"Father, I'm scared!"
After the test subject's cries woke her, Ishigami Kenya's daughter, Ishigami Miyabi, hid fearfully in her father's arms. The teenage girl was already terrified by their dire circumstances, let alone those deranged howls in the middle of the night.
"Don't worry. Everything will be all right."
Ishigami Kenya tenderly patted his daughter's shoulder, then gave his wife a reassuring look.
Although Zhijiu had staged a rebellion, as long as he wanted stability in the Land of Rice Fields, he would need Kenya to appease the old nobility for him. For now, Kenya remained confident that he was safe.
Just as Kenya was considering whether to write Zhijiu a letter seeking peace, a scream rang out from his most trusted samurai guard.
Kenya's expression changed instantly at the sound. Then came the crash of collapsing walls and the servants' terrified screams, all from up ahead. Ishigami Miyabi burst into tears.
Before long, everything fell silent again, and the door to Ishigami Kenya's room slowly creaked open.
A blood-soaked monster with the face of a demon appeared before Ishigami Kenya, smiling.
"I smelled it. Your room smells the best in this whole mansion. Who are you, old man? How do you get to live in such a huge house, with so many guards? If I tear you apart, will I become someone important too?"
"Aaaaaah!"
At the sight of Orochimaru's Test Subject, Ishigami Kenya's wife and daughter both screamed. One clung to Kenya's legs, while the other held on to his back. The man they had always relied upon was now their only hope of survival.
"My name is Ishigami Kenya. Did Zhijiu send you to kill me? Tell him I'm willing to negotiate anything, as long as he spares my wife and daughter."
Facing a monster unlike anything