Under the watchful gaze of countless livestream viewers—
Whoosh!
A dark blur suddenly burst from the ground, speeding straight toward Yuuto Kagami like a bolt of lightning!
The moment the viewers saw it…
Their scalps went numb as gasps of shock flooded the chat!
Oh no! It's a real monster!!
What the hell is that?! It jumped straight out from underground!
No—wait! That's not from underground—it came from a shadow?!
Yuuto, be careful!!!
"Just as I thought."
At that moment, feeling the sharp gust of wind roaring toward him, Yuuto Kagami's eyes flashed.
In fact—
He hadn't noticed anything wrong when he first stepped into the alley.
But as he moved deeper in…
Yuuto Kagami quickly sensed something was off. The alley was far too quiet.
So quiet, in fact, that there wasn't even the buzz of a single insect.
For a dark, filthy alley piled with trash, that was simply unnatural.
So he'd stayed on alert the entire time.
And sure enough—
There was danger hiding in the shadows!
His thoughts raced, and in the blink of an eye, Yuuto Kagami reacted.
With a sharp stomp of his foot, his body flickered backwards, narrowly dodging the oncoming shadow.
But—
It wasn't over yet!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!
To the shock and horror of the viewers, more dark blurs burst from the shadows on the ground, launching themselves toward Yuuto Kagami from all directions, completely surrounding him!
Clearly—
These shadowy attackers were attempting to trap him!
"Hmph!"
Yuuto Kagami let out a cold snort.
Instead of dodging again, he stomped his right foot heavily into the ground.
BOOM!
The power of the Ice-Ice Fruit surged forth. A blooming ice lotus instantly formed beneath his feet, its crystalline petals spinning violently in the next instant.
Fwoosh—!
Countless ice petals shot out in every direction like bullets!
Pu pu pu!
In the blink of an eye—
The incoming shadows were all pierced clean through.
Their bodies were riddled with holes!
However—
To Yuuto Kagami's surprise—and the viewers' utter disbelief—
Even after being pierced through, the black figures barely shuddered, then continued to lunge forward as if nothing had happened!
Holy crap! What ARE these things?!
They've got holes all over their bodies but are still moving??
That's terrifying!!
Yuuto might actually be in trouble this time...
No way! Yuuto is super strong! He's not going down that easily.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!
Suddenly—
Several of the shadows waved their hands, and black chains shot forth, instantly coiling around Yuuto Kagami and binding him tightly!
Then, the shadows moved again—flashing in synchronized motion as they circled around him.
Each loop tightened the chains even more.
After several turns…
They finally stopped.
At this point, Yuuto Kagami was completely wrapped in the dark chains—only his head remained exposed.
Seeing this, the livestream exploded:
Crap! Yuuto's been caught!!
No way! He really got tied up?!
I refuse to believe it—he's just pretending to be weak to bait them in!
Exactly! Look closely—his expression hasn't changed the whole time! That means he's totally confident! This is all part of the plan!
B-But I'm still panicking over here!!
And yet—
Despite all the chaos in the chat, Yuuto Kagami remained perfectly calm.
In fact, he even seemed intrigued as he studied the black figures surrounding him.
Now that they'd stopped moving, their appearances were fully revealed:
Each one was dressed in black robes, faces wrapped in dark cloth and masks.
Only their glowing crimson eyes were visible—eerily unsettling.
Some carried long swords on their backs.
Others had pouches filled with throwing weapons on their waists—shuriken and darts.
Still others bore long staffs or clubs.
Wait… are these people?
No way. Human eyes don't glow red like that!
The clothes and weapons… They look like NINJAS!
For real! Look at those belts—full of ninja stars and tools!
Seeing their familiar appearance…
Yuuto Kagami was instantly reminded of one particular show—Jackie Chan Adventures.
In that series—
Aside from the powerful 12 Talismans, there was also a well-known magical item: the Shadowkhan Mask.
These masks could summon armies of Shadowkhan to fight on the user's behalf.
And depending on the mask used, the summoned Shadowkhan would have different forms and abilities.
Yuuto Kagami remembered how deeply the Shadowkhan troops had impressed him back when he watched the show.
Now, judging from their outfits and behavior…
These enemies were most likely the Ninja Tribe — one of the basic types of Shadowkhan summoned through the Ninja Mask.
However—
That also raised another important question:
If the Shadowkhan could only be summoned via the Ninja Mask…
Then—where's the person using the mask?
Just as that thought surfaced—
Step… step…
The sound of approaching footsteps echoed from the shadows ahead!
Rustle—!
Before the stunned eyes of Yuuto Kagami and countless viewers…
A figure emerged from the darkness at the end of the alley.
Several more ninja-like shadow soldiers followed behind him.
But the one walking in front… was different.
He was of average height and wore plain casual clothes.
Yet on his face—
Was a crimson demon mask, complete with sharp fangs and two curved horns.
The mask looked ferocious—like a monster out of myth.
And the moment Yuuto Kagami's eyes landed on it—
His Treasure Radar immediately triggered:
[Multiverse Treasure]: Shadow Mask / Shadowkhan Mask
Origin: Jackie Chan Adventures
Ability:
Using the Ninja Mask, the wearer can summon a Ninja Tribe of Shadowkhan to fight.
The Shadowkhan can dissolve into shadows and move freely through surfaces and walls.
They can act completely silently within the shadow realm, and under a squad leader's command, the user can also use the Shadow Kingdom to teleport through space.
Ninja soldiers have high-speed movement, strong close-combat skills, and are often equipped with ninja tools such as shuriken, swords, staves, etc.
Usage:
Wear the Ninja Mask on the face.
Caution:
Users with weak minds may have their consciousness overtaken by the Demon General sealed within the mask!
"As expected… it's the Ninja Mask."
Yuuto Kagami's eyes narrowed slightly at the radar's confirmation.
Then he looked at the masked figure and calmly asked:
"Who are you?"
The man tilted his head.
"You mean the name of this body?"
His voice was raspy and strange.
"I think… it used to be called… Zhou Lin, or something like that?"
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