Konoha's Mission Master

As the battles progressed, more and more questions arose in Yakumo's mind...

What merits or abilities does he possess?

[Warning: The ethereal tide will erupt in five minutes. Players are advised to take precautions and beware of ethereal-infected creature riots.]

"clear."

Yakumo swung his sword and dismembered the monster before him. Each of the eight arms was connected to a three-meter-long sword, which immediately increased his monster-killing speed by more than three times.

Indeed, there are limits to being human.

"cut."

Yakumo unleashed an even stronger surge of ethereal energy, accelerating his slaughter of the surrounding monsters. His understanding of death had now reached a level that met the requirements.

He only needs to take one or two more steps to completely extinguish any remaining life force and gain complete control.

The relentless killing and dismemberment continued until the five minutes were up.

The three blood-red planets in the distance vibrated rapidly, constantly contracting and colliding as if they were in the process of childbirth, the blood-red planets twisting into huge mouths full of teeth.

Three blood-red figures emerged from within the planet.

[Virtual Energy Master - Secondary Ruler, Quantity: Three.]

All three figures maintained near-humanoid bodies, and each of them was characterized by numerous slender, crimson tentacles growing from their backs, with sharp barbs at the ends, gleaming coldly.

As Yakumo watched the crimson fluctuations spread and sensed the surrounding void-infected beasts becoming even more ferocious, he suddenly felt a little worried... because from beginning to end, the Holy City had only sent one eighth-tier powerhouse, Akai Mizuki.

That slender figure carried the entire burden of pressure.

"Extreme Skill - A Line Between Death and Suicide".

Yakumo continued to wield her sword, targeting a nearby octopus-like ethereal infected. Countless tentacles wrapped around Yakumo's body, and the battle between the two immediately began.

With a longsword piercing its tentacle, Yakumo ripped open the blood-red eyeballs on its surface. He then increased his speed further, the blade in his hand naturally pointing towards the eight hearts on the blood-red octopus's body.

This monster can only be killed by destroying its entire heart. Years of fighting have given Yakumo a deep understanding of these common types.

Ding-ding-ding-ding.

The weapons occasionally collided with the wrists and feet, creating a pleasant melody.

Yakumo was enveloped in blood-red light, which was even more terrifying than the energy fluctuations emanating from the ethereal creature. His speed suddenly exploded, and a large amount of blood-red mist spread outward from his body, disappearing in an instant like a ghost.

When he reappeared, he was in a different location, and the eight hearts of the ethereal monster had been shattered in the instant before.

Over the years, Yakumo has come to understand the essence of Void Energy. The nature of this energy is quite simple: it encompasses everything. The simplest use of Void Energy is to amplify the body's strength. More complex uses include transforming Void Energy into various tough weapons.

Virtual energy can also be used as... a consumable energy source for spatial movement and time freezing, but due to inner restraint, Yakumo has never used virtual energy to enhance his soul strength, fearing that it would cause an irreparable mistake.

The feeling was so real that even though he reminded himself countless times that it was just a virtual online game, he didn't dare to try it out with confidence.

As time passed, the ethereal tide receded half a month later.

Three blood-red figures returned to the center of the blood-red planet, but only Akai Mizuki continued wielding her sword, seemingly tireless in her slaughter...

A sense of curiosity suddenly arose in Yakumo's heart. Now that he had completed his understanding of the complete annihilation of life, he was able to go to some dangerous places and make some simple attempts.

The first objective is to approach the three blood-red planets.

Yakumo gripped ten long swords, his twenty-four eyes locked onto the distant location of Akai Mizuki, channeling all his ethereal energy and various states into agility.

A bulge grows on its back, which bursts open to reveal transparent wings.

Pushing its speed to the limit, it moved continuously, its ten long swords slashing at the enemies blocking its path, closing the distance to the planet.

The monsters along the path rapidly increased in level, from stage three to stage four. He discovered that these ethereal monsters appeared to be attacking, but were actually defending. The outer perimeter was composed of weaker monsters, while the inner perimeter consisted of stronger ones.

