Chapter 203: Sickness and Suffering Incarnation · Three-Star

Crack.

Unexpectedly, Uesugi Toru barely used any force to pry open the little novice monk's skull.

Yes, right at the center of the face, using the nose tip as the seam line, splitting the entire head into upper and lower halves.

Inside the little novice monk's empty skull, a pink mass similar to a brain was trembling slightly, paralyzed to the point where it couldn't even let out a scream.

——【Low-Rank Thousand-Brain Princess (Half-Star)】.

A subtle feeling of nausea rose in Uesugi Toru's chest; he looked at this Thousand-Brain Princess indifferently for a moment, thinking it was fortunate that he had been cautious.

If he hadn't controlled the other party instantly, this Thousand-Brain Princess would probably have spread the news of his infiltration throughout Nishio Castle.

Uesugi Toru did not kill it, but dragged the little novice monk to the deepest part of the alley, then smashed two wooden boards and stuffed them along with the Thousand-Brain Princess inside.

At the same time, he left a Qi ring infused with some electric current wrapped around the Thousand-Brain Princess's body.

——Every three minutes, a weak electric current would be released on the Thousand-Brain Princess's true body, making it unable to activate its abilities or move.

After doing all this, Uesugi Toru, who had taken the little novice monk's place, put on a wooden expression and returned stiffly to the entrance of the Pure Land True Sect's head temple.

Just like that, he walked in boldly.

In the Pure Land True Sect, the monks each had their duties: chopping firewood, carrying water, dyeing cloth, performing rituals...

The monks' lives and production processes were not interrupted just because they were with Sickness and Suffering; many monks wearing robes passed by him chatting and laughing.

On the surface, it seemed very harmonious.

In the Main Hall and Side Halls, the towering solemn Buddha statues were filled with Wish Power, shining brightly under the sunlight, appearing exceptionally sacred.

But when Uesugi Toru walked onto the vast empty square, he discovered that inside the largest gilded Buddha statue at the very center of the high platform was empty.

Not a trace of Wish Power remained.

Leaving only an empty shell.

"Strange..."

The abnormal phenomenon made Uesugi Toru keep a mental eye out.

"Could it be because of that Dharma Master Renko... did he 'eat' all the Wish Power in the Buddha statues?"

Earlier, Uesugi Toru had heard several elderly monks who had not been replaced by Sickness Retainers say—In recent days, a captivating golden halo had appeared behind Dharma Master Renko.

This was one of the phenomena that only occurs when one attains the Arhat fruit position of a living Buddha in the world, according to legend.

Uesugi Toru didn't say a word, nor did he meet anyone's gaze.

In half a day, he had almost walked through the entire head temple and most of Nishio Castle, yet attracted no attention or conversation from anyone.

——Because in the Pure Land True Sect head temple with several thousand people, no one cared about the change in living habits of a little novice monk who didn't even count for chopping firewood or carrying water.

And through this round of observation, Uesugi Toru confirmed one thing.

That is, within Nishio Castle there were only a large number of low-ranking retainers around Half-Star to One-Star level.

High-ranking retainers like Karma Disease Old Man and Suffering Binding, who are Three-Star Level or above, did not exist at all.

Those high-ranking retainers should have all been sent by Sickness and Suffering to other cities in West Mikawa to preside over local Gratitude Lectures, thereby reaping Wish Power.

——This also matched Hanzō's intelligence.

Perhaps because Sickness and Suffering had a very good relationship with this Dharma Master Renko, despite having many warrior monks in the Pure Land True Sect, there was no need for high-ranking retainers to add defensive strength.

"This really is the only good news in recent days."

In the night, Uesugi Toru, who was properly sweeping fallen leaves, thought expressionlessly.

In the precious time of the next one or two days, what should be done?

Should he go exorcise Sickness and Suffering, whose true form he had just clearly identified while eating the vegetarian meal?

Should he first go slay Dharma Master Renko?

Or should he first steal two Buddha statues, and by the way clear out these warrior monk rabble?

The answer in Uesugi Toru's heart was very obvious.

Sickness and Suffering.

Only Sickness and Suffering.

Because compared to him, even if all the Pure Land True Sects in Mikawa Province rose up in rebellion fearless of death, it would be like a small disturbance.

Thousands of warrior monks raising swords?

As long as Imagawa Yoshimoto speaks, saying he is willing to share some oil and water after the Pure Land True Sect is destroyed.

Then she could immediately recruit an army of tens of thousands, crushing the Pure Land True Sect like stepping on bugs.

But Sickness and Suffering was different.

Uesugi Toru believed that facing the Eight Sufferings, numerical advantage was the most meaningless advantage.

It might even become a disadvantage.

