Facing that furious shout, Kechi still clung tightly to Roka's neck, laughing sweetly.
"Oh no, big brother, he sounds so scary. I'm frightened."
Hearing this, Roka's protective instincts intensified. He formed hand seals again, ready to intercept the ninja.
The remaining three ninja exchanged glances, seeming to reach some kind of understanding.
Two of them flanked from the sides, trying to bypass Roka and attack Kechi directly. The third leaped high from behind, his ninja blade gleaming coldly as he brought it down viciously toward her.
A cunning glint flashed in Kechi's eyes. She whispered softly in Roka's ear.
"Dear brother, I'm counting on you~"
Then those delicate hands gave his solid back a gentle push.
In an instant, she drifted aside like paper playing in the wind, light and graceful. Her clothing traced a beautiful arc through the air, as if stirring the moonlight itself into something even more mesmerizing.
Roka, meanwhile, charged at the ninja without hesitation, shouting, "No one's going to hurt her!"
"Doton: Doryuheki!"
A thick earthen wall instantly rose from the ground, blocking the ninja rushing toward Kechi.
The ninja's momentum faltered. He immediately leaped high, attempting to vault over the wall.
Kechi stood in place, lips curling into a charming smile as her wand lightly tapped the ground.
Instantly, the earth turned pitch black. Black flames erupted from underground without warning.
The airborne ninja couldn't dodge. The black flames caught his leg, then rapidly spread across his entire body.
"Ahhh! It hurts! Damn it!"
With an agonized scream, the ninja crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Two more left!" Kechi playfully held up two fingers, her every movement and smile radiating beauty.
Seeing this, the remaining two ninja felt retreat creeping into their hearts, but Roka was relentlessly engaging them, making escape impossible.
One ninja gritted his teeth and pulled a smoke bomb from his tool pouch, throwing it to the ground.
Bang!
Smoke quickly spread, making visibility in this forest even worse.
But the experienced Roka wasn't hindered by the smoke. Using his memory of the ninja's positions combined with sensing sound and air currents, he rushed toward one of them.
The ninja had just turned to run when he felt a powerful hand grab his shoulder.
Roka yanked hard, pulling the ninja back, then executed a shoulder throw that slammed him brutally into the ground.
By this time, the other ninja had already put some distance between himself and the smoke.
Kechi wrinkled her nose and snorted coldly. Her wand moved with snake-like agility as an obscure syllable, carrying the rhythm of ancient magic, slipped from her lips.
"Frost!"
As the word fell, countless sharp ice spikes suddenly erupted from the ground ahead, blocking the ninja's path.
The ninja stopped in terror, turning to change direction, but black flames rose to greet him.
He was trapped in the middle with nowhere to go.
"Damn it! Damn! Damn!"
Through his curses, Roka emerged from the smoke, slowly walking toward him.
The ninja frantically pulled several shuriken from inside his clothes and threw them at Roka.
Roka's body flashed, easily dodging the shuriken before instantly accelerating. In a blink, he was in front of the ninja, kunai slashing across his throat.
The ninja's eyes widened. Both hands clutched at his neck as blood gushed between his fingers. His body slowly collapsed.
Kechi sauntered over to Roka's side, her jade-white fingers gently sliding across his blood-stained face. A faint smile played at the corner of her lips.
"You really are something. Now you're the only one left by my side."
Roka's face instantly showed obsession as he murmured.
"I did it. From now on, you belong only to me."
Kechi tilted her head slightly. Those beautiful eyes gleamed with soul-stealing light that concealed danger. Her red lips parted, breath like orchids.
"Big brother, if your love for me is true, then show me your heart. Only a true heart is the strongest proof of love."
Hearing this, a flash of struggle crossed Roka's eyes, but it vanished instantly, drowned by endless fervor and obsession.
Then he slowly raised the hand gripping his blood-stained kunai, pointing the tip at his own chest.
"For you, I'd do anything."
Squelch.
Blood flowed from the wound, yet Roka's face showed a strange satisfaction.
"Ah... ahh... ahhh..."
As the kunai churned inside Roka's chest, each movement brought heart-piercing pain, but his gaze remained locked on Kechi.
Kechi stood silently to the side. Cold moonlight fell upon her, illuminating that exquisite silhouette.
Under the silvery moonlight, she resembled a poppy blooming in the dark night, gorgeous yet radiating a deadly, dangerous aura.
Roka gritted his teeth. Sweat the size of beans rolled down his forehead.
"Ahh! Squelch!"
Enduring the excruciating pain that threatened to consume him, his trembling hands tore his own heart from his chest.
His body now swayed like a candle in the wind, ready to extinguish.
Yet still, relying on that last bit of stubborn will, his knees hit the ground with a thud. Using every ounce of strength, he raised both hands high.
