Chapter 210: Monster...

A month earlier, on a mountain near Orochimaru's northern base.

"This should be it—Orochimaru's treasure…"

A group of shinobi wearing Amegakure headbands and special breathing masks stood atop the mountain, gazing into the distance at the base's entrance.

Two large piles of rock rose high on either side of a wooden structure with tiled roofing. The wooden door was shattered, and on the left and right rock piles were massive claw marks, as though something enormous had once crawled out.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, Chuan," one of the Amegakure shinobi said, taking a deep breath and eyeing the building anxiously.

The leader, addressed as Chuan, remained calm. "Orochimaru is already dead," he said. "All we have to worry about are the experimental subjects he left behind, like those we encountered in the Land of Rivers. Only by gaining that kind of power can we avenge Lord Hanzō."

The others listened in silence, including the one who had just spoken.

After Amegakure's destruction, all of Hanzō's subordinates were being hunted by the Akatsuki. That group had blocked all information from leaving the Land of Rain. Any shinobi who went out seeking aid from allied nations never returned.

This team had completed a mission in the Land of Rivers and returned to find themselves pursued. They fled north, farther and farther from the Land of Fire—whose help they had hoped to rely on.

During their escape, they heard an infuriating rumor that "Lord Hanzō" had supposedly appeared at a Three-Nation Summit.

Hounded to their wits' end, they saw no clear path forward: return to the Land of Rain to battle Akatsuki head-on, or abandon their shinobi identities, scatter, and hide. Then word came that Orochimaru had died, and Chuan proposed one last gamble.

The decision they arrived at was unanimous.

They could not set aside their hatred. Even if it meant death, they would continue reaching for any future glimmer of hope—even one shrouded in darkness.

"Let's move out," Chuan said, breaking the oppressive silence. He was the first to walk toward the base entrance.

Though some felt uneasy, none hesitated. They followed closely behind him into the silent, deathly still base.

…

Far in the distance, two men in hooded robes watched them enter. One removed his hood, revealing a brown-skinned, fang-filled, fearsome face. He grinned, exposing rows of razor-sharp teeth. His voice sounded like two chunks of raw iron scraping together:

"Guren, more prey has taken the bait. Looks like they're from Amegakure."

The other man, called Guren, tore off his black robe with a loud rip, revealing a spindle-shaped, tanned head and an upper body covered with vibrant fish-scale markings. A vicious, bloodthirsty smile spread across his face:

"Indeed, Aya. Their chakra readings aren't bad. We'll definitely get a good feast out of them this time…"

…

Back to the present—over a small town not far from Orochimaru's northern base.

"Partner, look down there—meow!" Hina suddenly called out, staring at the ground.

Link and Utakata looked down to see thick smoke rising from several houses, with buildings collapsing one by one.

Link signaled his Earth Dragon mount to descend. Soon, they could see clearly: a brown monster with a bloated body and dozens of huge white bone spikes jutting through its skin was rampaging wildly. It wasn't fighting anyone in particular—just destroying everything in its path. In its hand was half of a corpse, chunks of which it was shoving into its mouth.

Carried on the wind were the sounds of human screams and wails of despair.

Orochimaru's experimental subject? Link wondered. Before he could act, Utakata leaped off, carried by one of his bubbles.

Soap Bubble Ninjutsu, developed from tailed-beast chakra, was extremely versatile: traveling, restraining enemies, defense, flight—all of it was possible by simply blowing bubbles, no hand signs required. The only drawback was that no one else could learn it unless they, too, were host to the Six-Tails.

While still midair, Utakata formed a hand seal and spat out a huge volume of water, dousing the flames spreading through the town and drawing the monster's attention. Once on the ground, he blew into his ninja tool, producing bubble after bubble over a meter wide.

"Grrr!" The monster took just two leaps to cross half the village, already face-to-face with Utakata before landing—and directly into a waiting barrage of bubbles.

In seconds, countless bubbles hemmed the creature in from all sides, pressing together until they formed one giant bubble.

"Mmph—!" Trapped inside, the monster clawed furiously, screeching as its talons scraped the bubble's surface. Its mouth opened and closed as if roaring, but no sound escaped the bubble's airtight seal.

Utakata tried to move the monster but failed; controlling it proved impossible. After a stalemate of over ten seconds, with his chakra draining fast, he chose to detonate the bubble.

Boom!

Dust and debris erupted. The wooden ruins of the town scattered with a thunderous burst. An oval-shaped crater remained at ground zero, and at its center, the monster lay in critical condition, missing half a shoulder and an entire leg.

