"Roar!" Amal lunged forward again after her first attack missed. Ye Liang quickly grabbed Shinno and jumped away once more, landing in a narrow alcove.
"Not good! Trapped!" Ye Liang exclaimed anxiously.
Taking advantage of this moment, Amal charged in for another attack. With no choice left, Ye Liang decided to use ninjutsu.
[Fire Release - Nagarebi!]
He had just formed the hand seal when a thought struck him: "No! Nagarebi is too powerful—it'll hurt Amal!" He reluctantly withdrew his hand.
The two engaged in a fierce skirmish.
Amal's speed was incredible—like a gust of wind appearing before his eyes!
But Ye Liang was even faster. After his Merman Transformation, his body had already inherited the strength of a shark! Zero-Tails stood no chance against his current strength.
He shot Amal a look of contempt before his eyes locked onto the mask on her face.
"If I rip off the mask, will it have any effect?"
He quickly reached out.
Amal was startled. She panicked and retreated immediately. Seeing this, Ye Liang seized the advantage and advanced. Amal continued backing away.
He pressed forward again.
He quickly realized that Amal valued the mask greatly. It was likely her weakness!
Suddenly!
Shinno, standing nearby, rushed forward unexpectedly. He punched the frenzied Amal in the chest, then grabbed her mask tightly.
"Mine! This is mine!" he roared furiously. Observing this scene, Ye Liang didn't try to stop him. His original intention was also to remove the mask, so Shinno's action was actually a big help.
"Clang!"
The mask was forcefully yanked off.
A thick mass of dark aura instantly dissipated. Shinno immediately put the mask on his face and dropped to his knees, motionless.
Ye Liang frowned slightly. He swiftly pulled the weakened Amal into his arms. Wounded by an arrow and struck by Shinno's fist, she was barely clinging to life.
Pulling out the arrow,
the wound was directly over Amal's heart!
"System, can this injury still be healed?" Ye Liang asked urgently. He had known Amal for two months inside the underground tunnels—how could he possibly let her die now?
"Impossible! I'm merely an artifact. The final decision of life or death lies in you, the host!" The cold mechanical voice of the system replied. Ye Liang scrunched his nose.
At that moment, an idea suddenly occurred to him—the [Mystical Palm Technique], known for its healing power! Just like how he'd instinctively used Massive Fireball before.
"Maybe I once knew the Mystical Palm Technique too!"
Ye Liang placed his palm over Amal's wound, concentrating hard. "Damn it! Please work!"
As if responding to Ye Liang's plea,
a faint chakra flowed toward Amal's heart. What was once a fatal wound began slowly healing as the chakra seeped in.
"Great! It's actually working!"
A smile broke out on Ye Liang's face.
However, at that moment, Shinno suddenly opened his eyes wide!
A thick mass of dark smoke completely filled his eyes—just like Amal's state earlier.
Shinno didn't even check the current situation before suddenly striking the wounded Amal with a palm strike. Ye Liang was frantically treating Amal's wounds and completely failed to notice Shinno beside him!
"Boom!"
Amal took the full impact on her back!
She spat out a mouthful of blood and completely lost consciousness.
"Amal!"
Ye Liang flew into a rage!
With a furious glare at Shinno, he suddenly launched a powerful punch straight at his head!
"Boom!"
The mask split into two halves, and a surge of immense dark aura seeped out from inside.
"Run! Quick! My mask can no longer contain Zero-Tails!" Shinno suddenly shouted!
Looking at him now, he finally seemed to have regained his senses.
Ye Liang was stunned. Before he could react, he was completely engulfed by Zero-Tails' dark aura!
*Warning! Detected foreign consciousness intrusion. Initiating immediate cleansing mode!
Warning! Warning!
Insufficient energy! Cleansing failed.
Consciousness space occupied by unknown consciousness entity! Host, please defend immediately!
Defend immediately!*
Ye Liang suddenly jolted upright.
He tightly gripped his head as sudden voices violently entered his mind: "[One bag of rice, how many floors? One bag of rice, two floors! One bag of rice, so many floors...]"
This was a segment of Japanese speech.
Roughly translated, it meant "Feel pain! Understand pain! Accept pain!"
Its original intent was like the voice of a fallen messiah, trying to teach Ye Liang how to embrace suffering!
"Hell! What the heck is this!" Ye Liang felt confused after hearing these Japanese words in his mind. Could this be Zero-Tails whispering?
He roughly shook those thoughts from his mind.
He quickly shook off the confusion and regained his composure.
"Host, are you okay now?" The System's voice sounded delighted.
"Not sure. I feel extremely suffocated in my chest, and my mood has become unusually terrible."
"Then you're fine! Earlier, Zero-Tails invaded your consciousness. It's the embodiment of Japan's collective darkness. Since you're not Japanese, you don't resonate with those dark Japanese lines.
Zero-Tails couldn't impose its philosophy of pain upon you."
"Yeah. Seems like it."
Ye Liang nodded in agreement as well. However, the sensation of being corroded by Zero-Tails was indeed very unpleasant.
He gently lifted Amal, but her body was already cold!
"Damn it! If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have gone searching for those materials!"
Ye Liang felt extremely depressed.
The material for making the mask lies in the deepest part of the underground tunnels. With their strength, even if they tried their entire lives, they couldn't obtain it. If Ye Liang didn't retrieve the material, Amal would have remained underground for life. Though she wouldn't be free, at least she would be alive instead of dead like now!
"Host, don't blame yourself. In the Naruto world, there are many methods to bring the dead back to life. No need to dwell on this now."
"Reincarnation?"
Hearing the System's words, Ye Liang suddenly realized.
"Exactly! Though reviving the dead is indeed difficult, we're in the Naruto world after all! Forget about the Rinnegan itself, even the most basic Impure World Reincarnation technique can bring people back to life!" He immediately regained his determination.
At this moment, Shinno knelt down beside them, filled with regret.
"It's all my fault! If I hadn't insisted on making this mask, Amal wouldn't have died!"
Ye Liang stared at him in shock.
Shinno was definitely not a good person in the beginning. He had killed his own apprentice just to obtain the power of the Zero-Tails. Yet now, he looked surprisingly sincere.
"Could it be that he only turned evil because of the Zero-Tails?"
Thinking this, Ye Liang stood up. "Stop crying! I have a way to bring Amal back to life. Hurry up and take me away from here!"
...
One year later!
In a desolate desert.
Ye Liang walked alone through the desert, utterly helpless and alone. During this year, he had searched everywhere for a solution, but neither Rinnegan Rebirth nor Impure World Reincarnation could bring Amal back!
Damn it! Not a single bastard knows how to do this!
This was the early age of the Hokage.
Nagato, who could use the Wheel Reincarnation, was still a child...
Madara is even less of an option!
He's the ultimate antagonist. Ye Liang, who had lost his memories, would never dare to provoke him!
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
Want to read the subsequent content in advance?
Please follow my Patreon:patreon/Tansnovel
Tans Novel - The Fastest-Updating Naruto Fanfiction Account
Read 100+ chapters in advance, with at least 3 new chapters updated every day! More free chapters! 20+ Naruto fanfictions!
Just three steps:
1. Download and open the "Patreon" app
2. Search for "Tans Novel"
3. Click on the collection and enjoy to your heart's content
<><><><><><><><>