Like a pilgrim making an offering.
That still-faintly-beating heart was the most sacred sacrifice he could present to Kechi.
"My goddess! Look, my heart beats only for you."
Though his breath was fading, Roka's eyes still burned with that fervent light, desperately seeking Kechi's approval.
Kechi took light steps, circling the kneeling Roka. Her gaze freely admired his dying, miserable state as she spoke softly.
"What a passionate heart indeed."
She extended a finger, pale as white jade, and lightly touched the blood-soaked heart.
Roka's face instantly bloomed with a blissful, satisfied smile, but his life force ebbed away like a retreating tide.
Finally, his arms dropped powerlessly. His entire body collapsed with a crash. Yet even in death, his eyes remained fixed on Kechi's direction, both hands still clutching his heart tightly.
Kechi watched Roka's fallen form and let out a laugh, crisp as silver bells yet bone-chillingly cold, before turning to step into the endless darkness.
Only Roka's cold corpse remained under that lonely moonlight, bit by bit being mercilessly swallowed by darkness until it completely disappeared in the silent forest.
...
"Ugh... hurk... blegh..."
Under the moonlight's shroud, Kechi knelt by the river's edge, her entire body trembling violently beyond her control. Her stomach churned violently.
"That was absolutely disgusting! Urgh..."
Each retch seemed to drain all her strength. Both hands clawed at the sand and stones on the ground, knuckles white.
Damn it. I'm a rough, straight guy, and I have to fight using methods like that?
Is there any justice in this world? Any law?
But she happened to be incredibly beautiful, and in the feudal society of the ninja world, that was practically a sin.
Trouble like what just happened would definitely keep coming.
Am I supposed to fight this way every time? Won't I turn into a complete pervert eventually?
She still hoped that maybe, somehow, the system could change her back into a man.
Thinking of the system, Kechi slumped down by the river, caught her breath, then opened up that culprit.
Instantly, a semi-transparent pale blue screen appeared before her eyes.
[Eliminate the five pursuers using Witch methods: Complete]
[Reward: Mature Widow Spider's silk gland x1, 20 points]
Seeing the completion notification, Kechi fell silent for a moment.
This system. Every task it gave started out normal, then gradually became perverted.
Plus, aside from points, the task rewards are never repeated.
Fortunately, it had a shop. All the item rewards appeared there and could be exchanged for points.
Kechi opened the system shop next.
The item appearing at the very top was...
[Demoness Pathway, Sequence 6 potion formula, exchange for 80 points]
No sequence name. Really scammy. At least, that's how Kechi got trapped.
But the most expensive thing had to be that mysterious "rapid advancement method," requiring a full two hundred points.
Below that were items that had appeared before.
Things like "Black Abyss Demon Fish complete blood," "Agate Peacock egg," "Dark Stalker's poison sac," "Blue Mandrake seed," "Daffodil seed," and so on.
All potion materials for Sequences 9 through 7.
Of course, the shop also sold potions directly, but the prices were steep.
Sequence 9 Assassin needed 10 points, Sequence 8 Instigator needed 20 points, Sequence 7 Witch needed 40 points.
And so forth.
As for potion materials, buying everything once would be expensive.
But if she purchased materials herself and cultivated some of the required plants, costs would drop dramatically.
Sigh.
Kechi let out a long breath. Looks like she'd need to establish a faction after all.
Whether to protect herself or for other reasons, having people to command would eliminate a lot of trouble.
And she had the means to do it.
Kechi glanced at her points total.
225 points altogether.
This was everything Kechi had accumulated in the six months since arriving in this world. She hadn't spent a single point, saving it all.
As for the Sequence 6 potion formula, no rush.
Completely digesting the potion would take considerable time anyway.
Kechi checked the time.
The sky was already showing faint light.
Although she didn't know how long before someone discovered those ninja corpses, just to be safe, she should leave this area.
As for her destination, Kechi thought about it.
In the ninja world, there weren't many suitable places for development. Either they had some strange inheritance object, or they were located at the intersection of major powers.
"Hm!"
Suddenly, Kechi's eyes lit up.
She'd thought of a place quite suitable for establishing a faction.
Yu no Kuni, the Land of Hot Water.
The Third War had ended several years ago, and Yu no Kuni had already completed its transformation toward tourism, opening its borders to the entire ninja world.
Plus, according to her memory, that place already had a cult of Jashin anyway. They probably wouldn't mind one more, right?
Decided. She didn't have anywhere else to go anyway.
Kechi slowly straightened up. Her slender fingers lightly brushed the dust from her clothing before scanning her surroundings, quickly confirming direction.
With a light tap of her toes, graceful as a swift swallow, she shot northeast at high speed.