Black Liquid

"The weather's wonderful today, sunny and breezy. It's perfect for an outing!"

"Yeah, absolutely. And with all this delicious food in front of us, we're finally in for a real treat today."

Flower Dance and Spirit Grass chatted happily with the other girls.

Uchiha Matsuzaki loved this kind of life, spending time with his friends. It was carefree, with nothing to worry about.

"Everyone, let's eat. It's just about noon."

Uchiha Matsuzaki smiled at the others and said.

The group happily spent the rest of the afternoon together, eating nearly all the food they had brought.

"Matsuzaki, where did you buy all this? Or did someone make it at home?"

Chestnut Snow asked curiously.

"Oh, this? My mom made it. Why?"

"No reason. I was just asking. It's really delicious. This is the first time I've ever eaten food this good. Your mom is an amazing cook."

"Yeah, we thought it was delicious too."

"If you like it, have some more. And whenever you want to eat it again, just let me know. If you get the chance, you can come over to my house, and my mom will cook up a whole tableful of delicious food for you."

The others said happily.

Uchiha Matsuzaki was especially pleased. He hadn't expected their tastes to be so similar to his.

The weather was sunny and mild.

The sun shone brightly.

A gentle breeze stirred.

The lovely surroundings put everyone in a good mood.

As they chatted, Uchiha Matsuzaki suddenly sensed something was off.

"Do you smell something foul?"

Uchiha Matsuzaki furrowed his brow and asked the others.

All four of them sniffed the air, then nodded.

"This doesn't look good. Everyone, be careful. I'll go look around."

"Yamamoto, keep an eye on things here. If anything happens, call me right away."

Uchiha Matsuzaki stood up, drew his weapon, and spoke in a low voice.

The others put down their food and nervously watched their surroundings.

"The smell's getting stronger. It's almost unbearable."

Uchiha Matsuzaki covered his mouth and nose with one hand and held his weapon in the other as he slowly made his way around.

Soon, he disappeared from the others' sight, heading toward the edge of the forest.

"What's this?"

Beside a patch of grass, Uchiha Matsuzaki found a puddle of thick, black liquid that reeked horribly.

He approached slowly, then prodded it a few times with a stick, trying to figure out what it was.

"What is this stuff? Why do I have such a bad feeling about it?"

Uchiha Matsuzaki stared at the liquid and spoke.

"Ah! Help!"

Just as he was still trying to figure out what it was, a cry for help suddenly came from the place where they had been eating.

"Damn it!"

Uchiha Matsuzaki immediately dropped the stick and raced back toward Chestnut Snow and the others.

Back where Chestnut Snow and the others were.

Less than two minutes after Uchiha Matsuzaki left, a monster with a body entirely black suddenly appeared in front of them.

It had a human-like body, but its mouth was full of fangs, and its hands were like sharp claws. It stared fixedly at the four of them as it slowly advanced.