I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

After conducting some investigation using [Prometheus (Arcana: The Hermit)], Amamiya reached a very basic conclusion—

It really is similar to the game he remembered.

The more abstract the shadow, the weaker its power.

On the contrary, those handsome men and beautiful women, who all look approachable, are all incredibly difficult to mess with.

After observing the impression space of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, and its ecosystem that follows the principle of "the more beautiful, the stronger," Amamiya, along with Izuna, headed straight for the target of the mission.

A large castle tower that looks like it belongs to the Date Clan, with the name of the Date clan on it.

With Izuna in tow, Amamiya flew up to the eaves of the castle tower, crouched down, and quietly observed the situation in the courtyard.

At a glance, he noticed this time the "target of repentance"—the mastermind behind the disruption of the cherry blossom festival, who called himself 'Nyantatsu Masamune' (Date Masamune).

In the real world, 'Miaotianmaru' is quite wealthy and has hired a demon to disrupt and ruin the cherry blossom festival.

When its perception of wealth was projected onto another world, it manifested as the image of 'Nyan Tatsu Masamune' residing in the castle tower, surrounded by powerful retainers, and employing numerous skilled individuals to protect him.

Obviously... going down directly to confront it head-on is not a good option.

After observing from the rooftop for a short while, Amamiya and Izuna quickly found the opportunity when 'Nyanta Masamune' was alone.

'It's now. ’

Chapter Twenty-Three: Repent!

Noticing that 'Nyan-tada Masamune' was alone, Amamiya's eyes flickered slightly.

The wind chimes on the eaves of the castle tower stopped completely the moment 'Nyantatsu Masamune' was left alone, as if gripped tightly by some giant hand.

'This is a trap…'

Amamiya could certainly see that—

Why would Metenmaru, who received the advance notice, deliberately "leave alone"?

The answer, of course, is that it deliberately wanted to create a situation where Amamiya was isolated, making it easier for him to seize the opportunity to make his move—and then use his hired 'retainers' to turn the tables and overwhelm the arriving Amamiya with their numerical advantage.

But it was too simplistic.

The premise for a trap to be effective is that there exists a power gap between the "weak" who sets the trap and the "strong" who is about to be hunted, a gap that can be bridged by the trap or other tools.

And it's quite obvious... that Amamiya is unaware of just how strong he is.

The 'trap' it prepared was meaningless to Amamiya, an absolutely powerful being who could ignore traps and even step on them without any problem.

So even though she realized it was a trap, Amamiya still decisively followed it.

After gesturing and giving a look to Izuna beside him, Amamiya and Izuna quietly slipped into the castle tower and crept up behind 'Nyantatsu Masamune'.

—The counterpart to the otherworldly existence of the 'Nyantatsu Masamune' is presented in the Impression Space as a tall and bloated samurai with money bags strapped to his body.

Maintaining a steady distance, it approached until it entered the range of Amamiya's grappling hook. Then, feigning ignorance of Amamiya and Izuna, 'Nyan-Datsu Masamune' suddenly spoke: "You two intruders...aren't you going to come out?"

The sudden sound of 'Nyantatsu Masamune's' fierce voice made Izuna tense up slightly.

The fox's slightly swaying tail abruptly stopped, and the girl hidden in the darkness behind the screen looked at Amamiya: 'My lord... what should we do?!'

Don't worry... I'm here.

Amamiya no longer concealed himself and swaggered out from behind the screen, entering the spacious dojo inside the 'Tenshukaku'.

“You…” Amamiya looked the muscular, over three-meter-tall 'Shadow Warrior' up and down. “You’re the mastermind behind the destruction of the Cherry Blossom Festival’s peace and tranquility?”

'Nyorata Masamune' seemed quite confident in its "thorough preparation," and it proudly nodded, saying, "That's right—I am 'The One-Eyed Dragon in the Dark,' Nyorata Masamune!"

'Nyanta Masamune' looked down at Amamiya in the same way: "I heard that a 'thief' ruined our plans... I wondered who it was. It turns out to be a lowly thief like you."

After a pause, 'Nyanda Masamune' looked disdainfully at Izuna beside him: "And... that little brat you brought, who likes to play ninja house."

"No matter how absurd a dream may be, it's not something someone like you can insult." Amamiya narrowed her eyes slightly, raising the short sword and pistol in her hand. "Why did you ruin the cherry blossom festival?"

Is it to uphold tradition?

'Nyanda Masamune' immediately burst into laughter: "Upholding tradition? Haha... Don't be ridiculous. We don't care about tradition at all—our purpose in disrupting the cherry blossom festival is very simple!"

"For money! For countless amounts of more money!"

Perhaps it was time to enter the villain's signature "question and answer" phase, 'Nyanda Masamune' with the attitude of "I'll let you die knowing why", spread his arms and began to explain his reasons in a grand manner.

"The Cherry Blossom Festival of a Hundred Nights of Spring, how much do you think it would cost to hold such a festival?"

"However, this money was taken by the celebration's operating committee..."

"You should know this is a huge amount of money... yet, that share of the funds is being controlled by a bunch of kids... We cannot accept this!"

"Too young, so much money wasted on meaningless celebrations with so little return!"

"If they gave this money to us, we could earn far more than they do!"

Amamiya quietly watched "Nyantatsu Masamune," who was lavishly recounting his "greed."

A strong and tall body, yet it carries a greedy and petty soul... It's both laughable and pathetic.

"For this reason... you even missed Izuna's dream..."

'Nyanta Masamune' seemed to only then notice Izuna, giving her a dismissive glance before saying in a haughty tone, "Oh, that guy. She also contributed a lot."

