“What’s with these numbers?”


    Shin had parted ways with Schnee and headed towards Fuji, but the formation of demon foxes he found around the mountain made him raise a brow . Almost all units were around level 700, with 6 or 7 tails . For Shin it was nothing special, but for this world it was close to a natural disaster .


    Such monsters were now surrounding Mt . Fuji . They were also clearly expressing hostile intentions .


    “Kuu!! Tamamo, not here!!”


    “That’s true, I can’t pick up any presence that could be hers . What’s this about, anyway? There are the 8-headed Orochi and Munechika on top of Fuji . No matter how many boss-level monsters you gather, with their fighting power they’re just going to get annihted . ”


    The gap between the level 900 Munechika and the level 700 demon foxes was just toorge .  That’s what their difference in fighting power meant .


    Because of the demon foxes’rge numbers, Munechika could maybe suffer some injuries, but if they fought they would be surely exterminated .


    Despite that, the demon foxes were unmistakably heading towards the mists covering the mountain .


    “Hmm?”


    Among the demon foxes climbing up Mt . Fuji, Shin detected a small presence moving up as well .


    It was not being attacked despite being right next to the demon foxes, so it was likely to be an ally .


    Shin thought it could be Tamamo, and asked Yuzuha for confirmation, but she denied that possibility .


    “Yuzuha, I’m going to see this sneaky one before dealing with them . What are you going to do?”


    “… . I feel a bad presence from there . Yuzuha, go there . Shin, go to Fuji . ”


    After a short pause, Yuzuha turned to a direction different than the mountain .


    “Will you be fine by yourself?”


    “Leave it to Yuzuha!!”


    Yuzuha hopped down from Shin’s shoulder, transformed into little girl mode, and puffed up her chest .


    Shin would have been worried until a while ago, but her level was now higher and her control over her powers were much better .


    Shin looked at Yuzuha, who was looking back at him with straight and honest eyes, and nodded .


    “—-got it . Take these with you, just in case . ”


    Shin took an essory that would take damage instead of the user and items to heal status ailments from the item box .


    Yuzuha took them, put them in her robes, then ran off in fox form .


    “OK, time to do my part . ”


    After whispering to himself, Shin went on his way .


    While concealing his presence with 【Hiding】, Shin drew closer to the dot moving among the demon foxes .


    When he came close enough to see, he spotted a man d in ck ninja wear head to toe .


    The name disyed via 【Analyze】 was Rokuhara Kai, the man who was with Juugo .


    Shin jumped in front of Kai and deactivated 【Hiding】 .


    “!?! You are the man from that time…!?”


    Kai reacted to Shin’s sudden appearance by drawing his ninja de . He was clearly wary of Shin after recognizing him .


    “Do you mean, the time at Aokigahara?”


    “Who can say!”


    Before even an attempt to conversation was made, Kai casted a magic spell towards Shin .


    What flew towards Shin was the me-type magic skill 【Fireball】 . It was a basic offensive magic, widely used by beginners and experts alike .


    However, magic used by a ninja like Kai, whose job leaned more towards physical attacks, could not work on Shin .


    The 【Fireball】 flying towards Shin vanished into nothingness just before hitting him .


    “If possible, I’d like to know why you are doing this . ”


    “… . to once again spread the mes of war in Hinomoto . ”


    “—-I’m surprised to receive an answer . But why? I hear that there is much to lose in the mes of war . What would you gain in doing this?”


    Shin did not expect any answers, but as he received one instead, he expressed another doubt .


    “… . . Hinomoto has had continuous conflicts, all within this small ind country . One needed to be strong, lest everything be taken away from them . Because of that, in those times everyone was strong . But now the people forgot those times of war, and became weak . The Brave Ten as well, none of them can even match sir Kankurou now, they are just brats with nothing more than their Returned Ancestor status going for them . If peace continues on like this, Hinomoto will eventually grow weak . ”


    “As someone who saw the continent’s adventurers and soldiers, I can tell you that Hinomoto soldiers are clearly stronger than them . ”


    Shin said what he honestly thought . Even in Balmel, a city exposed to the dangers of the Flood’s monster hordes, the soldiers’ quality was lower than Hinomoto .