Having made the decision, Uesugi Toru immediately put aside the broom in his hand, and under Imagawa Yoshimoto's prompt, stepped toward the empty Hondo.

Just now, Renko had temporarily left the head temple, no one knew what he went to do.

——This was a rare opportunity seen by Imagawa Yoshimoto.

Uesugi Toru decided to act at this time.

During this tense time, it was good enough to rule out that basic reinforcements would not arrive immediately.

He could no longer ask for more.

He walked alone to the entrance of the Hondo, bowed his head toward the pale little novice monk sitting on the futon in front of the Buddha statue, not knowing what he was thinking, and spoke dryly without emotion,

"Dharma Master Renko is waiting for you in the back mountain."

"Hmm?"

Sickness and Suffering, who was calculating the precise time of the Heaven and Earth Revival, had his train of thought interrupted, and muttered displeasedly: "This Renko... has little skill, but causes a lot of trouble."

"If there's a next time, I'll definitely turn him into a puppet..."

He stood up and casually waved his hand at Uesugi Toru: "Lead the way, lead the way."

Then, Sickness and Suffering once again fixed his gaze on the sky.

Uesugi Toru kept his head down; the moment the short-statured Sickness and Suffering entered his field of vision, a crimson prompt suddenly popped up, occupying most of his vision.

The characters were slowly flowing, as if they could drip real blood.

——【Incarnation of Sickness and Suffering (Three-Star)】.

Incarnation?!

Remaining in this Pure Land True Sect is not the main body?

Although Uesugi Toru was shaken in his heart, his body showed not the slightest hesitation; he walked mechanically toward the outside of the temple along the route Imagawa Yoshimoto had planned for him just now.

——This Sickness and Suffering behind him was actually not the main body.

——Yet just the pressure this Sickness and Suffering behind him unintentionally gave him far exceeded that of the Scab Monk and the like, and was much higher than that of the Great Solar Master.

Uesugi Toru's thoughts were somewhat confused for a moment.

But after only a few dozen steps, he sorted out the known information once again and restored his normal mindset.

As for this Sickness and Suffering behind him, or rather this Incarnation of Sickness and Suffering, Uesugi Toru tended to believe the other party was the main body.

Only, it was the "main body" in the Genjitsu of the Sengoku Period.

And as for the true body of Sickness and Suffering, it should probably still be in Chang Shi doing who knows what.

——This was indeed quite possible.

Because in the Sengoku Period where Spirit Qi was scarce and Heaven and Earth had not yet revived, the upper limit of its map was only three or four stars.

Just like the previous Genjitsu, and even lower.

If the main body of Sickness and Suffering was at Ghost God Level or above, it simply could not descend to Genjitsu, so it could only send out an incarnation to handle matters.

Thinking of this, Uesugi Toru clicked his tongue displeasedly in his heart.

Did this mean that if he attacked this Incarnation of Sickness and Suffering now, after returning to Genjitsu he might be remembered by the true Sickness and Suffering?

Troublesome.

But it was merely troublesome.

After all, if the sky fell in Genjitsu, it wouldn't be this little Kokara of his who topped the list first.

"So the matters of Genjitsu, let's leave them for later..."

Uesugi Toru temporarily put this hidden danger aside and heard the bored voice of Sickness and Suffering behind him,

"Hey, it's about time to stop, isn't it."

In the quiet night, the two stopped in a mountainous area a full twenty minutes' walk from the Honzan of the Pure Land True Sect.

This location was pointed out by Imagawa Yoshimoto, who had been circling above Nishio Castle for a long time.

According to her estimate, even if the Half-Dead Bird nearest to this place rushed here, it would take about five minutes.

And five minutes was more than enough to end a life-and-death slaughter.

——Sickness and Suffering looked with interest at the little novice monk several meters ahead of him, who was emitting faint Gang Qi.

Samurai, or Sword Saint?

Sickness and Suffering grinned, and for once did not directly turn the other into a puddle of pus, but asked cheerfully: "Won't you draw the sword at your waist to kill me?"

No matter what, the person before him had brought some amusement to this boring waiting period.

At first, Sickness and Suffering, who was focused on calculating the time of the Heaven and Earth Revival, naturally did not notice what kind of fellow was leading the way for him.

But after a few minutes, Sickness and Suffering, who had returned to being a Kami, discovered that the little novice monk before him was not his follower.

But a human who had not completely converged all the Gang Qi on his body, revealing a slight flaw, and was almost comparable to the previous Karma Sickness Old Man.

A human could actually take on another's appearance and cross layers of surveillance to come before him.

Sickness and Suffering commented: "Quite interesting."

He stared at Uesugi Toru with some anticipation, hoping this human could add some unexpected fun to this boring night.

Uesugi Toru, as Sickness and Suffering wished.

