Seeing the black flames of Amaterasu vanish from her body, Yūshiro was stunned. "You can control the shape transformation of Amaterasu, too?"
This ability seemed exactly the same as Sasuke's!
Blood tears streamed from Akisawa Uchiha's eyes. He kept them wide open, staring fixedly at Yūshiro.
"Jōrei!" (Purification Spirit!)
Akisawa spat out the two words coldly.
Instantly, blue flames ignited on Yūshiro's body—fire that was clearly distinct from the pitch-black flames of Amaterasu.
In a flash, the blue fire on Yūshiro roared to life, surging straight up to the cave's ceiling and showing signs of spreading outward.
"This is... huh, a flame I've never seen before."
Yūshiro's voice carried a hint of excitement. She closed her eyes, quietly trying to analyze the effects of the strange fire.
A moment later, she opened them again, sounding puzzled. "I can't feel any heat at all, or any pain. It's just... my chakra seems to be draining really fast?"
"A flame that burns chakra? No, wait, this flame seems to be..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Yūshiro suddenly pitched forward and collapsed face-first onto the ground.
At the same time, Shiroku and Souji were rapidly closing in on Akisawa.
Perhaps because Akisawa wasn't yet familiar with his Mangekyō's abilities, the blue flames only ignited on Souji.
Shiroku didn't hesitate. He knocked Souji unconscious with a swift chop to the neck. A moment later, Souji also collapsed to the ground.
Cold sweat broke out on Shiroku's forehead. "What the hell... what on earth is happening?"
In a small inn ten miles away, Gisei Shiraishi suddenly snapped his eyes open.
Just now, his connection with Yūshiro and Souji had been severed. Without any warning.
Inside his body, Shi suddenly shouted, "Gisei! Forget about that Uchiha!"
Gisei hurriedly entered his consciousness space, only to find a faint look of fear on Shi's face.
"You... what exactly are those flames?"
"You must have heard it too. Jōrei—that is the ultimate dōjutsu that burns the soul!"
"Burns the soul?"
"It's a terrifying technique. It attacks the soul directly by burning the chakra inside a human body." Shi spoke urgently, his voice tight. "That guy is bad news. In fact, the moment he awakened the Mangekyō, I sensed something was wrong. The feeling he gives me is terrifying."
Gisei's mouth twitched. "After spending so much effort, you want me to just give up?"
"Do you know what this kind of dōjutsu means? That guy is basically my natural predator!" Shi yelled. "Listen to me! You absolutely cannot get hit by those flames. The more massive the chakra in your body, the faster your soul will burn."
"If you get hit by that, I will die in twenty seconds, tops. And so will you."
Gisei started taking deep breaths. "I went through all this trouble just to create a natural predator for myself???"
At that moment, Gisei once again felt the deep, overflowing malice of the world.
"What do we do now?"
Shi smiled bitterly. "Enter fusion mode. Control Shiroku to check on Yūshiro and Souji's condition. You absolutely must not appear in front of that guy yourself. I suspect he already knows those three are just puppets."
Gisei's expression shifted uncertainly. He nodded without saying much more and directly entered fusion mode with Shi.
In the cave, the light in Shiroku's eyes suddenly surged. He walked over to Akisawa first and quickly sealed the Uchiha's chakra.
After completing the seal, Shiroku let out a breath and moved to Yūshiro's side.
By now, the blue flames on her body had completely vanished. There were no burn marks on her skin at all, but no matter how hard he tried to contact the butterfly seed inside her, he received no response.
He gently placed his hand on Yūshiro's chest. A moment later, a dead worm appeared in his palm.
There were no burn marks on the seed either, but there was no doubt it was dead.
Shiroku looked thoughtful. "So, the physical body dies after the soul disappears?"
Wait. What would happen if someone without chakra got hit by this technique?
"They become an idiot?"
Could it be that this dōjutsu becomes stronger the more powerful the enemy is? Conversely, is it less effective against weaker enemies?
And what was up with the Amaterasu earlier? He could control the shape transformation of those flames too?
Three abilities? Or maybe Jōrei is just a variant of Amaterasu? Does this count as nature transformation?
The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt. Shiroku stared at Akisawa, falling into deep thought.
Suddenly, Yūshiro opened her eyes in his arms.
"Where is this?"
A weak voice reached Shiroku's ears. He looked down at her silently.
The butterfly seed was dead, and the chakra in her body had completely disappeared. Had the seal binding her original consciousness shattered?
Natural predator?
Sure enough, I still underestimated the Uchiha.
This psychotic clan just gets more perverted the crazier they become. Honestly, words fail me.
Forming seals with his hands, Shiroku sealed Yūshiro's original consciousness once again.
He looked at her quietly. Yūshiro was just an eight-year-old girl. Was it really okay for him to keep sealing her consciousness like this?
It seems this method of controlling people needs to change.
He planted a new butterfly seed in Yūshiro's body and did the same for Souji. After finishing the procedure, the three of them stood up again.
Back inside the inn, Gisei was caught in a dilemma.
Should he kill Akisawa Uchiha or not?
This kind of dōjutsu was practically his fatal weakness. Letting Akisawa live made his position way too vulnerable. But wouldn't it be a pity to just kill him like this?
As for the idea of using a butterfly seed to control Akisawa, he had completely dismissed it. He had even removed all the backup measures he had placed on the Uchiha's body.
After careful consideration, Gisei decided to observe the situation and have a good talk with Akisawa first.
If they couldn't reach an agreement, well... letting him return to Konoha might actually be a good idea.
The mission failed, all his companions died, only he survived, and he even awakened the Mangekyō. No matter how you looked at it, this guy was suspicious as hell.
He wouldn't be trusted in Konoha or by the Uchiha clan.
Unless he hid his Mangekyō. But could he? Konoha's Yamanaka clan had secret techniques that could peek into everything inside a person's brain.
Gisei grinned wickedly. Perhaps this would even allow his eye power to increase.
But before that, he still needed to tamper with his memory a bit.
...
"Water Release: Water Shockwave!" (Suiton: Suiseiha!)
Yūshiro blasted a Water Release ninjutsu directly into Akisawa's face.
Slowly opening his eyes, Akisawa saw those three detestable faces again.
Only this time, his expression was strange. His face was as calm as an old well, and even his eyes showed no fluctuation of emotion.
He already knew that these three were just puppets and the real mastermind was someone else.
Looking himself up and down, he found that the ropes binding him had been untied. Moving his hands and feet slightly, he asked, "What is going on? You plan to release me?"
"Akisawa Uchiha, stop playing dumb. You should already know—or rather, you saw it with your eyes, didn't you?"
Yūshiro's face was cold, and her tone of voice was completely different from before.