Night.

Dead.

In the room, the painting was moving.

The branches of the trees that spread throughout the room began to bloom with cherry blossoms.

Almost overnight, all the branches were covered with cherry blossoms.

In his sleep, Kakashi only felt a feeling of tiredness creep in his sleep.

The white fox mask on his left wrist slowly dissipated, and finally disappeared.

In a dream.

"Where is this ......?"

Kakashi was a little stunned, looking at the unfamiliar environment, he actually felt a little familiar.

It was a cherry blossom forest.

When the wind blows, cherry blossoms fall everywhere.

Fall on the side of the road, on the head.

It seems to be a sea of flowers, and the beauty makes people a little intoxicated.

The black shoes walked slowly along the cherry blossom road, and it seemed that they couldn't bear to step on the petals.

Kakashi looked around, but found nothing else.

"Dreams?"

Kakashi muttered.

But soon, he shook his head.

It seems to be a dream, but it is more real than a dream.

"There's something familiar here, like I've seen it somewhere."

Whispered, but didn't stop.

Curious, walk slowly.

It's still the endless sea of cherry blossoms.

Suddenly, Kakashi stopped.

"Here ......"

The familiar scene came to mind, and Kakashi suddenly remembered where this was.

"It's ...... The scene in that painting? ”

As soon as the words fell, the cherry blossoms that had filled the entire world disappeared in an instant.

All that was left was the dry branches.

The original color of prosperity is only a depression.

It seems that the spring scene that was still vibrant just now has become an autumn feast of decay.

The transformation of life and death seems to be only a moment.

The cherry blossom scene has been removed, and the remaining dead branches and broken trees are more in line with the previous painting.

Kakashi was sure that this was the painting.

"Dragged into the painting?"

Kakashi looked at his left wrist, where the original white fox mask was gone.

The pupils shrank, and there was a bad feeling.

At this time, a person suddenly ran over in the distance.

Dressed in a kimono, it was a young man.

"Are you there? Mimi? Are you okay coming out? I want to meet you. ”

A delicate face, a somewhat anxious tone.

Passing past Kakashi, it was as if he hadn't seen this person at all.

"Yasaka?"

Kakashi remembered the story that Miya had said, and if he hadn't guessed wrong, this person would have been Yasaka in his heart.

Memories of the past?

Or is it the story of the time?

Kakashi didn't know, he could only watch quietly.

He kind of understood.

He came here, and it seemed that he could only be a spectator.

Yasaka stood under the dead tree.

There is no trace of the withered trees.

Some are just emptiness.

Absence.

The man he wanted to see wasn't here.

Yasaka sat under the tree and let out a long sigh.

It seemed to be a little cold, and he tightened his clothes and shivered.

"Mimi, you know what? I actually knew you were a youkai for a long time. It's just that they don't want to face me, so I don't want to expose these either. ”

A gentle look appeared on Yasaka's face.

It's like talking about the person you love the most.

"Mimi, you know what? Actually, I've liked you for a long time. It's just that I've never been afraid to tell you. I'm afraid you'll run away, and I'm afraid you'll leave. It's also a very happy thing to see you every year like this. But ......"

Yasaka lowered his head, his eyes filled with this kind of regret.

"But my body can't hold it anymore. Maybe in a few days, I'll be out of this world. I...... I'm afraid I can't wait for the next flowering season. Mimi...... Can you come out and let me see me one last time? ”

Yasaka's tone was pleading, but he was destined to be disappointed because Miya wasn't here at all.

When it's not the flowering season, Miya won't be here.

Because she was afraid that when she met Yasaka, she couldn't help but want to talk to him.

Then his identity will be exposed.

It's just that they want to hide it, but they already know it.

Her so-called concerns have long been unimportant.

Yasaka leaned quietly against the trunk of the tree, his breathing became even, and he seemed to be asleep.

There was a smile on the corner of his mouth, as if he had seen the person he wanted to see in his sleep.

"If Miya knew this, she would probably be very sad. Because of his obsession, he missed the last opportunity for the two to meet. ”

Kakashi sighed, and at that moment, a dark shadow suddenly popped out from not far away.

"It's ......"

Before Kakashi could see what it was, the dark shadow had already attached itself to Yasaka's body.

Yasaka, who was still asleep, opened his eyes suddenly.

