*Chapter 271: A Body That Can Perfectly Contain Senjutsu*

Creak, creak.

Orochimaru had just bound one of the demons, but immediately, two more identical ones popped up around him.

"Hmm?"

Orochimaru glanced at the demon he had captured, then at the two that surrounded him.

All three were exactly the same, even down to their attire.

This surprised Orochimaru, and a smile crept onto his face.

"It seems you're not triplets after all. This must be because of your ability, right?"

"This is even more peculiar than the Devil Fruits from the sea. I didn't expect such a power."

"Indeed, you creatures are worth studying. Once I obtain the formula that turned you into demons, I’ll personally refine it!"

Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with greed. These demons could split into three and even possessed an ability similar to a special space technique. Their value was constantly rising in his eyes.

The Demon King was still out of his reach for now, but capturing these demons would be a good start.

Creak, creak.

One of the demons ground its teeth in anger, clearly infuriated by Orochimaru.

They were used to hunting others—since when had they become the hunted?

They had already ravaged several villages, devouring countless young girls to grow this strong.

Their whole purpose was to hunt others, not the other way around.

And now this man dared to stand before them!

Thud!

Before they could react, several giant pythons wrapped themselves around them.

The two demons' eyes flared red as they prepared to tear the snakes apart.

Chomp!

The serpents sank their fangs into the demons' necks, injecting venom into their bodies, leaving behind three comma-shaped marks.

Cursed marks spread rapidly across their bodies, covering them in an instant.

"As I thought, even when injected with Senjutsu chakra, their bodies cannot be eroded!"

"Their bodies heal too quickly. Senjutsu can suppress them but cannot kill them."

Orochimaru stepped closer, placing his finger on one of the cursed marks.

He could feel their cells constantly regenerating under the immense power of the Senjutsu chakra.

These demons were the perfect test subjects for Senjutsu! With some adjustments, his Senjutsu chakra could grow even stronger.

By combining it with the bloodline of the Lunarians from the sea, he could create a body capable of perfectly containing Senjutsu.

Even more perfect than the body of a Snake Sage.

That was what he truly desired.

"Orochimaru-sama, these demons seem weak," a nearby ninja commented.

"According to Lord Raijin, the stronger demons have numbers in their eyes. They’re even classified into Upper and Lower Ranks."

The ninja pried open the demons' eyelids and frowned. These lower-ranked demons held little value to them.

It would be better to interrogate them for information first!

Orochimaru chuckled. "To you, they may be worthless, but to me, they are the perfect specimens."

"Unfortunately, they're missing something, which is why they fear sunlight. If that flaw can be corrected, they could become perfect beings."

"Take them away. After this, you no longer need to follow me. Go and capture other demons with special abilities. Bring me as many as you can."

Orochimaru glanced disdainfully at the ninja beside him. These people only knew how to fight and kill, lacking the intellectual curiosity he valued.

So, he didn’t bother explaining further.

"Yes!"

The two ninjas exchanged glances and nodded. They then noticed a girl hiding nearby.

She had seen everything. If she remained here...

They frowned, their hands instinctively moving to the kunai strapped to their belts.

"You..."

The girl took a step back, glancing at Orochimaru before rushing to hide behind him, clutching his cloak in fear despite her dread of the snakes surrounding him.

Even though she was blind, she could sense their ill intent.

"Take her too. Isn’t Lord Raijin looking for a bride for one of the Uchiha children?"

"We’ll send her to him. I’m sure Lord Raijin will be pleased."

Orochimaru licked his lips and smiled darkly.

Many young Uchiha were still unmarried.

Some of them were quite picky, but they could use the girl to strengthen the forces of Dressrosa.

"Yes!"

The two ninjas were impressed by Orochimaru’s cunning. If they also followed his example, they too might be rewarded by Lord Raijin.

The Uchiha marrying three wives each? No!

Why not ten or twenty?

They couldn’t let this chance to earn merit pass by.

After all, Dressrosa had already developed the gene factor.

The importance of bloodlines had diminished, and obtaining unique abilities or bloodline limits was as simple as filing a request.

Family secret techniques were no longer so fiercely guarded.

Dressrosa wasn’t like Konoha, where one had to earn merit to acquire a jutsu.

In Dressrosa, almost all non-dangerous jutsu were available to everyone.

Orochimaru noticed the eagerness in their eyes and realized he might have caused a misunderstanding.

But he didn’t mind. It wasn’t a bad thing, after all.

It would even help lighten Lord Raijin's burden a bit.

And besides...

Even if these ninjas only focused on capturing, they could still be useful.

Whoosh!

Orochimaru grabbed the girl, and the two ninjas seized the demons, quickly heading toward the floating fortress.

"So, these are demons? They don’t seem like much, but their regeneration is impressive," Smoothie remarked, grabbing one of the demons with one hand.

She produced a wine glass from somewhere and twisted the demon like a rag.

Drip!

Liquid began to separate from the demon's body as it visibly aged, shriveling up before collapsing to the ground, on the verge of death.

It seemed Smoothie had extracted every drop of its essence.

"If you drink that, Smoothie, will you turn into a demon too?" Perospero asked, eyeing the blood-red liquid in her glass.

"It’s impossible. I’ve only extracted the most essential part of its body."

