The dogs soon began to grow, they were just puppies, but they quickly grew to three times their original size. Their fur became completely black and their claws and teeth grew considerably, especially their canines.
Jugo watched with narrowed eyes, waiting. The next moment, the trio looked at him, there was no ferocity, simply obedience, awaiting an order.
Jugo, on the other hand, noticed something, he could no longer create werewolves. It was as if there was a limit to his control. If he created another werewolf now, it would probably go berserk, attacking anything that moved before dying in a short time.
Jugo understood, the Chained's path is about curses and chains, werewolves are created through a curse and he, as the source, needs control, just as in the next sequence he will be able to control zombies, the number will not be infinite.
At least for now, Jugo can only control 3 werewolves, perhaps when he digests the potion and advances his sequence, the number will increase.
-Return to normal.- he ordered.
The trio began to tremble, whimpering and rolling on the ground in pain, the first part was easy, transforming, but the second part, returning to normal, was like trying to stop on a wet track at 200 km/h without skidding.
To skid means to die.
Their time was running out, they might have only a few hours left. If they couldn't return, that was it, they would die of chakra exhaustion.
Jugo simply sat and watched calmly.
He continued to separate clones to go train, he himself stood there, motionless, watching the dogs writhe.
Ironically, it was the spotted one that returned to normal first, its black fur receded as the white color returned. It looked like a Siberian husky. It stood there, still, looking at him for a moment, before lowering its body and head, then rolling over and showing its belly.
Jugo smiled and stroked him lightly, making his tail wag excitedly.
-Your name will be Getsu.- Jugo said after thinking for a moment. Since they are werewolves, he used Getsu for Moon.
So, moments later, both black dogs managed to return to normal, they looked like Dobermans. He named them Yoru (Night) and Yami (Darkness).
Feeling the connection between them, Jugo nodded contentedly, he had also discovered that they could now come and go in this way, obeying all orders and Jugo could even send commands with his mind.
It was an interesting skill and Jugo even tried hunting with them to discover their strengths.
--x--
"Boss, we're in position." - Jugo could hear Yami say in his mind.
They couldn't really speak, even the transmission of thought was purely mental, but who said Jugo could understand animals?
Now he can hear perfectly what those guys are saying, even in his mind.
Jugo looked at the deer they had surrounded, the goal was to finish everything before Jugo heard the creature speak, because if he heard it begging, he would probably give up on killing it.
Finally, Jugo transformed into a werewolf, just like the trio. They waited and Jugo finally advanced from behind. Seeing this, Yoru and Yami attacked from the sides, and Getsu attacked his neck.
Before the deer understood what was happening, four jaws latched onto it.
The servant, with his throat constricted, could barely breathe. Finally, they held him down until he slowly stopped. Jugo sensed something at that moment—his potion, it had been partially digested!
His eyes widened in surprise as he tried to understand the reason.
Looking at the trio around him and at himself, four furry werewolves exchanged glances and Jugo felt the connection between them.
At that moment, while they were hunting, their thoughts aligned, they acted as one until the prey breathed its last.
-Hunting with the pack...? Doesn't a werewolf hunt alone? Is a werewolf just part of a whole? - It's a bit confusing, but for now, he knows it worked.
Sighing, he turned his gaze to the trio who quickly regained their puppy forms, their strength in their werewolf form was at least at the Chunin level, even Dosu would have trouble dealing with all three of them together.
Jugo tested his regeneration and discovered that they had the regeneration of werewolves, even if it wasn't as fast as his, it was still possible to see his wounds healing with the naked eye.
Overall, they would be useful for digesting the potion and perhaps even afterward.
Taking Getsu, Yoru and Yami with him, he returned to the area where they were training. Of course, he took the deer, he wouldn't waste good meat. He just hoped it wasn't a Nara deer.
As he was returning, Jugo stopped in confusion.
He heard something... it didn't come from his connection with the werewolves, no, it came from his connection with the Tenebrous World.
The next moment, he stopped, leaving the werewolves on guard and let his consciousness sink.
As soon as he arrived in that dark space, he could feel a calling, looking towards the source, a small red star of light was blinking.
Confused, he let his consciousness touch the star, the next moment, he heard a girl's voice.
-Lord of Abyss... Chained Curse... Father of Devils... - Jugo's eyes widened, that was the prayer he had thought of for when he became the Father of Devils. It was something he thought of casually, but how did this girl manage to figure it out?
Confused, Jugo let his awareness sink deeper, gazing at a blonde girl with short hair kneeling in prayer, appearing pious.
Yamanaka Ino...
Jugo's eyes widened as she remembered, yes, she had received a tiny fragment of the Tenebrous World, it was at that moment.
Even though he didn't actually say that set of three phrases, he had already decided to use it, that was enough to connect with her and lead her to learn it.
Looking at the girl's fanatical gaze, the corruption of the Tenebrous World upon her seems not to have been light, the amount of corruption was infinitely despicable, but for a fragile mind like that of the little girl... no, if she weren't a Yamanaka, she probably would have already died when that fragment landed in her mind or gone completely insane.
But she endured it, at least she didn't seem completely insane.
Judging by the fact that her father never contacted him again.
Jugo was confused for a moment, had he won over a follower like that?
For a moment, Jugo didn't know what to do, it wasn't that he hadn't thought about having followers, but in this world, that's dispensable.
followers are anchors in the world of LotM, the gods use them to sustain humanity, they are the link that keeps them self-aware.
But in terms of power? Irrelevant.
Jugo himself can act directly to recruit followers, there's no need to create a church for that.
So Ino's case was purely accidental, he wasn't interested in trying to discover the metaphysics responsible for connecting her to the Tenebrous World and to himself.
But now that he saw Ino's pious expression, he realized that he himself had become the source of corruption, something he never wanted, but now he had the little Yamanaka heiress clearly becoming his first follower.
-You've got to be kidding me...- He ran a hand through his hair, feeling exasperated, but seeing Ino still praying, his lips trembled, what to do was still the big question.
He couldn't erase her memories, so the easy solution was discarded, he was also afraid that if he ignored her, she would cause more problems, he didn't want to attract the attention of any hidden deity or Hagoromo.
So he made a decision, but first he turned to the Tenebrous World itself, the whole place seemed different. He no longer felt pressured here, as if his soul was slowly breaking apart. Instead, he felt an affinity with that place.
It was as if it were a part of him, a limb he never noticed he had, but he could only make it tremble slightly, without even moving.
But he didn't give up, like Klein, he tried to change the place, even if it was just a small piece.
His wish soon took shape, the place changed before Jugo's shocked eyes.
The darkness warped as a large black hall formed with him at its center, the stones seemed to assemble like Lego bricks in the shape of a grand hall in a Gothic cathedral.
The next moment, Jugo was lifted up as the stones rose above him. A pitch-black liquid flowed upward behind Jugo, transforming into a large throne before solidifying. Jugo looked at the throne, which resembled obsidian, a vitreous black that seemed somewhere between solid and liquid.
From the sides of the hall, large openings appeared in the ceiling as lava began to flow freely, filling the sides of the hall which were initially large cavities dug like a moat.
The environment was barely illuminated even by the glow of the lava, the heat seemed to meet the cold, without truly burning or freezing, but causing an unsettling feeling in anyone there, caught between ice and fire.
Darkness still covered the hall, like a black fog that obscured his view of everything, but it made no difference to him, he saw everything as it was, without any obstruction.
Jugo stood before the obsidian throne, his eyes wide with shock, only two words escaping from his lips... - Holy shit.