Chapter 288: I’ll Kill Him

Chapter 288: Chapter 288: I’ll Kill Him

The Priestess’s spirit nodded. "Mm, you can understand it that way."

Hyuga Kagami was somewhat puzzled. "Then how did you know I would definitely come?"

The Priestess smiled. "I believed you would come—and sure enough, you did."

As Kagami put away Kusanagimaru, he casually said, "I feel guilty that I didn’t completely kill Yomi. If I hadn’t come to take a look, I wouldn’t have been able to put my mind at ease."

With that, Kagami explained to the Priestess how he had once beheaded Yomi.

The Priestess pondered for a moment before explaining, "Mōryō possesses many evil secret techniques, and even I don’t know much about many of them. Yomi was its follower, so perhaps he learned some evil secret technique from it that allowed him to escape death."

Kagami said, "I’ll kill him."

This time, there was no murderous aura radiating from Kagami. On the contrary, his tone was remarkably calm, as though he were merely stating a fact that was inevitably going to happen.

The Priestess, however, shook her head. "Although Yomi is somewhere inside this palace, there’s something very wrong with his current state. It’s extremely strange. I’m already dead. There’s no need for you to risk your life for my sake."

Kagami frowned. "There’s something wrong with his current state?!"

Without dwelling any further on Yomi, the Priestess continued, "My spirit remained here waiting for you because there are a few things I want to entrust to you. I hope you’ll agree to my request."

"What is it?"

The Priestess said, "There are a few items I’d like you to pass on to Shion for me."

Kagami nodded. "All right."

The Priestess first took out a golden crown and said, "This is the ’Priestess’s Crown.’ It will help Shion wield the Priestess’s power in the future, but you must wait until she comes of age before giving it to her."

Kagami took out a storage scroll as he accepted the Priestess’s Crown.

Holding it in his hand and examining it, Kagami discovered that the Priestess’s Crown contained an extraordinarily dense and peculiar form of energy. It resembled chakra, yet wasn’t entirely chakra.

After Kagami sealed the Priestess’s Crown into the storage scroll, the Priestess took out a small bell and handed it to him. "This is a sealing artifact I made with my own hands. I ask that you give it to Shion and make sure she keeps it with her at all times!"

Kagami still had some impression of this little bell. He vaguely remembered that it seemed capable of sealing Shion’s Priestess powers, so he asked, "This is a sealing artifact. Why does Shion need to keep it with her at all times?"

The Priestess said solemnly, "The Priestess power contained within Shion surpasses that of every Priestess before her, and it is far beyond even my own. But for someone as young as she is, such power is not a blessing—it is a disaster! As long as she keeps this sealing artifact with her, it will temporarily suppress the Priestess power within her, sparing her from being troubled by it and preventing her from accidentally hurting others."

Kagami carefully put away the bell artifact.

The Priestess then took out a scroll and a bottle of pills. "This scroll contains the sealing techniques passed down through the Priestess lineage. Please keep it safe for Shion for the time being and give it to her once she comes of age. As for this bottle, it contains three Priestess Pills. When Shion turns ten, please have her take one. The remaining two are my gift to you as thanks."

Kagami accepted the scroll and the bottle of pills before asking, "What does this pill do?"

The Priestess explained, "This is a pill that has been passed down through generations of our Priestess lineage. After taking it, it can deepen our perception of nature, allowing us to manipulate natural energy."

Kagami froze for a moment before becoming overjoyed. "You mean that just by taking one of these pills, you can manipulate natural energy?"

Being able to harness natural energy meant being able to practice senjutsu, which represented a qualitative leap in combat strength. Not only that, but one’s physical durability and regenerative abilities would also increase severalfold.

In the original timeline, among Naruto’s several major leaps in strength, aside from the Yang Power granted to him by the Sage of Six Paths at the very end—a power capable of reversing life and death and creating something from nothing—the most significant increase had come after he mastered Sage Mode.

The Priestess smiled softly and shook her head. "For someone who possesses the Priestess bloodline, after taking a Priestess Pill, there’s an eight or nine out of ten chance that they’ll be able to master natural energy. But for anyone else..."

"What about other people?"

The Priestess said, "If someone else takes a Priestess Pill, it can only heighten their perception of nature. As for whether they can ultimately master natural energy, that’s difficult to say. Here in the Land of Demons, quite a few guards have actually taken Priestess Pills, but the vast majority merely gained stronger physiques. Throughout the entire history of the Land of Demons, only a handful of people have ultimately managed to skillfully wield natural energy."

Kagami put away the pills and the scroll, then sighed. "I see. Looks like there really are no shortcuts when it comes to learning senjutsu..."

The Priestess said apologetically, "I know that a ninja as powerful as you no longer cares about money, so I didn’t prepare anything so mundane as payment. I hope you don’t mind."

Kagami opened his mouth, but for a moment, he had no idea what to say.

For someone as dirt-poor as him, what he lacked most right now was money.

Because he was broke, he had even been forced to temporarily halt his cell-fusion experiments. His Fire Release clone was still stuck as a female body to this very day.

Thud... thud...

At that moment, an unusually heavy series of footsteps came from outside the room!

Kagami frowned and turned his gaze toward the door.

However, there were simply too many sealing formulas throughout the Priestess’s palace, interfering with his vision. He could only tell from the footsteps that someone was approaching his location, but even with the Tenseigan, he couldn’t directly see the person’s appearance or pinpoint their exact position.

The Priestess hurriedly warned him, "It’s Yomi! He’s realized that you’ve infiltrated this place!"

The corner of Kagami’s mouth curled upward slightly.

"Perfect timing."

"Get out of here! I’ll hold him off!" After a brief pause, the Priestess urgently continued, "A man named Shinno has devoured Mōryō’s power. If he’s allowed to devour the Priestess power within Shion as well, he’ll gain unimaginable power. So please, I beg you—protect Shion. Don’t let anything happen to her!"

Kagami said calmly, "Don’t you want to see Shion one last time?"

The Priestess gave a bitter smile. "There isn’t much power left in my spirit. Rather than waste it on such an extravagant wish, I’d be better off using it to hold Yomi back and give you a chance to escape..."

Before the Priestess could finish speaking, Yomi arrived at the doorway and called out to Kagami inside the room, "I knew you would come. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time!"

Clearly, Yomi had not forgotten how Kagami had nearly killed him the last time they met.

The Priestess’s spirit resolutely moved in front of Kagami, shielding him. "I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold him off for long. Hurry and go. Tell Shion that I have always loved her..."

"I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you to tell her that yourself."

With that, Kagami raised both hands and slowly began forming hand seals.

In an instant, an enormous, suffocating wave of chakra erupted throughout the room...