Yakumo's advance inevitably slowed down, the monsters along the way became stronger, killing became less simple, and many new types of monsters appeared.

Some resemble worms, but their mouthparts are filled with dense teeth, probably more than ten layers, like a giant blender. Others have many pustules on their surface, looking like a giant block of flesh and blood from a distance. But their fighting method is to pull their enemies into their bodies and devour them.

After Yakumo charged forward three thousand kilometers, the ethereal energy in the surrounding cosmic void space became even denser, to the point that other types of energy could no longer be detected. It was as if the energy tides of the universe would actively avoid the area shrouded in ethereal energy.

Within this area, combat is only possible using virtual energy. In other words, only by actively embracing virtual energy can one fight in this region; otherwise, one is destined to be consumed by virtual energy creatures after their energy is depleted.

Having arrived here, Yakumo understood why Akai Mizuki would actively use her ethereal energy to fight. It was because she couldn't replenish her other energies, and if she didn't want to be driven to despair, she might have no choice but to embrace and master them.

The number of ethereal beings here has become scarce, but Yakumo still did not stop and continued to advance towards the core. The blood-red planet in his eyes became even larger, exuding a terrifying pressure.

Yakumo felt that the blood-red ancient tree at the very back had an unreal quality to it. He could only sense the fluctuations of illusory energy emanating from it, and it no longer possessed the vibrant life force it once had.

Has it... completely lost itself?

Uchiha Runyu once said that even someone as noble as a ruler cannot perfectly control the void energy. The only difference is the length of time it takes to be eroded. Even if the Void Ancient Tree becomes a ruler, it will still lose its self.

This is why the Void Energy is so fearsome, because it cannot be controlled by any living being except that blood-red ruler.

Yakumo continued to advance, but the monsters he encountered along the way exceeded his capacity to handle them. He could only rely on his speed to dodge and fight, but he was eventually caught up.

Surrounded by numerous monsters, the ethereal creatures here are about seventy meters tall and come in various shapes, but the energy they emit is slightly stronger than that of Yakumo, reaching the limit of the sixth stage.

"Ultimate Skill - Extinction of all life force".

This was the first time he had fully used the Extinction of Life technique. A dense aura of death spread outward from his body, like a pure black smoke that could devour everything, utterly desolate and lonely... and extremely indifferent.

It is a state that can affect the soul, and it is also the most fundamental and domineering rule in the entire universe. Yakumo seemed to be covered by a layer of black shadow, blurry yet forcefully breaking through the blockade of the illusory energy.

Life and death are energies that the virtual energy cannot simulate, because even the virtual energy, which is the graveyard of all energies and represents the end of all things, contains the element of death in its ultimate essence.

Yakumo could sense the illusory image on his body, like a special veil, which put him into a special state. He swung ten long swords in succession, and the dark sword energy spread outwards.

Swift, silent, yet utterly lifeless.

This was a silent attack. Perhaps death is an extremely quiet process, a very pure process. Whether long or short, all beings in the universe eventually reach the end of their lives.

The deadly blade struck the ethereal monsters, and the parts that came into contact with them immediately began to dry out, as if all the moisture had been swallowed up, but in reality, they had lost their life force.

The next second, Yakumo broke out of the encirclement, leaving behind only the desiccated corpses of the ethereal monsters. With a gust of wind, the desiccated corpses all turned into flying sand.

This is the tyranny of death, and also the tyranny of supreme swordsmanship.

But the attack just now seemed to have alarmed all the monsters around, and countless blood-red life forms approached Yakumo at an extremely fast speed, like sharks rushing wildly in the ocean.

The next second, countless tentacles or blood-red rain of light descended. These dense attacks came down in an extremely chaotic manner, without any sequence of events.

"Mark of Prayer, open!"

He finally used his biggest trump card. As he opened his mouth, a bloody mark was peeled from his soul and imprinted on the skin of the back of his right hand after the breakup. He barely felt any pain during the process.

