Chapter 49: A Forbidden Rule

As Yumekui confessed Yume's other fate, Yoji became speechless after finding out that if he killed Kabuto, Yume will disappear forever.

"Yumekui..." said Yoji.

Kabuto realized that Yumekui had forsaw the dream vision.

"It seems you already forsaw your dream vision, Yumekui." he said.

"His dream vision?" Yoji replied.

"To think you came here to warn Yoji, I never knew that you're worried about the challenger all along."

Yumekui became quiet with a pity look on his face. Yori became confused after realizing that his own twin sister will disappear after Yoji had killed Kabuto.

"Hey, Yumekui... What are you talking?" Yori asked. "What do you mean Yume will disappear? Why?!"

"Yori-san. I know how you feel about Yume-san. I know that. The truth is this dream vision was my first one," he explained.

To Yoji and Yori's confusion, they noticed that Yumekui's dream vision was the first.

"The first dream vision?" Yoji replied.

"It happened three years ago before I even met you, Yoji," Yumekui stated. "Eversince Orochimaru-san made the Seven Stages of Nightmares because of Megami-onee-sama's creations, the challengers failed to complete the game and ended up getting killed by Megami-onee-sama, her shinobi, and the Akuma Akumu. After they got killed, I was told to eat their dreams and nightmares, ending their lives. Back then, this was where I obtained my first dream vision."

Three years ago, Yumekui was asleep and suddenly his eyes opened by itself, giving a blank look. In the dream vision, he saw some of the challengers were trying to kill Orochimaru. After they killed Orochimaru, the challengers began to disappear. He woke up with a confusing gasp after seeing his first dream vision. He became confused about why the challengers were trying to assassinate Orochimaru. Pondering about the dream vision, he became more worried.

The next day, he was sitting on the cliff near by the waterfall with a doubtful look. Suddenly, Megami came to him as he noticed that she came to see him.

"Megami-onee-sama..."

"I was wondering why you look so worried," Megami noticed the look on Yumekui's face. "Is something bothering you?"

"It's just... I have a strange dream vision. It's about the Seven Stages of Nightmares."

"What about it?" she asked.

"I saw some challengers, trying to kill Orochimaru-san. And then... they began to disappear after they killed him." Yumekui explained.

Megami became surprised after hearing Yumekui's first dream vision.

"They disappeared after they killed Orochimaru-sama? How strange."

"I don't know why, but I think it's forbidden to kill a host in order to end the game." Yumekui stated.

Megami began to understand Yumeku's dream vision and later participated the nightmare game. She noticed that the challengers already surrounded Orochimaru. She knew that Yumekui's first dream vision was about to become true.

"I can't let that happen." she thought

She confronted the challengers before they do so, much to their shock.

"You're...!" one of the challengers shocked, noticing Megami.

As she stopped them from killing Orochimaru, she killed them all quickly. The challengers were lying on the ground with dead look on their faces.

"I never knew you saved me from those challengers, Megami." Orochimaru stated.

"That's because they were trying to kill you, Orochimaru-sama. There's a reason why they would do that." Megam replied.

Megami explained to the Snake Sannin about her ototo's first dream vison and Orochimaru realized that the challengers would disappear after he was killed.

"So they were trying to kill me and then they disappear."

"According to my ototo, he thinks that it's fobidden to kill a host of the game in order to end it." Megami stated.

"I see. Then I should put that as a forbidden rule. After all, their lives will be devastated if they're trying to kill me."

"Thanks to my first dream vision, Orochimaru-san made a forbidden rule about killing a host." Yumekui explained. "When I got the same dream vision as the first one, I saw you killed Kabuto-san and then... Yume-san disappeared, never to be seen ever again..."

Yoji never knew that Orochimaru would put a forbidden rule of the nightmare game. He lost for words after discovering the reason why he cannot kill the current host.

"I... I can't believe it..."

"I'm already aware of this situation," Kabuto stated. Yoji noticed that Kabuto already knew about Yume's other fate. "Before she completed six stages, Orochimaru-sama warned me about this situation during the fifth stage. He told me not to let anyone to kill me which you're doing it now. But you can't do that, right? If you did, Yume will disappear and the game will never be completed just like three years ago."

Yoji clenched his hands as he can't kill Kabuto and let Yume disappear.

"Damn it..."

Meanwhile, Yume became unconscious laying on the ground. As she opened her eyes, she stood up and noticed that she was in her own dream world. Her dream world was actually her home village, Inyogakure.

"This is... Inyogakure? This is my dream world?"

Looking around with her Byakugan, she noticed that there were no one around the village.

"There's no one here in this dream world. So this is my final stage then."

Suddenly a crimson butterfly flew by her, much to her surprise, as it fluttered to the right way. Wondering where the crimson butterfly is going, she quickly went after it.

