Shukaku reacted instantly inside Ryoma's mind. Its voice was filled with panic. The tone was completely different from before.
"No, impossible!" Shukaku roared in horror. "Those eyes, how can that be? Why does the old man's Rinnegan appear on a human?"
"Brat, run, run!" Shukaku screamed desperately. The fear was so intense that it seeped into Ryoma's own heart, making his body tremble.
"Stop wasting time," the Hell Path Nagato said coldly. "Extract the One-Tail Jinchuriki and take it away." His voice was flat and without emotion.
"Yes, yes, boss," Homura Mitokado replied cheerfully. He shrugged casually, but his hands were already forming seals. There was no hesitation in his movements.
Water Release Water Rope Bind.
Streams of thick, cold, blue water shot out at once. They wrapped tightly around Ryoma. The ropes bound him firmly where he sat.
"Ah!"
The tightening ropes forced a muffled cry from Ryoma. Cold water soaked his clothes, and the powerful restraint stole his ability to move. He could only struggle weakly.
Homura Mitokado lifted his hand and waved it casually toward the cell bars. kacha rang out. The thick metal bars were sliced open, leaving a wide gap.
Homura Mitokado stepped into the cell and looked with interest at the black Chagama. A playful smile curved his lips. His eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"So this is the Ninja Tool used by Sunagakure to Sealing Technique Tailed Beasts," he said. He tapped the cold surface lightly with a finger. "This makes things easier for us."
As he spoke, the Hell Path Nagato stepped closer. His cold Rinnegan looked down at Ryoma, who was bound on the ground and struggling uselessly. He slowly reached out a hand toward the boy's neck.
Just as his hand was about to touch Ryoma, something moved. A surge of sand burst from the gourd on Ryoma's back. The sand gathered quickly into a massive hand and lunged at the Hell Path.
"Hm?" Nagato shifted his gaze slightly. He flicked his wrist and hurled Black Rods forward. The rods pierced straight into the gourd.
Bang!
The sand hand exploded into scattered grains. The Hell Path's eyes settled on the gourd for the first time with clear interest. His expression did not change, but his focus sharpened.
"Interesting," he said flatly. "Is that also a Ninja Tool with a soul?" His tone suggested genuine curiosity.
It reminded him of the blade he had taken from the Underground Palace. He had not expected Sunagakure to hide such a thing, and to leave it with an abandoned Jinchuriki. The irony was not lost on him.
Hearing this, Ryoma stiffened. The struggling stopped for a moment. He blurted out without thinking, "A soul? That is not Shukaku's power?"
Nagato glanced at him but did not answer. The silence itself became the answer. Ryoma suddenly understood.
The power that had protected him all this time was not Shukaku. That realization struck him harder than fear. Confusion flooded his mind.
Then what was it? What had been protecting him all along? The question echoed in his thoughts.
The Hell Path did not wait for understanding. He grabbed Ryoma by the throat and lifted him off the ground. The pressure was immediate and crushing.
A choking sound escaped Ryoma's mouth. His legs kicked uselessly in the air. His vision blurred as the lack of air set in.
Behind the Hell Path, a terrifying head slowly emerged. It was the King of Hell. Its massive mouth opened wide.
A thick purple-black tongue extended outward. The hand at its tip plunged into Ryoma's abdomen.
The tongue hand tore forward with a sound that made the scalp crawl, and the purple black tongue did not hesitate as it pulled hard. The violent crimson Chakra was dragged little by little out of Ryoma's abdomen, its ferocity laid bare.
Seeing this, Homura Mitokado lifted the lid of the Black Tea Kettle. A powerful force from the Chagama surged out, and the violently struggling Shukaku Chakra was pulled straight inside.
With a dull bang, Shukaku's Chakra had no chance to resist and was forced into the pitch black Chagama. The lid slammed shut, and the patterns of the Sealing Talisman on its surface flashed with light.
Nagato released his grip on Ryoma without any change in expression. Ryoma fell heavily to the cold, hard ground, his face drained of color and his breathing faint as the light in his eyes slowly faded.
Nagato tore through his whole body, but worse was the hollow chill left behind after his Chakra had been ripped away. Nagato did not even look at Ryoma, who lay like broken mud on the floor, and only turned to Homura Mitokado with a slight nod.
Homura Mitokado curved his lips in a careless grin and waved his hand. The glowing Black Tea Kettle shrank and dropped into his palm, then was tucked away without care.
The two of them left one after the other, as if they had only finished a trivial task, and walked toward the prison exit in silence. Their footsteps faded away at an unhurried pace, and the dead quiet pressed down once more.
Ryoma lay on the freezing ground, his body twitching from pain and cold. His empty eyes stared blankly at their retreating backs.
Why?
The question pierced his muddled mind again, sharp and clear. None of this was what Shukaku wanted, and none of it was what he wanted either.
It was not Shukaku's fault, and it was not my fault. I only wanted to live, to live like a person.
Then why?
Why, from the moment I was born, did I have to carry the name of a Guai? Why did those people always look at me with disgust and fear, as if I were some filthy and terrifying Guai?
Why could my father be so cold, use me as a weapon, and throw me away like trash when he was done, locking me in a place worse than Ryoma? Why take even my last bit of life, and crush the final meaning of my existence?
Hate surged up from the hollow in his abdomen, long buried and almost numb, now bursting forth. He hated those Sunagakure who treated him as a Guai, hated their looks of disgust, and hated the cruelty that kept him imprisoned here.
He hated even more the man who was his father, Third Kazekage. He hated the life that man gave him without warmth, and the way he was turned into a tool and discarded.
Kill them.
Kill everyone I hate.
Kill the one who abandoned me.
A roar of hatred broke through his numbness, and a cold, violent presence poured out of the great hollow in Ryoma's abdomen. Above the prison, the souls of the Sunagakure killed by Nagato were drawn down and forced into his body.
mental energy filled with resentment and fear hammered his shattered frame. Black veins bulged and writhed under his skin, and his bones groaned under the strain.
But it was still not enough, still not quite enough. A gentle and pure blue light flowed from the gourd on his back and gathered into a faint female Crimson giant shape.
The blurred figure wrapped her arms around the small body shaking on the ground, her touch full of pity. Her voice echoed deep in Ryoma's soul, gentle yet cold as she said, "Child, go. Kill them."
She was Ryoma's mother, Karura. The blue Crimson giant Shadow slowly merged into his body.
Ryoma let out a scream that no longer sounded human as his body twisted and swelled. His skin split apart, revealing the writhing flesh beneath.