The townspeople spread their arms and raised their faces toward the sky, fanatic smiles plastered across their faces.
They willingly let the raging typhoon twist their limbs and torsos into grotesque coils.
Amid bursts of crazed laughter, their mangled bodies were eventually swept into the enormous eye of the storm above.
Tsunade stood beneath the eaves of a building on higher ground, staring gravely at the massive storm eye that seemed ready to swallow the entire town.
“The curse energy is unbelievably dense…” she murmured.
To her senses, Kurouzu-cho now felt like a canister of poison gas that had suddenly exploded.
The concentration of the curse was dozens of times higher than it had been only a few days ago.
Shu frowned to himself.
‘I don’t remember the original story being this terrifying.’ ‘Did our interference change the plot?’ A group of people had gathered in the open space behind them.
Shuichi stood protectively beside his mother and Kirie, while Kirie’s parents and younger brother remained close to her.
There were also several dozen exhausted-looking townspeople whose eyes still retained their clarity.
They were survivors who either possessed unusually strong minds or had simply been lucky enough to avoid severe corruption.
Over the past two days, Shuichi and Kirie had contacted them one by one.
Shu arranged for everyone to wait inside a warehouse on the very outskirts of Kurouzu-cho.
“Everyone, listen carefully!” Shu raised his voice.
“Wait here for my signal.
The instant we seal the ruins, the distorted space around the edge of town should briefly return to normal.” “As soon as you see the road open, get in your cars and leave immediately!” “Understood!” Shuichi tightly gripped Shu’s hand.
“Investigator, thank you so much!
Without you, we probably would’ve become monsters long ago.” Kirie looked worriedly between Shu and Tsunade.
“But…
what about you two?” “Don’t worry.” Shu nodded.
“We have our own way out.
Just focus on keeping yourselves alive.” After reassuring everyone, Shu turned toward Tsunade.
“Tsunade, ready?
We follow the plan?” Tsunade folded her arms and snorted.
“I don’t need some brat telling me how to do my job!” …
Time passed minute by minute as the storm grew increasingly violent.
Only thirty minutes remained until the Main God’s mission ended.
By now, the curse energy permeating the air had reached an unbelievable density.
Even Shu, who had been relying on his Sharingan to resist it, was beginning to feel seriously unwell.
His vision occasionally doubled and warped.
It sounded as though ten thousand insects were whispering into his ears, tempting him to raise his head and stare into the spiral in the sky.
‘Even I’m almost at my limit…’ Shu clenched his teeth and forcibly molded chakra to keep his mind clear.
“Tsunade!
It’s time!
Do it!” Tsunade slammed her palms together.
“Yin Seal: Release!” With her shout, the diamond-shaped mark on her forehead erupted with light.
Complex black markings spread from the seal like a spiderweb, rapidly crawling across her cheeks.
BOOM!
A massive surge of chakra erupted from Tsunade’s body.
Its sheer force briefly created a visible shockwave, pushing the raging wind around her back by nearly half a meter.
Without pausing, Tsunade’s hands formed another rapid sequence of seals.
“Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!” Poof!
Poof!
Poof!
Three clouds of white smoke burst apart, revealing three solid clones standing beside her.
Each one radiated the same astonishing chakra fluctuations.
Shu sheltered himself from the storm nearby and swallowed hard at the sight.
‘As expected of one of the Sannin who shook the shinobi world…’ ‘The amount of chakra she can unleash after releasing the Yin Seal alone is enough to crush ninety-nine percent of all shinobi.’ ‘Still…
she’s nowhere near Senju Hashirama.’ Before Shu could think further, Tsunade’s three clones shot toward the other designated points surrounding Kurouzu-cho.
Moving at the full speed of Kage-level shinobi, all four Tsunades reached their assigned positions in barely half a minute.
“All positions ready!
Begin!” Tsunade shouted.
At all four points, the Tsunades moved in perfect synchronization and rapidly formed seals.
“Four Red Yang Formation!
Rise!” The moment the final seal was completed, all four Tsunades roared and slammed their palms against the ground.
BOOM—!!
Four blinding pillars of chakra descended from their positions and plunged deep underground.
Semi-transparent purple chakra walls rapidly extended between the four pillars.
In an instant, the walls connected and closed together, forming an enormous barrier surrounding Kurouzu-cho.
Bzzzzzz—!
The moment the Four Red Yang Formation fully closed, every abnormal phenomenon in town seemed to freeze.
The raging typhoon suddenly faltered.
The massive spiral in the sky looked as though someone had cut off its power source.
Its rotation visibly slowed, and the violent winds weakened along with it.
Shu stared at the scene.
‘It actually worked.’ Then his expression changed.
‘Wait…
is it really going to be this easy?’ Gurgle…
Gurgle…
The surface of Dragonfly Pond suddenly began boiling violently inside the barrier.
Dense gray-black curse energy, so concentrated it had almost become physical, surged upward in furious waves.
The energy smashed against the chakra walls again and again as though something beneath the pond had been enraged.
Shu stared silently.
“…” “Did I seriously just jinx it?” BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Every impact produced a deep explosion, sending tremors through the entire barrier.
At each of the four formation points, Tsunade’s face instantly turned deathly pale.
“Damn it…
Just how many years has that thing underground been accumulating energy?!” Tsunade clenched her teeth.
She could clearly feel the terrifying force rebounding through the barrier.
Her chakra reserves were being drained at an alarming rate.
“I absolutely can’t let go!
Hold, damn you!” Tsunade gritted her teeth and squeezed every last drop of chakra from her body to keep the barrier stable.
Shu watched the trembling formation, his heartbeat accelerating.
‘Those ruins really are one gigantic trap.’ ‘There is definitely something absolutely filthy buried down there!’ Although the barrier looked ready to collapse at any moment, it was undeniably working.
With the largest source of the curse forcibly cut off by the Four Red Yang Formation, the suffocating pressure hanging over Kurouzu-cho immediately weakened.
More importantly, the distorted spatial barrier surrounding the town finally returned to normal.
“They did it!
The investigators succeeded!
Let’s go!!” Shuichi was the first to notice that the storm had weakened.