Chapter 22 Hunting

"If you had been hunted by humans using those weapons, you'd remember them too," the six-armed monster said, its voice tinged with fear as it recalled something from the past. Its eyes scanned Uchiha Mei from head to toe. "Handguns, assault rifles, submachine guns... Aren't you humans known for using all sorts of firearms and explosives? So many of my kind have been taken down by those."

The more Mei listened, the stranger it sounded. It seemed this six-armed monster had suffered at the hands of humans. But weren't a monster's natural enemies supposed to be exorcists, shrine maidens, or monks—supernatural beings? Why did it sound like its main foes were humans wielding modern weapons?

However, it was the 21st century, after all. Perhaps times had changed, and guns were more practical than wands and charms.

Seeing an opportunity to learn more about the world of monsters and its supernatural hierarchy, Mei decided to continue the conversation rather than immediately attack.

"You can relax. I don't carry any firearms or explosives. Against a small fry like you, this sword will do just fine," Mei said, his tone dripping with disdain.

"Bullshit! How could a human with just a sword defeat a monster?" The six-armed creature was clearly enraged by Mei's mocking tone.

Mei chuckled lightly and then asked, "You're really ugly. What kind of monster are you? I've never read about anything like you in any book."

The moment those words left Mei's mouth, the monster's face twisted in fury, as if it had heard something outrageous.

"A race? You dare ask such a low-level question? You don't even know the basics. You're not with the police, and you can't be from the Self-Defense Forces either. Who the hell are you?"

"Exposed, huh? Seems I shouldn't have asked that," Mei muttered to himself as he slowly unsheathed his sword. Rather than continue trying to get information through conversation, it might be more efficient to beat the creature half to death and then extract the intel.

The six-armed monster sensed the danger in Mei's expression and immediately extended its grotesquely long arms, spreading its fingers wide. The mannequins scattered throughout the clothing section began to twitch, as if answering a call to battle, and rose to their feet.

"So that's why you fled here. These mannequins are your soldiers, huh?" Mei remarked calmly as he observed the dozens of mannequins surrounding him.

"Attack!" the monster shouted, flailing its six arms like a clumsy conductor directing a chaotic orchestra. The mannequins rushed at Mei in a disorganized stampede.

With a swift, practiced motion, Mei sliced one mannequin clean in half from head to toe. Then, with agile footwork, he moved effortlessly through the crowd of mannequins, not letting a single one touch the hem of his black cloak adorned with red clouds.

With a backhanded strike, he decapitated another mannequin, but its headless body continued charging forward.

"Right. I almost forgot. These aren't real humans. They're already missing arms and legs, so cutting off their heads won't do much. Guess I'll need to break them into smaller pieces," he mused.

Mei delivered a diagonal slash from the right, cutting the next mannequin in half from its shoulder to its waist—an attack known in Japanese swordsmanship as a *kesa-giri*.

Though Mei didn't know anything about formal swordsmanship, his superhuman agility and chakra-infused blade made it easy for him to slice through the mannequins as if they were nothing more than plastic dolls. Limbs and torsos littered the ground.

"These mannequins in the abandoned mall aren't endless. That was the last one. So, what will you do now?" Mei asked as he finished off the final mannequin, slicing off both its arms with a single cut. He flicked his sword to the side, as if clearing away imaginary blood, and looked up at the six-armed monster still hanging from the chandelier.

"This pitiful puppet show ends here."

Mei bent his knees, preparing to leap upward. But just as he was about to spring into action, he felt his entire body tighten. It was as if invisible wires were wrapped around him, pulling tighter with every movement.

The six-armed monster grinned maliciously, twitching its fingers to tighten the invisible strings even further.

"You may have done well cutting through my mannequins, but did you really think I was just sitting back, watching? While you were busy slicing them up, I was wrapping my threads of demonic energy around you, the same ones I used to control the mannequins."

"So you monsters call chakra 'demonic energy,' huh?" Mei muttered as he looked down, his voice calm and composed.

His indifferent tone made the six-armed creature uneasy, but it quickly reassured itself. With thirty invisible threads, each strong enough to lift a hundred pounds, there was no way this human could escape. All it had to do was pull tight, and he'd be torn to shreds.

Yet, despite the situation, why was this human so calm?

"From the very beginning, your little tricks were never going to fool me," Mei said, suddenly lifting his head to reveal his crimson Sharingan, glowing ominously in the dark. "These eyes can see chakra with perfect clarity."

The six-armed monster's shock was evident as it stared at Mei's eyes. "Those eyes… Are you a monster too? No… No monster could look so much like a human! What are you?!"

Panicked, the creature tightened its threads, ready to tear Mei apart.

But with a soft "puff," the figure that had been entangled in its threads suddenly turned into a decapitated mannequin.

*Substitution Jutsu!*

Before the monster could react, Mei appeared behind it in a blur, hands already forming seals. Following the threads back to their source, he unleashed a torrent of flames.

"Dragon Fire Jutsu!"

Blazing fire shot up the threads at lightning speed, much faster than his earlier fireball. In an instant, the flames reached the six-armed monster, engulfing it before it could sever the threads.

*Boom!*

The fireball exploded on the ceiling, lighting up the room as if it were daylight. The chandelier shattered, crashing to the ground. One of the monster's arms was blown clean off, and it fell to the floor, severely injured.

As it tried to crawl away, Mei landed heavily on its head, pinning it down with his foot. In a swift motion, he hurled five kunai, each embedding into one of the remaining arms, pinning the creature to the floor.

"How… How can a human breathe fire?! Who are you?!" the monster screamed in panic.

"Who knows? Maybe I'm an exorcist, or a swordsman. Or perhaps… I'm a ninja," Mei replied coldly.