At this moment.
Retz felt her body wrapped in an invisible force, making her feel as light as a feather.
Even though she could sense she was moving very fast, there was no wind hitting her face... or rather, the wind was being completely blocked by an invisible barrier.
"Is it because of him...?"
Retz looked at Yuu beside her, vaguely guessing that this was his ability.
However, what she should be more concerned about right now...
Was that she had become his hostage.
In fact, that was exactly why Yuu had chosen to take Retz with him.
After all, regardless of Satchi's situation... as Omokage's most cherished puppet, Retz would be his biggest bargaining chip.
Assuming Omokage wasn't stupid, he should already know what choice to make in this situation.
"I just hope the worst hasn't already happened."
Yuu frowned, thinking to himself.
...
A few minutes later.
Following the location provided by Satchi, Yuu arrived near an abandoned old mansion on the outskirts of the city. He carefully searched the area for Satchi's aura.
Although his friendship with Satchi was shallow and they hadn't known each other long...
After spending a few days together... Yuu couldn't say he didn't care about Satchi's life or death.
"I can sense Satchi's aura... but it's very weak..."
When Yuu followed the faint aura to a specific room, the first thing he saw was a young man with long silver hair.
He was standing next to a chair, with his back to Yuu.
"Omokage..."
Yuu murmured coldly, recognizing him instantly.
However, what stood before him was merely one of Omokage's puppets. Its eyes were empty, and its shell was equally hollow.
Sensing someone behind him, the Omokage puppet turned around. He scrutinized the white-haired boy with his pitch-black, empty gaze and smiled:
"You're looking for this guy with the messy hair... right?"
As he spoke, Omokage turned the chair beside him around.
He displayed Satchi, whose eyes had already been gouged out, to the white-haired boy before him.
"How is it?"
"Are you satisfied... with my work?"
"Also, since I've seen this guy's memories, I knew you'd come sooner or later... so I kindly prepared a gift for you..."
With a mocking look on his face, Omokage took a bloodstained object wrapped in cloth from his pocket and tossed it toward Yuu.
"Catch."
Before it even landed in his hand.
Yuu had already figured out what was inside, and his expression turned icy cold.
Inside... were Satchi's eyes.
Yuu caught them and put them in his pocket.
Then, he looked at Satchi's miserable state, blood streaming from his empty sockets, and then at the disgusting expression on Omokage's face.
"Disgusting bastard."
Yuu felt a surge of revulsion and killing intent.
Without saying another word, he launched an attack on the puppet.
Even while carrying Retz, Yuu teleported behind the puppet in an instant.
He raised his hand and smashed a fist wrapped in "Blue" violently toward the puppet's lower back!
Bang!!
Due to the nature of Omokage's Nen ability, a puppet without eyes was significantly weaker.
So, this punch, filled with killing intent...
Easily pierced through the puppet's fragile body and blasted it clear to the other side of the wall.
Accompanied by a loud crash, dust filled the room!
...
However, such an injury seemed somewhat trivial for a puppet.
"You're certainly fast..."
Omokage slowly stood up, sighing.
He didn't counterattack. Instead, he sized up Yuu's face with those empty eyes.
As if he were prying into something.
Although Yuu was certain that Omokage couldn't steal his eyes while they were closed...
He sensed something wrong from the smirk on the corner of the opponent's mouth.
Yuu suddenly remembered... aside from stealing eyes, Omokage also had the ability to invade memories and create puppets.
"My memories..."
Yuu suddenly realized the opponent's goal.
He teleported again.
And threw another punch straight at Omokage's empty eyes.
With a crisp crack.
This time, after the puppet fell... it didn't get up again.
Seeing that the remaining consciousness in the puppet hadn't dissipated yet, Yuu said coldly:
"I hope next time I see you, it's not a puppet..."
With that, he crushed the puppet's head with his foot.
Before Omokage's consciousness faded, he left one last laugh:
"Hehe... we'll meet again very soon..."
...
Meanwhile.
The real Omokage was sitting in a room facing the setting sun. He slowly opened his eyes.
"Stronger than I expected."
Omokage didn't seem to care at all that his sister had fallen into the enemy's hands. Instead, recalling the fleeting images he had pried into, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
He had seen an interesting character.
Then, Omokage activated his ability immediately.
Using the images he had glimpsed, he conjured an unusual puppet through Nen—
It was a muscular black-haired man with a scar on the right corner of his mouth.
Even though it was just a puppet conjured by Nen, because it retained the memories of the original body, it appeared to possess its own will.
The black-haired man scanned his surroundings and asked in confusion:
"Strange... where is this?"
As he spoke, he looked at Omokage beside him. Roughly understanding his current situation, he knew he had been summoned here by some means.
Looking at this puppet that radiated laziness in every move, Omokage explained:
"You are a puppet I created."
"Now, you have only one goal... kill the white-haired brat who will be arriving shortly."
Although Omokage didn't recognize the black-haired man before him...
He could sense... the original owner of this puppet was a special individual, seemingly empowered by some unknown force.
Its physical strength far exceeded that of any other puppet he had created.
It was a pleasant surprise.
...
At this moment, after dealing with the puppet.
Yuu administered simple first aid to the severely injured Satchi. After checking him over, he confirmed Satchi's life wasn't in immediate danger.
"He should be fine after resting for a while."
"The only thing that can't be fixed... are his eyes."
Yuu looked at Satchi's blood-streaked cheeks and remained silent.
Then, taking Satchi and Retz with him, he returned to the town and sent Satchi to the nearest hospital for treatment.
...
After settling Satchi.
Yuu couldn't help but think back to the strange aspects of the confrontation.
He could sense that Omokage seemed to have pried into a bit of his memory.
Based on Omokage's Nen ability... he might use those memories to create characters that "don't exist in this world."
But thinking about it, it wasn't really worth worrying about.
After all, a puppet's strength was vastly inferior to the original. Only by obtaining the original's eyes... could the puppet's power be maximized.
Since they were characters not of this world, naturally, their original eyes couldn't be obtained.
"What's more, Omokage's ability only creates characters from people's real memories... he can't create someone I haven't actually met."
"And in my memory, the only person I've truly met who fits the bill... is that guy."
Toji Fushiguro.
A man known as the "Sorcerer Killer," possessing a powerful body capable of withstanding the power of Cursed Techniques.
But presumably, even if the real Toji were here, without the Inverted Spear of Heaven to "nullify Cursed Techniques," he definitely wouldn't pose any threat to Yuu.
At this moment...
Yuu said coldly to Retz beside him:
"Now, take me to find that guy's main body."
"Otherwise, your fate... will be the same as that puppet's."
Hearing this, Retz could tell from his tone that it wasn't just a simple threat; he meant what he said.
"It's not far from here... we should be there soon," Retz said timidly.
Then, she explained the specific location to Yuu.
...
---