City Blind said before.
There are no living legends in Gorin City.
Iwamine accepted her fate. To be able to blow up the barrier and save tens of thousands of people from the swamp of repression and despair, she was already satisfied in her heart, not daring to hope for more.
"Since Gorin City needs a legend, and since no one is willing to do it..."
"Then I will do it."
Iwamine's soul was already about to fly into the sky along with the fiery light of the exploding explosive tags, her heart falling into silence.
She felt that dying here, for her, perhaps was the best ending.
To die as a legend, maybe… she could forever live in Ryosuke's heart.
But...
"I came to take you home."
That short sentence, at this moment, was like blazing red-gold flames tearing open the dark tide, illuminating Iwamine's heart.
Her silent heart, the instant her gaze met the man before her, beat violently.
"Grab my hand!" Ryosuke said.
Starlight burst in Iwamine's eyes.
"Yes!"
Two hands, under the clash of golden light and black tide, tightly gripped together.
Ryosuke gave a hard pull, pulling Iwamine out and into his embrace.
The pitch-black, murky tide was made of negative emotions, violent, chaotic, filled with a brutal desire for destruction.
Before, under the control of the barrier, it would obediently flow into the pipes.
Now the barrier collapsed, massive waves of dark tides surged upward, carrying with them soaring anger, pain, sorrow, manic emotions, pouncing toward Ryosuke who had provoked them.
Within the dark tide emerged twisted, ferocious ghost faces, as if all horror in an instant had merged into them.
They howled, they roared, they vented boundless fury. The entire underground space seemed transformed into a ghostly underworld.
City Blind, who was running with the camera, had long forgotten to flee. His ears were filled with terrifying howls, he licked his dry lips, "Goddamn… I think I just heard that dumbass old man of mine who's been dead half a lifetime."
City Blind's sensory ninjutsu completely collapsed, he could only vaguely sense that countless cold, deathly "ghosts" were pouncing toward the sky.
'Big Sis and the man who just saved Big Sis were their target.'
The surrounding Sky Ninja Corps also hurriedly retreated into the distance. As the core managers of the barrier, they understood better than anyone the danger of these black tides, whoever touched them would die.
Because Ryosuke came too quickly, the Sky Ninja Corps hadn't clearly seen who it was.
But no one doubted it now. With so many dark tides rampaging, everyone within several kilometers was doomed to die.
They had to run immediately, to escape this living hell.
The Sky Ninja Corps shinobi thought so, once more manipulating their flying tools, just about to leave, when their squad leader turned his head one last time toward Ryosuke's direction.
A strand of golden flame burning from hair's edge lit up the underground darkness, for the first time fully illuminating Ryosuke's side profile.
"Wait!"
The squad leader froze on the spot, shouting, "He is… Ryosuke?!"
The moment those words came out, everyone present instinctively held their breath, their pupils trembling.
The countless evil ghosts in the sky, the booming collapse of the barrier, none of it compared to the back of the man before them.
Yes, the evil ghosts formed from countless negative emotions burned with the fury to incinerate all life.
But...
Evil ghosts?
Could they compare to the "evil spirits" Ryosuke summoned?
Fury?
Could it compare to the golden flames like falling suns?
Countless ghost faces closed in, circling in the air, pairs of pitch-black eyes fixed straight on Ryosuke.
Everyone swallowed hard.
Their gazes swept over the surging black tide, looked toward Ryosuke at the center of the encirclement, waiting for his response, guessing what means the legendary Ryosuke would use.
Holding Iwamine, Ryosuke's right palm bloomed with a cluster of golden flames. He casually swept the flame across the air, and at the same time,
Star Platinum appeared.
Its fists, harder and stronger than diamonds, stained with golden fire. Its gaze swept once, instantly locking onto all targets, and the next second...
"Ora ora ora ora!"
"Ora ora ora ora!"
A storm of fire appeared in the sky.
Fist winds mixed with blazing flames smashed apart every terrifying ghost face rushing forward.
Countless black tides exploded, screams filled the air, the black tide was actually crushed apart by a barrage of punches!
Only now did the Sky Ninja Corps shinobi standing there come back to their senses. They had no time to be shocked at what Ryosuke did, each one turned their heads toward the squad leader who had shouted "wait" earlier.
'Are you sick in the head?!'
'Everyone already saw it was Ryosuke, and instead of escaping, you yell for us to wait?!'
"Since we can't escape..."
The squad leader clenched his teeth, tore off his jacket, revealing the inner lining covered in explosive tags, this was practically standard gear for the Sky Ninja Corps.
He shouted, "Long live the Sky Kingdom!"
Shouting, the squad leader was about to set an example for his men, pulling the cord, igniting all the tags on his body, and charge at Ryosuke.
Suddenly, a sneaky voice appeared behind him.
"Yo, you in such a hurry, in a rush to set up your own grave?"
The squad leader just turned to look, when White Snake smacked the back of his head, two discs popping out.
"Since you're all gonna die, then letting me use you for waste recycling, no problem, right?"
Saying so, it took the memory disc, then turned and kicked the squad leader, now a vegetable, flying into the deep pit filled with the dark tide before them.
Moments later, a thunderous explosion rang out.
White Snake spun the disc in its hand, turned back to the remaining twenty-some Sky Ninja Corps, "So, what do you guys say?"
They exchanged looks, slowly set down their weapons, and knelt on the ground.
This so-called "suicide attack" was just like this, their death charge wasn't from fearlessness of death, nor from some firm ideal in their hearts driving them.
The countless soldiers of the Sky Ninja Corps pulling their self-detonation cords were purely the effect of brainwashing and herd mentality.
When humans fall into danger, their brains crash, losing the ability to think. At that time, whatever the leader does, the rest will follow. Add on the brainwashing accumulated over time, and you create an army that looks fearless of death.
But this kind of fearlessness, in front of truly firm belief, was fragile as a wafer.
Ryosuke and Iwamine slowly descended.
City Blind came running over, his old face covered in both tears and smiles, mixed with his empty eyes, altogether looking even scarier than the ghost faces in the black tide.
But the sincerity in his tears and smile was something anyone could feel.
"Big Sis! I knew it, today you wouldn't die!" City Blind shouted excitedly.
Iwamine smiled serenely.
Ryosuke looked at the scars on her face, "Looks like you've been through a lot."
She touched the long scar with her hand, her smile as free as ever, turning back to look at the shattered barrier, "Maybe… this is what they call a blessing in disguise."
If not for Arima Yukito, Iwamine wouldn't have gone through so many hardships and tribulations. But if not for those obstacles, she could never have made it here, gaining the trust of so many people.
They exchanged information.
Iwamine lowered her head in thought and said, "So, this means that this morning, when we sensed the barrier's energy fluctuations rise, it was very likely because the Sky Ninja Corps learned that you arrived in Sunagakure."
"In order to deal with you, they sped up the extraction of negative emotions… What do we do next?"
Ryosuke picked up the disc of the self-detonated squad leader before them.
"Half a year ago, the Sky Ninja Corps already reached cooperation with Gorin City, set up this barrier. Their base is in the desert between the two oases."
Iwamine asked, "So we attack the Sky Ninja Corps' base?"
"No. I want to find the City Lord first."
Ryosuke said, "Shinnō might not know who exactly is backing the Sky Ninja Corps, but as the representative in charge of contact, the City Lord's memory definitely holds clues."
"I want to take his memory first."
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