Link landed next, his Earth Dragon crouched on open ground. "Good job."

Utakata nodded silently. Without any flashy ninjutsu, merely using raw power, tailed beasts and their jinchūriki were among the strongest in the shinobi world. Yet in actual combat, a non-perfect jinchūriki often lacked refined technique; interference from the tailed beast made it hard to master certain jutsu. That could be a disadvantage when fighting skilled opponents.

Hina peered into the crater. "Its aura's still strong—nowhere near dying. I think it's faking. You two—"

Before she finished speaking, the seemingly dying monster sprang back to life, its wounds healing at extreme speed before it even landed.

Utakata grabbed his ninja tool, about to blow more bubbles, but several shadows emerged from the ground. The monster, mid-lunge, was knocked back the way it had come.

The shadows didn't stop. They vanished, then reappeared beside the airborne monster, each grabbing one of its limbs in perfect unison.

"!!!"

Its newly regenerated arms and legs were forcibly torn off. The torso and head landed on the ground with a thud and were immediately pinned by two of the shadows on either side.

"Meow?" Hina let out a puzzled sound. They say a cat's reflexes are many times a human's, but she truly hadn't seen what happened in that split second. One moment, the monster was charging; the next, it was pinned to the ground.

They're really that strong? Hina realized, her eyes lighting up. She glanced at the shadow holding her protectively, already envisioning a dozen new "cat-and-shadow" intimidation moves.

Looks a lot like the second stage of a Cursed Seal.

Link walked over, observing the monster pinned by the shadows.

Its power and speed were slightly above the average Chūnin's, still well below standard Jōnin level. Its hide was tough—surviving Utakata's multi-layered jutsu—and its regeneration was frighteningly quick. Most notable was its complete lack of a chakra signature.

Could this be the special experimental subject Karin mentioned? The kind that self-destructs after a period of monstrous transformation?

Link took two steps forward, activated his Mystical Palm Ninjutsu, and struck downward.

Smack!

A rapid flurry of five blows. Under those slaps, the monster reverted to a normal human form, except the huge bone spikes remained. With its body and head back to human shape—and its chest cavity badly torn by the protruding spikes—it died instantly without a sound.

For a two-meter-tall monster, the spikes were just protruding from the skin, but in a 1.7-meter human body, they tore right through the torso, exposing bright red organs.

So natural energy is causing this transformation… Is this Orochimaru's latest creation? The subject can become a monster and still survive afterward?

As usual, Link sealed the body in a scroll, then sent his shadow clones into the village to search for survivors. The sight of "shadows rummaging around town" felt a bit odd, but it worked.

He tossed the medicine pack to Utakata—who headed off with the shadows—while Hina busied herself summoning a sofa. Around half an hour later, the shadows returned with Utakata, who was sweating lightly.

"That monster was a wandering ronin from the local area," Utakata explained, relaying what he had learned. "He disappeared two years ago, then came back recently. People in the village started disappearing one by one. Suspecting him, they confronted him—and that's when he turned into a monster and began attacking."

"Sounds like it's been happening in nearby towns, too. Supposedly, some folks hired Kumogakure shinobi to investigate. That's about all the information we have."

A man-eater?

Link frowned. If this thing's powers depended on cannibalism, it could never be allowed to spread. Letting such techniques run wild would be a nightmare.

They didn't linger. After another hour of searching, they finally located the building from the photo in a vast, barren wasteland.

Its wooden gate had been smashed, the rock piles on either side leaning at odd angles, and the ground scattered with discarded ninja tools. It looked like there had been a battle.

"Stay alert," Link reminded them.

His Earth Dragon descended slowly. The moment they touched down, Utakata stepped in front. Hina bristled with alarm. "Partner, something terrifying is rushing out from inside—meow!"

Whoosh! They heard the air distort. Next came a burst of splitting wood. From the debris of the building leapt a towering figure, charging straight at them.

Boom!

Utakata, in the lead, was immediately knocked flying. The shadows were a split second late, but they rushed in to intercept.

"Kill! Kill! Kill! I'll kill you all! Hahahahahaha!"

Their attacker, blocked by the shadows, was howling with laughter—a five-meter-tall brute with bright orange hair, brown skin, and wild, orange eyes. Its massive arms, as large as the bucket of a construction vehicle, thudded against the ground, shaking it violently.

Though the shadows were slightly slower and weaker, they had the advantage of turning two-dimensional at will and attacking in numbers. They held their own in close combat, a rapid back-and-forth clash erupting on the spot.

~~~

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