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Like a dead person...

As soon as Naruto finished speaking, he opened his mouth. Seeing Bibi Dong like this, that was the first thought that flashed through his mind.

In this gloomy, damp Sewer, amid the broken walls and rubble, Bibi Dong leaned against the purple-black sofa, head bowed, expression vacant, eyes lifeless.

The water on the floor had nearly reached her knees. Bibi Dong didn't care as the waves stirred by her movements lifted her skirt. She remained unmoved.

She seemed to have become one with the ruins.

She'd been like this for half a day, apparently. At least, when Naruto had drawn on Dong Trumpet's Soul Power during his Soul Fighting match with Tang San, Bibi Dong had already stopped responding, letting Naruto drain her Soul Power like a puppet.

Naruto cautiously tried speaking, then waved a hand in front of Bibi Dong's eyes.

"Hey?"

"Hello?"

"Kon'nichiwa?"

"..."

No one knew how long passed. Just as Naruto was about to get pushy and lay hands on her, Bibi Dong's wandering soul finally returned to her body. Her fingers twitched stiffly, then she raised a hand and rubbed the space between her brows.

"Stop chattering in here. I can hear you..."

Bibi Dong's voice was steeped in weariness.

There was a little more life in her face, but her raised eyes remained utterly dull.

"Good. I was worried you'd died."

Naruto withdrew his wicked little hand, sounding relieved as he said something that wasn't funny. Bibi Dong didn't fly into a rage—or even react in the slightest. She simply nodded, then leaned back against the sofa.

Seeing that she seemed about to return to her previous, living-dead state, Naruto paused, then got straight to the point.

"You saw it all, right?"

"The techniques Tang San used—the Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Mysterious Jade Hand, Purple Demon Eye, and the Hidden Weapon on his wrist."

From the start, Naruto had agreed to the Soul Fighting match to make Tang San reveal something.

Though he'd achieved his initial goal, Tang San had also dug up nearly all his own trump cards. If Naruto hadn't beaten him into a pig's head and vented his anger, he might have been the one who came out worse overall.

Either way, he'd taken a beating. It was time to inspect the "spoils" he'd earned.

"Yes, I saw it all. Very clearly." Bibi Dong bowed her head beside him, curling in on herself as her expression blended into the shadows. A mocking laugh escaped her lips. "You even know all the names of Tang San's Self-Created Soul Skills. And then what?"

"And then?"

Naruto frowned and turned to look at Bibi Dong, his expression strange.

"Yu Xiaogang is a good-for-nothing. That's reality, and I've proved it to you. Or is our esteemed Pope going to act like a shrew and insist on arguing even when she's in the wrong?"

"Yes... yes... Xiao Gang is a good-for-nothing..."

Bibi Dong shook her head again and again, her measured voice laced with sighs.

As if she'd sorted out her thoughts, or perhaps convinced herself, Bibi Dong began speaking faster, then gradually returned to her usual manner. "But... what does that have to do with the feelings between him and me?"

"Huh?"

Naruto was stunned.

"What do you mean?"

Bibi Dong slowly raised her head. Through her disheveled hair, her sharp eyes finally showed a faint glimmer as they met Naruto's gaze.

"Kid, you don't understand feelings at all. What Xiao Gang and I feel for each other has nothing to do with whether he's a good-for-nothing!"

"I don't understand?"

Naruto's eyes widened, his voice rising.

The anger that had been building in his chest could no longer be contained!

"At the very least, I know feelings are built on mutual admiration, mutual devotion, and facing the future together! That's the kind of love worth singing about!"

"What is yours? A rich young lady chasing after a delinquent with a motorcycle?"

"What's there to admire about him!? What has he ever done for you!? Has he ever shown the courage to face the future with you!? What does he have!? Luo Sanpao?"

Naruto's fury surged as his curses rang through the air!