No probing, no pleasantries, and no intention of any conversation.

Facing the Eight Sufferings, apart from exorcising the other or death, there would be no third ending.

In a moment when everything was fully prepared and countless rehearsals had been performed on the short journey—

Wearing a Hannya Mask as cold and white as a face, the four-tailed kitsune with a long red tail swaying drew the pale sword blade from his waist.

The incomparably scorching Gang Qi filled his limbs and bones in an instant, as a breathing sound rose as if to suck dry all the air and Spirit Qi of the entire Heaven and Earth.

The deep purple Lightning Plasma intertwined with the pale without distinction, quietly surging on the slender sword blade.

No longer the previous grand momentum, but quiet and beautiful instead.

Under the guidance of Spirit Control Technique·Qi, everything Uesugi Toru had learned gathered on the sword blade of Kaga Kiyomitsu, which was only seventy-two centimeters long.

Slash.

A gorgeous and clean Blade Light lit up in the darkness, passing through the body of Sickness and Suffering who was still wearing a smile.

In just an instant, the Blade Light vanished.

Not wasting even a bit of Gang Qi and Spirit Power.

Slap.

The sound of something falling to the ground rose.

"Hmm?"

Sickness and Suffering blinked, and just as he was about to touch his chin with his hand in confusion, he discovered that where his right arm should have grown was already completely empty.

He turned his gaze, first looking at the four-tailed kitsune wrapped entirely in demonic qi.

A kitsune, huh.

Without any clues, it was impossible for anyone to link this four-tailed fox, which could be called a Great Demon, with the Great Onmyoji Toru, famed throughout the Tokaido.

Only then did that gaze fall to the ground, landing on an arm that was being constantly eroded by multiple forces and was about to turn into nothingness.

With just that glance, Sickness and Suffering identified the sources of the several forces that were about to devour part of him.

Human breathing techniques, pure thunder, and searing fire that could wound both heart and body... and...

Separation Sorrow?

For the first time, an emotion of astonishment appeared in Sickness and Suffering's eyes.

How could it be the power of Separation Sorrow?

Does Separation Sorrow know my plan?

What does It want to do?

Sickness and Suffering paid no mind to the arm fallen on the ground, turning to look at the four-tailed fox emanating the aura of a Ghost God: "You, what is your relationship with Separation Sorrow?"

At the same time, Sickness and Suffering silently spat out colorful miasma mixed with the five colors of blue, red, black, white, and yellow.

And drove them to surge toward the wound, canceling out the four forces that were continuously corroding his flesh.

In an instant, the Gang Qi and thunder were reduced to nothing.

Shiretsu fared slightly better, but was also rapidly defeated under the wrap of this miasma.

Only Separation Sorrow Domain relentlessly hissed and corroded the break point at Sickness and Suffering's arm, suppressing his regeneration.

After confirming once more that it was Separation Sorrow's power, Sickness and Suffering said with a smile: "Between us, there may be some misunderstanding."

"Because I also know Separation Sorrow, and we are the best of friends."

—Not at all.

Manifesting among the Eight Sufferings in the Chang Shi, the one Sickness and Suffering most wanted to destroy utterly was Separation Sorrow.

Saying this, Sickness and Suffering took the opportunity to begin recalling all his retinue in Nishio Castle.

"Stop talking so much nonsense."

Uesugi Toru did not rashly draw his blade, but cautiously observed the colorful miasma constantly surging out from Sickness and Suffering's mouth.

They collided with Separation Sorrow Domain, yet continued to advance without cease.

Before long, Separation Sorrow Domain, which had dispersed in advance, would be eroded into a clean sweep.

Sickness and Suffering was laying the groundwork.

Uesugi Toru immediately made a decision in his heart.

Not a moment could be delayed.

He had to use all his strength for a quick battle, ending the fight before Sickness and Suffering finished laying the groundwork.

He spoke: "I'm just a four-tailed fox unused to this kind of scene, and want to kill you."

Tch!

Under Sickness and Suffering's strange gaze, Kaga Kiyomitsu, surging with dazzling thunder, plunged deep into Uesugi Toru's body and pierced through.

The effect of the Hannya Mask... changed from "Ghost God" to "Berserk"!

The next instant, the Five Thunder Technique was activated without reservation!

Pale and dazzling lightning spread along the wounds around the blade to every inch of Uesugi Toru's flesh.

Thunder roared in his veins, electric light flowed into every muscle fiber and nerve, stimulating his flesh—which was unimaginably more powerful than usual—almost like torture!

At this moment, even Uesugi Toru's pupils were occupied by electric light, leaving not a single gap.

He could feel, after the thunder representing destruction...

Was rebirth!

Miasma of all colors surged from every pore of Sickness and Suffering's body, having already eroded Separation Sorrow Domain by eighty or ninety percent.

