The Eruption of Cursed Seal Level Two and the Suppression by a Single Thread

Cold.

Bone-deep cold, as if even her soul had been submerged in a deep pool in the dead of winter.

The agony of the mental backlash was like countless red-hot steel needles scraping back and forth across Tayuya's cerebral cortex. Every nerve spasm brought a wave of pain so intense it nearly made her faint.

But what drove her to despair even more was the chakra draining from her body.

That damned silver cage was like a greedy, bottomless abyss. Through every point of contact between her and this space, it continuously and mercilessly siphoned away her life force.

She could clearly feel herself growing weaker, becoming parched.

Before long, she would become like a dried fish scorched beneath the blazing sun, completely drained of all moisture and reduced to a meaningless shell.

Nearby, that useless liaison officer named Yoshikawa Shin was still kowtowing and begging for mercy like a dog, revealing secrets more than sufficient to shake the entire upper echelons of the Land of Fire.

Yet the man hiding in the darkness—that Fifth Hokage, Baishi... There was not the slightest wavering in his voice, only the teasing amusement of a cat playing with a mouse.

"Dog, I already have enough of those here."

"What an amusing sight it would be to send that face of yours, covered in despair and regret, to Kyoto—to stand before them."

Those words struck like heavy hammers, completely shattering the last sliver of hope in Tayuya's heart.

She understood.

From beginning to end, she, the Sound Four, and even this operation dispatched by Lord Orochimaru had all merely been pieces in that man's script. They were not hunters, but sacrifices lured into a trap for others to watch...!

No!

I'll never accept this!

The extreme humiliation and fear of death acted like the