As the sword was drawn inch by inch, it was as if the blade truly came alive. The obscure patterns on the guard lit up, and molten gold light flowed along the narrow blade, stirring a wave of searing heat.
Golden flames poured from the gap between scabbard and blade, wrapping around the arm that held the sword and burning wildly. Under that burning, the flesh of his palm visibly carbonized, peeled away, and scattered, quickly revealing pale finger bones beneath. Yet Neji Hyuga seemed to feel no pain at all, still gripping it tightly.
One hand held the burning scabbard across his body, while the other, already reduced to bone, grasped the blade wreathed in golden flames. With the tip pointed downward, the sword formed a cross in front of him.
In the Book of Romans, it says, "Dear brothers, do not avenge yourselves, but leave room for wrath, for it is written: vengeance is mine, I will repay." These words warn people not to seek revenge driven by Wrath, for evildoers will meet retribution, and if the "Lord" has not acted, it is either because evil has not reached its extreme, or the time has not yet come.
But the "Wrath" among the Seven Deadly Sins Essence is, in essence, a refusal to acknowledge the Otsutsuki Deity and a stripping away of the Otsutsuki Deity's authority to judge and forgive. It turns one's own anger into action, judging good and evil by personal standards and delivering response and punishment through violence.
"Let all be withered by karmic fire, repaying their past debts, cast aside as beasts."
As if carrying out a judgment, following the guidance of "Wrath," Neji Hyuga recited solemnly, "Burn away the filth…" "Wrath."
Boom!
At the instant his words ended, an incomparably scorching force erupted from underground where the fiery cross pointed. A pillar of pure golden flame shot straight into the sky, piercing rock and earth without resistance and reaching the heavens.
This domain of golden fire spread at terrifying speed across the entire Ryoma Clan Compound. Walls, ground, even the air seemed coated in flowing golden light, yet nothing was actually burned. It was as if the purpose of this fire was not destruction, but purification.
At this moment, deep within the damp and shadowy dungeon of the Ryoma Clan, Ryoma Tie, Iroha Hyuga, and the still injured Takao Hyuga stood ready. Before them, the corpse that had once belonged to the Ryoma Clan was undergoing a horrifying and bizarre transformation.
Crack, crack!
A grim bone mask grew across its face, and its body twisted upright like a Puppet, bending against natural structure and radiating cold resentment. A newly born "Crimson giant" was coming into existence.
"Are you ready, Ryoma Tie?" Iroha Hyuga asked in a low voice, hands forming seals quickly as he prepared an unfamiliar Sealing Technique. "Mm." The taciturn Ryoma Tie nodded lightly. "I just do not know if our half learned Sealing Technique will work…"
They had expected this before acting. The large number of deaths among Otsutsuki Main Family members and their loyal followers could give rise to "Crimson giant."
Once born, driven by instinct, a "Crimson giant" would target those it hated most. This was the main reason the Branch Family Members had not slaughtered the unrelated women and children of the Otsutsuki Main Family.
If too many "Crimson giant" appeared, or something like "Kyougan" was born, then not only the Branch Family Members but even Konoha itself would suffer catastrophic damage.
"Kill!!"
The newborn "Crimson giant" fully formed and locked onto the three under the pull of hatred, letting out a roar filled with resentment and Wrath. A massive bone mask covered most of its face, leaving only a gaping mouth, as its twisted limbs lunged forward to attack.
The eyes of Iroha Hyuga and the others sharpened as they prepared to unleash Ninjutsu and Sealing Technique. But at that very instant, a wave of heat surged in without warning, and the air itself seemed to ignite.
Golden light filled their vision, extending endlessly up, down, left, and right, forming majestic walls made entirely of golden flame. These walls passed silently behind the newborn "Crimson giant" and then swept over the three without resistance.
Boom!
Both the ferocious "Crimson giant" and the three of them were engulfed in this boundless golden fire. "What is this?" Takao Hyuga's face changed drastically as he instinctively threw himself to the ground, trying to smother the flames.
But the next moment, instead of burning pain, he felt a gaze that seemed to come from deep within his soul. A warm and powerful current flowed through his body, and his earlier wounds healed and scabbed over at a visible speed.
Iroha Hyuga and Ryoma Tie felt the same, staring in shock at the golden flames burning on their bodies. Their experience was completely different from what the creature endured.
"Ahhh!!!"
The "Crimson giant" wrapped in golden fire let out a shriek so piercing it twisted the air. It sounded like countless souls screaming together, layered with pain and terror.
Its body of mental energy crackled under the flames, making a sizzling sound like red hot iron pressed to flesh. It writhed and rolled on the ground, trying to extinguish the fire, but the golden flames clung to every inch of it and burned ever stronger.
As a being without flesh, the fuel for these flames was clearly not blood or meat. It was the soul, or more precisely, the evil carried within the soul.
This was the power of "Seven Deadly Sins Essence · Wrath." The wielder sets the standard for good and evil, and uses karmic fire to heal bodies or scorch souls.
The intensity of healing or burning, and the number and range of those judged, depended on Neji Hyuga and the strength of "Wrath." Neji Hyuga had chosen "oppressing the Branch Family Members" as his standard for evil.
The "Crimson giant" formed from the pain, hatred, unwillingness, and resentment of the Ryoma Clan and Fugaku Uchiha became perfect fuel for the flames. It was burned and purified without mercy.
Its screams grew sharper, then weaker, as its form turned transparent and blurred within the fire. In the end, it collapsed into an irregular black sphere, inside which several faces seemed to churn in silent agony.
Iroha Hyuga and the others clearly saw the twisted faces of the Ryoma Clan and Fugaku Uchiha. The next moment, the sphere was carried away by golden flames and flew into the distance.
Only the fading golden fire remained in the dungeon, along with the three standing in its warm afterglow. "What exactly is that?" Iroha Hyuga asked, staring in the direction the sphere had flown. "That way is…"
"Fugaku Uchiha's residence!" Ryoma Tie exclaimed in shock. "Is that Neji Hyuga?!"
At the same time, in other corners of the Ryoma Clan Compound, the sealed corpses of Otsutsuki Main Family that had been relocated by the Branch Family Members also began to change. Under the grim and fearful gazes of the Branch Family Members, the same eerie transformations unfolded.
Bone masks spread across faces, limbs twitched and stretched unnaturally, and cold resentment filled the air as they turned toward terrifying "Crimson giant." Yet midway through the transformation, or even after some had fully formed and were about to attack, golden flames appeared from nowhere.
Boom!
Endless golden fire instantly engulfed every transforming or fully formed "Crimson giant." Shrill, inhuman screams erupted everywhere, filled with pain and terror, as if souls were thrown into a furnace.
Before the horrified eyes of the Branch Family Members, the grotesque "Crimson giant" writhed violently in the flames. In the end, they were completely burned away, turning into fist-sized irregular spheres.