---Third POV---
Looking up at the massive rock serpent plumting straight down from the ceiling of the mine shaft, Ryouma's hands swiftly ca together, a Flying Thunder God kunai already gripped horizontally between his palms.
A pitch-black space-ti technique array unfolded above his head. In an instant, the serpent was sucked into the Flying Thunder God's teleportation barrier and transferred outside.
Boom!
A deafening crash echoed from outside the mine. The tremors of the massive creature hitting the ground traveled all the way down into the underground cavern, shaking loose dust and small rocks from the ceiling.
He grabbed the nearby Kurama, sensed the position of the Flying Thunder God kunai he had left outside, and instantly vanished from the dark mine tunnel.
Whoosh!
With the distortion of space, Ryouma's figure imdiately appeared in front of the shrine at the foot of Mount Sukuna.
"Hissss!"
This serpent seed to have a brain made of solid stone as well, it showed no discomfort at all from the sudden spatial displacent. The mont it was transported from underground, it opened its massive jaws and let out a hiss.
Right after, the giant serpent began charging power in its mouth. Chakra crackled and condensed into a white sphere before shooting toward Ryouma like solar beam.
Ryouma swung the Flying Thunder God kunai in his hand.
The Full Counter domain surged outward, instantly covering the surrounding area. When that white energy beam touched the edge of the Full Counter field, it was reflected right back at its source.
Bang!
The serpent was struck by its own attack. The powerful impact blasted it dozens of ters away and slamd it heavily into the mountainside, carving a serpent-shaped crater into the rock.
However, the serpent didn't seem to suffer any real damage, after struggling in the crater for a mont, it pulled itself free and lifted its head again, preparing to attack once more.
Watching the serpent gather energy in its mouth again, Ryouma murmured, "Seems like nobody's controlling it."
If these monsters were being controlled by soone, that giant snake definitely wouldn't keep using such aningless energy blasts against him. Still, he couldn't rule out the possibility that soone intended to use these creatures to eliminate him indirectly.
Thinking of the battle traces he'd seen back at Hiruko's experintal base, although he had no direct evidence, his gut told him that this must be Black Zetsu's work.
"What does he want with Hiruko. Is he after Hiruko's research skills? If so, should I go back and warn Orochimaru too, so he doesn't get sched against?"
Perhaps life had been peaceful for too long, he actually felt his intelligence and information analysis skills from the Ninja Academy had grown dull. Too many comfortable missions and not enough paranoia. In the shinobi world, paranoia kept you breathing.
Countless thoughts swirled in his mind, but his movents didn't slow in the slightest.
Facing the incoming white beam again, he chose not to use Full Counter this ti. Instead, he threw the kunai in his hand and, using the Flying Thunder God Technique, instantly teleported to a point above the serpent's head.
A cold flash of steel, several arcs of light flickered through the air.
He landed from midair.
Behind him, the massive serpent abruptly froze. A second later, its enormous body neatly split into several segnts and slowly slid apart, each piece hitting the ground.
The most troubleso thing about these kinds of creatures was their ridiculous vitality, that's why the Uzumaki clan had used sealing techniques to bind them across the island rather than simply destroying them. But the Breath of All Things cut deeper than re flesh and bone.
Clap, clap, clap!
A crisp sound of applause suddenly rang out.
He turned, his sharp gaze locking onto the burly figure who sat straddling the roof of the shrine.
This monster seed completely different from the ones he had encountered before, this one clearly possessed self-awareness, much like Sahada did.
"So you're Aotsuki Ryouma, huh? Just as that dead man said, so long as I release a bit of fighting spirit, you'll obediently show yourself."
Ryouma raised an eyebrow slightly. This was the first ti he'd heard soone describe malice as fighting spirit. Most people called it killing intent, or even bloodlust.
Hey, kid, don't let your guard down, Kurama's voice sounded inside him. This guy is different from that snake. He's one of the monsters the Sage of Six Paths sealed during his travels across the shinobi world back then.
Hearing Kurama's warning, Shukaku, confused, asked, Huh? How co I've never heard of that? And I thought I knew all the old man's greatest hits.
At that ti, we were all still inside him and hadn't been born yet. Of course you wouldn't know. I only heard about it from him afterward.
In the past, the Sage of Six Paths had created the tailed beasts one by one only in his later years, when he was preparing for his own death and the division of the Ten-Tails' power.
Each of the tailed beasts had a very different personality. Although they were all grateful for the life the Sage gave them, when it ca to closeness, Kurama undoubtedly had the most special relationship with him. Thus, compared to the other beasts, it knew more about that era, including the failures and the enemies that couldn't be redeed.
Now, seeing that the enemy wasn't making any rash moves, Kurama simply explained the intel from its mory.
Judging by that guy's two faces and four arms, he must be the demon Sukuna who once wrought havoc everywhere in ancient tis.
The old man didn't tell much about the fight with him, only that his martial skill had reached the pinnacle of perfection.
So, you'd better use that stupid tanuki's ability from the start. Don't give that demon a chance to get close.
Ryouma was now completely certain, this enemy in front of him was definitely brought out by Black Zetsu.
After all, soone who knew about the Sage's era and intentionally selected a close-combat monster to counter him, only Black Zetsu could planned sothing like that. The question was what kind of trick he had used to fool a monster with clear self-awareness into working for him.
Whoosh!
A sudden gust of wind swept past. Sukuna, who had been sitting on the rooftop a mont ago, leaped down, landing not far in front of Ryouma while maintaining a distance.