Yakumo pushed her combat power to the limit, constantly charging back and forth through the monster horde, dodging the tentacles that kept falling down, and constantly maneuvering and dodging the enemy's attacks. This was Yakumo's advantage: speed.

His speed and small size prevented him from being defeated instantly, which created opportunities for him to keep getting closer to Akai Mizuki. This was his last obsession before leaving the front lines.

One day, two days, three days.

It was an extremely long journey. Yakumo kept changing direction and taking detours until he finally approached the three enormous blood-red planets and got closer to that slender figure who was constantly killing.

But behind him followed countless blood-red monsters. In the past few days, he had lost count of how many times he had used the Life Extinction skill, but he still could not completely eradicate the massive monster horde.

Suddenly, the crimson light of the blade spread out like a storm or a vast ocean. Yakumo saw the wails of countless dead souls and countless crimson arms reaching out from the ocean, pulling all the crimson monsters floating on the surface into the seabed.

A slender figure appeared before Yakumo...

Every cell in her body trembled with fear, because Akai Mizuki's state, covered in crimson, was extremely dangerous. Her aura was very similar to that of a psychic creature, and her eyes had lost all human reason, leaving only a crimson expanse.

"What are you doing here?" Akai Mizuki asked.

[Void Lesser Overlord, Zerg Girl, Immortal Being, Hope...]

"Can the personal introduction of this thing really get this long?"

Yakumo inwardly complained, but outwardly remained calm and casually asked a question.

"Why haven't you gone back to resupply even once in all these years? Aren't you worried about the contamination of the virtual energy?"

“I’m not worried,” Akai Mizuki replied.

"Lord Runyu said that there is no energy in this universe that can resist the pollution of virtual energy, not even the power of hope."

Yakumo spoke again, his tone filled with deep confusion.

Are you worried about me?

Akai Mizuki casually swung her blood-red longsword, eliminating all the ethereal creatures that surrounded her. Her tone remained unchanged, still extremely indifferent.

"A little, but mostly it's puzzling."

“Someone has to stand here to stop the spread of the ethereal energy, and I’m the most suitable person for that,” Akai Mizuki replied.

"Then why didn't the others stop them?"

"I'll take care of these ten thousand years, and that's not something you need to worry about. The key is to strive to become stronger and reach the final step."

Akai Mizuki looked at Yakumo and casually waved her hand, her blood-red sword energy enveloping Yakumo's body.

Yakumo's vision went black, and when he opened it again, he was back at the secret base in the ninja world. He had successfully mastered the sixth move of the Genji Blade Technique, but he didn't feel much joy.

The sense of division between worlds still exists, affecting his mental state.

Elsewhere, Yakumo's body slowly dissipated.

The next second, the Prayer Mark on the back of her right hand suddenly began to devour the surrounding void energy and started to grow outward like a tree. Seeing this, Akai Mizuki used spatial teleportation to leave the spot.

After an unknown amount of time, the Prayer Mark expanded into a small, blood-red sapling resembling a coordinate point. Countless blood-red monsters circled around the sapling, but none of them dared to come up and destroy or devour it.

In the virtual space, the saplings continued to grow strong and healthy.

Within a few hours, the tree had grown to a height of nearly 100 meters. In the lush canopy, huge flowers, about three meters in diameter, grew, seemingly gestating unknown life within them.

The surrounding crimson monsters, however, remained oblivious to this.

On the other hand, Yakumo had already fallen asleep. Sometimes sleep is the best way to eliminate fatigue and also allows fragmented memories within the body to be reassembled.

Before going to sleep, he examined his body and found no trace of ethereal energy pollution, including his soul. It was as if the memory of the battle with the galaxy as the battlefield was just a vague and ethereal memory.

Of course, the system also gave a positive answer, proving that Yakumo's soul and body were not contaminated by any ethereal energy, which was the biggest reason why he could choose to sleep so confidently.

In addition, this time he will have a hundred years of free life.

It was added to... Reiko Aoyama.

This allowed its lifespan to be capped at five hundred years.

.......

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