Chapter 13: Ruthless Slaughter
After breakfast, Shen and Yokota Kiyomi raced through the forest at high speed, with Kiyomi leading the way toward Lake Nogawa. At this moment, a long blade hung at Shen's waist. It looked somewhat familiar—likely one of the swords taken from the Fūma clan warriors earlier. To Kiyomi and the others, it seemed to be a fine weapon. But in Shen's eyes, it was nothing more than an ordinary iron blade, not even steel, and far from anything truly refined.
"My lord, Lake Nogawa is just ahead. At this moment, there may already be Fūma clan warriors there, so please be careful," Kiyomi said as they ran.
She truly deserved her reputation as a woman of the Warring States era—her stamina was remarkable. They had maintained this pace for nearly half an hour, yet Kiyomi still had enough breath to explain the situation clearly. It was no wonder she had been able to hold out so long while being hunted by more than a dozen Fūma warriors.
"Mm. Then we'll split up ahead. Make sure to stay hidden. If things go badly, just return to the Yokota clan," Shen said.
Opening his Byakugan, the veins at the corners of his eyes bulged slightly. He immediately saw that, around two kilometers ahead, there were indeed many warriors concealed around a lakeside area. They were hiding well, seemingly gathering before moving eastward.
"Here is fine. There are a lot of people ahead, so it'll be hard for you to stay hidden if you go any farther. Their target seems to be the east, so as long as you're careful, you shouldn't be discovered easily. I'll deal with them," Shen said, stopping in place.
"Then I wish my lord victory!"
"Was there ever another possibility?" Shen said with a light laugh. If he got hurt by a group of warriors who hadn't even cultivated chakra, that would truly be humiliating.
Drawing his long blade, he dashed straight toward the nearest warrior. In an instant, he appeared at the man's side and cut him down, not even sparing him a second glance before moving rapidly to the next target. Only after Shen had already dealt with five or six men did someone finally realize what was happening and shout that there was an enemy attack.
"The reaction is really too slow. Well, to save time, I'll get serious now. Everyone, please don't struggle needlessly—just stand still. Don't worry, I'm quick. You won't feel much pain," Shen said with a smile.
If not for the blood still dripping from the blade in his hand, he would have looked perfectly mild and friendly. To avoid exposing his true physical traits, Shen had used the Transformation Technique before appearing, taking the form of an ordinary young man with yellow skin, black hair, and dark brown eyes.
"Kill him!" someone shouted, and all the warriors rushed at Shen with their blades raised.
"Heh."
Letting out a soft laugh, Shen watched the sluggish movements of the charging warriors and moved among them with his blade, bringing them down one after another. Knowing that this iron sword could not withstand an intense battle for long, he never used it to block a single strike. Every cut and thrust slipped through the gaps in their armor. Other than cloth offering the slightest resistance, the blade never struck anything too hard.
As more and more warriors fell, the fear among them finally broke. Some turned and fled into the distance. Shen made no effort to chase them. Once warriors scattered like that, it would be difficult for them to regroup. According to what Kiyomi had told him, warriors who fled in battle had only one road left—to become wandering ronin. There was virtually no second outcome. That was precisely why she had told him not to waste time pursuing those who ran.
More than ten minutes later, the ground was covered with bodies, while Shen alone remained standing in white robes. From beginning to end, not a single drop of blood had stained his clothes.
Looking over the scene before him, Shen fell briefly into thought. It seemed he had become a little too decisive when it came to killing. From the time he watched his former comrades die one after another in Kaguya's dimension, to effortlessly cutting down more than ten warriors before, and now to dispatching over a hundred without feeling any psychological strain—
"Well, it's not exactly a bad thing. At least it's better than being the kind of idiot who still tries to preach mercy after someone's already raised a blade against him," Shen muttered.
His gaze flickered. With a sharp flick of his wrist, he shook the blood from the blade, sheathed it, and sprinted toward the Fūma clan's territory.
It seemed the Fūma clan was preparing to attack some family in the east. Along the way, Shen occasionally ran into Fūma clan warriors and simply cut them down as he passed. After dealing with dozens more, he finally saw, at the limit of his current Byakugan vision—about three kilometers away—a cluster of buildings. There was no doubt about it. That had to be the Fūma clan's base.
He increased his speed and charged toward the Fūma clan's territory. Five minutes later, Shen rushed straight in—and was immediately surrounded by a ring of warriors.
"Who the hell are you, barging into Fūma territory looking for trouble? Drop your weapon and explain yourself now, and maybe we'll leave your corpse intact! Hahahaha!" one arrogant Fūma warrior shouted, looking at Shen as if he were a fool. The surrounding warriors all burst into mocking laughter as well.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Hm, quite a lot of you. Looks like cutting through everyone will take a while. Then, to save time, everyone please stay where you are. Don't worry—my blade is quick, so it won't hurt much," Shen said, repeating the same grand line yet again. He seemed to have developed a taste for striking a pose before a fight.
Posturing aside, he still had work to do.
The so-called spectacle of one man being surrounded by a hundred really meant very little. Even with that many people, only a handful could actually reach him at once. So Shen simply avoided the few attacks that might touch him, then cut down one Fūma warrior after another. Gradually, the situation changed from a hundred men surrounding one, to one man facing many, and then to one man driving the others back in pursuit.
At last, the commotion drew the attention of the rest of the Fūma clan. Large numbers of warriors came rushing toward Shen. He glanced back at the dozen or so remaining Fūma warriors, whose fighting spirit had already collapsed, then decisively charged into the incoming force.