Bibi Dong didn't argue back. Her face darkened, and she clenched her pearly teeth, suppressing the barely perceptible trembling of her body. Her hand tightened unconsciously, crushing the armrest beneath her palm with a creak.

And not far from the two of them—

Crack!

A black fissure had appeared on the gray-white wall at the edge of the space. A second followed, then a third. More and more spread across it.

"He's a complete and utter good-for-nothing! Not just a good-for-nothing as a Spirit Master, but a good-for-nothing as a person!"

"Didn't you say it was about feelings?"

Naruto's mouth twisted into a cold smile, his expression turning from anger to mockery. "Fine! Your Xiao Gang sure is lucky. He got to experience this so-called true love twice. But look at what he did!"

"Ran away! Twice! And you still can't let go of each other?"

"Are you blind?"

"This kind of good-for-nothing isn't even as good as Qian Xunji, the Secret Chamber Douluo!"

At his words,

the Sealing Space fell briefly silent.

Naruto suddenly came to his senses and stopped cursing.

Bibi Dong snapped her head up. In the dim light, the blood-red gleam in her eyes stood out sharply as she fixed them on Naruto.

"You know?"

Naruto said nothing.

"You know!"

Bibi Dong repeated herself, but now her tone was certain. What followed wasn't an outpouring storm of Soul Power, nor an attempt to fight Naruto to the death. Instead, she laughed.

"Hahahaha!"

Bibi Dong doubled over, her laughter desolate.

Naruto stared at her, stunned and utterly at a loss, trying to think of what to do.

Boom!

A thunderous crash of something breaking through the air sounded behind him. Naruto had barely turned around when a wave surged up and slammed straight into him!

Drenched to the bone, Naruto staggered and wiped the water from his face. He stared in shock at the gray-white stone that had just fallen into the middle of the rippling water.

What was that?

Crack!

Amid Bibi Dong's reckless laughter, an incongruous sound rang out. Naruto's eyes widened as he spun around. Above him, a dense mass of dark shapes swept past like storm clouds.

Boom!

Boom!!

Accompanied by Bibi Dong's laughter, the entire Sealing Space seemed to be caught in a torrential downpour. The ceiling looked ready to give way at any moment, and dense gray-white chunks rained down like hailstones—each one several people tall, crashing heavily toward the ground!

Naruto's pupils contracted. Golden, glowing Runic Chains shot from the void above him, weaving together with a clatter into an impenetrable net.

The chunks slammed into the chains, sending out brief flashes of bright sparks and a dangerous sizzling sound.

The Runic Chains blocked a few pieces of rubble,

but they could protect only this small patch of ground!

More chunks came hurtling down like bombs! Another familiar thunderous crash followed. An invisible shock wave whipped at Naruto's sleeves, making them flap, followed by crumbling stones and splashing water!

And this was only the beginning!

Rubble fell as if it cost nothing, and the ear-splitting crashes came one after another without end!

Naruto retreated rapidly, using the golden chains shooting from the void to weave through the heaps of rubble. He tried to keep low and steady himself as the entire Sealing Space shook like an earthquake. Falling stones and collapsing walls were everywhere!

It was like standing in the middle of a typhoon-tossed sea!

What on earth was happening here?

Naruto panted hard, standing on higher ground and anxiously scanning from side to side. The entire Sealing Space had become a scene straight out of the apocalypse!

Bibi Dong hadn't released any Soul Power, and the Eight Trigrams Seal had no problems. So why did the entire Sealing Space look ready to collapse?

His gaze swept across the chaos.

Naruto happened to catch sight of Bibi Dong in the center of the space, still laughing without restraint. Beneath her already bloodshot eyes, her laughter had taken on a clear note of sobbing.

The rubble seemed to avoid Bibi Dong in the middle, falling only around her.

It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck him.

Naruto stared blankly for a moment, remembering a theory from some obscure Hokage lore.

The Sealing Space reflected the heart.

And this crumbling, shadowy Sewer wasn't Naruto's... It was Bibi Dong's...