"I really didn't expect her to put in such effort when we just played a little ninja house game together."

"Her so-called 'ninja house' games... we had a hard time enduring them."

"Even if I say just one more word, I'm worried that I'll burst out laughing on the spot."

"When she enthusiastically said things like, 'As a ninja, I'll do my best!' even I couldn't help but laugh out loud!"

"As for dreams... hmm? They have indeed had some effect. If they've saved us money on our misdeeds, that's also an effect."

"From the perspective of 'handling the dirty work,' they've done a pretty good job!"

'Nyatatsu Masamune' completely ignored Izuna's increasingly gloomy expression and said to himself in a low voice, "However... the fate of 'ninjas' is also very tragic—after doing dirty work for their lord, how could they possibly survive..."

"It's about time it was cleaned up..."

At this point, 'Nyantatsu Masamune's' figure was suddenly enveloped in a thick, black and red mud.

Its already exaggerated figure grew even taller, reaching a full five meters in height.

The gilded and silver-plated warrior armor instantly became as clean as new.

At the same time, behind the surrounding screens and other things that could hide people, shadows dressed in ninja night clothes and with scarlet eyes emerged.

"The one who should be cleaned up... is you."

Amamiya raised his hand, pointing the muzzle of the [Destruction God Emperor] gun at 'Nyanda Masamune': "I will not allow you... to insult other people's dreams."

'Om—'

Izuna was slightly taken aback, as if his ears were ringing from Amamiya's calm yet furious remark.

The world around me moved slower and slower, and those figures with malicious eyes were so hateful and so clear at this moment.

"Heh heh...did you hear that?"

"The voice of those you honor as your lord, when faced with your insignificant and unattainable desires."

What a soul-stirring experience... how enviable!

"A scholar will die for one who understands him, a woman will adorn herself for one who appreciates her... For recognition, one will fight and risk one's life."

"For a ninja... it's nothing out of the ordinary."

"You... an immature 'ninja'."

Are you prepared for this?

A trembling sound, growing louder as it approached, accompanied by excruciating pain that seemed to tear the very soul apart, exploded within my mind.

The girl, her face contorted in pain and her expression contorted, felt as if her vision was blurring and doubled.

'consciousness……'

'Izuna, I want to become... a ninja who can always be by my lord's side!'

'It's not just about repaying the lord's wish to protect his dream...'

'It's also for... Izuna's own wish.'

Tick, tick.

Red blood flowed from the corner of his eye, dripping down and finally falling onto his chin.

Izuna swayed as she stood up and subconsciously reached out to touch her cheek—then she realized that a fox half-face mask had appeared on her cheek at some point.

The moment she touched the mask, the voice from the underworld echoed in her mind once more.

It seems to be getting clearer.

"Heh... Now that you've made your decision, then... let's conclude the contract."

Blindly following others is not terrible... what is terrible is remaining unrepentant after being blindly obedient.

"I am you, and you are me..."

Izuna gripped the edge of the mask, unconsciously whispering and repeating the contract words that seemed to carry some kind of magic.

"I am you, and you are me..."

"Very good... the contract is complete. From this day forward, you shall possess the discerning eye to see through the whole picture."

"I am Mochizuki Chiyome, the being who resides within your heart. From this day forward... I will lend you my strength in the name of a ninja."

Accompanied by Chiyome Mochizuki's relieved chuckle, Izuna gradually exerted force, tearing off the fox mask that seemed to have grown directly from his face.

With a splash, "blood" splattered.

A cluster of blazing, dark blue flames ignited in the girl's golden eyes.

“Psona…”

As she softly called out, raging flames gathered behind her, coalescing into a graceful ninja figure.

"Mochizuki Chiyome!"

【Psona - Mochizuki Chiyome (Arcana: The Magician)】

[Introduction: A famous female ninja from the Warring States period. Also one of the most legendary ninjas.]

According to legend, she used her identity as a priestess as a cover to establish a vast and highly efficient intelligence organization that covered the entire country.

As the most famous female ninja, legend has it that Mochizuki Chiyome remained loyal to Takeda Shingen throughout her life. She was proficient in incantations, prayers, ninjutsu, and self-defense techniques. Although skilled in many special techniques that could be described as "divine art," Mochizuki Chiyome was most renowned for her control and gathering of intelligence.

"Oh...a counterattack by the thieves?"

'Nyatatsu Masamune' still seems to be dismissive.

It waved its hand, and the shadows of the ninjas around it pressed down on it in an overwhelming manner.

It itself quickened its pace slightly, seemingly wanting to escape.

"The thieves' counterattack is nothing but a death throes; let's finish them off here..."

The shadowy ninjas threw kunai, meteor showers, and various other projectiles intended to cause harm.

Izuna remained undaunted.

'As a ninja... I must protect my lord well!'

She stepped forward, waving her hand as she gave an order to Mochizuki Chiyome behind her.

"Chiyome Mochizuki... Summoning Jutsu! Summoning: Orochi!"

'call……'

Accompanied by a wisp of smoke, the mythical eight-headed serpent suddenly appeared.

Its enormous body crashed onto the field, and the sheer force of its impact crushed a significant number of the ninja shadows.

Then, the giant snake's cold scales mercilessly blocked all the projectile attacks.

"It's not over yet... Summoning Jutsu! Summoning: Susanoo!"

A figure seemingly emerging from a ukiyo-e print drifted in, splitting the giant serpent in two with a single glance. Susanoo then calmly picked up a sword from the corpse of the Yamata no Orochi.

Holding the Kusanagi Sword, Susanoo's cold and divine gaze locked onto the fleeing 'Nyantatsu Masamune'.