Boom...

Accompanied by a roar, a yellow phantom projected out from Shinji's body, instantly breaking the Hand Demon's grip on his arm and transforming into a gigantic half-skeleton phantom made of individual bones.

Amidst the swirling dust, Shinji stood beneath the enormous phantom like a deity.

In his eyes, the crimson orbs reflected a kaleidoscope pattern made up of three intertwined ink circles, exuding a chilling murderous aura all around him!

The Hand Demon was shocked: "You... what exactly are you..."

Before the Hand Demon could finish speaking, Shinji activated 'Susanoo' and, with a downward motion, smashed a fist down on the Hand Demon.

Puff...

The Hand Demon’s seemingly solid body could not withstand the terrifying force of 'Susanoo' and shattered instantly with a loud explosion, flesh and blood flying everywhere.

In an instant, the already bloody courtyard became even more chaotic.

However, just a few breaths later, the flesh that had been smashed into the pit began to squirm, quickly swelling back to restore the Hand Demon’s original form.

"Truly worthy of 'Light!'" The Hand Demon covered its mouth and chuckled, "Hoho, you can't kill me, you can't kill me!"

"Tch!"

Shinji didn’t waste any words and activated 'Susanoo' again, delivering another powerful punch.

As expected, the Hand Demon was shattered once more.

This time, however, Shinji did not wait for the Hand Demon to fully recover; as soon as the flesh began to squirm, he swung another punch down.

Boom boom boom...

'Susanoo' continued to strike down, making the pit on the ground grow larger, with cracks extending outward for dozens of meters.

The surrounding buildings were affected one after another, collapsing in succession, and even a corner of the more distant main hall crumbled.

After a moment, Shinji halted his assault.

Compared to the beginning, the speed at which the mass of flesh recovered had increased significantly. In the end, the Hand Demon did restore, but its size had shrunk considerably compared to when it had just devoured over a hundred guards.

"Ugh... damn it!"

The feeling of weakness erased the previous madness from the Hand Demon’s face, replaced by deep fear.

It had never imagined it would face such a monster; just locking eyes with Shinji's kaleidoscope Sharingan made it tremble with fear.

It wanted to escape, to continue feeding on humans to regain strength, but 'Susanoo' blocking its path severed all its delusions.

The Hand Demon trembled, instinctively taking a step back: "No, you don’t even have a sword; how can I die at your hands?"

Shinji slowly approached the Hand Demon: "It seems you still don't understand where this place is. Soon you will long for the sunlight and the Daybreak Blade."

"He knows... he knows my weakness, I’m going to die!"

The Hand Demon’s pupils suddenly constricted, its entire body and mind consumed by fear, its will collapsing in an instant.

Noticing this moment, Shinji didn't hesitate and quickly struck again, activating 'Susanoo' to swing a punch toward the Hand Demon.

Boom...

The Hand Demon was shattered once again.

But this time, the flesh on the ground did not squirm or gather; instead, it dissipated into the air like ashes.

[Invasion successfully blocked...]

[Crack closed...]

Hearing the voice next to him, Shinji let out a sigh of relief, collapsing onto the ground as the giant 'Susanoo' enveloping him instantly vanished.

"Why is it that I, the leftover of the Uchiha, have to protect the ninja world?"

At this moment, he began to understand.

The so-called invasion must refer to interdimensional beings like the Hand Demon invading the ninja world.

And the 'Light' mentioned by this Hand Demon likely referred to the duty of eliminating these invading interdimensional beings and protecting the safety of the ninja world's dimension.

Understanding this was one thing, but deep down, he felt very resistant.

Thrown here inexplicably and engaged in a battle with a monster without reason—if it weren't for the kaleidoscope Sharingan, he would have already been in the Hand Demon's stomach.

"Hey, I accept this time, but don’t let there be a next time! I quit!"

Although he didn’t know if that mysterious voice could hear him, Shinji still shouted loudly.

[Scanning for loot...]

[Loot analysis in progress...]

[Loot is the basic breathing technique—Water Breathing...]

Suddenly, where the Hand Demon had turned to ashes, a blurred light cluster appeared.

"Oh? There's still loot?"

Shinji walked up to the light cluster.

Breathing techniques in Demon Slayer enhance lung function through breathing, significantly increasing the speed and strength of ordinary people, allowing fragile humans to combat demons.

Since these techniques are purely achieved through breathing, there are no bloodline barriers to learning them; as long as one has talent and works hard, they can gain some enhancement from the breathing techniques.

As for the degree of improvement, that varies from person to person.

However, this technique, which does not involve complex chakra nature changes, was undoubtedly a good thing for Shinji at this moment, so he reached out to grab the light cluster.

In an instant, fragments of memories about learning 'Water Breathing' were absorbed into his mind.

At the same time, he understood why the loot for defeating the Hand Demon was 'Water Breathing.'

It was obvious that the Hand Demon had devoured several swordsmen who had learned 'Water Breathing,' and these swordsmen's memory fragments had merged into its flesh.

[Reward settlement in progress...]

[Rating: E]

[Received ninja world gift: chakra (small amount)...]

Countless light points suddenly surged around him, each flowing into Shinji's body.

"Ah~"

This feeling was like being thrown into a hot spring after a day of exhaustion, so comfortable that he couldn’t help but exclaim.

"The ninja world's gift..." After a moment of surprise, he mused, "There’s actually a reward!"

The amount of chakra that had just surged into him was almost equal to his own chakra, meaning that in just a short while, his chakra had doubled.

But recalling the content of the mysterious voice, he realized: "Hey, there’s no need to specifically emphasize 'small amount'!"

Rewarding a 'small amount' of chakra had directly doubled his chakra.

Doesn't that mean his own chakra amount ≈ 'small amount'?

Moreover, he also noticed that the rating given to him was E, which clearly was not a good rating.

Looking around, he wondered: "Is it because the damage caused to the ninja world by the invading Hand Demon was too great, affecting the rating? Or was it because the invasion lasted too long, affecting the rating?"

Creak...

Suddenly, a sound came from not far away.

"Are there survivors?"

Shinji quickly turned his head toward the direction of the sound.

There, a small head peeked out from the ruins of the main hall, blinking its big eyes as it looked at him in the courtyard.

"Oh no!"

Realizing that his kaleidoscope Sharingan had been exposed, Shinji's heart tightened.

If this secret were to leak, neither Danzo in the village nor Orochimaru outside the village would let him off.

Even some villages and organizations that were temporarily unrelated to him would hunt him down out of covetousness for the kaleidoscope Sharingan.

This was a serious problem.

To confirm, he quickly walked over.

When he got closer, he recognized the small, gray figure in the ruins; after careful examination, he murmured, "Those purple eyes... it's Ziyuan?"

Ziyuan curiously asked, "Big brother with red eyes, do you know me?"

"So this is the palace of the priestess of the Land of Demons."

Shinji murmured, but inside, he was struggling...