Kuroda Renji controlled the corpse with a hoarse voice: "We'll confirm the target ourselves. Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong."
"I'm not leaving just because you tell me to. If you want to stay, then stay."
"So there's nothing left to discuss?"
Shiro didn't respond. His gaze was locked on the two figures in front of him—black-robed and utterly lifeless.
They weren't particularly powerful, but there was something disturbingly unnatural about them.
Suddenly, the two surged forward at incredible speed. Their wide sleeves lifted to reveal pale hands, black nails gleaming coldly under the moonlight.
Still, speed alone wasn't enough.
He sidestepped the first strike and lashed out with a brutal kick, sending one crashing into the other.
Kuroda Renji, who was controlling the corpses, felt the backlash instantly—an immense force nearly broke his connection.
Both figures tumbled from the curtain wall and slammed into the ground below.
Shiro frowned. Their bodies didn't feel human—unnaturally hard and resilient. Even after that fall, they began to stir again.
To avoid drawing too much attention, he leapt from the curtain wall. His shadow stretched behind him like bat wings, descending in silence.
The moment he landed, the corpse under Kuroda's control lunged at him again.
Just then, another figure appeared—kagune, materializing behind the two attackers. It was clearly Eriri's doing.
With their robes now in tatters, their true forms were revealed: scarlet eyes, black hair—ghouls, without a doubt.
But something was off. Their skin was an eerie blue-grey, and their faces were void of expression—more like puppets than living beings.
Controlled corpses? he thought.
There was no time to dwell on it. One was already upon him, claws slicing through the air.
Behind him, Kagune lashed out, blocking his path of retreat. No escape.
Shiro activated his Observation Haki. The field of perception spread wide, predicting every movement.
He twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the claw strike. In the same motion, his fist—hardened with Armament Haki and turned jet-black—slammed into the corpse's chest.
Crack! The blow shattered its sternum and spine in one brutal burst of power.
The spell animating the corpse broke instantly. It crumpled to the ground like a puppet with cut strings.
Without pausing, he braced a hand against the floor and spun, landing a heavy roundhouse kick under the chin of the second corpse.
It flew into the air.
As he straightened, his right leg surged with energy. A bolt of lightning crashed down, striking the airborne corpse.
It spasmed violently, smoke curling from its charred skin, then went still.
Kuroda Renji, still linked to the corpses via his spell, felt the agony ripple through him. Blood sprayed from his mouth as his breath grew ragged.
Damn it... this guy's a monster! Where the hell did he come from?
"I need to regroup with the others—now."
He stumbled toward the door, dragging his injured body.
Standing at the doorway, bathed in shadow, was Shiro—watching him with cold, merciless eyes.
"You didn't think you could just run, did you?"
Panic gripped Kuroda. How did he track me here?! From that far away?
"This isn't about me. Tell me your purpose," Shiro said. "The Shinomiya family already relocated. Don't act like you didn't know. So why are you still here at Totsuki Resort?"
Kuroda tried to buy time. "I... I don't even know a Shinomiya Un'yō. You've got the wrong guy."
"You're not after Shinomiya Un'yō?"
"I told you—I don't know him. What would I even want with him?"
"Then what's your business here?"
"This..." He paused, pretending to weigh his options—stalling for time, looking for a way out.
But Shiro wasn't in the mood to negotiate.
In a blink, a black shadow flickered.
Kuroda screamed as one of his arms was sliced clean off at the shoulder. Blood spurted, his cries muffled by the sound-insulation barrier Shiro had set in advance.
"If you won't talk, I'll take your limbs one by one—and turn you into a human pig."
"Oh, don't know what that means? Let me educate you."
Kuroda's face went ghostly pale. As a curse master, he knew exactly what being a human pig entailed.
It wasn't just mutilation.
It was torment—slow, endless suffering, a fate worse than death.
And for the first time, he realized—
He wasn't the predator tonight.
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