"Everyone, hold on just a bit longer—it's almost dawn!"
A Grass shinobi shouted loudly.
Behind him trailed a large group of disheveled Grass Village civilians.
Several days had passed since the outbreak of the battle in Grass Village. Now, the Land of Grass was filled with such groups of fleeing refugees.
Whoosh.
Suddenly, a dark shadow surged into the crowd from behind, unleashing a wave of bloodshed!
The leading Grass shinobi hesitated briefly before shouting, "Everyone, scatter and flee!"
With that, he abandoned the slaughtering crowd and fled on his own.
After days of escape, the Grass shinobi had learned many traits of these demons. The most critical discovery was that when daylight broke, these deadly monsters would vanish without a trace.
Thus, scattering often offered a better chance of survival than staying together, as surviving until dawn granted the group an entire day's respite.
This was precisely why many of the groups that had broken out from Grass Village had managed to survive.
At nearly the same moment…
Another group that had escaped Grass Village was cornered by a powerful demon in a secluded valley.
Ryuzetsu, among the group, felt her heart sink into despair.
In just a few short days, she had witnessed the deaths of far too many friends and loved ones. Now, their group of elderly, weak, and wounded hiding in this deep valley had only a handful of combat-capable shinobi left, and nearly everyone, including herself, was injured.
Based on the intelligence gathered from days of fierce fighting, a single demon required at least two or three of Grass Village's jonin to suppress. But their group lacked the strength to muster such a force.
As the demon approached step by step, despair enveloped the entire group.
"Will I, too, be devoured like everyone else?"
Listening to the wails and curses around her, Ryuzetsu let the kunai slip from her hand. She was utterly exhausted.
"Jie jie, so much blood fodder! Looks like my luck's pretty good today!"
The demon cackled, eyeing the trembling Grass Village civilians.
Initially, demons hunted in pairs or trios.
By yesterday, they had grown increasingly brazen, many beginning to act alone, attempting to slaughter entire groups of fleeing Grass shinobi single-handedly.
Clearly, days of unrestrained slaughter had led these demons to view shinobi as mere delicious blood fodder, and Grass Village's poor performance had further fueled their disdain for shinobi.
Whoosh!
Just as the Grass Village refugees huddled like lambs awaiting slaughter, a figure suddenly descended from the sky, positioning itself between them and the demon.
Ryuzetsu froze, then her face lit up with hope. "Shinji!"
The demon, seeing only a boy, smirked mockingly. "Another little snack delivering itself to me!"
Shinji glanced at the demon and snapped his fingers.
Boom!
In an instant, accompanied by a earth-shaking rumble, countless vines erupted from the ground, swiftly ensnaring the arrogant demon.
"What is this!?"
The demon, caught off guard, prepared to unleash its Blood Demon Art.
But before it could, it realized in horror that its blood was gushing out like a breached dam from the wounds pierced by the vines, spilling across the ground.
Whoosh.
At that moment, another figure landed in the valley.
It was none other than Yakumo, accompanying Shinji.
While she used Wood Release to trap the demon and drain its chakra, she simultaneously employed the Koryugan's power to siphon the demon's blood.
Under this dual assault, the demon trapped in Wood Release rapidly lost strength. Within moments, its self-healing slowed, the wounds pierced and torn by the vines refused to mend, and it was ultimately shredded into fragments.
Observing from the side, Shinji silently assessed, The demons' power seems rooted in a special virus embedded in their flesh. The Koryugan's blood manipulation is an absolute counter to them!
At that moment, Ryuzetsu rushed out from the group and threw herself into Shinji's arms, sobbing, "Shinji, I thought I'd never see you again!"
Shinji froze briefly, then gently patted her head. "It's okay now, it's okay."
Having dealt with the demon, Yakumo approached and saw Ryuzetsu crying in Shinji's arms. She pursed her lips. "No need to throw yourself into his arms, is there?"
Boom!
Amid an explosion, a massive demon was blown to pieces, its severed limbs and body parts scattering across the ground.
In the air…
Deidara, perched cross-legged on a clay bird, looked down at the shattered demon and pouted. "Is it a ratio issue? The power didn't improve much!"
Sasori, nearby, said coldly, "Deidara, stop playing around!"
Deidara grumbled, "Big Bro Sasori, it's hard to find such perfect test targets!"
As they bickered, the demon's scattered flesh below began to reassemble, restoring its form.
Deidara grinned. "See, it's good as new! This time, I'll tweak the ratio and see if I can boost the clay's explosive power! Hmm!"
With that, he eagerly plunged his hands into the clay pouches at his sides, starting to mix a new batch of explosive clay.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
On a lush grassland, two figures clashed fiercely.
One was a muscular, power-packed demon, the other Hidan, wielding his Bloody March Sickle and clad in a red-cloud cloak.
The demon seemed slightly faster than Hidan, but its taijutsu was clearly inferior. After a flurry of exchanges, the two reached a stalemate.
Growing ferocious, both intensified their attacks!
Suddenly, the demon abandoned dodging, enduring the sickle slicing half its body to plunge a hand into Hidan's chest, sneering triumphantly, "Die!"
Over the past days, this demon had killed many shinobi.
In its view, shinobi were tricky with their speed, strength, and diverse ninjutsu, but they were fragile—one hit could wound them. Thus, trading injuries at critical moments could easily eliminate a strong foe.
This infallible tactic had become its default, naturally applied to Hidan.
As it waited for Hidan to cough up blood and die, Hidan merely glanced at it, then shouted dramatically, "Oi, that hurts, you know!"
With that, Hidan swung his Bloody March Sickle again, cleaving the demon—now only an upper half—in two.
Nearby, Kakuzu, sitting on a boulder, snorted. "If you need help, just say so. You're embarrassing yourself!"
Hidan, furious, snapped, "Oi, oi, these things counter me, don't you know?"
"Trash!"
Kakuzu turned his face away.
The demon, cut into pieces and regenerating, watched the two ignore it to bicker. A chill inexplicably crept into its heart. "These are shinobi too?"