He unnoticeably opened distance, cautiously watching Uesugi Toru, who had just slashed himself once.

What is... this situation?

Do demons in the Genjitsu have such customs before the slaughter begins?

But soon Sickness and Suffering felt it—the aura emanating from that four-tailed fox not far away, many times greater than before his self-mutilation.

Thunder quieted down again, and Uesugi Toru, whose consciousness was almost shattered into a lump of scorched charcoal, pulled Kaga Kiyomitsu out from his chest.

He exhaled dry air, the hand lightly gripping the sword hilt trembling slightly.

His physique attribute surged too much all at once, leaving Uesugi Toru's consciousness somewhat unadapted.

Now, in Uesugi Toru's perception, time had almost become a second hand he could reach out and grab.

The direction of every wisp of air flow, the nodes of the plants' life flow, and the silent breathing of the earth veins beneath his feet...

Everything fell into the palm of his hand; he only needed to turn his wrist to have them split in two by Kaga Kiyomitsu.

Uesugi Toru knew.

Such a state would not last long; perhaps in a few minutes he would crumble into fragments.

That is, only because he could revive beside the History Key after death did he have the confidence to force his body like this even though he had not yet fully mastered the technique of stimulating his flesh with thunder.

—Now, this four-tailed fox could already match this incarnation of himself.

Sickness and Suffering furrowed his brow: "The plan truly cannot keep up with changes."

He waved his hand, letting his arm, which had become a size smaller, block in front.

At this moment, Sickness and Suffering had already developed the intention to retreat.

Half a minute ago, he had not thought at all that playing around with a "human samurai" would turn into this state.

In this heaven and earth of neither giving nor seeking, in such a harsh spiritless environment, a demon could actually be born who could match his incarnation at full power.

Sickness and Suffering did not think the four-tailed fox before him came from the Chang Shi.

Because that was truly very difficult.

Even as one of the Eight Sufferings, he did not know how much mental power he had expended to barely manage to send over a single clone.

And most of this clone's abilities were focused on cultivating dependents, spreading and controlling plagues.

If he were to use other abilities, it would greatly consume the clone's life force.

Thus, a clone originally projected to persist in Genjitsu for over a hundred years became capable of existing for only ten or twenty years.

"That would be a losing proposition..."

Pros and cons, Sickness and Suffering has always calculated them clearly.

But just as he was about to turn around and leave, the small clone he had abandoned to block the four-tailed fox for a moment had actually already been annihilated.

An arrogant hum resonated through the mountain forest, the crackling sounds of countless fine thunder spreading through the air.

It seems running won't be easy.

"Never mind."

Sickness and Suffering sighed helplessly, his fair skin surging like liquid, the novice monk's humanoid shell gradually beginning to collapse.

In Uesugi Toru's eyes, Sickness and Suffering's transformation was utterly without warning, like a one-button form switch.

— The original novice monk had already disappeared.

Replacing him was a flesh body assembled from countless ulcerated limbs, clearly unspeakably ugly, yet able to make one strangely feel an indescribable sense of beauty.

Seven faces of different ages peeked out from the flesh body, rose up, and rotated.

Fourteen pitch-black pupils gazed emotionlessly at Uesugi Toru, seven mouths opening in unison: "Fox, originally if you had retreated, you could have survived."

Sickness and Suffering extended those seemingly slender decayed limbs, drawing a staff of bones, rotten wood, and bronze from the void.

The surface of this staff of bones was covered in green copper rust, and three human bone rings at its top suspended seven small bone bells.

On the bone bells, seven distinctly different ancient characters were engraved in dark red blood stains.

"Resonance."

Sickness and Suffering lightly tapped the staff of bones, and instantly froze Uesugi Toru in place, who had assumed the Three-Stage Thrust Stance.

The wails of ten thousand people suddenly rose from the lake surface of Uesugi Toru's mental state, bringing with them the suffering of ten thousand people.

Pain, fear, palpitations...

Who knows how many kinds of dying sensations and despair flooded Uesugi Toru's five senses, wanting to make him fall right then and become one of them.

If not for the dual protection of the Mirror Heart and Technique · Zan Shin, in this instant alone Uesugi Toru would have lost all awareness.

But he ultimately still managed to barely maintain his self and awareness amidst this storm of negative emotions.

In the silence, Uesugi Toru, drenched in cold sweat, lightly pressed his hand on the White Prajna mask, pulling a ferocious grin.

"Since you can make me feel so many people's emotions, this gift... I think will suit you perfectly too."

【Greed Anger Ignorance: Inflicts additional damage on all targets that generate emotions; the more emotions accumulate, the greater the fluctuation, the higher the damage inflicted.】

(End of Chapter)