"According to Minato, as long as you don’t drink the blood of the progenitor demon, you won’t transform."

Smoothie chuckled and took a sip from the glass, then immediately wrinkled her nose.

"The blood taste is too strong! And there's a strange aftertaste! I don't like it."

Smudge's face darkened as he grabbed the chain and tied up the ghost, dragging it behind him.

As for whether the ghost would die along the way, they didn’t care at all.

There were ghosts everywhere. If this one died, they’d just catch another.

Smudge had already discussed things with Perospero.

They could only take five at most!

So, they had to be very selective when choosing.

The ones they brought back would be a gift for their mother.

After all, in a place like this…

Smudge glanced at the ruined village—it was unbelievably poor.

If Mom came back again, there would probably be another riot.

But this time, no one would offer her any food.

The riot would likely destroy this entire island.

"Didn’t that pretty boy say there were higher-level ghosts here? Let’s capture him first."

"If we manage to bring back a few Twelve Demon Moons, Mom’s sure to be pleased."

"Calling them that… Who do they think they are?"

Perospero smirked, excitement glinting in his eyes.

At least this trip wouldn’t be for nothing.

Swish!

A sharp blade sliced through the air, instantly piercing the heart of the ghost being dragged behind them.

"Perospero, I don’t like how you’re calling Minato."

"That man did defeat Jack of the Beasts Pirates, after all. He’s got some real strength."

"Calling him a pretty boy? Don’t you think that’s a bit cruel?"

Smudge frowned as she spoke.

"Oh? Don’t tell me you’ve taken a liking to Minato? Didn’t he say he’s single?"

"If we can recruit someone that powerful for Totto Land, I’m sure Mom wouldn’t mind him marrying into the family."

"As long as he’s strong enough, everything else is negotiable. He could even replace one of the former Sweet Commanders."

Perospero hadn’t expected his sister to be interested in that man.

He wasn’t too fond of handsome men himself.

After all, out at sea, power was everything—looks didn’t matter.

"We’ll talk about this later!"

Smudge’s face flushed, and she became a bit embarrassed, not saying anything more on the topic.

"Ugh..."

The ghost dragged behind Smudge gasped heavily.

The woman in front of him was terrifying.

"While you investigate the Twelve Demon Moons and the Demon Slayer Corps, make sure to grab any unmarried girls you find along the way."

"The last time I brought back some girls, Lord Raijin even praised me! Don’t forget Dressrosa’s policy—there are still some young Uchiha men who haven’t married."

The ninja following Orochimaru began relaying the orders.

There was no way he could bring back so many people alone.

But once he spread the word, everyone would take action.

In the end, he’d still get some credit.

Suddenly!

The ninja force Raijin had brought with him had a new mission.

With great speed, they began searching for unmarried girls, preparing to take them to the sky fortress.

Orochimaru liked abducting people.

But these ninjas preferred to leave no loose ends, wiping out entire families if necessary.

They began a large-scale search for girls, taking them to the fortress.

"Recently, a lot of people have gone missing! And they’re all young girls!"

"It must be Kibutsuji Muzan creating a new monster! Be careful."

The widespread disappearance of girls had caught the attention of the Hashira.

Even if they wanted to ignore it, it was impossible—the news of missing girls was everywhere they went.

In just a few days, over a hundred people had gone missing—vanished without a trace, neither alive nor dead.

"Let me investigate."

Giyu Tomioka spoke up.

This level of disappearance couldn’t be the work of an ordinary opponent.

If they sent regular Demon Slayers, they’d be marching to their deaths.

"Alright! Be careful."

The man with a decaying face nodded silently.

The demons were becoming more active, and the Demon Slayer Corps was losing members.

But they still hadn’t killed many Twelve Demon Moons.

So far, they hadn’t even found any clues about the Upper Moons.

They could only hope that, by tracking this frequent demon activity, they’d find something useful.

"I’ll go too!"

Shinobu Kocho spoke up, her face soft and smiling.

"If they’re targeting girls, I should be a suitable target. I hope to lure them out."

Shinobu said quietly.

The others frowned, surprised that she planned to use herself as bait.

But if the opponent was a Lower Moon or stronger, they’d probably recognize Shinobu as a Hashira immediately.

"Fine, you can go. I’ll share all the information we have about where they’ve appeared."

The man didn’t refuse and agreed to let her go.

The rest of the Hashira meeting was spent on various instructions.

Afterward, everyone left, leaving only Giyu Tomioka and Shinobu Kocho.

"Who would’ve thought you’d want to go, Mr. Tomioka? But be careful!"

"I’ve noticed they might not be demons—they seem to be a group investigating us."

"Even Kanao and Aoi Kanzaki were captured! Several people saw it happen."

Shinobu’s smile remained gentle.

"Your successor?"

Giyu immediately remembered the girl who had followed Shinobu after passing the final selection.

She had become Shinobu’s successor and was quite strong.

But she had been captured, too.

"Yes! So, be careful! We still don’t know who those people are."

"They’re very strong, each of them with Hashira-level strength."

Shinobu warned, then turned and left.

She had already investigated but hadn’t given the full details to the Master.

Because she had discovered that these people were also capturing demons!

Yes!

They were capturing demons, not killing them.

With the Master’s approval, they had decided to make contact with them.

If they could communicate, that would be ideal.

(End of Chapter)