"Magnet Release: Lightning Blade Tornado!"
As if knowing for certain that he would die here today, madness flared wildly in Troy's eyes. He bit open the last scroll on his body and released every single square shuriken he had—large and small alike.
Instantly, dazzling lightning enveloped the weapons, swirling them together into a massive, writhing metallic dragon crackling with electrical energy. With a terrifying roar, it surged straight toward Shinji.
"Come down to hell with me!"
"Sorry, but hell is currently full. I've decided to stay here and keep making trouble for the world, so you go on ahead by yourself."
Shinji's voice echoed strangely from directly behind him. The crazed look in Troy's eyes froze instantly in shock.
How is this possible?!
I clearly saw the lightning dragon completely swallow him whole...
These were the last thoughts that crossed his mind before he fell into an eternal sleep.
"Stealth Strike!"
Thwack!
Troy's head rolled heavily onto the ground, the light of life fading forever from his eyes.
Meanwhile, the remaining Cloud ninja—the one previously poisoned—had barely taken a few steps in his attempt to flee when he was suddenly pounced upon by a white fox, nearly twice the size of a normal wild wolf. With a single swipe of its sharp claws, it sliced his throat clean open.
And just like that, every single ninja from Kumogakure was dead!
After snatching the final kill, the white fox trotted back to Shinji looking very pleased with itself. It rubbed its head affectionately against his trouser leg, seeking praise, before happily trotting over to the young woman and began licking her face repeatedly.
Prprprpr~
It didn't take long before the girl slowly regained consciousness.
"Jiana... was it you who saved me?"
The white fox quickly shook its head and kept nudging her, signalling for her to look beside them.
Only then did she notice the bodies scattered all around, and the familiar figure of the man whom she had met for the third time now.
Being naturally intelligent and sharp-witted, she quickly pieced together exactly what had happened.
Jiana must have managed to escape, found these powerful people, and led them here to rescue her.
She quickly composed herself and bowed respectfully toward Shinji and the others to express her gratitude.
"I am Tamamo Hotaru. I am deeply grateful to all of you for saving my life. I also apologise for my previous rudeness and offenses, and hope you can forgive me."
Shinji had absolutely no interest in polite words or flowery speeches. He said bluntly, "Empty words and fancy pleasantries are useless. If you truly want to thank me, show it with something real and practical."
Tamamo Hotaru was momentarily stunned, her heartfelt gratitude instantly fading into awkwardness and speechless frustration.
But since he had spoken so rudely and straightforwardly, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and ask, "That is only right and proper. I wonder... what exactly is it that you desire, sir?"
"Huh? Isn't that supposed to be your line? Why are you asking me what I want? Fine then. I want ten million ryō. I've saved your life twice now. Five million ryō per life—surely that isn't too expensive, is it?"
Shinji demanded payment so directly and shamelessly that Tamamo Hotaru, who was used to dealing with smooth-talking hypocrites and pretentious gentlemen, was completely thrown off balance.
To be honest, ten million ryō really wasn't a large sum to her back in the day. Even if he had asked for twice as much, she could have easily paid it. After all, in the past, she was the number one courtesan of the Red Pavilion—the most popular and sought-after beauty in the region. There had been no shortage of wealthy men willing to throw fortunes away just to win a smile from her.
But the problem was that the disaster on that day had happened so suddenly, giving her absolutely no time to prepare. The entire Red Pavilion had collapsed in mere moments.
Afterwards, she had been running for her life constantly, so naturally, she hadn't carried any money with her.
So forget ten million ryō... she didn't even have a thousand ryō to her name right now.
"What you say is true... ten million ryō really isn't an unreasonable amount..."
"Great. Then pay up."
"..."
Shinji's relentless focus on money completely broke her composure again.
She quickly said, "I... I do not possess that kind of money right now. Could I perhaps write you an IOU note instead? I promise to pay back the full amount as soon as I am able."
Shinji suddenly let out a cold, mocking laugh. "I knew it. You're just a penniless beggar. All that talk of gratitude was nothing but empty words, wasn't it? If you have no money, then get lost and get out of my sight. You're nothing but an eyesore."
An... an eyesore?!
