“Mom.”
The little girl, who had appeared so mysteriously and disappeared just as mysteriously, appeared silently, grabbing her hem and calling out timidly.
The woman whose hem had been grabbed froze, her eerie smile faltering. Her wide-stretched mouth slowly shrank, she let out a gentle smile, just like an ordinary mother seeing her daughter.
“Did you talk to those two people who entered the village just now?” Like an ordinary mother, she cautioned her child, “How many times have I told you? Don't talk to strangers, or else you'll be snatched away by bad guys!”
Facing her mother's admonishment, the little girl said nothing, merely clutching the hem of her clothes and refusing to let go.
As the woman gave these instructions, she took the little girl's hand, the two of them walked toward the Shrine.
The setting sun shone upon them, making them look like another harmonious and warm mother and daughter.
Except for the fact that they had no shadows.
Under the moonlight, almost everyone in the village had fallen into a deep sleep, making the single house with its lights on stand out prominently, as muffled whispers drifted from within.
What are those two doing right now?
They're already asleep in bed; our people are watching them.
A few people were gathered around a table talking, among whom were the people who had brought Naruto and Sasuke during the day, the Village Head was also among them.
After a moment of silence.
“What does that person say?”
Let's try our best to take these two down. Even if we can't defeat them, we should at least try to delay them as they head back.
Just two teenagers," someone sneered. "As long as Lord God exists, there is no one who cannot be dealt with.
This statement clearly won the agreement of many, with voices of affirmation ringing out incessantly.
On the eaves outside the window, two people appeared, hanging upside down there at some unknown time.
The moonlight illuminated their faces, clearly revealing Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, who had already fallen asleep in bed just moments ago.
The two of them used Chakra on their feet to hang upside down in the shadows, remaining undiscovered by anyone.
After listening to these people, the doubts in the two of them's minds gradually became clear; this was a scheme targeting the Jujutsu High club, or rather, targeting Gojo Satoru and the others.
However, the fact that the enemy went to such painstaking lengths showed a lack of confidence in facing Gojo Satoru head-on. Uchiha Sasuke thought that he should find an opportunity to give the other party a warning later.
He made a hand sign, Naruto nodded as the two of them "went" up to the rooftop, beginning the traditional ninja activity of roof-hopping.
Whether there were Anbu patrolling this area or not was one thing, but there was even less chance of two ninjas suddenly popping up to accuse them of causing a disturbance. They kept taking turns, getting carried away in the moment.
Uchiha Sasuke suddenly stopped mid-leap across the rooftops, prompted by a sudden instinct, Uzumaki Naruto stopped right beside him.
A faint, unpleasant aura drifted from the building beneath their feet.
"It's the shrine." Naruto said silently, his lips forming the words.
The two of them followed these scents stealthily and found the basement beneath the shrine.
To everyone's surprise, there was nothing eerie inside, but rather several young people.
Judging by their clothing, these young people were clearly the group of tourists the village chief had mentioned were missing.
Seeing strangers enter, the expressions of these people were filled with vigilance.
After hearing that Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke were not from the village, they breathed a sigh of relief, then they said excitedly that this village harbored monsters that would eat people.
Thinking of those two "people" without heartbeats, Naruto's and Sasuke's hearts sank instantly.
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Author's Note: Thank you to the little angels who cast霸王票 (overlord votes) or provided nutritional solution for me between 2023-04-11 22:49:13 and 2023-08-15 23:02:45~
Thank you to the little angels who provided nutrient solution: Bu Chi Yu 2 bottles; Zhu Chi 1 bottle;
Thank you all so much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 63
In the early hours of the next day, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, who had been busy all night, had just lied down when they heard the sound of commotion and noise outside.
After a short while, someone came to knock on the door.
Uchiha Sasuke slowly curled up further under the covers, tilting his chin up slightly to look at Naruto.
His meaning was obvious.
Damn it, this guy just knows how to boss people around.
Uzumaki Naruto thought angrily, then got out of bed to open the door.
Standing outside was the Village Head, looking rather grim; the moment the door opened, he swept a sharp, piercing gaze into the room behind him.
Uzumaki Naruto rubbed his eyes, looking drowsy as if he had just woken up. "Is something the matter?"
Seeing nothing unusual, the Village Head's expression softened. He first expressed his apologies for disturbing them so early, then asked if they had heard anything unusual last night.
“Last night?” Uzumaki Naruto crossed his arms with a thoughtful expression, then shook his head. “Hmm.. I don't think we heard anything. We were quite tired from sitting in the car for so long yesterday, so we went to sleep very early.”
