"Damn it!" The three-headed ghost king was enraged. All three heads simultaneously spewed out venom, which converged in the air to form a poisonous river that poured onto Tian Zhiyun's head. Tian Zhiyun manipulated her dragon shadow to dodge to the side. The poisonous river crashed into the mud, burning a deep trench several dozen feet long. The poisonous insects in the trench instantly turned into pus.
Just as she dodged the poisonous river, the Poison Sac Oni King suddenly flung the poison sacs from its lower body toward her, unleashing a barrage of poisonous thorns like arrows. Tian Zhiyun gritted her teeth and had Long Ying shield her with his body. The poisonous thorns pierced Long Ying's body, causing his Chakra to flicker and weaken considerably—these thorns could corrode Chakra.
"Attack her together! Don't let her get away!" shouted the Ghost King carrying the skeleton of the Poisonous Dragon. Five Ghost Kings charged forward simultaneously. The Tumor Oni King spewed miasma, the Six-Armed Oni King flicked poisonous threads, the Poison Sac Oni King shot poisonous thorns, the Three-Headed Ghost King sprayed venom, and the Ghost King carrying the skeleton hurled the skeleton at her.
Five poisonous attacks came at once, and even with the Eight Gates Released Formation activated, Tian Zhiyun was struggling to withstand them. She manipulated her dragon shadow to block in front of her while retreating, but she was still a little too slow—a wisp of miasma grazed her arm. Although most of it was blocked by her armor, a trace of poison still seeped into the gaps in the armor plates, instantly numbing her arm and then causing it to swell and turn red.
"Damn it!" She gritted her teeth, applied some antidote to her arm, and the redness and swelling subsided a little, but the numbness persisted. The Eight Gates Released Formation was already exhausting, and now she was also poisoned. She began to breathe heavily, and her Chakra was starting to run out; even the outline of the dragon's shadow was fading.
Seeing this, the five ghost kings attacked even more fiercely. The ghost king carrying the skeleton slammed the skeleton into Long Ying, who roared and scattered. Tian Zhiyun fell from the sky, landing in the mud and getting covered in mud. Just as she was about to get up, the poisonous threads of the Six-Armed Oni King wrapped around her ankle and pulled her towards the Poison Sac Oni King Poison Sac Oni King —who was opening a large mouth, spewing out dark poisonous mist, clearly wanting to swallow her.
"The talisman Tsubasa gave me..." Tian Zhiyun touched her chest, where a yellow talisman was hidden. Tsubasa had told her to carry it, saying that if all else failed, she could crush it to save her life and teleport directly to his side. She hadn't wanted to use it, intending to break free on her own, but now she couldn't hold on any longer—her arm was getting increasingly numb, her Chakra was almost depleted, and the surrounding Oni Clan were closing in. If this dragged on any longer, she would truly become nourishment for Hell.
She yanked out the talisman and crushed it with all her might. The talisman hummed and lit up, enveloping her in a beam of white light. Seeing her trying to escape, the Five Poison Oni Kings panicked and threw his ultimate attack at her, but the white light was too fast. Just as the attack reached her, her figure vanished into thin air.
"Damn it! She got away!" the three-headed demon king roared, slamming all three heads into the ground simultaneously, sending mud flying everywhere.
When Tian Zhiyun opened her eyes again, she was already standing on a hillside covered with wildflowers. The warm sunlight shone on her, there was no miasma, no poisonous ghosts, only the familiar scent of grass and trees. Her legs went weak and she almost fell, but luckily someone caught her—it was Tsubasa.
"You're finally back." Tsubasa frowned, supporting her arm. Seeing her swollen forearm, his expression darkened. "Poisoned?"
"It's nothing..." Tian Zhiyun gasped for breath, taking out the jade bottle containing the dew from the Poison Dragon Grass and the poison crystal from her cloth bag, and stuffing them into his hand, "What you wanted... and this poison crystal, can be used to make antidotes..."
Before she could finish speaking, everything went black and she fainted—the aftereffects of the Eight Gates Released Formation combined with poisoning had pushed her body to its limit.
Tsubasa quickly picked her up, checked her pulse, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that she was merely exhausted and slightly poisoned. He glanced at the jade bottle and poison crystal in his hand, then at Tian Zhiyun, whose face was pale, and smiled helplessly, "You're always so stubborn and reckless, pushing yourself to the limit before you're willing to come back."
