VIII

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Arc VIII Chapter X

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Asami's lips formed a happy smile, but Mitsuhiko and the rest of the room couldn't share her sentiment. A purple monstrosity struck Mitsuhiko against the wall, nearly killing him while his guards could only watch. They were powerless, unable to assist their master even in the slightest.

The air was tense and the situation started to escalate quickly. His men reacted promptly, drawing their swords. The doors opened and reinforcements stormed the room. They surrounded her from all sides and pointed their glorified sticks in her direction as if they could threaten her. They narrowed their eyes and put a brave facade, but deep within them she could detect something else ... fear, undiluted fear.

She saw in the white of their eyes they feared her. Not only one, but all of them. Asami grinned. Nevertheless, their spirit didn't falter. They stood their ground admirably and one man had even the courage to confront her. He gripped his sword tightly and the remaining samurai followed suit.

He yelled in a false sense of bravado,"Release our Lord immediately! Let him down and we might overlook your actions and spare you ..."

"Spare me?" Asami answered with an ominous giggle. Her new friend was entertaining, to say the least.

She grinned dangerously. " Do you really think that you can threaten? Do you really think that you can give me orders? My friend, you are overestimating your position. So lower your weapons before my mood worsens. Because I might be less gracious in the future." He stared into her black eyes and the abyss stared back.

The samurai ground his teeth, his rage visible. "You! Who do you think you are?"

Asami tilted her head in an innate sense of superiority. They were inferior to her in so many ways and of course, she looked down on them. "Oh, that is easy. I am someone far more powerful than you can ever imagine. So I recommend you to know your place."

He wasn't persuaded by her friendly reminder. Instead, his resolve strengthened even more."No, never. We won't back down just because a little girl tells us to do so. We will ..."

Stop it, Kazuma, you are only making things worse. Don't act rashly! Don't provoke her under any circumstances! *cough* *cough*" Mitsuhiko intervened before it was too late. The girl would slaughter them all.

Kazuma blinked, confused by his lord's orders. "But ..." His eyes were still narrowed at Asami.

"No buts, Kazuma. I said don't provoke her under any circumstances and I also meant it that way! So do as she says and lower your weapons, Kazuma! Immediately!"

Kazuma hesitated, but eventually, he obeyed, albeit grudgingly. He lowered his sword for the time being and much to Asami's amusement.

Asami was pleased. "Mitsuhiko, it seems that you are far smarter than you look."

Mitsuhiko put up his best smile. "I am glad to hear that. Anyway, I hope we can solve this situation peacefully. After all, this is all just an unfortunate misunderstanding." He played a risky game and he lost.

"Misunderstanding?" Asami grinned sheepishly. "I don't think so. This isn't a misunderstanding; Mitsuhiko, and I know exactly what I am doing. So tell me more about that fateful night."

"What do you mean by telling more? There is nothing I could tell you! *cough* *cough*" Mitsuhiko air supply was dwindling as breathing grew increasingly difficult. Hes was practically chocked to death and asphyxiation was steadily coming closer. A skeletal arm stretched across the entire room. Coated in a menacing, almost demonic purple, the bones squeezed his thorax, his lungs together, gripping Mitsuhiko tighter and tighter.

Her creation was crushing him and Mitsuhiko doubted that his death would bother her for even a second. Her flames devoured her own village. She turned against her own and killed them in thousands. So why should she care about his life? She didn't.

She would crush him just like a tiny insect and right now this option seemed to be very likely. The girl increased the pressure and Mitsuhiko could feel how his bones were already yielding. They were cracking and soon they would snap like simple toothpicks if he couldn't placate her quickly. Somehow he had elicited Asami's wrath and he was well advised to appease her by all means.

Mitsuhiko clung to his poker face, albeit he didn't have much choice in that regard. "So what do you want?"

He regretted what he had said as he was punished immediately for his transgression. Her purple arm tightened suddenly and one if his ribs paid the price. A brief crack echoed through the air before the pressure finally relented again. She didn't kill him yet as she still needed Mitsuhiko, preferentially alive.

An ominous giggle filled the room before a certain girl greeted her new friend with a sinister smile. Asami smiled and Mitsuhiko paled considerably, and so did the present guards. They froze and it was because of her.

The surrounding samurai felt the distinct presence of her Chakra and the aura it was emanating. An uncaring, cold, threatening ... murderous maelstrom. And it was targeting them.

The air was saturated with her Chakra and any attempt to escape seemed delusional. They were scared, frightened, terrified. Asami laughed, her abyss-like purple eyes staring at him.

"What I want? Mitsuhiko, I think we both know what I want as well as I what I mean, don't we? Anyway, I don't like to repeat myself, but I will make an exception extra for you. Once again, tell me more about the night when your brother died? It shouldn't be all too complicated, right? Because I am sure you remember well." Asami tilted her head innocently.

She smiled, but Mitsuhiko wasn't the only one in the room to sweat. Asami still played the cute girl and she enjoyed her role visibly. She was sitting there peacefully with a happy smile as if she wasn't threatening to kill them all and as if a giant purple skeleton wasn't occupied with strangulating him alive. But she couldn't deceive anyone, at least not anymore.

Mitsuhiko mustered all of his courage. "As said, I don't know what you are talking about! And why should it even matter what happened to my brother!? He is dead and that's the end of the story!"

Asami shook her head, sighing. "Mitsuhiko, it is true that to you it doesn't matter much, but to me it is of primary importance, of immense importance. So please, tell me, are you responsible for killing your brother? You killed him, didn't you?" She grinned and gave him a well-knowing stare.

