Ketsuna's body eventually developed problems; over the past few years, the rate of his physical disintegration slowly increased.
Originally, Ketsuna had sealed most of his energy, allowing him to cleverly use Jigen's body for thousands of years without issue, but an unexpected event still occurred.
Initially, to subdue Qinglong and Xuanming, he did unseal some of his power limits, but those were still within controllable range; however, when he encountered Youying, this unexpected event happened.
Youying initially had no will; she was a strange energy mass similar to an egg-like life form.
Her existence was based on the Ninja World's planetary will and core energy.
Originally, her birth was meant to destroy the Divine Tree planted by Kaguya, but unfortunately, her birth was too slow, and the Divine Tree was constantly absorbing and devouring energy from the Ninja World, making her already slow formation even more remote.
Ketsuna only learned of Youying's existence through Xuanming, so out of curiosity, he followed Xuanming to an island overseas.
The climate on this island was distinct: one half was summer, full of life and blooming flowers everywhere; the other half was winter, with snow covering everything, leaving only a pale expanse.
At the boundary of these two opposing seasons, on a natural hot spring, a strange energy mass, like an egg-like life, stood quietly.
Ketsuna could see this 'egg' systematically absorbing large amounts of surrounding energy, just like breathing.
This scene surprised Ketsuna but also filled him with joy, because the 'egg' before him was very likely a powerful demon that had not fully awakened.
And judging by her state, if she was so divine before fully awakening, then once she did awaken, her strength would definitely not be weaker than Xuanming and Qinglong!
Harboring this thought, Ketsuna prepared to personally hasten her maturation; this way, an unbreakable soul link would form between him and her, and she would become his most trusted subordinate!
Next, Ketsuna injected his energy into the 'egg's' shell and left his soul imprint.
The energy was successfully absorbed by the 'egg,' which was good, but bad things followed in quick succession.
The energy Ketsuna injected into the 'egg' was absorbed too quickly, and a strange energy directly gripped his hands, then forcefully extracted energy from his body!
This scene made Ketsuna a little flustered, but he was no longer a novice in the Ninja World, having encountered many powerful and bizarre demons.
So he quickly calmed down.
His energy being forcefully extracted was an uncontrollable event, but using energy to hasten the 'egg's' maturation was Ketsuna's initial goal, so he did not try to sever his connection with the 'egg.'
Instead, he squeezed as much energy as possible from his body to continue rapidly transferring it to the 'egg' for her to absorb.
As time slowly passed, Ketsuna's energy completely depleted, and the 'egg' stopped absorbing at just the right moment, as if 'full.'
Thus, this 'egg,' which had existed for an unknown number of years, naturally hatched.
A twin-tailed girl, appearing to be seven or eight years old, stood gracefully before Ketsuna.
The light purple crescent moon mark on her forehead was like a divine seal, full of nobility, and her emotionless orange eyes coldly assessed Ketsuna, this strange yet familiar being.
The will of the Ninja World was undoubtedly far superior to the influence of Ketsuna's soul imprint on the girl.
So after merely glancing at Ketsuna, the girl bypassed him and began to fly towards the distance.
Her birth and purpose were to destroy the Divine Tree that was absorbing the Ninja World's energy!
"Catch her!"
Ketsuna, with his energy depleted, was temporarily unable to intercept the girl, so he could only loudly command Xuanming, who was guarding outside the island.
Upon hearing this, Xuanming's ferocious turtle body emerged from the sea, and his tail, the Nether Snake, began to extend like rubber, rapidly biting at the girl flying in the sky.
Seeing this, the girl's orange eyes remained cold; facing the Nether Snake's attack, she calmly extended her right hand, which then rapidly transformed into a hard, thick, shell-like giant shield, easily blocking the Nether Snake's bite.
Ketsuna was stunned when he saw this scene.
Although the Nether Snake's bite force was not as great as Xuan Gui's, it was not something an ordinary demon could withstand!
The Nether Snake also seemed very surprised; his original intention was to trap the girl in his mouth to prevent her escape, but he did not expect to miss so badly.
Upon seeing this, Xuan Gui immediately manipulated the seawater, transforming it into three massive water pythons that surged from the sea.
At this moment, the Nether Snake, in perfect sync, quickly released his mouth, exposing the girl's body to the attack range of the three giant water pythons.
The next moment, Ketsuna saw the girl's right hand return to normal, then four pairs of broad, cicada-wing-thin wings immediately grew from her back.
With a gentle flap, she instantly vanished from her original spot, reappearing a hundred meters away, easily dodging Xuan Gui's water python attack!
The girl now stood in mid-air.
Although her figure was not large, she watched the demon obstructing her with the coldness of a deity.
Any creature that dared to hinder her actions deserved to be destroyed by her!
Thus, with this thought, the girl did not use her speed to escape, but rather looked down at Xuanming from above.
Then, the light purple crescent moon mark on her forehead spread across her entire body like a curse seal, and her body shape also began to change.
Her body transformed from that of a seven or eight-year-old girl into a seventeen or eighteen-year-old maiden.
Her entire body was enveloped in an unknown black substance, like battle armor, forming a pitch-black mask with a ferocious demon face on her own face, covering her cold expression.
The four pairs of broad cicada-like wings on her back also transformed into demonic fleshy wings covered in ferocious keratinous growths, and a mere flap caused a considerable gust of wind!
In Ketsuna's Byakugan, the maiden's internal energy had almost multiplied several times, and the unknown black armor on her body was filled with vast natural energy!
In terms of stored natural energy alone, the maiden at this moment already far surpassed Xuanming...
But how was this possible?
Xuanming was an ancient demon that had lived for thousands of years; even if the natural energy contained within him wasn't immense, it was still not something a newborn demon could compare to!
But the truth was right before his eyes; Ketsuna had no choice but to believe it...
Just as Ketsuna was astonished, Youying moved.
She flapped her four pairs of bony, spiky demonic wings, appearing above Xuanming's turtle shell with teleportation-like speed.
Then, as she swung her right hand, a sharp black spear instantly materialized in her palm.
Splat...
The spear pierced straight through Xuanming's hard turtle shell, embedding itself in his body, instantly eliciting painful roars from Xuan Gui and the Nether Snake!
In his intense pain, Xuan Gui immediately retaliated with water manipulation, and the Nether Snake subsequently used his abilities to attack the girl.
The seawater manipulated by Xuan Gui transformed into crystalline ice, freezing from the turtle shell towards the girl above.
At the same time, highly corrosive sticky liquid spewed from the Nether Snake's mouth, raining down from above.