Taming the Shikigami

A ten-minute rest would be enough. Uchiha Shaoyu had not expended much energy anyway.

It was more worthwhile to use this opportunity to strengthen himself.

Within the hollow, the tense atmosphere of battle preparations was like a bowstring drawn taut.

Uchiha Renhuo, Qianying, and the others were racing against time to set up and refine the traps.

While tending to Shisui, Ling and Mei also prepared medical supplies and support materials. The others seized the time to regulate their breathing, swallow soldier pills, and inspect their ninja tools.

Uchiha Shaoyu called Lianhuo and Mihuo over.

"Lianhuo, Mihuo, I'll leave this place to you for now."

Shaoyu's voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable decisiveness.

"I need to leave for a while, about an hour. I have... some personal matters to handle, and I'll conduct a final reconnaissance to make sure there are no other hidden dangers behind us or on our flanks."

Lianhuo and Mihuo exchanged a glance, each seeing a trace of confusion in the other's eyes.

At a moment like this, Shaoyu, their absolute core, wanted to leave alone? Yet their faith in his abilities kept them from asking further questions.

"Shaoyu, do you need us to accompany you?" Lianhuo asked cautiously.

"No." Shaoyu shook his head.

"It's more convenient and faster for me to move alone. Stay here, make sure everyone is safe, and finish the traps. Maintain the highest alert. If anything happens, focus on defense and delaying them until I return."

"Yes! Please be careful!" Lianhuo and Mihuo answered in unison.

Shaoyu said no more. He gave the others a slight nod, then his figure flickered. Like a phantom melting into the night wind, he silently leaped out of the hollow and vanished after a few bounds into the deeper forest and mountain shadows to the northeast.

Shaoyu sped through the freezing wind, his Sharingan surveying his surroundings to ensure no one was following him.

He chose the foot of a sheer cliff about five li from the hollow, a place even more remote and desolate, where pursuers or bystanders were almost certain not to disturb him.

Jagged rocks littered the area, while the cold wind howled through the cracks in the stone, forming a natural barrier of noise.

He swiftly formed hand seals and set up a simple barrier to block sound and conceal his presence.

It was nowhere near as sturdy as one created by a professional barrier master, but it would suffice for his immediate needs.

Taking a deep breath, Uchiha Shaoyu calmed his mind and sank his consciousness into the depths of his spirit.

That dark space belonging to the Ten Shadows Technique emerged once more. The phantom forms of the black and white Divine Dogs prowled along its edges, letting out affectionate low growls.

His gaze turned toward the deeper reaches of that space, where a larger shadow with a far more untamed aura crouched.

The shadow constantly shifted. At times, it was as nimble as an ape; at others, it bared tiger-like fangs. Its tail writhed like a living snake, radiating the agility of a flying creature, the ferocity of a beast, and a chillingly venomous aura.

It was the shikigami known as Nue.

He abruptly opened his eyes. The Mangekyō Sharingan in his left eye blazed to life, its crimson light and strange bands seeming to pierce the darkness within the barrier.

He did not try to communicate with it or soothe it with gentle spiritual power. Instead, he mixed immense chakra with the Mangekyō's uniquely oppressive ocular power and smashed it down upon Nue's shadow like an invisible sledgehammer!

"Come out!"

Shaoyu barked as his hands rapidly formed seals.

It was as though it had received the most direct provocation.

Nue's phantom violently churned within the spiritual space, releasing a soundless roar filled with fury and savagery.

Outside, the air within the barrier began to warp. A monster phantom formed from dark chakra, its outline blurred but already bearing Nue's distinctive traits, rapidly condensed and materialized before Shaoyu.

The instant it took shape, it opened a tiger-like maw and let out a shrill, ear-piercing screech that carried traits of multiple beasts. The sound wave contained a force that disrupted the mind as it rushed straight at Shaoyu!

At the same time, its long, snake-like tail whipped out. A streak of dark-purple lightning shot toward Shaoyu's face like an arrow!

The attack was swift and lethal.

Yet Uchiha Shaoyu's expression did not change. He had been prepared.

"Genjutsu: Sharingan!"

The bands within his left Mangekyō spun sharply! There was no specific illusion; he simply unleashed the Sharingan's most basic genjutsu ability, its power amplified explosively by the Mangekyō, in the most direct and tyrannical manner possible.

Nue's pouncing motion instantly stalled by the slightest fraction. When the mental disruption within its screech struck the spiritual barrier formed by Shaoyu's Mangekyō, it vanished like mud sinking into the sea. A trace of it even rebounded, throwing Nue's consciousness into momentary disarray.

The lightning's trajectory also shifted because of that brief pause. It grazed past Shaoyu's ear and struck the rock behind him with a sizzling sound, sending up white smoke.

That was the opening he needed!

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

Shaoyu's hand seals were incredibly fast. In the instant Nue was affected by the genjutsu, scorching chakra had already gathered in his throat! He took a deep breath and exhaled fiercely!

A blazing fire dragon, far larger and more solid than an ordinary Great Dragon Fire, roared forth wreathed in dark-red flames. It charged straight at Nue, which was still adjusting its posture. Before the flames even reached it, the heat had already warped the air and instantly vaporized the thin snow on the ground.

Nue released a terrified roar. Instinctively, it tried to beat its wings and take flight to evade the attack, but Shaoyu's Mangekyō Sharingan had it firmly locked on. The heavy pressure brought by his ocular power was like invisible shackles, slowing its flight by half a beat.

"Boom!!!"

The blazing fire dragon struck Nue squarely! Dark-red flames instantly swallowed it whole! Fire soared within the barrier as scorching heat rolled outward.

"Roar—!!!"

An incomparably miserable scream rang out from the sea of fire, a wail of agony from both body and spirit being burned at once.

Uchiha Shaoyu's eyes remained cold, without the slightest wavering.

This thing was quite strong, far stronger than the Divine Dogs. He knew an attack of this level would not be enough to completely kill a shikigami like this, but it was enough to grievously wound it and crush most of its will to resist.

In the original story, both Sukuna and Fushiguro Megumi had summoned this thing. However, the one Sukuna summoned was countless times larger than Megumi's. So cursed energy here was chakra—how much chakra one possessed affected the size and strength of the summoned shikigami.

He maintained his chakra output, keeping the flames burning for several seconds, until the screams weakened and the struggling figure within the fire gradually lost its strength.

Then, he abruptly dispelled the Fire Release.

As the flames faded, Nue's phantom was revealed within, charred black, smoking, and barely clinging to life.

Its formerly ferocious aura had vanished completely, leaving only pain and weakness. Its amber beast eyes were filled with terror as it looked at Shaoyu as if he were a god.

Shaoyu stepped forward, the Mangekyō in his left eye still radiating a soul-chilling pressure.

He extended a hand and forcibly drove chakra condensed with his will to conquer and the contract laws of the Ten Shadows Technique into Nue's nearly collapsing core of consciousness, like branding it with a mark.

Nue's remaining consciousness trembled violently.

Before the absolute crushing force and the choice between life and death, its small measure of wildness and pride was utterly shattered.

Its instinct to survive, along with its fear of the unfathomable power wielded by this human with terrifying eyes and flames, ultimately overwhelmed everything else.

It let out an extremely faint, almost whimpering low cry, lowered its head, and abandoned its final trace of resistance.