Naruto: I, the villain template, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 216 He deserves to die!

Asa, who had leaped into the air, appeared behind Mifune, his black robes billowing in the wind and obscuring the moonlight.

Those scarlet vertical pupils, engraved with "Lower Moon" and "One," were filled with anger and coldness as they looked down at Mifune.

"Blood Demon Art!"

He suddenly swung out his right leg, which stretched rapidly, leaving afterimages, and coldly said, "Blood Scythe Kick - Void Rift!"

Crimson blood spurted from his legs, the blood-red blade slicing through the rain and mist like a blood-red scythe, the accompanying stench instantly cutting down all the bricks, stones and trees in its path.

The next moment, Mifune's fist slammed into Yoshitaka's chest, while the blood-stained blade struck his back without any resistance.

puff! !

The crimson aura burst open, and the blood-red blade swiftly slashed into his body.

Pierce armor, cut meat, break bones!

Mifune, clad in a suit of sturdy, layered armor, flew away as a blood-red shadow.

It smashed through several walls and tree trunks before crashing into a pile of ruins, raising a cloud of dust.

"Ahem!"

Yoshitaka also knelt on the ground, clutching his chest where a terrible dent had appeared, blood continuously spilling from the corner of his mouth. Asahi, who had rushed over, quickly helped him up, waving his hand and saying, "Don't worry, he's not going to die."

Despite this, his breathing remained labored amidst the constant dripping of blood.

Even before Mifune hit him in the chest, Yoshitaka desperately gathered his muscles to protect his chest, but he could still feel that several of his hard ribs were still shattered, some of them even bent at a ninety-degree angle.

It even lacerated the heart and lungs, nearly piercing them.

In addition, his liver and lungs suffered varying degrees of damage. If Yoshitaka hadn't used breathing techniques to control his muscles and compress the wounds, he would have died from excessive blood loss even if he hadn't been killed by the punch.

but……

"Mifune's situation isn't much better than mine, is it?"

Thinking to himself with a bittersweet smile, Yoshitaka looked at the spot where Mifune had crashed.

Just as he had guessed, amidst the ruins, Mifune lay sprawled on the ground in a sorry state, the wound on his back almost piercing through him, revealing his still-beating internal organs.

"puff!"

Mifune struggled to get up, his hands bracing against the ground, but the pain aggravated his wounds, causing him to tremble and collapse. He had clearly lost all ability to move.

Looking at the broken glass scattered on the ground, reflecting his own disheveled state that he hadn't seen in over a decade, he couldn't help but cough up blood.

"Why...why? Why!"

Why can ordinary iron damage a famous sword? Why can someone I used to look down on fight me to this extent?

Why was I, the strongest swordsman in the world, injured so badly by a mediocre swordsman?!

A series of questions, along with his increasingly heavy body, left Mifune feeling both confused and fearful.

The noisy sound of rain gradually faded away, and the black rain mist receded like water flowing back into a trough.

The battle between the samurai and the demons had ended, and the chilling stench of blood permeated the surroundings.

You can see the samurai's corpses lying all over the ground. Some of the demons who fought with their own healing abilities died because their heads were cut off by the enemy, but most of them just collapsed from exhaustion.

"What, are you upset about losing to us?"

Supported by A-she, Yoshitaka clutched his wounds and staggered toward Mifune. Blood trickled from the wounds, but a smile graced his pale face.

"...No, you don't deserve it."

Mifune, his mind still somewhat hazy, regained his senses and, with his last bit of strength, turned himself over, lying on his back in a pool of blood. He said with resentment, "What I regret is that I didn't lose to a worthy opponent, but to a despicable villain."

Upon hearing this, a hint of anger suddenly appeared on Ah She's face, which was pale with fear, and he whispered, "That's not how it is."

"The reason you have the opportunity to be 'noble' is because you haven't faced difficult choices yet. People who have ample options always seem 'noble'."

"But if you have no way out, you'll only become more 'despicable'!"

After saying that, he hesitated for a moment, then gripped the hammer in his hand and stepped forward, intending to kill the highly resistant Mifune completely.

Yoshitaka shook his head, stopped Asahi, and looked at Mifune, saying, "Musashi taught me a lesson."

"Victory is victory. There is no distinction between good and evil in victory. Baseness can be the passport of the base, and nobility can be the epitaph of the noble."

Mifune's lips twitched slightly before he grinned, as if mocking his despicable and shameless behavior: "No matter how you try to justify yourself, you cannot hide the fact that this is your betrayal of your former lord, that you have turned to the enemy who killed the strategist."

