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Chapter 38: Healing Honoka
A tentacle as thick as a bucket froze in midair—its barbed tip stopping less than a centimeter from Honoka's eyes.
The spike withdrew abruptly, retracting back into the tentacle's flesh.
The Ultimate Summoning Beast seemed intent on toying with Honoka before killing her.
The sticky, blood-slick tentacle slid across her face again and again, leaving raw crimson streaks.
This hateful human had kept it bound for so long.
The tentacle lifted away from her cheek, swung through the air once, then moved over her back.
At its tip a new thorn of flesh began to form, choosing the lower portion of the golden chain site on her back as its target.
Though the barb's tip was no thicker than a needle, the entire thorn's body was terrifyingly thick—like a human thigh. If it drove in, it would make a massive hole in Honoka's back.
Thck!
The tentacle stabbed down, the spike piercing completely through Honoka's spine and embedding into the ground beneath her.
"This is what death feels like… because I'm dying, I can't feel the pain…"
Honoka spat a mouthful of blood. Her half-open eyelids drooped, about to close forever.
In the instant before death, she involuntarily reviewed her short life—kidnapped and brought here as a child, used as an experimental subject, awakened to her Uzumaki bloodline, and forced to help develop the Ultimate Summoning Beast. There were no precious memories worth holding on to.
"What a dull life…" she murmured.
Blood blurred her vision; her pupils dilated. Suddenly, a streak of unmistakable purple descended through the blood-red haze.
Konan fell through the jagged hole in the ceiling.
[A little late, huh…] Alex observed the entire underground level from above.
Honoka's whole body was impaled and blood soaked the floor beneath her. Such injuries would normally be instantly fatal.
Huh?
Alex noticed Honoka's eyelids flutter. The lids that had nearly closed were fighting to open.
"…Run… run…"
Honoka tried to shout with her last strength, but no sound came out—only a weak exhale. She didn't know who had come underground to face that monstrous creature; she only wanted whoever it was to leave, to run far away.
She's still alive… Alex saw her struggle and remembered Uzumaki life-force—stubborn resilience. Even grievous wounds could buy extra breaths.
Heh, lucky for you that you met me.
[Konan!] Alex pointed at Honoka.
Konan nodded. "You go. I'll handle the monster."
With that, she shot toward the fleshy mass in the giant pool.
Alex summoned a storm of paper around himself, forming a colossal shuriken the size of a round table. It hummed as it sliced toward the tentacles slashing across the ground.
The beast roared in pain as the paper blades lacerated a tentacle; the appendage retracted at once. Honoka was torn free midair, blood spraying everywhere, then fell toward the floor.
A sheet of paper darted beneath her, catching her and lowering her gently back down.
Alex hovered beside Honoka and examined her wounds. Terrible…
Her abdomen had been ripped open—an enormous hole revealed the blood-darkened ground below. Her intestines were mangled into a pulpy mess, the lower spine shattered, and she'd bled out massively.
Her condition was dire beyond words. Her eyelids finally closed again, breaths growing ever weaker.
But as long as she hadn't fully expired, Alex could save her—this was the miracle of Dark Medical Ninjutsu.
He covered her chest with his paper body. A pitch-black radiance pulsed across the white surface as the Dark Medical Ninjutsu activated and poured vast amounts of medical chakra into her.
The Uzumaki vitality and healing chakra surged into Honoka, instantly staunching the torrents of blood. Flesh knitted together, bone reshaped—her gaping belly wound visibly closed.
If Shinnō's shattered corpse could be restored by this technique, then patching a single massive hole was child's play.
Within half a minute, pale, whole skin reappeared over Honoka's abdomen. Her vitals stabilized; Alex had yanked her back from the Gate of Death.
Honoka's eyes opened slowly. The ragged ceiling full of holes swam into view. Her gaze was unfocused and bewildered.
"This is supposed to be paradise… it's not like I imagined. Why does it feel like a place of death?" she mumbled.
You're not dead yet, Alex thought, and shot a jet of water at her face.
The cold cascade splashed across her, snapping her fully awake.
"I… I'm not dead?" Honoka sat up, hands probing the mended skin, eyes wide. "What happened? Why am I okay all of a sudden?"
Confusion and the shock of surviving mingled with relief and faint joy.
A tremendous commotion from above drew her attention.
It was her who saved me?
There was no one else nearby besides the figure fighting the Ultimate Summoning Beast—so it had to be that person.
Alex had already returned to Konan's side by the time Honoka regained consciousness.
[This thing is tricky…] he murmured, perching on Konan's right shoulder and staring down at the writhing abomination.
The monster's body had been heavily wrapped in layers of paper, forming a vast white sphere, but the wrapping couldn't contain it. Tentacles had already pierced the paper shell, reaching out to strike Konan in the air.
With several tearing sounds, the white shell ruptured; the outer paper was shredded to ribbons, exposing the blood-red flesh beneath. The core swelled and deformed further, smashing into the ceiling and pulverizing the rock above as it pushed upward.
Rumble! Massive chunks of stone rained down; the underground chamber shook violently.
[No good! This place is collapsing—get out, now!] Alex warned.
Konan dodged the thrashing tentacles, manipulating her paper to wrap Honoka and carry her upward. They burst through two successive holes and shot up toward the surface, then dashed out of the ruined building.
Boom! The structure collapsed just after they left; the ground trembled incessantly. Dozens of thick tentacles pierced the wreckage and swung through the air, sending chills down one's spine.