At the second floor in the Crimson Butterfly Castle, Joyoku and Kuzuri became confusingly shocked after the battle ended without a victory.

"Joyoku, what's going on? Those Akuma Akumu just captured those two outsiders we were fighting." said Kuzuri.

"I don't know. I just don't know why, Kuzuri." she replied.

On the third floor, Netami and Taidana were also confusingly shocked after seeing their opponents get captured by the Akuma Akumu.

"What the hell's going on?" Netami confused.

"This is confusing. Why would those Akuma Akumu took them?" Taidana wondered.

Outside at the bridge of the castle on the fifth floor, Ikari returned into a human, realizing that Tsukida of the Yukisaki clan had been captured by an Akuma Akumu.

"What is the meaning of this?" Ikari pondered.

On the sixth floor, Seirin and Shaolin were still fighting against Yoku, the missing-nin of Yukigakure.

"He's still very strong from three years ago," Seirin explained.

"But we can't lose just yet." Shaolin exclaimed.

Yoku panted as he almost wasted his chakra with his true darkness during the battle.

"I can't... lose yet." he exclaimed.

"That's enough."

Suddenly, Yoku heard a familiar voice, communicating telepathically with him.

"Megami-chan."

Noticing that Megami called him, she began to told him to withdraw, "Withdraw the battle at once, Yoku. No need to kill those two outsiders right now."

Yoku knew that he had to accept what she had told him and began to stop as the two Inyo shinobi noticed that the latter didn't do anything next.

"Though I can't kill you two, let's call this a draw. Be happy that I let you live."

A mist began to engulfed him and it began to disappear as Yoku was nowhere to be found. After the mist disappeared, the sixth floor went back to normal without no ice or glaciers.

"Did he just spared our lives right now?" Seirin asked.

"I'm not sure, but I have a bad feeling about this." Shaolin replied as she became worried.

Later at the chamber, Yoji became uncertian as he don't know what should he do after finding out Yume's other fate.

"Can't decide what should you do, Yoji? I know it's hard to try and kill me, but Yume's life is at stake." Kabuto reminded Yoji.

With his difficult decision, he can't decide what should he do. However, Ifrit in his chakrams form sensed something as it warned Yoji after he transformed to his flame demon form.

"Huh? What's wrong, Ifrit?"

Ifrit told its master that a shadow was here in the chamber, hiding somewhere in the white camellias. Pondering about the shadow Ifrit mentioned, Yoji used his eight kunai with both hands and threw them everywhere in the camellias. After throwing them, Yoji noticed there was an Akuma Akumu lurking in the flowerbeds, much to his shocking surprise.

Kabuto noticed that an Akuma Akumu was hiding all this time.

"An Akuma Akumu?"

Yoji commanded to transform back to the chakrams and threw one of them at the Akuma Akumu, but only for the shadow to dodge the attack. As it went towards Yori, Yumekui shockly noticed that it was here to capture Yori and pushed him away from the shadow.

"Look out!"

After pushing him away, the shadow of an Akuma Akumu captured Yumekui with its dark shadows and summoned a door. Yori became shocked as the Akuma Akumu had captured Yumekui after the dream eater saved him from being captured.

"Yumekui!"

Yori tried to stop the shadow to save Yumekui, however it already entered the door and the door had disappeared in front of him.

"What's going on?" Yoji asked with bewilderment after seeing an Akuma Akumu took Yumekui and left.

Just then, Ifrit alerted its master that there were four more lurking in the white flowers. Yoji threw both chakrams to force four Akuma Akumu out from the flowers and then destroying them with his flying and spinning chakrams. After defeating and destroying four of them, Yoji caught them with his both hands.

To Kabuto's confusion, he never knew that the Akuma Akumu would be rebel and were not controlled by Megami or the other nightmare shinobi.

After Yoji defeated the Akuma Akumu, a voice appeared out of nowhere.

"I never knew you would defeat them from trying to capture my target."

They heard a voice, much to their shock and surprised. And suddenly, the petals of white camellias began to turn a dark color.

"The white camellias..." Kabuto noticed.

"They've turned black?" Yori replied, to his confusion.

After the white camellias had turned into black, its petal began to float and twirl around in the air. Twirling around, a figure appeared within them. As the black petals disappeared, a man with a black dark cane, wearing a grey Chinese jacket with a black flower which was somehow a black camellia and long grey pants with martial artist shoes. His face was revealed to Yori, Yoji, and Kabuto, much to their shock. It was the Nightmare Seeker who appeared before them.

"That face..." Yori shockly surprised.

"I never knew you're protecting my target." he stated.

With the Seeker's shocking appearance, why is he after Yori Yukisaki after he only captured Yumekui the dream eater instead?