Yilong nodded frankly: "If you feel this is betrayal, yes, I admit it, this is betrayal."

"No matter how you try to cover it up, you have desecrated the loyalty of a swordsman," Mifune continued to rebuke.

"Yes, I admit it, I have desecrated loyalty and righteousness," Yoshitaka said nonchalantly.

"Cough!" Mifune coughed up blood, his voice filled with resentment, "This kind of battle has absolutely no honor!"

"...Only this is something I cannot agree with." Yoshitaka paused, smiled, and squinted his eyes, saying, "Although it's not what I wanted to do, I have to admit that what we are doing now is the most glorious and incredible thing."

"So, it's still for 'justice'?" Mifune asked, panting, "It's only temporary. As long as the war ends, justice will come sooner or later..."

"Just a passing fancy?" Yoshitaka's smile faded considerably as he looked at Oboro, who stood in the distance, and said calmly, "Do you remember what that boy said?"

"Where was justice when he needed it? Where was justice when his whole family was waiting to die?"

"War is not what they wanted. They have never betrayed anyone, yet they have been constantly let down and hurt, losing their lives and everything..."

"Even if the war ends, so what? What's lost can never be regained."

Yoshitaka slowly squatted down, his eyes fixed on Mifune: "Now, he no longer needs your charity. Those who have lost everything and were forced to take up arms will no longer obediently wait to die."

Having said that, he finally raised the broken dagger, seemingly to deliver the final blow to Mifune.

Mifune slowly closed his eyes, his expression complex, as the oath he had uttered when he first became a samurai flashed through his mind.

—To bring prosperity to the Land of Iron, to lead the warriors to forge a future, and to let the people experience peace.

But whose prosperity did he want to bring?

The incomparably sharp and invincible sword in his hand, which seeks to open up a future and peace, but whose future and peace is it?

Was it of noble birth, or of a warrior, or perhaps...?

Is it for the entire nation?

Mifune didn't want to think about it anymore, and uttered a whispered, almost inaudible, obsession: "The code of the samurai is to be loyal to one's lord."

"The samurai code of benevolence, tolerance, and compassion?"

Upon hearing this, Yoshitaka smiled sarcastically and said calmly, "For the sake of the living."

As soon as he finished speaking, the broken knife in his hand fell to the ground.

puff! !

Amidst the clamor of rain, the stench of blood intensified.

Yilong stood up unsteadily, the pain from his wound causing his eyes to twitch. He instinctively gasped, but the smell was truly unpleasant.

When Yoshitaka looked up, the sky he saw was blood red.

It wasn't until blood streamed down his face and tasted bitter on his lips that he belatedly realized that it wasn't the sky that had turned blood red, but rather his own blood that had turned his eyes red.

"Ouch, that really hurts..."

Yilong gave a helpless laugh, sat down on the ground somewhat weakly, waved his hand to refuse Ashe's help, and sat there quietly.

After a moment, the ghosts lying on the ground like "corpses" began to move.

Their chests heaved, their bodies twitched slightly, and then, like Yoshitaka, they sat up one after another.

The woman, whose assassination attempt on Mifune was hastily arranged, had her features obscured by blood. She looked blankly at the corpses scattered around her and asked in a hoarse voice, "We...won?"

After finishing off the remaining samurai, Asa walked among them, nodded, and smiled, "We won."

"The lowly people they talked about, the lowly people they looked down on, have won."

As soon as she finished speaking, the woman's already scarlet vertical pupils turned even redder, as if they could be squeezed dry with the slightest touch.

It's not that they are unafraid of death, but rather that they have already experienced a fear greater than death itself.

Everyone here carries hatred—hatred for the nobles, hatred for the daimyo.

"Hahaha……"

Suppressed laughter mixed with low sobs could be heard; the old man who had been lying in wait for years had also survived.

He was a taciturn man who would rather grit his teeth than utter a sound. The only time he cried in all these years was when his entire family died.

At this moment, he looked up at the overcast sky, his voice suppressed, weak, and hoarse, hissing like a sleeve being torn intermittently, while tears streamed down his face in several streams, a stream of tears flowing freely.

On the ruins of the Daimyo's mansion, a symbol of supreme power in the Land of Rain, the remaining demons who participated in the assassination covered their faces, their suppressed, low voices seeping out from between their fingers.

"Ha...haha! Hahaha!!"

It was impossible to tell if it was laughter or crying; all that could be heard was unbridled recklessness.

Yoshitaka sat there, watching the scene before him, a strangely complex smile on his face.