Tamamo Hotaru was utterly stunned by his harsh words.
For the past few years, every single man who saw her treated her with the utmost care and tenderness. They spoiled her, catered to her every whim, and would gladly spend their entire fortunes just to see her happy or make her smile.
And now, this man actually had the nerve to call her an eyesore...
Is this man blind or something?!
Can't he see exactly how beautiful I am? How charming and pitiful I look? Why does he find me annoying?!
Tamamo Hotaru raised a hand to touch her own face in confusion—
Hissss! That hurts!
She nearly forgot. Right from the very beginning, she had been beaten and injured. Her face was still horribly swollen and bruised, and she was covered in dirt and grime from running for her life. She looked absolutely wretched right now—hardly the stunning beauty she used to be.
Tamamo Hotaru secretly wanted to just turn around and walk away. But she was terrified that as soon as she left, she might get captured by Cloud ninja again.
However, if she wanted to rely on him and seek his protection, she had absolutely nothing valuable to offer him that might move his heart or catch his interest. She was caught in a terrible dilemma.
Seeming to notice its mistress's distress, the white fox suddenly nudged her gently against the chest with its head.
Jiana was female, so Tamamo Hotaru naturally didn't think anything inappropriate of the gesture. Instead, reminded by the fox, she suddenly remembered that she actually did still have something of value in her possession.
She immediately reached her hand inside her clothes—into what was practically her own personal 'pocket dimension'—and pulled out a beautiful jade tablet.
The tablet was a vibrant emerald green in colour. Carved onto the front was the image of a mighty and ferocious bear, while the two characters Black Bear were engraved clearly on the reverse side.
As she brought it out, she hesitated visibly for a moment, biting her lip. But she eventually gritted her teeth and handed it over to Shinji.
"This is the Bear King Token of the Black Bear Clan from the Land of Beasts. Although it may be worth very little money now, it is something extremely precious and irreplaceable to me. I will leave this with you as collateral. The moment I gather enough money to pay the full ten million ryō, I will come back to find you and redeem it."
What she said was entirely true.
This token was originally the most treasured artifact of the Black Bear Clan. Passed down exclusively from head of the family to the next generation, it was a symbol of supreme authority, noble status, and absolute power within the clan.
If the Land of Beasts still existed today, she never would have taken this item out or let anyone else touch it, no matter what happened.
But now, her country was destroyed, and the Black Bear Clan had vanished into the pages of history. Clinging tightly to such things no longer held any real meaning or purpose.
However, in Shinji's eyes, this was nothing more than a pretty jade tablet worth perhaps eighty or a hundred ryō at most.
He didn't pay it much attention at all, reaching out to take it just so he could quickly get rid of this troublesome woman.
But the moment his fingers touched the surface of the jade tablet, the long-forgotten, familiar mechanical voice of his system echoed clearly in his mind once again.
---
Cursed Object - [Bear King Token]
Description: Formed from the concentrated resentment, hatred, and unwilling souls of the entire Black Bear Clan after they were slaughtered to the last man.
Effect 1: Grants a Strength Specialty to one Ninja Bear. (Can only be used once per bear)
Cooldown: 24 Hours.
Effect 2: Grants a Speed Specialty to one Ninja Bear. (Can only be used once per bear)
Cooldown: 24 Hours.
Effect 3: Grants one random mutation to a Ninja Bear. Probability of positive mutation: 75%. (Can only be used once per bear)
Cooldown: 24 Hours.
Note: The rise of a powerful shinobi clan is literally resting in your hands.
System Buyback Price: 20,000 Cursed Soul Points.
---
"WHAT THE—?!"
Shinji was completely stunned on the spot!
This Bear King Token instantly reminded him of the Uchiha Phantom Spirit Fragment he had obtained previously.
Although the effects of these two cursed objects were completely different, the way they were formed was strikingly similar—both created from the accumulated power and resentment of a massive group of people sharing the same bloodline who were massacred and killed together!
Does this mean... that one way to create powerful Cursed Objects is through the death of large numbers of people belonging to the same bloodline?!
If this was true, and if this secret ever leaked out to the wider world... it might very well trigger yet another bloody storm and countless massacres across the entire Shinobi World.
____________________
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