"What!"

He looked frightened, but he couldn't move.

"Hehe, I didn't expect to see humans here, you look delicious."

"You ......"

Yasaka struggled violently, but how could the sick body break free from the youkai.

Kakashi also saw the true face of the dark shadow at this time, it was a strange fish.

It looks like a combination of a fathead fish and a crocodile.

A row of teeth, extremely sharp.

Strangely, this youkai did not devour Yasaka's body, but opened its bloody mouth and swallowed Yasaka's shadow in one gulp.

Kakashi was slightly stunned.

"Shadows can be eaten, too?"

After swallowing the shadow, the youkai left contentedly.

Yasaka collapsed to the ground, and the breath of life faded away.

"Are you going to die? I didn't expect it to be so soon. Or not...... That's enough. ”

Yasaka lay quietly on the trunk of the tree and looked up at the branches.

It was as if the cherry blossoms were already in full bloom.

And in the midst of the cherry blossoms, a white arm stretched out.

"Mimi ......"

This is the last character in Yasaka's life.

Kakashi sighed leisurely, and only sighed about it.

Scene shifts.

On the other side of the cherry blossom forest, there is a man painting.

Kakashi appeared behind him.

In the painting, a cherry blossom forest is gradually taking shape.

It is in this direction that the strange fish left.

The person who painted, with an indifferent face, still sketched with the brush in his hand.

When the strange fish saw the man who painted, he was shocked.

"It's you!"

The painter chuckled.

"Shadow Crocodile, we're meeting again."

The strange fish's face was very ugly.

"What do you want to do?"

"I said you weren't allowed to eat people's shadows, it seems you've forgotten about it."

"Don't go too far! Do you think I'm really afraid of you! ”

"Oh? It seems that you haven't seen you for a few days, and your courage has become a lot bigger. Anyway, it was supposed to be your last chance, and now you don't have a chance. ”

The strange fish's face changed drastically, and he hurriedly retreated and ran away.

"Do you think you can run away?"

The painter snorted coldly, and with a slight touch of his left hand, the strange fish was frozen.

"You let go of me!"

The cry of the strange fish did not let the painter go.

With a flick of the paintbrush in his hand, black ink spots flew out and landed on the forehead of the strange fish.

The strange fish stopped moving for a moment.

The painter slowly walked over to the strange fish and patted it on the forehead.

In an instant, a black shadow flew out of the strange fish's mouth.

It was the shadow of Yasaka before.

The shadow gradually shrank and fell into the hands of the painter.

"Human, I'm so sorry that because of my relationship, you are innocently implicated. As a sign of my apologies, I will put your shadow in the painting, and one day, you will meet the person you want to meet. ”

The painter tossed the shadow lightly and threw it into the painting.

So, in that painting, there is an extra shadow behind the cherry blossom tree.

With a wave of the painter's right hand, the strange fish disappeared without a trace.

Kakashi looked at the scene in amazement.

The painter's strength was better than any youkai he had ever seen.

"Could it be that this is the legendary youkai who stepped into the realm of the gods?"

Kakashi couldn't help but make such a conjecture.

But all this doesn't matter anymore.

Kakashi already understood.

It turns out that the group photo in the painting is really Mr. Yasaka's.

And that painter should be the famous monster painter mentioned earlier.

I didn't expect the strength of this monster painter to be extraordinary.

But why does all this happen in your own dreams?

Kakashi thought something was unusual.

Especially when he found that the fox mask on his left wrist was gone.

If this is true, then the problem may become a bit troublesome.

As Kakashi pondered, everything around him dissipated like a mirror.

When I opened my eyes again, the sun was already shining in the room.

"Was it just a dream?"

Kakashi got up, and the tanuki sleeping on the futon moved after him, as if he hadn't woken up yet.

Kakashi looked at his left wrist, his pupils constricting.

"Missing ......"

The white fox mask vanished.

At this moment, Xuan and Cui exclaimed.

"Ahh

Startled, Kakashi lifted the covers and ran towards the courtyard.

"What's wrong?"

Xuan and Cui pointed somewhere.

Kakashi looked over in confusion as well.

But there was also a look of surprise.

It was a huge cherry blossom tree.

The cherry blossom trees are full of pink cherry blossoms.

"This ...... What's going on? ”

Kakashi was puzzled, but he felt that the cherry blossom tree was extremely familiar.