I never imagined that one day I would go to such lengths for a group of strangers, risking my life for them.

"..."

The boy named Oboro walked up to Yoshitaka, dragging Ishibi, who was bound with rope, along, and said with his head bowed, "Can we kill this guy now?"

Upon hearing this, Yoshitaka turned to look at the daimyo of the Land of Rain, who now resembled a frightened dog.

His face, covered in dust and blood, was deathly pale. He stared at the corpses of Mifune and the samurai in the distance, his body trembling uncontrollably. He shook his head frantically, muttering "Impossible" over and over again.

Mifune died, and the samurai died too.

The generals and samurai of the Land of Iron actually died at the hands of these lowly commoners.

"Don't rush." ​​Yoshitaka withdrew his gaze and said calmly, "While we were making our move, Asa's men had already gone to clear out the remaining samurai and ninjas in the city. He is no longer a threat at all."

As he spoke, he reached out to A-She, who was standing to the side in a daze. A-She, whose mind was in a mess, was stunned for a moment, but quickly came to his senses and helped him up.

"Wasn't your sister taken away by these nobles?" Yoshitaka stood up unsteadily, looking at the slightly dazed Oboro, and asked, "I just need to go and take you to look for her, shall I?"

Upon hearing this, Long's pupils trembled, and a glimmer of hope rose in his eyes.

----------

Crack! Bang!

The dark underground chamber opened, stirring up a cloud of dust; the floor was covered with cobwebs and moss.

Yoshitaka, shirtless and with his injuries treated, walked at the front, followed only by Asahi and Oboro, who dragged the seemingly mentally impaired Isaibi along.

"This is the only place we haven't searched."

Yoshitaka fanned the dust off his face, glanced at the increasingly silent Oboro beside him, and sighed, "However, I hope you... are mentally prepared..."

At this point, he shook his head and stopped talking, unsure of how to continue.

Even if they did find her in this godforsaken place, Oboro's sister would probably already be...

Oboro realized this as well, her breathing became slightly rapid, and she lowered her head and whispered, "I... I will."

The three of them walked to the end of the secret room. Yilong pushed open the iron door in front of him, and with a tooth-grinding creak, the scene behind the door appeared before their eyes.

The first thing you see is the torture instrument placed in the center, and several cages around it.

These cages appear to be the kind of iron cages used to keep wild animals.

But at this moment, what's locked in the cages aren't wild beasts, but rather, people.

The naked women, each with a blank expression, covered in wounds, and emaciated, had numbers written on the collars around their necks.

boom! !

Suddenly, Long ran like a madman to a cage, grabbed the rough iron bars, and ignored his own torn flesh.

"elder sister!"

Seeing the woman covered in wounds in the iron cage, Long knelt down and burst into tears, but the woman's eyes remained lifeless.

"Do they treat people...like livestock to be domesticated?"

Even though he had witnessed far more gruesome scenes before, Yoshitaka was still shocked by what he saw.

These people may appear to be alive, but they are actually already dead.

Emotions, dignity, humanity—everything has vanished; they are nothing but empty shells devoid of self and soul.

Ah She stared at everything before him, completely stunned, his hand holding the hammer trembling.

In an instant, a mix of emotions welled up in his heart, leaving him unable to discern what he was feeling.

Pity, reluctance, or perhaps anger, hatred...

A-She didn't know.

All he knew was that those nobles, those beasts, deserved to die! They were guilty of atrocities and deserved to die a thousand deaths!

No, killing them directly would be too easy on them.

A sinister glint appeared on Ashe's youthful and honest face as he abruptly turned to look at Ishibi, who was bound by ropes behind him, the hammer in his hand making a sickeningly loud sound.

The breathing technique, which had not progressed for a long time, suddenly began to flow and surge through his body under the influence of that anger and hatred.

Seemingly sensing his gaze, Isisi looked up blankly, only to see a hammer the size of a bowl.

Thud! Pfft!

Unintentionally, A-She's control over force reached an extremely terrifying level.

The hammer struck Isisi's eye, instantly shattering the soft eyeball and causing blood to gush out from the socket, splattering crimson blood all over the wall.

"ah!!"

Instantly, an extremely shrill scream echoed in the sealed room. Isisi rolled on the ground, covering her eyes, and blood gushed out, pooling into a filthy pool on the gray and dirty ground.

"You little brat..."

Yilong glared at Ashe, but didn't say anything. Instead, he crossed his arms and took a step back to avoid getting blood on himself.

He thought it was dirty.

(End of this chapter)