Ryouma narrowed his eyes slightly. He had no idea what sche this monster had in mind, but since it had once been sealed by the Sage of Six Paths during his travels across the world, it was definitely no saint.
It must be rembered: the Sage in those days was the kind of great man who would even sacrifice family for the sake of humanity. If he'd felt the need to seal rather than redeem this creature, it was beyond salvation.
Ryouma activated his Rikugan, analyzing the creature's physical capabilities and chakra flow.
However, just as he was about to make a move, Sukuna spoke first, "How about we make a deal?"
"A deal? That's really sothing new. A demon actually knows how to negotiate."
"Hahaha!" Sukuna opened one of its mouths in wild laughter, while its other face continued speaking, "That person who released us said you possess the ability to manipulate space, and judging by how you just transferred that stupid snake from underground to out here, he wasn't lying, was he?"
"Us? Sounds like you've got quite a few companions."
"Sharp instincts, but you're wrong. I'm not companions with them, in fact, that's exactly what our potential deal is about."
He paused, seeming to observe Ryouma's reaction, then continued, "This island has restraints placed on it. Creatures like us can't leave the island's boundaries by conventional ans. Because of this, soone with spatial transfer abilities like you has beco the target of every monster on this island."
"I can help you deal with them, but I have my own condition, you use your space-ti abilities to get off this rock."
Ryouma spun his blade between his fingers. "Oh? Is that so? How kind of you."
Sukuna seed unfazed by Ryouma's reaction. "For soone of your caliber, the monsters on this island probably aren't much of a threat. But monsters co in all varieties with all kinds of bizarre abilities. Are you really that confident you won't get caught off guard? Besides, my offer goes far beyond just clearing out so pests."
"That person who released us, you're definitely interested in him, aren't you? I can sense he contacted through so kind of spiritual summoning technique. Sneaky little rats like that, hiding in the shadows, I'm sure they're a real headache for you."
"If we cooperate, I can take you to a monster with very special abilities. It can track down that rat's true body for you."
He was extrely confident. He believed Ryouma wouldn't refuse this deal. After all, the stronger soone was, the more they hated being jerked around by people weaker than themselves.
Ryouma fell silent for a mont. He had to admit, getting accurate intel on Black Zetsu's location was tempting.
"Kurama, do you think what it's saying is trustworthy?"
"?" Kurama was clearly surprised that Ryouma would suddenly ask for its opinion at a mont like this.
It paused briefly, its vertical pupils focusing as it scanned Sukuna. It could clearly sense that the demon still radiated that undisguised malice. It was precisely because this malice was so pure and all-encompassing that it made the demon's true intentions nearly impossible to read.
"I can't really tell if this demon is telling the truth or feeding us lies... but... But I'd still recomnd not trusting anything a demon says too easily. The old man once tried to teach so monsters to coexist peacefully with humans, but what he got in return was an entire human village being slaughtered. Of course, whether to make this deal or not, that's entirely your call."
Shukaku, listening from the sidelines, seed sowhat surprised by Kurama's response. From the fox's perspective, it should be chomping at the bit to have Ryouma track down Black Zetsu quickly and destroy that last Rinnegan. That would eliminate the Ten-Tails threat and get its chakra back.
But instead, the fox was actually advising caution.
"Well I'll be damned. You actually care about soone other than yourself."
"Hmph. I'm only concerned about protecting my chakra that's residing in him," Kurama shot back, glancing sideways at Shukaku before turning away dismissively.
The atmosphere suddenly grew tense and heavy.
Sukuna's second mouth, which had been maintaining a constant stream of maniacal laughter, slowly closed. That mocking expression vanished.
"Are you really going to listen to so pet fox, Ryouma? Cooperating with is the smart choice here..."
"Enough." Ryouma waved his hand, cutting off whatever the demon was about to say. "You know what I hate most? The arrogance of those who think they can manipulate . So here's my answer: go screw yourself."
He'd already been skeptical of this demon's offer, and with Kurama's firsthand testimony about demon trustworthiness, there was definitely no point in continuing this conversation.
Sukuna clearly hadn't expected this outco. He couldn't believe that after all his persuasion had been derailed by a damn fox.
Swoosh!
A Flying Thunder God kunai flew from Ryouma's hand.
This wasn't just a warning, it was a declaration that negotiations were permanently over.
Sukuna's reflexes were lightning-fast. He quickly drew two bone-crafted long blades from his waist, deflecting the kunai with a strike that sent it spinning away.
"If you won't cooperate like a civilized person, then don't bla for getting uncivilized."
The words had barely left his mouth when the ground beneath his feet exploded into fragnts. Using the powerful recoil, his massive body beca a blurred shadow, rocketing toward Ryouma, who imdiately activated his Flying Thunder God Technique, teleporting to the location of the kunai he'd thrown earlier.
BOOM!
The exact instant Ryouma's form vanished, the spot where he'd been standing erupted in a shower of dirt and stone.
Sukuna slowly rose from the newly ford pit, his back turned to Ryouma as he spoke, "That's a useful little trick."
After successfully dodging the enemy's opening assault with Flying Thunder God, Ryouma seized the initiative. His hands ca together.
With the massive infusion of tailed beast chakra flooding through his system, the earth for miles around instantly transford into a raging sea of sand. Countless grains of sand rose like tsunami waves, rolling and crashing toward Sukuna.
At the sa ti, several enormous hands made of compressed sand burst from the shifting dunes, each one the size of a building as they slamd down toward the demon trapped in the flowing sand.
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