Tsubasa gave Tian Zhiyun the antidote, then carried her down the hillside. The cloth bag in his arms was still bulging—besides the dewdrops and poison crystals from the Poison Dragon Grass, there were also the ores from the Poison Miasma Oni Prison that she had picked up earlier. Although the journey was dangerous, the harvest was quite substantial.
The wind rustled through the grass, carrying the scent of flowers, and birdsong drifted from afar. Tian Zhiyun stirred in his arms, smacked her lips, as if lost in a sweet dream. Tsubasa glanced down at her, then slowed his pace—it was home; he could handle the rest.
The wind, carrying the smell of sulfur, swept across the vast plains at the Gate of Hell. The Sage of Six Paths raised a hand to gather the white hair that hung down his shoulder, looking at the ninja souls who were resting.
"Look at them," the Sage of Six Paths suddenly laughed, turning to look at Tsubasa beside him, "Before, in the Pure Land, they were all souls who had forgotten how to fight, but now their strength has improved by leaps and bounds, and almost all of them have increased their cultivation by a large margin."
Upon hearing this, Tsubasa glanced around and chuckled, "This group of veterans all fought their way through the Shinobi World. They've just been living a life of ease in the Pure Land for too long. Now that they're fighting again, and with Hell as a treasure trove for soul cultivation, it's only natural that their strength has improved by leaps and bounds."
The Sage of Six Paths raised an eyebrow. "You see things quite clearly, but then again—" He changed the subject, a hint of mockery in his eyes, "Are you really comfortable letting your wives risk their lives in Hell? Although the Ghost Emperor of Hell won't intervene, those Demon Kings aren't pushovers either. If something were to happen to them here, wouldn't you be heartbroken? They're incredibly bold, always acting alone."
"They are not weaklings," Tsubasa said, a slight smile playing on his lips, his tone steady. "The unification of the Shinobi World was basically spearheaded and driven by them. Now that the Shinobi World is at peace, if they still want to go any further, they can only hone themselves in Hell. With all the contingency plans I've left them, if they still don't dare to hone themselves in Hell, then when they encounter the Ōtsutsuki Clan in the future, they'll be nothing but lambs to the slaughter." He paused, then continued, "Besides, I have my clones outside to provide backup, so there shouldn't be any problems."
The Sage of Six Paths glanced into the depths of Hell, his brow furrowing slightly. "You seem quite carefree, but things in Hell aren't that simple. Do you know why the entrance plains are always targeted and attacked by the Oni Clan?"
Tsubasa leaned against the rune-engraved Gate of Hell, pulled a gourd from his robes—its material was unknown, a thin layer of frost covered its surface—poured some wine, squinted, and said, "Isn't it just stuck between the human world and Hell? It can advance to seize the souls of the living, and retreat to defend the vital passage to Hell; a strategic location fought over by military strategists."
"Indeed," the Sage of Six Paths crouched down, drew a circle on the ground with his finger, and then drew ten small squares inside the circle. "This Hell is divided into ten directions, each with its own rules and cultivation path. These Ten Directions of Hell correspond to the Ten Great Ghost Emperors, and this plain is the transit point of the Ten Directions of Hell, hence the constant warfare."
He gestured towards the other side of the plain, where a group of spirits were talking to a figure in white robes. The figure had his back to them and was holding a staff with a ball of light flickering at the top—it was none other than Hamura Otsutsuki younger brother of the Sage of Six Paths.
"These ninjas were all skilled fighters in life, but after death they became ghosts with Chakra, considered outsiders by the Hell Oni Clan. The Ten Directions of the Oni Domain Demon Realm do not tolerate us," said the Sage of Six Paths. "Ghost cultivators advance by cultivating various negative energies, which is different from the Chakra cultivation of ninjas. Hamura teaches ninja souls a cultivation method that combines ghost cultivation with Chakra."
Tsubasa suddenly remembered something and asked, "So the Oni Clan is just going to let you cultivate here? The fighting I saw when I came in was quite intense, why is it quiet today?"
The Sage of Sage of Six Paths' gaze darkened. "It's not that there's no movement; they're waiting for the Ghost Emperor's order. Hell has a strict hierarchy. You're only being lenient with the Ghost Emperor because it's your first time Hell."