'll keep my promise and call Baka out. If you can defeat me, you can live. Otherwise, you die." "You said it yourself. I like that you keep your word, but you're human, so I still have to kill you!" With that, the Kappa let out the call to summon Baka. A huge wave shattered the glittering surface of the lake, and the enormous catfish emerged.
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The Giant Catfish showed its massive head and slowly hauled itself toward the shore on its forelegs. Now Uchiha Zhuang could see it clearly: its forelegs were thick and powerful, while its underdeveloped hind legs looked rather scrawny, though they were already strong enough to support its movements. It looked like a crocodile, but its mouth was much wider, and its skin was extremely smooth. Conventional weapons probably wouldn't do much against it. The Giant Catfish crawled toward Uchiha Zhuang, its huge mouth opening and closing. Uchiha Zhuang leaped onto a nearby giant tree. The catfish approached the Kappa, and the two demons seemed to converse in low murmurs. Then the Giant Catfish carefully swallowed the Kappa. "Damn it, they're trying to escape!" Uchiha Zhuang panicked and immediately launched a Great Fireball Technique at the slow-moving catfish. After taking the magical blow, the catfish didn't even try to fight back. It staggered toward the lake. If it got any farther, it would escape. Uchiha Zhuang steeled himself, throwing all the Explosive Beads he had toward the Giant Catfish's path to cut off its retreat. Then chakra churned through him. "Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!" A massive fire dragon shot straight toward the Giant Catfish. Having already taken a Great Fireball Technique, the catfish was struck from behind by this blow as well. It let out a tremendous wail and crashed to the ground! The Giant Catfish had been defeated so quickly that Uchiha Zhuang had even prepared to fight it in the water. He watched it from the tree for a while, making sure it wasn't pretending to be dead, then quickly jumped down and ran over. Up close, he saw that the catfish was badly wounded. The skin across its back had been charred black, and its flesh was cooked. Its mouth hung open limply as the Kappa struggled to crawl out. Even inside the catfish's mouth, it hadn't escaped unharmed. Watching Uchiha Zhuang's expressionless face, the Kappa spoke through bloody foam at the corner of its mouth. "Please, don't turn me into an ingredient for medicine. I want to go back to Mount Okura and be with my mom and dad." The light in its eyes slowly faded, then went out. Looking at the Kappa's miserable state and the Giant Catfish's motionless body, Uchiha Zhuang felt a deep heaviness settle over him. Could humans and demons really not live together peacefully in this world? Had he been wrong all along? They had a right to survive, too! Why should humans get to take everything for themselves? In anguish, Uchiha Zhuang leaned against the Giant Catfish's body and watched dark clouds slowly gather overhead. Ah, it was going to rain. It looked like a storm. Was the sky seeing them off, or weeping for their tragic fate? From a distance, Uchiha Zhuang's figure beside the Giant Catfish looked so ordinary and small. This transmigrator, once a ruthless killer, now looked so lost and pale. Perhaps everyone talked tough when they were young, but when faced with something that shook them to their core, didn't everyone become that same crybaby again?
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"This damn weather! That thunder's deafening!" "Keep your voice down, you fat fool. The Thunder God will get angry if he hears you!" "Hey, I was just saying! I'd planned to sell some herbs in town and buy my daughter a gift, too!" On that rainy night, the warm orange light of the izakaya cast a cozy glow. People gathered in groups of three and five, some hunched over their drinks in silence. The place was lively. The owner wiped cups and dishes without a word, while the cook and his apprentices bustled around preparing food. "Ah, I wonder how that boy's doing. In the end, he's just a child. Even with a warrior's outfit and a greatsword, he's still far too young. Maybe the demon ate him. What a pity. He seemed like such a fine young man. There are so many adults around, yet none of them dares go kill the demon. They'd all rather cower in town and wait for some so-called hero to appear. What a lousy bunch of adults!" The owner kept mocking himself in his thoughts, only for hope to rise and then shatter again. He always wore a stern expression amid the noisy crowd, while his mind wandered through a world of its own. The noren curtain shook, and the wooden door swung open. The sound of footsteps, pattering across the floor, rang out sharply in the lively izakaya. Everyone stopped and turned to look at the entrance. A drenched young man stood there, the lean, dark muscles beneath his loose robe appearing now and then. But the most astonishing thing was that he was carrying a demon! More precisely, a dead Kappa! Good heavens, they'd only ever heard old people talk about such things. Nobody had ever seen one in real life! A real demon! They'd have plenty to brag about to their families and neighbors now!
Ignoring the tipsy patrons around him, Uchiha Zhuang slowly walked up to the counter, holding the dead Kappa. Staring at the owner, he said, "This is the culprit behind the trouble at Great Marsh Lake!" Seeing the owner's incredulous expression, he continued, "As you can see, it's a Kappa. It's a demon. Five years ago, humans chased it from Mount Okura, and it fled to Great Marsh Lake. After that, it started taking revenge on humans. The dead townspeople, the warriors who came to slay it, the monks, and the others were all killed by it and its companion, a giant catfish over six meters long. They fed all the bodies to the catfish!" The owner stared with his mouth agape, unable to speak for a long moment. This, this... could it really be true? A catfish over six meters long? "Unbelievable!" Ignoring the owner and the other patrons, who were looking at him as if he were a god, Uchiha Zhuang turned and walked toward the door. "The Giant Catfish is dead. Its body is lying by the grassy shore of Great Marsh Lake. I hope you'll go and check it soon, before it starts to stink and pollute the lake!" With that, he rushed out without looking back and walked toward the distant woods beneath the pouring rain.
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