[Las Noches · Forest of Menos · Day Three]
There was no light in the forest.
Or rather, the light here was a sickly, dark violet phosphorescence that seeped from the branches of the twisted trees and pooled on the ground like a viscous swamp.
The air reeked of decay and an excessive concentration of reishi. Every breath felt like swallowing tiny shards of glass.
Naruto stood at the edge of the forest, acutely aware of his pounding heart.
"Remember the rules." Lilynette sat on a bone branch jutting sideways, swinging her legs. Her voice rang out clearly in the silence. "First, survive for three days. Second, kill at least one Gillian. Third, come back alive."
She jumped down and patted Naruto's bloodstained training clothes-the blood was from the beating Tekka had given him yesterday, and he hadn't had time to change.
"Don't die, you idiot apprentice. His Majesty has invested a lot of resources in you. It'd be a shame to waste them."
With that, she kicked Naruto in the back.
Naruto stumbled forward a few steps. The instant he entered the forest, the temperature plunged ten degrees.
He looked back, but Lilynette was already gone. A layer of flowing shadows shrouded the forest's edge. It was a barrier-once he entered, he couldn't leave for three days.
"Seriously... not gentle at all." Naruto smiled bitterly and rolled his aching shoulders.
Thirty-seven days of intensive training had brought a qualitative leap in his physical abilities and combat instincts.
But against a Gillian-a gigantic Hollow as large as a small hill, capable of leveling a city block with a single Cero-he still had little confidence.
No, it wasn't a lack of confidence. He had no idea how to fight one.
"Don't panic, brat." The Nine-Tails' voice sounded in his mind, carrying