Without the obstruction of the whirlpool, the cruise ship hit the shore at a very high speed. By the time the ninjas reached the land, the Ghouls had already vanished without a trace. This included the heavily injured Mori Shiraishi. Currently, nearly a hundred Ghouls were resting and recovering inside a mountain cave.
"Brother, are you alright?"
Rie Shiraishi sat on the ground, her bright eyes filled with deep concern. Because the battle had broken out so suddenly and they had to retreat quickly, they couldn't carry many belongings. To avoid slowing down the group, Rie had proactively discarded her wheelchair so it would be easier for others to carry her on their backs.
Mori Shiraishi leaned against the rocky wall of the cave, his chest a bloody mess. He gently covered his chest, a faint smile appearing on his pale face. "Don't worry. The bleeding has already stopped. Your brother isn't that fragile."
His words weren't entirely just to comfort his sister. After merging with the Kagune and evolving RC Cells, his body's recovery ability had reached a monstrous level. Every time he suffered a serious injury, the RC Cells in his body would divide rapidly, growing a new Kakuhou at the site of the wound.
He looked at his left shoulder.
Originally, he had severed his own left arm, but now a Koukaku Kakuhou had grown at the stump. He could use the Koukaku to regrow a mechanical-like limb at any time. Therefore, compared to his injuries, he was more worried about the future. Where would they, these Ghouls, go from here?
It had been three months since Mori Shiraishi woke up and became the leader of this group. During this time, they had faced six attacks from the Hidden Steam Village, and many Ghouls had been sacrificed each time. They had dropped from nearly two hundred people to fewer than a hundred. Even with Mori Shiraishi leading from the front, they had still lost nearly half of their warriors!
Of course, it wasn't strictly accurate to say all were "sacrificed." Following the repeated attacks, internal instability had shaken the group again. Many people chose to leave the team or surrender because they couldn't endure being hunted by the Hidden Steam Ninjas.
Mori Shiraishi did not oppose them. He knew that the hatred between the Ghouls and the Hidden Steam Village could no longer be resolved by surrendering. Events played out exactly as he expected; those who surrendered were executed in extremely cruel ways by the vengeful ninjas. Those who fled the main group fared no better; while their target profile was smaller, their resistance against attacks was significantly weaker.
Having experienced so many battles, Mori Shiraishi now had a clear understanding of the Hidden Steam Village's strength. Generally, an ordinary Ghoul was equivalent to a Genin. Although Genin had limited jutsu and combat techniques, their attack power remained high. Similarly, most Ghouls—like the Bikaku or Rinkaku types—were "glass cannons" with high attack and low defense. One mistake against a ninja's attack could lead to a fatal wound.
Conversely, if a Genin was hit by a Ghoul, the result was almost always an instant "GG." In comparison, Koukaku Ghouls had higher defense and could withstand ninja strikes, but their disadvantage was being too cumbersome, essentially serving only as meat shields. Ultimately, the battle between a Genin and an ordinary Ghoul came down to speed; both sides could kill in one hit, so whoever had the faster reaction and speed would survive.
As for Chunin, it required a Ghoul with two or three Kakuhou to handle them. These Ghouls were called Kakuja—the products of immense survival pressure. During battle, when near death, they were forced to consume the Kakuhou of their companions. After undergoing a painful evolution with a very low success rate, they successfully gained multiple Kakuhou. Currently, there were only three such individuals in the group.
Someone like Mori Shiraishi, whose body had fully merged with the Kagune and could cover his entire body with it, possessed the strength to fight an average Jonin. He was known as a Half-Kakuja. To Mori Shiraishi's knowledge, the Hidden Steam Village had at least six Jonin. With his current strength, revenge was impossible.
He lowered his head, breathing out a mist of blood. Even if he went berserk again and entered that uncontrollable state, he couldn't guarantee defeating so many Jonin single-handedly. Furthermore, as a hidden village, the Hidden Steam Village might still be hiding some special trump card.
While Mori Shiraishi was contemplating the future, a subordinate suddenly walked in with a strange expression. "Leader, a... talking crow has arrived outside. It says it's an old friend of yours."
"A crow?"
"An old friend?"
After a brief stun, Mori Shiraishi immediately recalled that night when the fires of hell burned and the crows sang loudly.
It's that man...
A man wearing glasses, looking plain and humble with a constant slight smile on his face, surfaced in his mind. His battle-hardened body suddenly began to tremble uncontrollably. To a stranger, that man might seem like a gentle youth, but in Mori Shiraishi's eyes, that fellow was a genuine Evil Deity! He sat high above, as if the human world was merely an interesting farce. Good people, bad people, or humans in general—to him, they were perhaps no different from paper cutouts in a comic book.
After a long silence, he spoke hoarsely. "Let him in."
Soon, a Raven appeared before Mori Shiraishi.
"You are..."
To this day, Mori Shiraishi still did not know that man's name, let alone the relationship between this crow and that guy.
"A name is just a code. You can call me Mr. Crow."
The Raven gently adjusted the glasses on its beak and spoke in a harsh, grating voice.
"Then, may I ask why Mr. Crow has come to find me?"
Mori Shiraishi remained guarded. Anything associated with that man was definitely not simple. This was his intuition.
Mr. Crow showed a human-like smile. "I am here to help you."
These words flashed like lightning through Mori Shiraishi's mind, lighting up a specific memory. That man had said the exact same thing in the prison cell. His breathing suddenly quickened.
In the next second, the entire cave vibrated violently, as if an earthquake had struck. Mori Shiraishi's face paled, as this commotion would undoubtedly attract the Hidden Steam Ninjas. But Mr. Crow didn't care. After the shaking, a giant black snake dozens of meters long appeared in the woods.
Mori Shiraishi entered a combat stance almost instantly. The sense of crisis this giant snake gave him was even greater than that of a Hidden Steam Village Jonin!
"This is something Lord Jashin wants to give you."
Standing atop the black snake's head, Mr. Crow flapped its wings. A pile of Kakuhou, wrapped in mucus, was spat out and landed directly on the ground.
"By transplanting these Kakuhou into your bodies, everyone can obtain power like yours and become true Ghouls."
Mr. Crow gave a grotesque smile. Its body gradually turned into feathers and vanished, leaving behind only one sentence: "As for whether you use them, that is your business."
"This is the choice granted to you by the Great Lord Jashin."
"Will you join Lord Jashin's glorious..."
"Evolution!"