“M-my masterpieces are gone!? W-what in blazes are you people!?”
Ittosai clutched his head while howling in despair.
“Just a cute baby and my friends.”
I said brightly.
“There’s no way a baby like you exists! C-could it be…. are you the ultimate Karakuri doll, handed down through the Hiraga clan…?! The one said to have intelligence and combat abilities that surpass those of humans. But…..was it really completed?! No, that was supposed to be mere rumor!”
Once again, someone had mistaken me for a karakuri doll.
“Ku—!”
“He’s escaping.”
I exclaimed.
“After him, at once!”
Ittosai spun on his heel and fled toward the inner chambers.
I thought he was surprisingly fast, but it appeared that he had some kind of mechanism installed in his shoes. We gave chase down a long corridor, the inventor’s figure gliding almost weightlessly ahead of us, until he burst through the door at the far end and vanished into another room.
“P-please, help me!”
The one that he cried out to for help was a ninja dressed head to toe in crimson outfit.
“A female ninja?”
“That would be a kunoichi.”
This must be the very woman the shogun had spoken of—the leader of the ninja organization itself. Even through her crimson outfit, the contours of her body were strikingly, almost wickedly, elegant.
(Kunoichi boobies appeaaaaaaaaared!)
…Wait a second. That presence I was sensing—it couldn’t be…
“So, you’ve lost?”
“They—they’re monsters! The karakuri ninjas I created were helpless before them!”
“Fufufu. They were just genin after all. Their limits were only to be expected.”
“But you— you are different! You were already the strongest before I remade you. I poured every ounce of my genius into your transformation, into making you a perfect karakuri! With you alone, we need no other ninja. Together, you and I—we could rule this world!”
Ittosai turned toward us, a triumphant grin twisting across his face.
“Kukuku… hahahahaha! This time it’s over! She—she carries the blood of the legendary ninja, Hattori Hanzo! The strongest kunoichi, leader of all the shinobi! Or so it is said—but in truth, her real identity is—mgh!?”
Ittosai’s words were cut off as the kunoichi suddenly seized him by the throat. With a single hand, she lifted him clear off the floor. His legs kicked helplessly, eyes bulging in shock.
“Huh? Are they… fighting each other now?”
I tilted my head in confusion.
Before I could make sense of it, the kunoichi tore away the cloth that had concealed her face. Her eyes gleamed crimson. Her skin had taken on a bluish hue—and from her forehead, a single sharp horn jutted forth.
“Just as I thought. A female-type demon huh.”
“Female-type?”
My companion echoed.
“Yeah. Demons don’t really have genders to begin with—but sometimes they take on forms that look like women. Those ones are called the female-type.”
The demon woman released her grip. Ittosai crumpled to the floor, gasping for breath, his earlier confidence completely shattered.
“Cough. Cough. cough…! W-what are you doing…?”
Ittosai wheezed, clutching his throat.
The woman sneered down at him, her crimson eyes glinting.
“Foolish human. Did you truly believe I would act for the sake of some petty mortal’s ambitions?”
“What—what did you say!?”
“I humored your little scheme only because I saw use in you. But now I’ve fully mastered your so-called karakuri arts. You are no longer of any value.”
So that was it—this female-type demon had only been using Ittosai to steal his karakuri techniques.
“The intellect of humans pales before mine. With me alone, the work will continue.”
She added coldly.
“Y-you… you treachero—gah!?”
Her heel flashed—and Ittosai went tumbling across the room, slamming against the wall.
“You remain as pitifully fragile as ever. Worry not—I shall personally convert your body into a fine karakuri. Then you may labor without rest, day or night, eternally serving as my obedient hands and feet. Of course, I’ll have to make a few adjustments to that brain of yours first.”
Then she turned to face me.
I sighed deeply.
“Sigh… demons are always such a letdown.”
“…What are you babbling about?”
The female demon frowned.
“It’s just—come on, you looked like a kunoichi, and you had great boobs and everything… but demon boobs are rock hard! That means they’re not real boobs at all! I actually got my hopes up for a second! Give me back my anticipation, damn it!”
The demon stared at me in blank disbelief, her expression saying, “What on earth is wrong with this human?”
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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