They formed a loose defensive formation. Weapons were drawn, ninja tools gripped tightly in hand. Every face was grim, cold sweat beading at their temples.
All eyes were locked on Karin—and the eerie "puppets" standing behind her—yet none dared launch the first attack.
The reason was simple.
First, Karin's own strength was unfathomable. Worse still, she possessed a strange and insidious ability to beguile others. Recklessly approaching her—or clashing with her chakra—was extremely dangerous.
Second, they were far too close to the seal of "Wangcai."
No one knew whether large-scale chakra usage might stimulate or weaken the seal prematurely, allowing that "natural enemy of chakra" to break free ahead of time.
They were caught in a classic dilemma—afraid to act, yet unable to retreat.
Karin seemed to relish the atmosphere of fear and vigilance surrounding her.
She lazily stretched, shifting her gaze from the sealing site to the hundreds of shinobi facing her as if confronting a mortal enemy. The smile on her lips remained, but her tone carried unquestionable command.
"Well now, big brothers and sisters over there~ You understand my purpose, don't you?"
She pointed behind her toward the sealing ground.
"I need a 'key' to open the cage so I can play with Wangcai."
"And that key… is enough pure chakra."
Tilting her head, she revealed an innocent smile.
"So I'll give you two choices."
"First, you step forward on your own and release all your chakra, blasting it toward the location I designate. Once you're done, I'll let you leave. I always keep my promises~"
Her voice suddenly turned cold, the sweetness laced with piercing killing intent.
"Second, I let my 'friends' play with you. Once you're all beaten down—or… directly controlled—I'll use your chakra as the key instead."
"But if that happens, once the key's used up, it won't have any value left. Whether it's crushed… or burned… depends on my mood~"
She raised three slender fingers, gently swaying them beneath hundreds of terrified gazes.
"I'm generous. I'll give you… three seconds to decide."
"Three seconds?! How generous of you!"
"Karin! Do you know what you're doing?! Releasing that thing would be a disaster for the entire shinobi world!"
A middle-aged jōnin—clearly the leader of this temporary allied force—could no longer restrain himself and shouted angrily.
Karin didn't even blink.
She slowly lowered one finger.
"Time's up."
No countdown. No "three, two, one." She skipped straight to the result.
Behind her, the hundreds of enthralled "puppets" flared with crimson light in their eyes, guttural growls escaping their throats.
Then, like a silent tide of the undead, they surged forward.
Individually they weren't particularly strong—but they possessed immense physical power, felt no pain, ignored death, and their attacks carried a strange ripple that interfered with the mind, stirring negative emotions.
The shinobi were already at peak alert the moment Karin uttered "Time's up."
They had seen the Heavenly Curtain. They understood how terrifying her power of manipulation was—even someone like a darkened Naruto Uzumaki could be exploited if his mind wavered. What about them?
"Defensive formation! Long-range ninjutsu suppression! Avoid close combat!" the jōnin roared, hands flying through hand seals.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Other shinobi followed suit. Fireballs, water bullets, earthen walls, arcs of lightning—various techniques illuminated the basin's edge as they bombarded the charging mass.
They deliberately controlled their output, careful not to unleash attacks too violent that might affect the sealing site.
But the enthralled victims did not dodge. They endured the techniques head-on. Casualties were heavy, yet those behind trampled over the fallen and continued charging madly, soon pressing close to the defensive line.
More troubling—Karin herself did nothing.
She simply stood atop a rocky outcrop, watching.
Expressionless, she observed the puppets fall like cut grass, utterly unmoved—almost bored.
"Idiots," she muttered. "You've all seen the Heavenly Curtain. You know the seal passively absorbs some of the chakra leaking in this place… and you still dare throw ninjutsu around? Tch. Whatever. They were disposable anyway."
Her gaze swept over the pulverized corpses, then to the opposing shinobi—who had repelled the first wave but now looked pale, their chakra signatures noticeably weakened.
"Not great quality… I wonder if their chakra will be enough for a 'key.' Hope Wangcai's appetite isn't too big."