Seems to have just seen it in the last second.

Xuan and Cui shook their heads.

"When we woke up in the morning, we found that there was an extra cherry tree in the courtyard. This cherry blossom tree is so big that it covers this house. ”

Indeed, the huge cherry blossom tree is tall enough to be more than ten meters tall.

The house is only two floors, and the trees are a little taller than the house.

The end result is that the roof of the house is completely covered.

If you look at it from the outside, you may only see a large cherry blossom tree.

"This cherry blossom seems to be full of amazing demonic power."

Kakashi sensed it carefully, and soon discovered the problem.

Miya walked out of the room with a panicked look on her face.

"Kakashi-sama, no, that painting is gone."

Kakashi gestured to the huge cherry blossom tree.

"I guess that's right there."

Miya was stunned and looked at the huge cherry blossom tree in surprise.

"This ......"

"If I'm not mistaken, I don't know what happened to that painting last night, but it actually greatly increased the speed of absorbing demonic power. The demonic power in my body has been absorbed nine times out of ten. ”

Kakashi smiled helplessly, completely unaware that things would turn out to be the situation they are in.

The dream last night is probably also the resonance of that painting when it absorbs its own demonic power.

"How so? Aren't you ...... Kakashi-sama?"

When Mimi heard this, he felt a little guilty.

She thought it would be okay before, but she didn't expect that at this time, she actually sucked Kakashi's demonic power dry.

Kakashi shook his head and said, "Don't worry, for me, it's not a big deal, the only trouble is that the fox mask that my demonic power condensed has disappeared." This means that I will not be able to control my demonic power again. ”

"What will happen then?"

Mimi's expression looked guilty and nervous.

"It's not going to be good, it's just that sometimes humans suddenly can't see me."

Miya breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this, this didn't seem to be very serious.

Tanuki didn't know when he came out of the room.

"In that case, you're afraid you won't be able to go to school."

Kakashi had a helpless expression.

"It seems so. It seems that I am going to go back to the forest of the mountain gods and practice again. ”

"What about the school's work?"

Kakashi looked at Tanuki and smiled slyly.

The hairs on the raccoon chase instantly stood upside down.

"What do you want to do?"

"Hey, raccoon chase, aren't you going to transform? Help me go to school for a few days. ”

"I knew it wasn't going to happen. But if you go to the Forest of the Mountain Gods to practice, you can do it in a few days? ”

Tanuki's eyes were full of suspicion.

"Well, it shouldn't be too long, a month at most."

"Okay, but that's fine, when I come back, I'm going to eat the pastries you made. One month, no, two months. ”

"Okay, deal."

That's how the deal of one man and one cat was reached.

At this time, a group photo suddenly jumped from the cherry blossom tree.

Everyone was shocked.

The shadow didn't move, but leaned against the tree.

"This ...... What's going on? ”

The raccoon chased with a puzzled face, and was a little confused.

But Miya felt a little familiar.

This posture, and this dark shadow.

"That should be Mr. Yasaka's shadow."

Kakashi remembered the scene he had seen in the previous painting and spoke his assumptions.

"Mr. Yasaka?"

Miya looked at Kakashi incredulously.

"Well, I had a dream last night, and I already realized that the black shadow in the painting was the shadow of Mr. Yasaka. Now that the painting has absorbed my demonic power and become like this, I guess Mr. Yasaka's shadow has also come out with it. ”

"But...... How could Mr. Yasaka's shadow be in the painting? ”

Mimi's face was full of puzzlement.

"What I saw in my dream was a youkai called Shadow Crocodile that devoured Mr. Yasaka's shadow, which is why it became like this."

"Shadow crocodile?"

Miya muttered the name, and soon understood.

The kind of youkai that specializes in devouring the shadow of humans.

As long as the shadow is swallowed by him, humanity will surely die.

"Could it be...... Could it be that the cause of Mr. Yasaka's death ......?"

Kakashi nodded, confirming Miya's conjecture.

"Mr. Yasaka......"

Mimi looked at the shadow with distressed eyes and slowly leaned in.

Then I thought of something and jumped on the cherry blossom tree.

On the cherry blossom tree, Miya stretched out her arm.

The shadow slowly raised its head.

It's as if everything is back to the way it used to be.