    “It is not enough for soldiers to be strong . The lords governing its domains, the soldiers serving under them, the people inhabiting itsnds…all of them need to be strong, or a small country like Hinomoto has no future . ”


    “Even so, is setting monsters on the people an eptable way? It would just cause a burden on those precious soldiers and citizens . ”


    “If they fall because of something like that, it means that they were worth that much in the first ce . This was one of the truths in the era of wars . ”


    “You speak as if you saw it with your own eyes . ”


    Based on his experiences until now, Shin thought that Kai’s race was Human .


    Humans have short life spans . No one from this race could have witnessed the age of wars and still be alive .


    “Because they showed it to me . ”


    “They “showed” it?”


    “The one who controls these beasts did . They seem to have different goals, but no matter if we are being used or not, our wish will be fulfilled . ”


    Kai spoke while pointing at a Blue Tail among the demon foxes surrounding them .


    Shin never heard of abilities allowing the user to see the past, but before that, he could not know if the past Kai saw was the truth or not .


    “I will not ept a unification scared of sacrifices . Hinomoto will be a strong country only if the truly strong rule over it . ”


    “The man called Ichinose Juugo is already dead . Even so, do you continue?”


    “Do you think I would stop now?”


    “I suppose not . ”


    Kai’s killing intent grew more intense . In response, Shin’s hand reaches to the katana 『Moonless』 at his waist .


    “… . . I did not think it would be possible to talk like this . Are you sure it was fine to leak all that information?”


    “It makes no difference . Dead men tell no tales . ”


    “That man might be you though, you know?”


    “That is fine too . The strong live, the weak perish . That is all . ”


    Even his own death was an eptable oue . Kai’s eyes as he said so were straight and true, despite the haziness within them .


    “…were the days of peace so painful?”


    “…… . . ”


    Shin’sst words were the only ones Kai did not reply to .


    Wielding his ninja de, Kai disappeared into the shadow of a Red Tail .


    The monsters surrounding Shin were 3 Red Tails and 3 White Tails . The former were around level 600, thetter level 700: all boss-ss monsters .


    There were also other monsters of the demon fox species, but except those heading towards Shin, they were all proceeding towards the peak .


    “That’s a shame . ”


    Shin spoke in response to Kai’s silence . The echo of these words was so cold, it would have ran chills down the spines of whoever heard them .


    Shin then unsheathed 『Moonless』 while shifting his line of sight to the right .


    As he drew a silver arc in the air with the de, a sound of shing metal followed and 3 kunai fell on the ground, split clean in half .


    Even if he had concealed himself, Kai’s 【Hiding】 was inferior to Shin’s perception abilities .


    “Did you think you were hiding?”


    Shin’s line of sight uncovered Kai’s position .


    Because Kai felt a chill down the back of his spine he turned towards the origin of this savage thirst for blood . Even though his facial expression became stiff, it also changed into a smile .


    “What I sensed that time was no lie, I see . ”


    Even if he had epted death as positive, some things could not be ovee .


    The stench of blood Kai had sensed from Shin was not something that would emanate from someone who only battled against monsters .


    It was proof that his hands were stained with the blood of countless people .


    Kai looked downward towards the rattling sound that had reached his ears . He found his right arm, the one holding his de, shaking .


    The demon foxes around Shin too, intimidated by his killing intent, could not move .


    Even the other demon foxes heading towards the peak turned towards Shin, their bodies trembling .


    “Heh, this is how true war must be . ”


    Kai pulled out a round pill from his robe and swallowed it, then charged towards Shin .


    Kai’s after-images split and attacked Shin .


    It was a techniquebining high-speed movement and illusions, by using the skills 【Ground Shrink】 and 【Mirage Dance】 . The round pill allowed Kai to move at a speed easily surpassing the average Chosen One .


    Thisbination, which Schnee often uses too, served to enhance all of Kai’s techniques, also taking advantage of his boosted physical abilities .


    However—- .


    “A ninja should never attack from the front,e on . ”


    Before Shin’s 『Moonless』, it was all meaningless .