Mitsuhiko ground his teeth and reciprocated her stare slightly enraged. Why? What was so important about his brother?

"Yes, I did. And now what? Are you going to kill me for that? The infamous butcher of Konoha will kill me just because I murdered my brother?"

Asami smiled like a ray of happy sunshine. "Oh, no, not for that. I will kill you because you, Mitsuhiko, destroyed her home, killed her father and murdered her beloved your mother. You took everything from her and I will everything from you. Doesn't that seem fair?"

"What?" Mitsuhiko's eyes grew wide in disbelief. "What are you talking about?"

He struggled with all his force. He tried to resist the grip of her Susanoo, but everything was in vain. The girl was serious. She would really kill him. Mitsuhiko began to sweat.

Asami grinned knowingly, resembling more the reincarnation of the grim reaper. "Mitsuhiko, I think it is time to tell you a little story. It is the story of a found a poor girl on the way here. She was weak. She was alone. She was just lying there in the snow, peacefully as if she was sleeping., condemned to die by freezing to death. I took pity on her and carried her cold husk in my arms. Later I found that she was apparently pursued by a group of Konoha shinobi. Obviously, I easily repelled them. They wanted the girl, but I protected her. I would never give her up."

"I didn't think much about this incident back then, but do you know the name of the girl I rescued, Mitsuhiko? Do you know the name of the girl who is accompanying me ever since? Do you know the name of the girl who is clinging to me every morning I wake up? Every day, she is hugging me in her sleep, Mitsuhiko. So do you know her name? I will tell you, it's ... Yuki."

Mitsuhiko's blood froze as his eyes shot wide in horror. He realised the gravity of his situation. Yuki ... Yuki ... Yuki, it was her. Why didn't he recognise her? She was so close, right in front of her.

Asami smiled. "It seems you have finally understood. Took you quite some time. And now ..."

"Wait! Wait!" Mitsuhiko yelled, visibly panicked. " Wait! We can negotiate! Do you need money? Land? Power?"

"Oh, so you are trying to bribe me?" Asami chuckled. "It is true that I like money and power ..."

"Ah, I see, I see" Mitsuhiko was desperate."I can give you everything. Everything you want and more!"

Asami furrowed an eyebrow. "I doubt that."

Mitsuhiko was paling. "Kazuma, bring in the money! Quickly!"

His men listened and they brought forward a wooden box filled to the brim with notes. It was a lot of money, a few million, but not enough for her.

Her Susanoo released her victim and Asami shook her head, sighing. "Mitsuhiko, I don't think this will suffice to save your life ..."

He still believed that he could save himself. "I understand. In that case I can organise even more. Kazuma!"

His men brought another box which was significantly heavier than it predecessor. And Asami quickly realised what made the box so heavy. In the box was ... gold., pure gold Hundreds of gold bullion were amassed right in front of her, bewitching her with their magical golden aura. The gold was tempting a very greedy Asami. Must steal ... the gold. Her treasure.

And it didn't end there. The samurai deposited to further boxes with even more gold and sitting among the bullion was a lovely cat winking her with a tiny paw and made of massive gold. The statuette was beckoning her to come closer with its happy smile. As if it was meowing at her.

Asami claimed her maneki neko first, inspecting her new lucky charm, her new heavy lucky charm. The statuette was heavy, albeit lighter than she had expected considering its size. Nevertheless, she grabbed her new companion, petting it protectively in her arms. Her cat. Her gold. Her neko.

"And what is this?" Asami was curious.

Mitsuhiko's conceited grin returned, arrogant as before. He thought he had won. Little did he know though that his life had been already forfeited. "it is a small part of our family treasure and I originally planned to offer you as compensation. I knew you would like it. So would you please spare me?"

Asami stopped petting her cat. She had to concede that Mitsuhiko was braver than she had given him credit for. "Oh, that? Yes, that can be arranged. I can promise you that I won't kill you."

"Really?"

Her Susanoo vanished, leaving behind an amorphous cloud of shining purple particles. Her Chakra roamed freely through the room while Asami was smiling sweetly. "Yes." Her Chakra hardened suddenly, materialising with gruesome effectiveness.

They purple particles formed an array of expanding spikes, cutting through everything in their way. Stone, wood, human flesh, and bone. The purple spikes killed every guard in her vicinity instantly, indiscriminately. Their bodies were hanging in the air like a collection of lifeless mannequins. Whose blood painted the floor red drip by drip. Only Mitsuhiko survived, seemingly spared by Asami's spikes. They missed him, but Mitsukiho was now alone. Alone with a happily beaming girl, tilting her head.

"Did you really think, Mitsuhiko, you would get away just like that? No, Mitsuhiko, I want more, . I want revenge. I want retribution. I want justice. And I will get it."Asami lit a fire in her hand, a flickering purple flame danced across her palm. Mitsuhiko was trembling, visibly terrified by her spectacle.

"What are you doing?"

"Isn't that obvious? You paid me well, so I will give you a fair chance to survive this. I will give you the same chance you gave Yuki." Her flame did as commanded. The fire was spreading fast, prepared to devour the entire castle in a blazing storm.

"And to make it even fairer." Her Susanoo grabbed a defenceless Mitsuhiko and snapped his legs. His bones were shattered, his tendons ripped apart and his body was discarded like an useless rag doll.

A cry of pain echoed through the room, but Asami didn't even feel a trace of remorse. Instead, she was hiding behind a sweet smile.

"Anyway, I think I will leave now with your lovely gold. And I wish you luck, Mitsuhiko, because you will need it. I have heard that being burned is ... a very painful death, right?" Asami asked her cat which of course agreed with her new happy owner. What a good cat.

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