Naruto: I Have Cursed Spirits!

A three-pronged assault, airtight and impenetrable.

Kuroi was breathing heavily, staring nervously at Shiratori. The poison was gradually invading his system, and he could barely lift the upper half of his body.

Sakikawa had collapsed beside Kuroi. Like him, he was staring intently ahead at Shiratori, who was fighting against the puppet master from Suna.

Chiba's vision had gone completely dark, he couldn't see anything. But he could roughly assess the situation based on the sounds.

The mercury, like ocean waves, began to surge again with a motion of Shiratori's raised hand.

With a thought, he activated the mercury.

The liquid instantly came alive. It moved with lifelike agility, as if granted a soul. Part of the mercury surged rapidly from beneath his feet, enveloping him in a spherical shell of quicksilver.

All incoming attacks were intercepted by the mercury.

Some of the mercury shot up like silver serpents from the ground and the air, striking with deadly precision at the approaching puppets.

Mercury spikes stabbed viciously into the joints of a diving chainsaw puppet. The mercury sphere around him opened a window in front of him.

Cursed energy surged through his hand seals.

Massive icicles fell from above, pinning the puppet firmly to the ground.

His figure vanished in a blur behind the veil of mercury, and when he reappeared, the blade in his hand had already been unsheathed.

His gaze locked onto the puppet.

Invisible cursed energy etched a weak-point division across the puppet's torso, a clean 7:3 split.

Ratio activated!

One strike down!

Crack!

The sound grated against the teeth.

The puppet, made of chakra-conducting steel and metal components, seemed to shatter from an invisible hammer striking its most fragile point. It twisted and collapsed instantly.

Shiratori's figure dashed rapidly toward Akasuna.

He didn't know how many puppets Akasuna had, so it was best to end things quickly!

Akasuna raised his hands, and scrolls unfurled in the air.

White smoke billowed out, and countless puppets emerged from the scrolls.

[Killing Intent detected: Akasuna +5000 points]

[Energy transferred to Sukuna]

[Development progress: 52.6%]

Puppets surged toward him like a tidal wave.

His figure was swallowed up by the swarm of puppets.

"Shiratori!"

Kuroi desperately tried to stand, but his weakened body wouldn't respond. His vision went dark, the extreme agitation accelerated the spread of the poison, and he completely lost consciousness.

Akasuna smirked coldly.

But then, the space behind him suddenly twisted and tore open without warning.

A suffocatingly intense malevolent aura spread rapidly through the air.

Black mist gathered behind him.

A monstrous claw, covered in twisted bone armor and with razor-sharp talons, suddenly reached out!

His pupils shrank sharply.

He turned to look, accompanied by an inhuman screech, Rika's enormous, grotesque form fully materialized from the black mist.

Her violent cursed energy stirred up a storm. Her massive body, bristling with bone spikes, loomed over Akasuna as she let out a piercing roar.

"Don't... hurt Yuta!"

Rika's massive bone claw, charged with space-rending force, struck at the two puppets standing between her and Akasuna.

With her synchronization now at 63%, Rika's strength had increased dramatically. The two puppets in her hands were like paper toys, instantly crushed into fragments.

"What is that thing?!"

Akasuna's mind reeled in shock.

The shattered puppet pieces flew through the air, slicing his cheek. With a wave of his left hand, five puppets immediately formed a defensive line in front of him, blocking Rika's advance.

His right hand controlled the puppets fighting Shiratori, while his left hand operated the ones fighting Rika.

Even someone as powerful as him was drenched in cold sweat down his back.

Whoosh.

A high-pressure blood arrow, so fast it was invisible to the naked eye, shot out from another direction like a sniper bullet, fast and deadly precise!

Thud.

The blood arrow pierced straight through his chest without any resistance. His pupils contracted. The chakra threads at his fingertips snapped.

He slowly looked down at the bloody hole in his chest, disbelief filling his eyes.

On a tree branch several meters away, the figure of Choso quietly appeared.

His hand remained outstretched, with a faint, dark red glow still lingering at his fingertip.

With the chakra threads severed, the puppets surrounding Shiratori collapsed like marionettes whose strings had been cut.

The battlefield, once filled with noise, instantly fell into utter silence.

Rika's massive form dispersed into black mist and reformed behind Shiratori.

She followed him closely, and her mouth full of sharp teeth made sticky, slurping sounds.

"Yuta..."

"You smell so good, Yuta..."

Shiratori nodded, "Mhm, I missed you too."

Rika shyly twisted her clawed hands together and swayed bashfully.

"You... are the best..."

While replying to Rika, Shiratori walked over to Akasuna, who was half-kneeling, blood still gushing from the hole in his chest.

He crouched beside him, examining the man's red hair and familiar face.

Why does this guy look so much like Sasori? he wondered inwardly.

He almost forgot, Sasori did have parents.

Could this guy be Sasori's father?

Well then, that was awkward.

He just killed Sasori's dad.

His gaze briefly shifted.

The trio had been deeply poisoned and had all lost consciousness.

"Ototo..."

Choso approached him, eyes welling with tears as he reached out a hand toward him.

"..."

I'm your host, not your brother!

Before Choso could hug him, a purple vortex suddenly swallowed him whole.

Shiratori twitched his mouth and let out a breath of relief. You think you're Rika or something?

Rika was a girl, he didn't mind pampering her.

But Choso? A full-grown man bawling his eyes out? Nah, let him go cool off somewhere.

"Yuta..."

Rika floated around him, constantly trying to draw his attention.

Shiratori stared at Akasuna's corpse, a bold idea forming in his mind.

"Sasori," he said in a deep tone, "I killed your dad. Time to give you a new one!"

He stretched out his hands. "Come forth, Kenjaku!"

A swirl of purple cursed energy appeared beside him.

A brain emerged in front of him.

That's right, just a brain.

A brain... with a mouth.

It was truly disturbing.

Goosebumps rose on his arms as he rubbed them subconsciously. He almost had to force himself to watch as Kenjaku peeled open Akasuna's skull and slipped inside his brain.

Akasuna's eyes reopened, a grotesque, inhuman smile on his face.

His eyes locked onto the forehead, there, hidden beneath his red hair, was a visible suture line.

Akasuna raised his hands, feeling out his new body.

"Not bad at all... So, what would you like me to do... Master..."

His grin stretched ear to ear, his pupils tightening with giddy excitement.

"..."

Even more disturbing now!