Looking back at the footage, Naruto could even critique everyone's performance in his mind.
The Miko family's situation grew worse and worse. First, the Miko's husband passed away due to illness, which seemed to further validate the family's ominous omens.
But the disaster was not over; especially after a sudden drought, everyone turned their矛头 toward them.
The people, desperate to vent their emotions, surrounded the Temple once again.
The Miko tried her best to explain, but it was to no avail; people only believe what they want to believe.
In the midst of the agitated crowd, a stone thrown by someone unknown struck the Miko's head, causing blood to flow uncontrollably in an instant.
Seeing that something had happened, the crowd scattered in a frenzy. The Miko fell to the ground, dizzy and unable to rise. The girl rushed forward, trying to cover her mother's wound, but bright red blood seeped through her fingers, staining her white clothes.
Under such circumstances, naturally, no one came to help them, the Miko died from excessive blood loss.
As the mother of a yokai, the villagers who crushed her to death naturally faced no punishment.
The girl sat quietly beside her mother's body, her head bowed so low that her expression was unclear, her own future was equally obscured.
If it ended here, it would be nothing more than a family tragedy.
When the sun rose once again, the Miko opened her eyes, her pupils as black as the abyss, non-human features appeared upon her body.
Yes, the girl awakened her mother in the form of a Cursed Spirit.
But the Miko indeed possessed the bloodline of a Jujutsu Sorcerer from her ancestors, by relying on the Temple, even after becoming a Cursed Spirit, she surprisingly retained most of her human consciousness and could still be seen by the villagers.
The Temple was both her salvation and her downfall; the villagers' prayers created the Temple, but they also trapped the Miko within the village.
So, at the beginning, the Miko was indeed like the earthbound spirit described in their mission briefing.
The villagers, naturally terrified by the discovery that the Miko had returned from the dead, caused her to realize with surprise that she could actually absorb these emotions to keep her mind more stable.
It was only because the Miko had received so many years of religious education within the temple that, despite the strange circumstances of her death, she did not seek revenge against the villagers; however, her very presence had become a source of terror for them.
Wandering through the village and utilizing the villagers' fear, the Miko's strength grew steadily higher, forming a strange symbiotic relationship with the village.
Perhaps when her strength was high enough, she could take her daughter outside. The Miko was somewhat optimistic, but she soon regretted this decision.
Another person appeared in the village, dressed like a noble, with white bandages wrapped around his head.
Looking at the non-human form of the Miko, the noble tapped his fingers lightly and said, "How rare.."
He had many subordinates by his side, but even more were Cursed Spirits that humans could not see with the naked eye.
The mother and daughter were both easily captured by the newcomer; the daughter had only recently become a Cursed Spirit and was still a minor.
What happened next caused Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto to stare in wide-eyed astonishment.
Bound humans, howling Cursed Spirits..
Perhaps this segment of memory was too painful even for the Miko's Cursed Spirit, so it was skipped over quickly; the two only saw that some time later, the original human girl had also become a Cursed Spirit.
The image froze on the scene of the girl becoming a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, the Miko beside her also upgraded to Special Grade.
A Jujutsu Sorcerer, who originally had the talent to become a Special Grade, has become a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
Although Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto knew that there must be a different story behind these two Cursed Spirits, they were still incredibly shocked to see this scene in person.
It was actually the man-made creation of Special Grade Cursed Spirits.
However, the attempts by these people to replicate the experiment of the mother and daughter failed repeatedly. They eventually discovered that these two Special Grade Cursed Spirits could only be created through perfect timing, favorable conditions, human cooperation; furthermore, because these two Special Grades possessed their own consciousness, they could not yet be used by them.
But the noble-looking man did not give up. He first strengthened the restraints, making it impossible for these two Special Grade Cursed Spirits to leave this village, while simultaneously beginning to absorb their power, using the Miko as a vessel to create other Cursed Spirits.
At the same time, in order to have a continuous source of power to create other Cursed Spirits, the aristocrat-like man began to teach the villagers how to raise these two Cursed Spirits.
To ordinary people, Cursed Spirits are naturally terrifying monsters, but it is a different story if there is profit to be gained. As long as the villagers are given some sweet treats and allowed to discover the immense benefits they can obtain from Cursed Spirits, they will naturally cooperate and help with the breeding.
They even learned to apply what they had learned to other situations.
Procreation is an eternal pursuit for humanity. Consequently, the temple first gained fame for its ability to act as a matchmaker; after it used Cursed Spirits to facilitate several marriages, the temple's reputation grew, people began to arrive in an endless stream.
The modified Cursed Spirit feeds not only on emotions but also on humans.
And the Miko had to endure her own daughter becoming a monster, while she herself, originally a Miko meant for praying for blessings, would ultimately have to rely on consuming humans to maintain her strength.
For a Miko whose profession was to pray for blessings, this was no different from being slowly tortured while remaining fully conscious.
And that noble visited many times in the days that followed, though his appearance changed each time.
Although the villagers could not distinguish it, in the Cursed Spirit's mental world, that person's aura was as obvious as a candlelight in a dark room.
"Just how many years has it been!" Uzumaki Naruto muttered, watching the village transform from thatched-roof huts into brick buildings.
He must have a lot in common with Orochimaru.
This behavior of constantly changing bodies, just like Orochimaru, is exactly like those crazy scientists he has heard about in this world.
