The beast Satori thrashed violently but still couldn't free himself from the divine blade piercing through his body.
But the wall behind him couldn't take the hit.
It shattered instantly, giving him a temporary escape.
"Grrr—"
Satori roared in pain as he flew into the air.
He yanked the Kunwu Divine Blade out of his own body by force.
Then, without hesitation, Satori immediately turned and fled.
Not even thinking about facing the Susanoo Demigod head-on.
Clearly, even inside this monstrous beast's mind—
There was that classic bully mentality—picking on the weak and running from the strong.
After all, even mindless wild animals—
When faced with a predator dozens of times larger, would instinctively panic and flee.
Much less an ancient ferocious beast with considerable intelligence.
Seeing Satori retreating into the distance,
Shimoku didn't feel worried at all.
Now that he himself had arrived,
Letting this small monster named Satori escape would be absurd!
Shimoku tightened his grip on the Susanoo's right fist.
Far away, the falling Kunwu Blade suddenly reacted, streaking across the sky like a flash of light, instantly returning to Shimoku's hand.
Only missing the line "Blade, come!"
"Come to think of it, I haven't really used this ability much."
"Let's play with it today!"
"Perfect chance to use one monster against another."
Gripping the hilt, Shimoku focused his mind and channeled a surge of chakra into the blade.
At the center of the guard where the scarlet gemstone was embedded, red light immediately began to glow.
The next instant—
A terrifying, semi-transparent beast of enormous size erupted into existence.
[In ancient times, on Mount Fuyu there lived a beast; tiger-shaped with an ox tail, its cry sounded like a barking dog. This man-eating creature was known as *Zhih*, a term from old Chinese myths describing fierce and monstrous beasts.]
Undoubtedly, this was the blade soul sealed within the Kunwu Blade.
Originally named: Zhih.
Transformed into the Kunwu Blade spirit, with its malice erased, it became known as [Kunbeast].
To put it simply—
Similar to [Paradise Box], both contain only spirits and souls sealed within their artifacts.
With sufficient chakra provided, they can manifest physically—
And appear in this world.
However, one is a fully uncontrollable beast of pure malice.
And the other is a blade spirit, stripped of evil, now under control.
"Go!"
"And don't bite too hard, okay?"
Shimoku waved his hand.
Instantly, the fifty-meter-tall Kunbeast let out a furious roar, riding the wind, chasing relentlessly after the fleeing beast Satori.
They said Satori could see into hearts and predict attacks.
Now let's see if it can foresee the Kunbeast's assault?
As for whether his own blade spirit might lose—
Shimoku didn't care one bit...
Just look at the sheer size difference.
Fifty meters versus twenty meters—was there any real question?
Plus, Shimoku didn't think this puny monster Satori could match the legendary ferocity of the ancient beast Zhih (a mythical beast described in ancient Chinese texts).
As expected.
Within just a few seconds.
Riding the wind and storming forward, Kunbeast caught up to Satori.
Pounced directly on top and started tearing and biting furiously.
Seeing this, Shimoku stopped paying attention.
He quickly dismissed the Susanoo.
Descending from the air, he landed within Hozuki Castle.
He planned to first check out The Box of Paradise and immediately rescue Shinyu's mother,
to prevent unnecessary complications.
...
In the ruined Hozuki Castle, that giant hole was extremely easy to spot.
Moreover, dense chakra and a strong malicious aura continued to seep out from within.
Obviously, The Box of Paradise lay right there.
Shimoku carried Shinyu on his back, gripping the divine sword tightly as he leapt into the hole.
They landed inside the conference room.
This room was now completely destroyed, filled with broken stone fragments and corpses...
Clearly, the recent battle had nearly annihilated the entire chamber.
Even just the final impact from that beast Satori alone had taken nearly a dozen more lives.
The representatives from the smaller ninja villages who had somehow survived quickly fled outside while they still could.
Only a few severely wounded souls remained behind, pitifully unable to move,
lying amidst the wreckage, barely clinging onto life...
"Pfft... So this is what's called the Little Kingdoms Alliance?"
"Even before the Great Nations made their move, you've already destroyed yourselves."
"What a pathetic mess!"
Shimoku let out a sigh.
Originally, he had considered using these small kingdom alliances to stir up trouble among the Five Great Nations.
But now it seems there's absolutely no need.
Compared to great nations;
these little kingdoms seem far more eager when it comes to self-destruction!
...
Shimoku turned his gaze toward the center of the room.
That box with its gaping black mouth, radiating strong malice, remained stationary.
"So this is The Box of Paradise?"
"Ugly as hell, as expected!"
"With such an ugly thing, how can someone actually consider this a wish-granting relic?"
Shimoku sneered disdainfully.
He couldn't understand why Mui's entire family had gone mad enough to regard such a bizarre, hideous box as a treasure?
Normally speaking, even a fool
should be able to guess it's nothing good just by looking at it.
Indeed, human stupidity truly has no bottom limit...
...
Shimoku didn't rush to deal with The Box of Paradise—it wasn't going anywhere anyway.
Instead, he planned to capture someone alive for questioning.
Where exactly was Shinyu's mother being held?
After all, a mature, sexy woman fully aware of all sorts of whirlpool clan secrets—
this woman's value far exceeded that of the young girl currently on his back!
It would naturally be best if he could save her back.
However, scanning the room,
Shimoku suddenly spotted a streak of bright crimson and white in one corner.
It was a red-haired woman in her early thirties.
Her simple clothes were torn, revealing large areas of bare skin and bearing numerous painful bite marks across her body.
Clearly,
after being exploited by Mui, she had been callously cast aside.
She had then been caught in Satori's blast and struck unconscious.
Now lying in the corner, she remained unconscious, her clothing in tatters.
"Red hair, full of bite marks, age also matches... must be Shinyu's mother."
"Based on her aura, she was likely still alive."
"Good, looks like I'm not late after all."
Shimoku inwardly rejoiced and quickly patted the girl on his back.
He called out to Shinyu to wake her up.
"Wake up, we're here. I found your mother!"
The girl—whether it was because her body was too weak or under immense psychological stress—
had been asleep ever since Shimoku put her under.
Even when he had activated Susano'o earlier, she hadn't woken up. Now that's one strange girl.
Soon enough, feeling the tap on her backside and hearing Shimoku's voice,
Shinyu also quickly woke up.
"Huh? Where am I?"
"How did I...?"
"What's that?"
"It's Mom!"
Totally bewildered, a bit dazed,
she had absolutely no clue where she was.
But when she saw her unconscious mother in the distance, nothing else mattered anymore.
She quickly pushed herself down and rushed urgently toward her mother.
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