    No matter how deftly Kai hid within the illusions, Shin’s eyes could see through them . Attacking him from the front was a poor strategy, no matter how boosted Kai was by the round pill .


    In the blink of an eye, Shin closed in on one of Kai’s copies: it was the real one .


    Even if wide-eyed in surprise, Kai tried to dodge with all his might . Maybe because of his long experience in battle, his body moved before he could think .


    Thanks to this, the air-rending sh performed by 『Moonless』 stopped at slicing the ninja’s left arm off .


    “I alone am no match, I see . —-Attack!!”


    After Kai’s order, the demon foxes, frozen still because of Shin’s killing intent, started moving . They targeted Shin with fangs and ws, taking advantage of theirrge bodies .


    They had already understood, from watching the exchange between Kai and Shin, that magic would not work .


    “You’re in the way . ”


    The White tail and Red Tail’s ws were approaching Shin from both the left and right side . Shin responded indifferently by swinging 『Moonless』 .


    Two silver shes run through the air . As they disappeared, the HP of two demon foxes reached zero .


    Their heads and front legs fell to the ground secondster .


    Katana-type martial skill 【Beast Hunt】 .


    Thanks to the skill’s increased damage against animal-type monsters such as the demon foxes, two units fell with ridiculous ease .


    Shin lightly swung 『Moonless』, still not stained with a single drop of blood, and spoke .


    “I will cut down everything . Give up . ”


    In the space of one single breath, Shin yed the White Tail approaching from behind . He then took the killing intent he had been focusing on his surroundings to intimidate the monsters and released it to the fullest, without limiting it .


    His opponent being shifted from humans to monsters, his intent also shifted from defeating to killing .


    Differently from a bandit or ruffian, in Shin’s eyes Kai was acting with a clear objective .


    He seemed to have been influenced by something, but as also disyed by 【Analyze】, he was not underplete maniption .


    He did not know what the reason was, but Shin felt that for both Kai and Juugo, deep down their own will was behind their actions . After his conversation with Kai, Shin’s supposition turned into certainty .


    If their will desired war and killing though, for Shin there was no other choice .


    Excluding the monster’s involvement, amotion like this would have happened sooner orter .


    For the present Hinomoto, their position was that of heretics . Their ways and thoughts would never be understood .


    Even if in a contorted form, their love for their country was at the heart of it all .


    That too was a way of thinking . But no matter what their reasons were, Shin would not ept Juugo and Kai’s way of doing things .


    And thus, he cuts .


    The killing intent emanating from his body, as chilling as a deathly cold breeze, spoke to those facing Shin, telling them to prepare to die .


    “After a life spent in the darkness, for myst opponent to be someone of such might…I am thankful . ”


    A smile widening on his lips, Kai leapt and ran through Shin’s killing intent .


    Normally he could have closed the distance in an instant . However Kai’s body, although boosted by the round pill, could not keep up with his mind .


    Shin was looking in Kai’s direction, but did not move a step .


    He held 『Moonless』 straight in front, its tip pointed forward, quietly staring at Kai . There were no openings in his stance .


    “Gwah”


    As he was running towards Shin, Kai’s legs creaked . His long battle experience told him that something was wrong with his bones . Then, as if provoked by that, his legs and arms produced strange noises .


    “I see the recoil hase . ”


    Shin said while looking at Kai .


    After looking at Kai’s status disy, Shin had guessed what the pill Kai swallowed had to be .


    Shin’s decision of cutting down Kai was out ofpassion: having him destroy himself would have been too pitiful of an ending .


    “It’s been awhile since Ist saw someone use a forbidden drug . ”


    “But even if I did, look at me now . ”


    What Shin called forbidden drug was actually an item with the official name of “Miracle Drug of Blinking Life” .


    Using it would instantly raise all stats by several stages, but in exchange HP would decrease at a fixed rate, the yer dying after a few minutes .


    In addition, recovering lost HP or reviving right after dying was not possible: as penalty for dying, the yer would also be forcefully transported to their hometown .


    In the game, it was an item used only in battles between yers .


    Even if one defeated a boss using it, the system would prevent any EXP or loot gain, so the yers that just enjoyed adventuring did not even know of its existence .