It wasn't just Orochimaru; Uchiha Sasuke's lips moved, but he said nothing. Fortunately, their world had not produced any Cursed Spirits, otherwise, it was impossible to know what kind of experiments those scientific madmen in the ninja villages would conduct.
At least this world is relatively peaceful on the surface; if human experimentation were ever exposed, it would inevitably face open and legitimate sanctions.
At this moment, Uzumaki Naruto's brain, which had been trained by Kakashi, Shikamaru, others, finally clicked into gear, he realized the seriousness of the situation—after all, judging by the current state of things, this guy was still very much alive.
The movies and television shows in this world had taught him that mad scientists were often the most terrifying.
However, seeing it up to this point, Naruto and Sasuke finally understood why this village didn't resemble a modern village; it was because they had guarded a secret for generations, making it both feudal and conservative. Within the village, marriages underwent strict scrutiny, they were especially xenophobic toward outsiders.
Then, some deeply etched memories of the Cursed Spirit flashed by, such as how there must have been people who noticed something was wrong over all these years.
Then, everything that happened followed a template.
The villagers first released weaker Cursed Spirits, once they were dealt with by the newcomers, they took them all down at once while they were off guard.
The Jujutsu Sorcerers who arrived naturally could never have imagined that the truly dangerous ones here were not the Cursed Spirits, but these villagers.
As for the truly exceptionally strong Jujutsu Sorcerers, they would instead behave properly and avoid provoking them.
Sasuke, Naruto, the others are certainly powerful enough that, by all rights, no one should provoke them.
But the pure Yin Power within Uchiha Sasuke was too attractive to the Miko; she vaguely sensed that as long as she could devour Sasuke, she could break free from the constraints of these people.
After so many years of torment, the Miko's mind had long since become twisted. The temptation that eating Sasuke would allow her to break free from her restraints was too great; she could not resist, so she took the risk.
It was just that the group of people she had let go last night, whom she had intended to eat to increase her power, had been released, leaving her with no choice but to eat villagers, which instead exposed her identity.
Uchiha Sasuke pursed his lips.
It was a tragedy brought about by various factors, but in the beginning, the girl's only wish was to have her mother back.
When did it start to change? Sasuke gazed coldly at the wall, as if he could see the people outside through it.
What truly caused all of this to happen was that group of villagers outside; it was their ignorance and greed.
When these emotions are reflected in Cursed Spirits, they become those disgusting-looking Cursed Spirits.
..
"Sasuke, I want to save her!" Naruto's sudden words interrupted an Uchiha's thoughts.
Uchiha Sasuke looked up and met Uzumaki Naruto's determined gaze.
"Alright, I'll help you." He answered without hesitation.
However, the two of them were not orthodox medical ninjas after all; they had few rivals when it came to fighting, but when facing an injured Cursed Spirit, no matter how much power they transferred, there was no improvement.
"Naruto." A low voice echoed within Naruto's mind.
"Kurama?" Uzumaki Naruto froze, then his face lit up with surprise.
Do you have a way to save people?
Kurama nodded; by the side of the Sage of Six Paths, he had once witnessed the births of Indra and Asura.
[The child Senju Hashirama is carrying]
A child?
Uzumaki Naruto thought about how Kurama would break down in frustration upon finding out Senju Hashirama was pregnant.
No way, you can't even accept this? But whatever, it's not the time for that, saving people is the priority right now.
[I mean, do you even remember how Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara produced a child?]
You and Sasuke happen to be Yin Power and Yang Power as well, so naturally, you could also create a child.
Naruto was stunned for a moment, then his face turned bright red.
How.. how did this happen?
He probably knew a little bit, but was he expected to act like Sasuke?
The Nine-Tails, who had followed him for over a decade and understood Naruto's thoughts very well..
[Just letting our powers intersect will do]
But the preliminary actions of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama were quite unnecessary; the Nine-Tails was very much unwilling to imagine that scene.
So, under Kurama's hands-on guidance, the two of them used the intersection of Yin Power and Yang Power, they actually managed to succeed by sheer accident.
“I can't believe it,” Uzumaki Naruto said, holding a child with a look of shock on his face. “The two of us actually had a child.”
Uchiha Sasuke nodded with a serious expression.
This child was born from the power of the two of them, so he is naturally their child.
The First Hokage's child hasn't even been born yet, but they've already gone ahead and produced a child of their own.
"Eh, what's going on.." Uzumaki Naruto was feeling frustrated, but as he felt the change in the surrounding power, he looked up and saw a scene that left him utterly astonished.
The Cursed Spirit, which the Miko had transformed into, returned to her original human form, while her body was actually dissipating.
The Cursed Spirit's expression was calm; she had long since possessed the desire to die. If it hadn't been for her daughter, she wouldn't have been able to hold on at all.
In her final moment of dissipation, she bowed deeply to the two of them.
Naruto and Sasuke looked at the place where the Miko had disappeared, both at a loss for words.
Suddenly, the child in his arms began to cry loudly.
“Eh, why is she crying!”
Uzumaki Naruto hurriedly tried to mimic how he had seen others in the village coaxing babies, rocking the child.
"Is she hungry?" Uzumaki Naruto, who had absolutely no experience with children, guessed.
Sasuke, who also had no experience taking care of children, thought it made a lot of sense.