"Idiot."
"You hold your heads quite high."
On top of a small mountain of white bones sat a lazy-looking figure.
Two ninjas stood in front of this mountain of corpses, frozen, staring at the person at the very top...
Could that even be called a person?
The thoughts of the two ninjas came to an abrupt halt. The figure before their eyes suddenly vanished.
Time seemed to slow down.
The mountain of corpses and the figure disappeared simultaneously.
In Shiratori's eyes, only blood remained.
Blood covered the entire world.
Suddenly, only darkness remained before him.
Rika held him in her arms.
Until the two bodies, now sliced into six pieces, completely stopped bleeding. It had all happened too fast. Even he hadn't had time to react, those two ninjas approaching him had been sliced up by Sukuna.
She let go of Shiratori and returned to his ring.
Untouched by even a drop of blood, he stood there, not looking at the corpses on the ground.
Too violent.
Both Rika and Sukuna were worshippers of violent aesthetics.
Expressionless, Shiratori walked out of the pool of blood. He walked to Nagato's side.
Nagato was kneeling on the ground, unmoving, staring at the corpses before him. His Rinnegan eyes were wide open but vacant, lost in thought.
"Don't look anymore."
He covered Nagato's eyes.
Nagato's entire body was cold, like all warmth had been drained from him. That familiar chill of fear slithered up his body like a snake.
Until Shiratori reached out and embraced him, only then did he feel warmth again. The warmth of another human being.
"Did I... Was it me who killed them?"
He leaned into Shiratori's arms, absorbing the warmth. He finally found the strength to ask.
"..."
Shiratori was briefly stunned, then slowly understood why Nagato would ask such a thing.
Nagato didn't know Sukuna existed. Other than the two ninjas and Shiratori, almost no one knew how the two had suddenly been sliced into pieces. So he still thought, like before, that his eyes had done it.
"It had nothing to do with you."
What a beautiful misunderstanding!
"But..."
Nagato still wanted to say something.
Shiratori cut him off. He let go of the hand covering Nagato's eyes, knelt across from him, looked him straight in the eyes, and said seriously, "Nagato! Listen to me, it wasn't you! I know you wanted to protect me. It wasn't your fault. Don't be afraid of your power!"
He held Nagato's hands tightly.
[Affection detected: Nagato +1000 points]
[Feed cursed spirit Rika?]
[Yes/No]
Yes.
No hesitation.
[Energy transferred to Rika]
[Development progress: 36.002%]
[Rika's feedback: Yuta, so sweet~]
He felt a pang of toothache from the sweetness.
Hurried footsteps came from behind them.
"Nagato! Shiratori!"
Konan ran toward them, not even glancing at the carnage on the ground.
She threw her arms around both him and Nagato, her body trembling, tears streaming nonstop from her eyes like a flowing stream.
Jiraiya's pupils were nearly dyed red by all the blood. His eyes contracted tightly as he took in the bloody mess before him.
Then he saw Yahiko's unconscious body not far away and rushed over.
A pulse could be felt.
He let out a long sigh of relief.
Thankfully, Yahiko was only unconscious.
He carried the boy on his back. Then his eyes turned from the gruesome battlefield to the three children on the other side.
Just that one glance… He froze.
Those eyes!
Those eyes…
He closed his eyes, then opened them again. The eyes partially hidden beneath red hair were now exposed right in front of him.
It wasn't an illusion. He had actually seen those legendary eyes with his own eyes.
Jiraiya was so shocked he was speechless. He had once believed it was nothing but myth…
Who knows how much time passed before he finally managed to collect himself from the shock. He looked at the three children huddled together and said, "Let's go back first."
Konan sniffled, wiped the tears from her face, and stood up from the ground. Shiratori helped Nagato to his feet. The three of them followed behind Jiraiya, heading back toward the small wooden cabin.
---
Back inside the cabin, Jiraiya gently massaged the bruises on Yahiko's chest, then looked at Yahiko's pale, sleeping face and tucked in his blanket. He stood up, closed the door to the room, and returned to the living room.
On the tatami mats, Shiratori, Nagato, and Konan sat in a row.
Seeing Jiraiya's figure, Konan immediately asked, "Is Yahiko okay?"
Jiraiya shook his head and reassured her, "He's just unconscious. He'll wake up before long."
Konan let out a sigh of relief, completely at ease now.
Jiraiya sat down in front of Shiratori and Nagato, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two of them.
"Jiraiya-sensei, please don't blame Shiratori or Nagato!" Konan, always sensitive, noticed the heaviness in Jiraiya's expression and quickly sat up straight, unable to stop herself from speaking up in their defense.
"They didn't mean to kill anyone!"
She shook her head desperately, unable to stop herself from recalling the earlier scene. Her eyes turned red again. "Those ninjas wanted to kill us! They were just trying to protect us!"
Jiraiya looked at Konan with her tear-filled eyes, his heart full of conflicting thoughts.
He could understand killing for self-preservation.
As a ninja, he understood how cruel the world could be.
But the method of killing… Nagato and Shiratori were still just children. How could children commit such brutal killings…
The corpses on the ground weren't just dead bodies, they were pulps of flesh. He looked at the two children before him, emotions churning inside him.
"And Shiratori didn't even kill anyone!"
It was Rika who killed them. But she did it to protect them.
Anyway…
Anyway, none of them were in the wrong!
Konan clenched her fists tightly. The ones in the wrong were those three ninjas!
But Jiraiya misunderstood what Konan meant. If Shiratori didn't kill them, then that meant the one who did was…
He stared into Nagato's eyes for a long moment, then turned to Shiratori beside him and asked, "Were you the one who killed the ninjas?"
Nagato wanted to speak, but Shiratori held his hand. He knew that Nagato still believed it was his fault, that he had killed the ninjas.
Jiraiya could understand self-defense, but slaughter was something else entirely. They were two completely different things.
Shiratori opened his mouth but didn't plan to argue. He simply nodded and admitted it.
Truth be told, Jiraiya didn't even believe he had the capability to do such a thing. His expression darkened as he glanced at Nagato. These four children were extremely close, closer than family. He realized Shiratori was taking the blame for Nagato.
A heaviness settled in his heart.
At that moment, Konan immediately stepped in front of Shiratori. She didn't know what Jiraiya might do. But Shiratori had protected them so many times, now she wanted to protect him.
She kept explaining to Jiraiya, "It wasn't him… He just wanted to protect us too…"
Before she could say anything further, a voice interrupted her.
"You're not allowed…"
"You're not allowed to get so close to Yuta!"
"Yuta belongs to me!"