Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

Chapter 274 Tug-of-War Between Man and God

Mieko lay in a pool of blood, her consciousness fading as she felt a warm chakra lifting her up.

She barely opened her eyes and saw a black figure land in front of her. The figure's distinctive blue-green hair and ethereal face made her almost think it was a hallucination before her death.

"Sir Shiraki..."

"Don't speak."

"Scarabs, get to work!"

Aburame Shisei released a rhinoceros beetle, but this time it didn't work; he forced the beetle to know what to do on its own.

A green life force shot out from its horn, but the life force was too strong. As a last resort, You Nuzhicheng had to absorb the life force with one hand and place the other hand on her chest, where a layer of light green light appeared in his palm.

"Heavenly Palm Technique - Yang Release - Life Return!"

However, Mihoko's injuries were far too severe. Several kunai pierced her lungs and internal organs, lightning chakra raged within her body, and in addition, she suffered from the blast damage of the explosive tags and shockwave injuries.

Of course, these are all minor issues. The biggest problem is that Mieko's thinking has been affected; she seems to have no desire to live anymore.

"Think of Hidan, I didn't come here to save you."

"I...it was my fault, we shouldn't have been so stubborn...but I will live well."

The next moment, Mieko's body burst forth with a strong life force.

The broken bones began to reset, the shattered internal organs slowly regenerated, and even the rampant lightning chakra was neutralized and dissipated by the power of Yang Release.

Her breathing finally calmed down.

Aburame Shisei, however, remained vigilant: "Indeed, I had oversimplified things."

He looked up at the sky.

Just now, the souls of those Tang Ren who were blown to pieces did not dissipate and return to heaven like ordinary people, but instead transformed into countless invisible dark red threads, converging towards the high heavens.

That was... a sacrificial offering.

The sacrifice of dozens of ninjas in a fanatical state gave the evil god another opportunity to intervene in reality.

The sky suddenly darkened.

It wasn't the darkness of clouds covering the sun, but a kind of gloom that most people couldn't see, as if a gray fog had appeared, making the sky lose its warmth.

Above the Land of Hot Water, the space within a ten-mile radius began to distort.

At the center of the twisting and spinning, a familiar figure reappeared, wearing a wide robe adorned with magatama, his feet dangling in the air.

One hand gripped a long-handled sickle, the other held a string of skull beads, and below the beads hung a dagger.

The surviving Cloud Ninja on the ground had no time to retreat. They collapsed to the ground, suffering not only from physical pain but also from a tremor in their souls. Even though they could not see anything, they still felt a nameless fear.

This fear is not about willpower, but rather a life instinct trembling at the presence of a higher dimension.

In the end, within seconds, they died alive in this terror.

"My believers, I have come to collect the promised things..."

The evil god smiled enigmatically, his gaze fixed on Mieko, before a hand descended from the sky.

Several invisible threads extended from His hand, connecting to Mei Huizi's soul, trying to forcibly pull her out of her body.

The number of these lines was clearly the number of times he had used the curse spell.

As expected, any ninjutsu that defies common sense already comes with a price tag.

Mihoko was heartbroken. She felt as if a force was pulling at her soul, and the life force that had just been restored in her body was rapidly slipping away.

Aburame Shisei looked up at the evil god. He knew the evil god was provoking him, because given the extent to which he was interfering with reality, theoretically neither of them could do anything to the other.

But this did not stop the evil god from holding a grudge and deliberately doing this to disgust Aburame Shiseido.

That's right, He could have gathered His strength and made ample preparations for His next missionary journey, but He didn't, and simply wasted this opportunity.

"Human, what you cherish will eventually vanish, and you can protect nothing. This is the price you pay for angering the gods!"

"Cherish?" Aburame Zhicheng suddenly laughed: "I'm a very selfish person. What you're doing is pointless except for toying with me."

"However, since you've already jumped right into my face to provoke me, wouldn't it be a huge loss of face if I didn't respond?"

Aburame Shisei tilted his head back, while the scarab beetle beside him continued to exert its life force, attempting to stabilize its life force in order to resist the opponent's death.

The winds of nature around him gathered in his hands as he formed hand seals, eventually expanding to form a unique cyan barrier that kept the evil god out.

"Natural Barrier - Wind King's Domain"

This is no ordinary ninjutsu.

Aburame Shisei pushed his understanding of Wind Release and the use of natural energy to the extreme, constructing a spherical barrier with a diameter of 300 meters centered on himself.

Within the barrier, the wind is no longer the wind.

Each wisp of air was imbued with will; while this could not stop Him from continuing to entangle souls, it could weaken the evil god's influence on reality and isolate the intense death.

Inside and outside the barrier, the human and the god stared at each other, intertwined, neither giving an inch.

Mihoko, caught between the two, has her soul constantly moving in and out of the room, becoming the rope in their tug-of-war.

At this moment, she finally understood what it meant to be in a state of suffering worse than death.

If given another chance, she would obediently abandon her country and return to the Land of Waterfall with her child.

She would also say that becoming a citizen of a fallen country isn't so bad, since she's just an ordinary Jonin who's skilled in sealing techniques and a little bit of medical ninjutsu!

"Let me die..."

"No, this is not a matter of life and death." Aburame Shisei shook his head and refused; he would not let the evil god succeed again.

"Just bear with it a little longer. I believe his time is almost over."

Sure enough, half an hour later, the gray fog in the sky dissipated, and the thin threads that bound Mieko's soul broke one by one.

Just when everyone thought it was over, the evil god took out his bracelet and released all the tormented souls inside.

Let them argue, let them roar, let them crowd together, yet they cannot escape.

He brought the bracelet to his nose and smelled it, seemingly expressionless, but his eyes were full of provocation.

So what is God?

They are simply life forms at a higher level of existence.

They also have emotions similar to humans, and are even more resentful than humans.

"Provocation, it seems this is all you can do."

With a flick of his sleeve, Yu Nu Zhicheng unleashed a swarm of purple Soul-Devouring Insects. He didn't want to hear any more of this irritating nonsense.

The Soul-Eating Insects smelled the evil god's scent and crawled onto his hand along the still-intact threads.

The evil god's hand trembled; it was that damned thing again!