Echoes of the Uchiha

The Ghost of Kappa (Part 1)

The boss of the transport team jolted awake, his face twisted in a mix of resentment and anxiety. Despite his fatigue, he didn't dare let down his guard. He quickly roused his men and headed toward where Saburo Inoshita had called out.

"It's a Kappa! A Kappa… the legendary Kappa!" gasped the returning guard, covered in blood. His voice trembled, barely coherent as he staggered back from the riverbank, torch clattering to the ground.

"He… he ate Goro."

"Kappa?" someone echoed in disbelief.

Was that even possible? Could a crocodile have done it instead? Goro… eaten?

The boss furrowed his brows, confused, but upon seeing the guard soaked in blood and terror, he didn't take any chances.

"Everyone, arm yourselves! There might be a crocodile near the river!" he barked.

"Yes, sir!" the convoy members responded, quickly retrieving any weapons they had for self-defense—hatchets, spears, axes. Primitive, but better than nothing.

These might do... the boss thought grimly, though unease gnawed at him. Not taking chances, he unlocked a hidden compartment in the cart and pulled out a shotgun.

The cold metal in his hands lent him some comfort. With a newfound sense of command, he issued orders.

"Stay close. No one goes alone. We're going to the river to investigate—now."

"What's going on?" some groggy guests muttered as they were roused from their carriages.

"One of the guards went missing. We suspect a crocodile attack."

"Crocodile?" Fear rippled among the travelers. The stories of crocodiles being dangerous man-eaters weren't unfamiliar to them.

"Please remain calm," the boss said reassuringly, lifting the shotgun for all to see. "With this, there's nothing to fear. Crocodile or not, we're prepared."

The guests visibly relaxed at the sight of the weapon. They knew what a gun could do.

"Boss!" another guard rushed back, panting and pale. "It's not a crocodile. Goro really was eaten… but it wasn't by an animal. It was the Kappa!"

The boss's expression shifted as the name sent a chill down his spine. He grabbed a torch and led the group toward the river.

And there it was.

Bathed in flickering firelight stood a creature with a turtle-like carapace, limbs like a frog's, and a grotesquely humanoid face. A shallow, saucer-like indentation on its head held stagnant water. Just like the legends.

But the blood-red smears across its face were not part of folklore.

"Boss… what now? Goro's gone. That thing ate him. Do we stay or flee?" the team murmured, terror in their voices as they instinctively backed away.

The Kappa stepped onto the shore, water dripping from its limbs. The team stumbled backward, barely restrained by the boss's presence. If he hadn't been there, they would've scattered already.

He was scared too. But as he looked at the wagons, at the cargo, and thought of the compensation owed to dead workers' families, his resolve hardened.

"So what if it's a legendary Kappa? It's still flesh and blood."

"Back in the day, swordsmen killed demons with nothing but katanas. I've got a shotgun. Why should I be afraid?"

"If anything, maybe I can sell the damn thing. Recoup some losses."

He loaded the shotgun, though clumsily, and took aim at the creature's head.

BOOM!

The shot rang out, and the Kappa's head burst open with a spray of blood.

"I hit it!" the boss shouted, triumphant. "What now, huh? A so-called legend can't survive this! This isn't the feudal age—we've got firepower now!"

But his celebration was cut short by a horrified whisper:

"Boss… it's still moving."

He turned. The Kappa was still walking toward them. Its skull, though pierced, was already knitting itself back together.

"What… what is this?" he gasped.

Panic overtook him. He fired again and again, but in his fear, the shots ricocheted off the creature's hardened shell, throwing up sparks.

"What do we do?!"

Chaos erupted. The team scattered like startled birds.

"Cowards!" the boss cursed, running after them, shotgun in hand.

"Abandon… damn it!"

"Abandon… damn it!" the Kappa echoed hoarsely, its voice guttural and unnatural, its glowing red eyes narrowing as it charged after the boss.

"Why me?! Why is it chasing me?!" the boss cried, casting frantic glances behind him.

Despite the beast's bulky shell, it moved with terrifying agility. With each leap, it bounded seven or eight meters, smashing holes into the earth with every landing.

It's over, the boss thought, despair overtaking him. I'm going to die here. My career… my future… all gone.

Just then—

"Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel!"

A blinding arc of sky-blue light spun through the air, crashing between the boss and the Kappa, flinging the creature back.

The Kappa's head rolled—cleanly severed.

Yet it twitched.

"…A demon," said a calm voice.

Uchiha Lihuo stepped into view, katana gleaming, a Nichirin blade in his hand. His expression was cold, focused.

"You… you're from the Demon Slayer Corps?" the creature wheezed, blood gurgling from its severed neck. It stared at the blade, then at Lihuo.

"Boss," Lihuo said calmly to the trembling man behind him. "Evacuate your people. Get back to the convoy. Leave this to me."

With that, he stepped forward, blade raised.

"I'm still a Tsuguko—an apprentice. I haven't passed the Final Selection yet."

The Kappa—no, the Kappa demon—let out a low, raspy chuckle.

"A mere Tsuguko… thinks he can stop me?"

"You dare interfere with my meal? Those who abandon their comrades… are mine to feast on!"

It smiled, revealing crocodilian fangs beneath its humanoid face. The muscles under its shell bulged grotesquely as it stood tall.

"Don't disappoint me like the two Demon Slayers who came before you. They showed such… beautiful despair. They abandoned their comrades to survive—yet still died by my hands."

"I hope… you scream the same way they did."