She calculated calmly, feeling no burden at using their lives as offerings.
Across from her, the allied shinobi felt no relief despite surviving the first assault.
Each of them sensed it.
Their chakra drained faster than usual. And perhaps it was imagination—but it felt as though some portion of their power was being silently siphoned away by the cursed land beneath their feet.
But if they didn't use chakra?
Relying solely on taijutsu and shurikenjutsu would get them killed even faster.
A deadlock. A death trap.
"You killed my toy slaves…" Karin's voice rang out again, crisp yet icy.
She clapped lightly.
"Well then… next."
Her scarlet lenses swept across every pale face, a cruel curve lifting her lips.
"Are you ready… to become my new servants?"
The words tolled like a funeral bell.
Despair spread instantly.
They could almost see themselves losing consciousness, becoming walking corpses.
And then—
Whoosh.
A faint yet unmistakable sound cut through the air.
Karin reacted first, snapping her head upward, locking onto a point more than ten meters above her.
The air rippled like water.
A cloaked figure materialized out of thin air, silently floating.
"Who are you?" Karin's face darkened instantly, irritation flashing in her tone.
She hated being looked down upon—especially by an unknown intruder beyond her control.
The shinobi below followed her gaze.
For a brief instant—
Relief.
A variable had entered the field.
Whether friend or foe, at least Karin's attention had shifted.
They seized the chance to adjust formation, wary of both Karin and the newcomer.
The mysterious figure's appearance shattered the fragile balance of the basin like ice dropped into boiling oil.
All eyes fixed on him.
The fleeting hope vanished in the next moment.
The cloaked figure ignored Karin entirely.
He slowly raised a hand from beneath the cloak, five fingers slightly spread, making a subtle grasping motion toward a nearby chūnin in the formation.
"My name is Graywhite," came a low, emotionless voice.
"Ōtsutsuki Graywhite."
Karin's sneer froze.
"I'm not here for you, Demon Child," he continued calmly. "I'm simply… looking for something to eat."
Eat?
The word struck like a curse.
The Heavenly Curtain's repeated references to "fish ponds" and "baiting"… Karin's earlier mention of "ingredients"…
It wasn't metaphor.
It was literal.
Before anyone could process the horror—
"AAAAAAGH—!"
The targeted chūnin screamed.
An invisible force seized him. His body twisted violently. Bones cracked. Muscles and skin shriveled at visible speed. His chakra aura was forcibly stripped and compressed.
In two or three seconds—
A living shinobi was reshaped into A small, glowing chakra fruit.
Its surface bore faintly distorted facial features, trembling with residual agony.
Graywhite beckoned lightly.
The fruit flew into his palm.
In dead silence—
He brought it beneath his hood.
Chewing.
Swallowing.
He had eaten him.
Not metaphorically.
Literally converted—and consumed.
"They… turned him into fruit…"
"You monster! You eat people?!"
"'Ingredients'… that's what it meant…"
The abstract dread from the Heavenly Curtain had become gruesome reality.
Shinobi—cultivators of chakra—were livestock in the eyes of higher beings.
For the first time, they felt the terror of being prey on a species level.
Karin herself stared, stunned.
This sudden Ōtsutsuki Graywhite…
Was even more excessive than she was.
Graywhite smacked his lips lightly.
"Average quality. Insufficient chakra purity," he evaluated.
"Though… the quantity is acceptable."
In his eyes, they were not enemies.
Not warriors.
Merely edible reserves.
Despair flooded the basin.
Before them—Demon Child Karin, seeking to turn them into keys.
Above them—Ōtsutsuki Graywhite, viewing them as food.
And in the distance, the seal of Wangcai pulsed ominously.
This place had become a convergence of layered terror.
Even Karin, usually unrestrained, clicked her tongue internally.
"I thought I was reckless… but this guy? He's even more direct."
As mad as she could be, processing a living human into fruit and eating it on the spot…
Even that lay beyond her current sense of "entertainment."
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