Since he could control it, everything would be much easier; there was no need to stumble around blindly like groping in the dark.
Torifū stopped, which puzzled Naori and En . Had he discovered something? Just as Naori was about to ask, Torifū moved. He rapidly formed hand signs, then exhaled a cloud of chakra, which he spun in his hands to condense into a white cloud sphere.
"Torifū, what are you doing?"
Torifū smiled: "If this works, then there won't be any red mist here anymore."
En didn't ask anything; he just kept staring at the white cloud sphere in Torifū's hands. Although he hadn't yet learned to refine chakra, he already knew about the five chakra natures. Yet, all the Ninjutsu this person had used from beginning to end were incomprehensible to him. First, it was crystal, and now it was like white clouds. But even if En didn't recognize Torifū's Ninjutsu, he knew Torifū was definitely not someone to be trifled with. Too many thoughts flooded his mind, so he didn't immediately react to what Torifū had just said.
By the time he came to his senses, Torifū had already begun. The cloud sphere in Torifū's hand suddenly began to spin violently, forming a small vortex of air around him. The vortex continuously gathered the red mist and absorbed it into the cloud sphere, which expanded continuously. The cloud sphere, which had just been the size of a fist, was now as large as a basketball, and it continued to absorb the red mist and grow larger. However, even after absorbing for so long, the red mist hadn't thinned much. Torifū also found it too slow, so he generated seven or eight more cloud spheres at once to absorb the red mist simultaneously. This way, like dragons drawing water, the red mist throughout the valley surged madly towards the cloud spheres. Within a few minutes, it visibly thinned.
Even though En had remained very calm until now, seeing such a sight made him gape, his face full of astonishment. "This! This! What's happening?!"
Naori smiled and said, "Don't worry, this is his unique Ninjutsu. How could I forget that Torifū can control mist? With this, a mere red mist is naturally nothing."
"Control mist!" En hadn't expected anyone to possess such an ability! If that were the case, perhaps his clan truly had a chance to be saved! But after a brief moment of excitement, En calmed down again.
"The red mist is produced by the hot springs. Hell Valley is full of these hot springs, and the red mist will quickly fill the entire valley again." Torifū shook his head: "My Ninjutsu isn't a one-time thing. It can be used continuously for a long time."
En smiled again upon hearing this. In this way, even in the worst-case scenario, his clan members would have a long period of stable life. They might even be able to conserve their strength and, in one fell swoop, break open the cave and escape Hell Valley! And he deeply understood that the ultimate interpretation of everything lay with the boy in front of him, who was only a few years older than himself. What the future held depended entirely on today.
The absorption rate of eight or nine cloud spheres was indeed very fast. In just the time they had been chatting, the valley had already become much clearer. The red mist had also become very thin. But as the red mist thinned, it also revealed what it had been concealing.
Torifū looked around and found that they were standing amidst thousands of skeletons. Earlier, when En had merely spoken of how many dead people were here, it hadn't felt real. After all, a mere word and thousands of lives were gone, without any feeling. But now, he was truly seeing these thousands of skeletons with his own eyes. The shock was indescribable. It sent shivers down Torifū's spine. All the skeletons were blood-red, lying twisted and contorted throughout the valley, and one had even been crushed by Naori.
En was also seeing his former ancestors for the first time, and the sight left him stunned. He bowed deeply, muttering something under his breath. Torifū's shock was merely that of an onlooker, but En, being of the same bloodline, naturally felt a deeper connection.
After En stood up, the red mist finally completely dissipated. The cloud spheres had also swelled up, and then raindrops began to fall from them onto the ground, like rain. After the 'rain' finished, the cloud spheres returned to their fist-size, continuing to spin.
"Alright, let's not waste any more time. Let's go."
En nodded. His clan members must be wondering what was happening. He needed to get back quickly!
However, En had previously relied on intuition and long-term muscle memory to determine direction. Now that he could suddenly see, he felt disoriented and didn't know which way to go for a moment. Torifū reminded him, and only then did he find his bearings. Then, he led Torifū and Naori towards where his clan members were gathered.
After walking for a while, Torifū could vaguely discern signs of human habitation. The three finally stopped after passing a massive rock formation. A 'small village' appeared before Torifū and Naori's eyes. At this moment, many people outside were looking up at the sky in disbelief, some kneeling on the ground with tears streaming down their faces. Each person was sallow and emaciated, practically skin and bones. Just looking at them was heart-wrenching. Although they didn't know what was happening, the red mist had dissipated, and they could finally breathe deeply. They didn't know how long it had been since they last breathed fresh air; it was probably when they were teenagers.
Just then, a man about forty or fifty years old walked towards En. Seeing him, En immediately said, "Father, the red mist has cleared!" From his voice, one could tell that En was extremely excited, completely devoid of his previous reticent demeanor.
The middle-aged man caressed En's head: "You've lost a lot of weight. Did you make the red mist disappear?"
En repeatedly denied it, then pointed to Torifū: "He made the red mist disappear, and he also saved my life." The middle-aged man frowned upon hearing this, but then relaxed, walking unsteadily towards Torifū and saying,
"En tells me you made the red mist disappear? You are a great benefactor to our clan!" With that, he immediately moved to kneel. This caught Torifū off guard, and he quickly helped the man up.
"There's no need for that. I merely acted on impulse."
The middle-aged man sighed: "I suppose you already know about our clan."
"It's been a long time since outsiders came to Hell Valley, and I haven't been out in a long time either. I can only hear news from the outside world through En each month."
"Sometimes I felt it was better to die than live like this, but now there's hope again."