Blade-light flashed again and again, and the warriors who had come storming forward fell one after another, like wheat before a sickle, from one end of the path to the other. Those who sensed something was wrong and managed to run out of formation to hide were the only ones left standing. By the time Shen reached the inner gate of the Fūma clan, the broad road behind him was carpeted with bodies—yet apart from the blade in his hand, Shen still stood there in spotless white.
He raised the sword in his hand and looked at it. The blade was already full of chips and cracks. He let out a sigh. Even though he had tried to minimize impacts as much as possible, a sword that had cut through three or four hundred men had already reached its limit.
He tossed the ruined sword aside, casually picked up another nearby long blade from the ground, drew it, and strode into the inner compound of the Fūma clan.
As soon as he entered, he saw people kneeling everywhere.
"Hm? You've surrendered?" Shen asked, holding the blade loosely at his side.
Cold sweat broke out across the faces of the Fūma clan survivors. More than ninety percent of their clan had already been slaughtered. The people still alive here were essentially all that remained. If they did not surrender now, were they really supposed to wait to be completely wiped out?
"Y-yes, my lord, we surrender. You may take anything you want. We can even help you transport it away! But please, tell us—did our Fūma clan somehow offend you? Why would a powerful figure like you come to massacre our clan?" The man at the front raised his head and looked at Shen's cold face, as though he wanted at least to understand why they had lost.
"Hm, no. In fact, one piece of information I wanted was something I learned from one of your clan members. But that person wasn't very honest. Then, by coincidence, I made a deal with someone else—and that person's family happened to have a grudge against your clan. A grudge you yourselves created. So I agreed to help them deal with you, and in return they would become my subordinates and work for me."
Shen no longer wanted to continue killing. A Fūma clan reduced to this state was little different from extinction already.
"Our Fūma clan can also become your subordinates! Please grant us your protection!" the Fūma man shouted desperately. Their clan had been reduced to so few survivors that, without a powerful backer, they would either have to flee to the center and rely on that strong allied clan—or be swallowed whole by the remaining southern clans.
"No. Your Fūma clan doesn't suit my taste," Shen said, shaking his head. "The fact that you took the initiative to attack other families, including clans that were once your allies—that alone ensures I'll never approve of you. I dislike betrayal. I didn't kill every last one of you already counts as leaving your clan a bloodline to continue. Take what you need and hide in the forest."
Shen had always despised traitors.
Shen turned around, sheathed the long blade, and slowly walked away. Behind him, the surviving members of the Fūma clan looked upon their blood-soaked compound and wept in agony.
Did they regret it? Of course they did.
But they had no one else to blame. Those who kill must be prepared to be killed in turn. If you are willing to raise your blade against others, then you must also be ready for others to raise theirs against you. The total number of people the Fūma clan had exterminated over the years was more than five or six times greater than the population of their own clan.
As Shen walked through the forest, he slowly replayed everything that had happened that day in his mind.
Half an hour.
He had followed Yokota Kiyomi to Lake Nogawa, then carried out an overwhelming slaughter of the Fūma warriors lying in ambush there. From the lake all the way to this place, anyone he saw holding a blade, he killed. Then came the massacre here.
Shen could now confirm that something was wrong with him—and it was a very serious problem.
Thinking this, Shen suddenly broke into a sprint, rushing toward Lake Nogawa at full speed. It seemed he would not be going to Shikkotsu Forest today. Even setting aside the fact that the overwhelming smell of blood on him would surely disgust the kind-hearted Slug Sage, the cold, almost demonic state he was in right now was clearly abnormal. He needed to return to the Yokota clan as quickly as possible and examine himself carefully to determine what exactly was going on.
The entire way back, Shen kept his brows furrowed. Without realizing it, he began circulating chakra, making himself even faster. At a speed where an ordinary person could only catch a faint afterimage, he shot toward the lake.
More than ten minutes later, Kiyomi, who had remained waiting where she was, smiled when she saw Shen rushing back. But very quickly, she noticed that something was wrong.
When Shen saw her, he did not slow down at all. He only shifted his direction slightly and continued straight toward the lake. Kiyomi felt her vision blur, and the violent gust he kicked up forced her to raise an arm in front of her face.
Splash!
Shen crashed directly into the lake, sending water exploding into the air. Waves surged nearly five meters high. When everything finally settled, Kiyomi saw Shen floating motionless on the surface of the lake.
Covered by the cold water, Shen breathed slowly and steadily, lying there in silence.
Kiyomi had no idea what had happened to him, but she knew now was not the time to disturb him. And so, beside Lake Nogawa, a young girl stood quietly on the shore while a youth in white drifted silently upon the water.
Splash—
At the sound of water, Kiyomi lifted her head and saw Shen standing atop the lake's surface. His clothes were soaked through, water still dripping from his body. Having already seen enough strange things from him, Kiyomi no longer found such a sight surprising. She simply waited in silence.
Shen swept his gaze across the surroundings, then walked over the water toward Kiyomi.
"Kiyomi, I have a question for you."
"Please ask, my lord."
"In your eyes, what kind of person am I?"
"In my eyes, Lord Shen is a god—powerful, detached, transcendent."
"...Transcendent, huh? I see."
"My lord, did something happen? Or did those Fūma clan people say something?" Kiyomi asked with concern as she looked at Shen, who seemed somewhat dazed.
"No, nothing like that. I simply realized something about myself. Thank you, Kiyomi."
Shen shook his head and smiled at her.
Kiyomi froze for a moment.
In her impression, Shen had smiled at her before—but never like this. His past smiles had never seemed warm. They felt as though they came from someone who existed in an entirely different world. But now, it was as if the two of them had stepped into the same one.
Before, his smile had been like someone smiling at you through a television screen—you could understand the emotion, but it didn't feel real. Now, he was truly smiling right in front of her. He could speak to her, respond to her, and it felt as though he had finally become one of them.