Having said that, he leaned his head forward curiously once more.
“What? Did something happen last night?”
The village chief was somewhat suspicious, but they had specifically assigned someone to keep watch last night and confirmed that these two had stayed in their room the entire time; otherwise, they wouldn't have just come by this morning to ask questions.
“More villagers went missing in the village last night,” the Village Chief said while sizing up Uzumaki Naruto. “It might be because the Shrine collapsed; the wrath of the gods has caused another disaster.”
"So that's how it is." Uzumaki Naruto nodded in realization, his expression perfectly composed; his training for the Hokage had made him quite skilled at controlling his emotions.
"If this matter isn't resolved, perhaps even more people will go missing next time," the Village Head said with a look of worry.
"Sasuke and I will help you resolve this matter as quickly as possible." Naruto's expression was calm, he did not immediately take the responsibility upon himself.
The Village Head couldn't see any problem, so in the end, he could only manage a few words before leaving with a heavy frown.
Uzumaki Naruto watched his retreating figure, all expression gradually fading from his face.
"I'm afraid it's not the villagers who have gone missing," he thought. After discovering those people last night and questioning them about what had happened, they had used Shadow Clones to lead the people away overnight; by now, they should have long since left the perimeter of the village.
Originally, he had thought about using Shadow Clones to take on those people's appearance to avoid startling them, but Sasuke was losing patience and felt it would be better to use more aggressive methods to make them expose themselves.
When the time comes, we'll just deal with their moves as they come and simply steamroll through them.
It's not like Uchiha Madara and Kaguya will fuse again, or so Uchiha Sasuke says. Even if they did, they would just become defeated foes of the two of us once more.
Uzumaki Naruto thought about it, found it to be quite reasonable, thus finalized the plan.
Just as Sasuke thought, the people in the village had discovered the disappearance long ago, then they came to test them.
After all, as soon as they arrived, the person had already disappeared; even an idiot would know there was definitely a connection.
Even if Uzumaki Naruto's acting was good enough, it was only passable on the surface; they would definitely take action next.
enough, not long after the village chief left, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke felt a very distinct and uncomfortable presence coming from the direction of the Shrine.
The two exchanged a glance and sprinted toward the Shrine with perfect understanding.
In less than half a minute, they arrived at the Shrine.
As soon as they landed, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke felt a distinct difference.
Despite being under the sunlight, the Shrine emitted a chilling aura.
When they arrived, some people were running out of the Shrine, their faces filled with uncontrollable terror.
“What's going on?" Uzumaki Naruto asked as he walked over quickly.
"There are monsters inside eating people." The person answering him had teeth that wouldn't stop chattering, clearly terrified to the extreme.
The claim of monsters eating people again; Uchiha Sasuke's gaze swept across these people.
The fear in their emotions was real, but mixed within that fear was a very familiar emotion.
Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke bypassed these people, pushing directly through the doors to enter the Shrine, followed that unsettling aura straight into the Basement.
The scene that appeared before them made their eyes widen.
Even though they had already seen many Cursed Spirits that did not look human, had long since prepared themselves for the myriad forms Cursed Spirits could take, they were still revolted by how hideous this Cursed Spirit was.
The grayish-white humanoid creature had a flat head covered in eyes, while its body was covered in countless mouths, all coated in mucus that stretched into sticky threads with every movement of the mouths.
At this moment, the eyes on its head all stared together at them as they burst in, while the mouths on its body were chewing on fresh red meat.
The two of them had no desire to know what kind of meat those chunks of flesh covered in black hair actually were.
"I feel a bit nauseous," Uzumaki Naruto said, averting his gaze.
He felt like he might not even want to eat meat lately.
".." Uchiha Sasuke suddenly felt that his experience with Orochimaru wasn't so bad after all; at the very least, after seeing those strange Orochimaru experimental subjects, he could look this Cursed Spirit straight in the eye now.
So it's this one right in front of him, the culprit behind this series of events.
Or rather, what kind of emotions could possibly form a Cursed Spirit like this.
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Author's Note: Thank you to the little angels who cast Tyrant Votes or provided nutrient solution for me between 2023-08-15 23:02:45 and 2023-12-19 23:42:10~
Thank you to the little angels who provided nutrient solution: Lengyue, Zhuchi (1 bottle);
Thank you all so much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 64
Snap!
The door to the Basement was quickly slammed shut.
Enjoy the sacrifice!
As the words fell, flowing runes appeared in the surroundings, forming a red cage that trapped the two people and the monster inside.
Premeditated?