    “This is the end . ”


    Kai’s HP was already close to zero . Even in such a state, the techniques he unleashed were not weakened in the least .


    The ninja de’s attacks continued . Kai’s katana, painted ck to be used in stealth missions, was met by Shin’s 『Moonless』 .


    The tinum and gleaming ck weapons crossed paths . Shin and Kai stopped moving, their backs to each other .


    “Im…pressive…”


    After this onest word, Kai fell . The katana he still held in his right hand had its de cut in half .


    “…can’t say this feels right . ”


    When Shin turned around, Kai had already drawn hisst breath .


    Looking at his somehow pleased-looking expression, Shin scratched his head, perplexed .


    Possibly finding an opening in his now rxed guard, Shin was attacked by a mass of me and ice . However, it was enough to attract his attention . The attack was canceled by his magic resistance .


    “So it’s not like he was inmand, huh . You should at least know thatying a hand on me or Fuji would be the end of you though . ”


    As he finished talking, at Shin’s feet lied the corpses of 1 Red Tail and 1 Blue Tail .  His opponents were now only monsters, so he swung his sword without the slightest hesitation .


    Shin directed his perception towards Fuji and noticed a dot of light moving rapidly around the demon foxes . It was Munechika .


    As the small dot came closer, the big ones would disappear . The speed at which they were annihted was overwhelming: the 8-headed Orochi did not even move from the peak .


    “There are still plenty of them; guess I’ll lend a hand . ”


    Shin started hunting down the demon foxes from the direction opposite to the dot he thought to be Munechika .


    After less than an hour, most of the demon foxes that had gathered on Fuji had been exterminated .


    As Shin took down thest unit, the sparkle of tinum armor appeared before him .


    “So it was you, Shin . ”


    What appeared was the katana and person carrying the name of One of the Five Supreme des – Mikazuki Munechika . As she was battling, she was wearing her helmet, but not her flowing ck hair nor her armor were stained by enemy blood .


    “I see you did not have trouble either . ”


    “Monsters of that level are nothing to me . Curious to see you appear at the same time as the monsters’ assault though . Do you know something?”


    “I don’t know much in detail, but I’ll tell you all I can . ”


    Shin briefly exined about Juugo, Kai, Tamamo and the n they had put into action .


    After he finished talking, Munechika thought for a while, holding her fingers to her lips, then she looked towards the peak of Fuji .


    “The demon foxes’ goal for attacking was probably what we are protecting on top of the mountain . Not only the demon foxes, but many of Hinomoto’s monsters with a certain degree of intellect came to attack Fuji . ”


    “Is there something of much importance there? I did think it was strange that the mountain’s master Kagutsuchi wasn’t there, but…no, I do not mean to pry . You don’t need to answer . ”


    “Heh, I know that . I suppose I could tell you . Because your partner, the Element Tail, probably noticed already . ”


    “Eh? You knew Yuzuha was an Element Tail?” .


    Shin was also surprised that Yuzuha apparently knew the reason behind Kagutsuchi’s absence, but Munechika’s knowledge of Yuzuha’s species was even more astonishing to him .


    “The energy of the Ley lines has a peculiar aura . I heard from Kagutsuchi that Element Tails have the ability of influencing Ley lines, as well . ”


    Judging from Munechika’s words, it didn’t look like Kagutsuchi had been in .


    Just like Yuzuha, it was apparently possible tomunicate with it . During the game the battle would always start without any actual conversation, so Shin found it a bit surprising .


    “Well, this is not the time to stand around chatting . Go to your partner . And one more thing, you haven’t forgotten the promise to return to me, have you? I cannot im to be patient, I will wait for only 10 years at most . ”


    “I will go now then . Rest assured, I have no intention of making you wait that long . ”


    Shin replied thinking that for an impatient person, that was a pretty long time span .


    Strictly speaking, Munechika was like a spirit hosted within a sword, so there was no concept of lifespan for her, or so Shin reflected .


    “I am looking forward to it then . ”


    Shin thanked Munechika, who told him the direction Yuzuha was in, and headed off .