When everything calmed down, Toji had already returned to human form, bleeding, with flames healing his entire body.
He looked around, he was inside a huge crater, but there were no Hachibi in sight.
Toji didn't think he had killed Killer B, instead, the guy probably escaped.
Looking towards the city, he sighed, putting Shakukonto back in the Snake Clone's mouth, and began to run towards the village. Killer B had probably gone to save his people.
Just as he expected, when he arrived, only several corpses, besides Afro bleeding and kneeling, were waiting for him.
As soon as he saw Toji, Afro looked at him, trying to get up. He faltered slightly, but remained standing. Toji didn't try to help, he knew Afro didn't want that. Even so, he still approached and began to heal the man.
-19. - Afro spoke expressionlessly.
-What?- Toji asked, confused.
-I killed 19.- he said again. -You pay.
Toji looked at him for a moment, before letting out a genuine laugh, shaking his head, he nodded. - Okay, I'll pay.
Afro grunted, but Toji didn't care, continuing to heal him. When the civilians finally returned, they looked at Toji with fear, and some even with hatred.
Toji looked thoughtfully at the civilians who had been killed at random, wondering if he should help them, but the moment he thought of it, he felt his potion stir. It wasn't a advancement, instead, it was as if something inside him was rejecting the gesture.
Instead, he asked Toji to kill them all.
Toji frowned slightly, he still hadn't figured out how to act like a Devil, but he sensed a clue now, and he didn't like what he realized.
He looked at the figure of an old woman crying next to another woman, feeling his potion stir slightly, digestion probably hadn't occurred because it wasn't done intentionally, but rather as collateral damage.
If being a criminal means going against the 'law', the Unwinged Angel is like going against morality, and the Serial Killer is like going against humanity, then the Devil must be directly related to causing pain, or rather, suffering.
Toji pursed his lips, he didn't want to do this, but unlike the sequence's progression, not acting wasn't an option. He needed to find a way to act like Devil without actually becoming one.
Looking at the civilians, Toji had the Snake clone pretend to heal them, in reality, they were already dead, and instead, they were dragged back.
Toji, on the other hand, found the village leader and paid for all the damages, twice over.
He could feel that constant sense of dissonance while he was doing it, but he did it anyway.
After it was over, most of the group of civilians still looked at Toji and Afro with irritation, but now at least there was no more hatred.
Toji and Afro left on the same day, both in silence. Afro was used to being looked down upon, so he didn't feel bad about it at all. Instead, it was Toji who was focused on how to act without becoming a true Devil.
Apparently, he would need to go after criminals again, but this time, while he was in action, he would need the Snake Clone's help to protect his mind.
He knew that what he needed to do now wasn't like when he was a serial killer, it wasn't just about killing and creating connections between the deaths. He wasn't entirely sure yet, but this would probably affect him quite a bit.
For a while, Toji walked around, wondering if there wasn't another way for Jugo to advance towards Abomination, only sequence 6 had left him like this, and what about future sequences?
This path is extremely sinister, so sinister that Toji knew that if he had proceeded normally without Jugo's help, he probably wouldn't have had any trouble performing or completing the ritual now.
That's because his mind would already be much closer to what a Devil is, as if the first 3 sequences were like a preparation for what he would become now.
Even without the problems of the potions themselves, just with the advancement to Devil, he felt himself growing colder and colder. Looking at those dead people, his first thought wasn't certainty that he should help them, but instead, a sharp doubt.
It was because he was responsible for their deaths, even if indirectly, the Cloud ninjas were after them, so their deaths fell on him.
The problem is, if he saw someone die in front of him, even if it had nothing to do with him, would he just treat it like air and walk right past? Would he think the person deserved to die? Or even less than that, like looking at people with grass on the road.
Sure, if it had nothing to do with him, even Chained Jugo himself could walk right past someone dead, at most he'd wonder if it was worth saving them, but that was just the beginning. In the future, when Kin, Dosu, Guren, Kimimaro, Karin... when they died in front of him, would he just look at their dead bodies with cold, indifferent eyes?
Toji couldn't take this lightly, even Kumo's attack flashed through his mind. He had more pressing matters to worry about now, his brow furrowed. He hated this feeling.
To be or not to be a Devil.
That was his fucking choice!
However, this series of awful events seemed to be trying everything to turn him into something he's not.
Many people would sacrifice everything for power: Money, status, life, soul... everything was at stake, but Toji wouldn't do that. If he had to pay with his ego for power, he'd tell this power to go to hell!
Toji's eyes grew colder and colder, he knew he could no longer act as the potion required, but as he needed to.
Afro seemed to sense Toji's changing mood, the very air seemed warmer, but he said nothing, didn't look at him, instead just walked beside him as if nothing had happened.
Toji and Afro walked away, each lost in their own thoughts.