When Seimei and his team walked closer to the entrance of the room that had the most nauseating bloody smell, they could already see dried blood creating a thin crust under the door of the room before spreading out outside.
This made Seimei, Touma, and Haneda clench their jaws as they stared blankly at the door.
Seimei exchanged glances with Touma and Haneda before touching a round object attached to the door, which resembled a doorknob.
Seimei knew that delaying would do them no good. Since they were bound to witness a gruesome scene, it was better to finish inspecting the room and get over it.
Thinking of this, he finally pushed the door open.
As soon as he opened the door, the nauseating, fishy smell of rotten blood and flesh, along with the smell of rusted iron, hit the trio hard.
The room was dark.
And in the dark, moonless night with no source of light inside the room, it was impossible for normal human eyes to see what was inside the room without lighting a few torches.
But they were not ordinary people.
Their Tenseigan, Sharingan, and the Chakra Eye Technique gave Seimei, Touma, and Haneda superior eyesight and vision, allowing them to pierce through the darkness.
And precisely because of that, their eyes landed on the unholy things inside the room without any obstruction.
The sight was so horrifying that it was enough to shake the mentality of a normal human and even the mental fortitude of a Genin, who had not seen extreme bloodshed.
Although Seimei and his team had already experienced enough blood and gore and withstood many bloody battles to forge a strong willpower, the scene before them still caused them to pause for a moment in disbelief.
The entire room was filled with dried and rotten blood. At the very back of the room, there was a huge pile of bones. At least half of the bones were human bones.
Some were even stained red and covered in a little amount of flesh. Needless to say, the owner of those human bones had been recently killed and devoured by the goblin lord.
However, the mountain-like pile of bones wasn't enough to make the trio, who had already faced numerous life-and-death battles, pause.
"Damn…damn it." Touma cursed under his breath. "Those goblin bastards died too easily."
At this moment, he couldn't help but feel that he should have let those goblins suffer more before killing them.
Haneda and Seimei's jaws were also clenched in solemnity and cold anger as their gaze shifted toward the left and right ends of the room.
A total of nine humans were bound to specially made, cross-shaped wooden stakes.
Seven of those nine humans were already dead.
Some had their legs missing. Others had no arms or heads. Some had both arms and legs, but they were completely disemboweled.
Intestines, fragments of internal organs, and blood were littered beneath them, painting a vivid picture of the cruelty they had been through before their death.
Seimei slowly walked toward the only two humans that were still alive in this hell-like place.
However, their situation wasn't good either.
They were bound to the stakes, too.
One of them was a middle-aged man who no longer had his hands attached to his body. The flesh from his left and right shoulders was completely scraped off the bones.
His leg wasn't intact either. Multiple marks suggested that someone had completely torn flesh from his thighs violently, without any care.
He had suffered from severe blood loss. Even though he was still hanging on to his life, he would soon be dead.
Meanwhile, the other person was a young man in his twenties. He had his jaw torn, eyes gouged, and intestines flowing out of a deep wound under his belly. A lot of his flesh had been torn from several parts of his body.
He was barely alive. According to Seimei's estimation, he would probably die in an hour.
Seeing this scene, Seimei clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white.
It was one thing to kill people decisively in life-and-death struggles. Such things happen every day in this Shinobi continent. It was nothing new.
Chakra beasts killed humans. Humans killed chakra beasts. Humans killed humans.
So, murder on the battlefield no longer fazed Seimei or other ninjas worth their salt.
But seeing such cruelty in front of him…it was hard to swallow. It was hard not to be shaken, no matter how accustomed you got to slaughter and death.
It was similar to the difference between death due to war and death at the hand of a deranged serial killer.
If a foreign soldier killed people from your army, at most, you would hate the enemy army, the commander, or the specific soldiers.
It was nothing inhumane. It was just that you were on different sides.
But if a deranged serial killer murdered humans in a gruesome manner for no apparent reason, it was natural to hate the killer to the core. That was an act against humanity.
Although in this world of supernatural powers, there was hardly any justice, and the death of the weak was a natural thing, the actions of goblins and other demon-type chakra beasts were still frowned upon.
That was exactly what made them earn top spots on the list of chakra beasts that ninjas or samurai must exterminate on sight.
These types of chakra beasts that deliberately harm people and destroy the natural ecosystem were pests that had to be killed at all costs.
As Seimei was at a loss as to what to do with these two people who were still alive, the middle-aged man's hoarse and cracked voice suddenly entered Seimei's ears.
"Ill…m…"
Hearing the broken voice that was coming out of the middle-aged man's mouth, Seimei stepped closer to understand what he was saying.
"Kill…me…please!"
"Let…me…b…e…free!"
Seimei's heart clenched at those words. But there was nothing he could do.
Even with all the healing potions, pills, and medical Ninjutsu, he had no way to save them anymore. Their injuries were beyond repair.
Even if he saved their lives somehow, they were just ordinary people. With no one strong to look after them, they would still live miserable lives and die.
For people like them, who had no power to protect themselves in this cruel world, perhaps death was their ultimate release after suffering from such a catastrophe.
"Is that what you wish for?" Seimei asked in a calm voice. There was no need for comforting words. No need for pity or a show of emotion.
For the dying people in front of him, those were useless.
The middle-aged man replied with a light nod and said, "Please."
"I see," Seimei said before turning his head toward the youth who was barely alive. "With your condition, you will die in an hour or two. Do you want to spend this time out of this hellhole?"
The youth had no jaw, preventing him from speaking any word. But the way he shook his head gently and stared at Seimei, it was clear that he, too, wanted release from this painful existence as soon as possible.
The horror they had to go through might break many seasoned ninjas. But they? They were just ordinary humans with no chakra in their bodies.
Suffering such a torturous and painful experience with almost non-existent pain tolerance and zero chakra was enough to extinguish their will to live and kill them from neural shock.
The fact that they were still alive was nothing short of a miracle.
Seeing their expressions, Seimei closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again.
"I understand. I will make them as painless as possible."
With that, Seimei unsheathed his ninjato before channeling wind chakra through its blade, making the edge of his blade extremely sharp.
"Goodbye. I hope your souls can find peace in the Pure Land."
Soon, Seimei swung his blade horizontally. The blade, empowered and sharpened by Wind Release chakra, passed through their necks, as well as the wooden stakes behind them, killing them and releasing them from their pain instantly.
Thud!! Thud!!
Seimei watched as their heads and sliced stakes fell on the bloodied floor with a thud and took a deep breath.
He sighed as he sheathed his blade. "I guess…this is the fate of the weak in this world."
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