Chapter 39: Interception

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Interception

After dealing a devastating blow to the Yomi Cult and resolving the problem of the ninja attacks, the next step—escorting the Priestess to Demon-Sealing Mountain in the Land of Swamps—could finally begin.

Before departing, the Priestess hid little Shion in a secret chamber beneath the palace.

No one knew what the Priestess had told little Shion inside the chamber, but one thing was obvious: despite Hyuga Kagami’s assurances, the Priestess was still setting out for the Land of Swamps prepared to die.

Once all the preparations were complete, Pakura of Sunagakure, wielder of the Scorch Release kekkei genkai, took the lead to clear the way.

Konoha’s ANBU Team Eleven, with their wide variety of abilities, remained close to the Priestess to protect her, while Iwagakure’s Beheading Unit, which specialized in Earth Release, brought up the rear.

Before long, the group broke through the encirclement of terracotta soldier puppets surrounding the palace and raced toward the Land of Swamps.

Along the way, the Priestess guided everyone while simultaneously sensing the demon Mōryō from afar.

Based on the Priestess’s continuous tracking, everyone was surprised to discover that the demon pursuing them was astonishingly fast. Its traveling speed was no slower than that of an elite ninja.

It was fortunate that Mōryō hadn’t appeared during their earlier battle against the Yomi Cult.

Otherwise, if it had remained stationed outside the palace barrier the entire time, their attempt to break through the encirclement would undoubtedly have been fraught with danger.

As the distance between the group and Mōryō continued to shrink, the captain of Iwagakure’s Beheading Unit finally began to lose his patience.

"Hey, we can’t keep going like this!"

And it wasn’t only the Iwa shinobi who were growing anxious.

Pakura of Sunagakure nodded as well. "If we keep burning through chakra just to stay ahead of it, I’m afraid that even if we make it to Demon-Sealing Mountain, we won’t have enough strength left to fight that monster."

Unlike the tireless Mōryō, everyone traveling at full speed was consuming an enormous amount of chakra. If they couldn’t shake Mōryō off their trail soon, continuing like this would only make the situation increasingly unfavorable for them.

As the captain of Team Eleven, Kakashi proposed, "Then let’s find a suitable place and ambush it!"

The Priestess, who was being carried on Guy’s back, thought for a moment before hesitantly saying, "I can set up a temporary sealing barrier. If it works, we might be able to trap Mōryō for a while."

Pakura replied, "Then we’ll be counting on you!"

With the plan settled, everyone immediately sprang into action.

They chose a steep canyon as the site of their interception, with a winding river flowing through the valley below.

With everyone’s assistance, the Priestess inscribed sealing formulas onto the rock walls on both sides of the canyon.

These sealing formulas were extraordinarily complex. Even someone merely glancing at them from a distance would feel a faint sense of dizziness.

Even Hyuga Kagami, despite possessing the Tenseigan, felt slightly uncomfortable when examining them closely. That alone was enough to show just how powerful these sealing formulas were.

Before long, the demon that had been pursuing them finally appeared.

Mōryō looked like some monstrous creature that was neither quite a dragon nor quite a crocodile. Its entire body was dark purple, and it constantly gave off a black mist that seemed both illusionary and real. Most of its enormous form was hidden within that mist, making it impossible to clearly discern its true appearance.

Previously, because the Priestess had erected a barrier around the palace, neither Mōryō nor its terracotta soldier puppets had been able to approach. It could only send the followers of the Yomi Cult to assault the palace and attack the Priestess.

Now that the Priestess had left the protection of the barrier, Mōryō naturally had no reason to remain on the sidelines.

"H-How can it be this huge!?"

Everyone stared upward at Mōryō’s enormous, bizarre body and cried out in shock.

Although most of its body remained concealed within the black mist, the size of its exposed head alone was enough to determine that Mōryō was comparable in scale to a tailed beast.

It was a monster in the truest sense of the word.

Pakura of Sunagakure frowned slightly. Fighting enormous opponents was not exactly her specialty.

Kakashi and Guy looked even more unsettled.

The instant they saw Mōryō, unpleasant memories surfaced in their minds. The monster before them seemed to overlap with the image of the Nine-Tails that had rampaged through the village more than half a year earlier.

There was no question that gigantic creatures such as tailed beasts or demons like Mōryō were nightmares for the overwhelming majority of ninja.

Even some shinobi who had reached Kage-level strength had no particularly effective way of dealing with monsters of such immense size.

So the group’s reaction upon seeing Mōryō was perfectly understandable.

If there were anyone present who wasn’t shocked, it would have been the Priestess, who knew something of Mōryō’s true nature, and Hyuga Kagami, who possessed vague memories from his previous life.

As for Shisui, with his Mangekyō Sharingan, he wasn’t actually all that afraid of gigantic monsters.

The problem was that he didn’t dare use his Mangekyō’s dōjutsu lightly. After all, his ocular ability was simply far too threatening. Once it was exposed, it would be difficult for Konoha’s higher-ups to tolerate his existence.

Seeing that Mōryō had entered the ambush zone, Hyuga Kagami, who had remained calm throughout, shouted,

"Now! Do it!"

Snapping back to their senses, everyone quickly composed themselves and launched the ambush according to plan.

"Earth Style: Earth Flow River!"

"Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!"

"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"

"Earth Style: Earth and Stone Flow!"

The four members of Iwagakure’s Beheading Unit, positioned along both sides of the canyon, simultaneously formed hand seals and unleashed a chained barrage of Earth Release ninjutsu.

In an instant—

Quicksand, mud, earthen walls, and stone pillars descended upon Mōryō from every direction, temporarily trapping it within the canyon.

"ROAR—!"

A soul-shaking roar erupted from Mōryō’s mouth, leaving everyone’s minds momentarily dazed.

The Priestess immediately warned them, "Everyone, be careful! Don’t get too close!"

Mōryō struggled violently and soon smashed through the stone walls pressing down on it, but for the moment, it was unable to free itself from the muddy swamp beneath it.

"Scorch Style: Extremely Steaming Murder!"

To prevent Mōryō from escaping, Pakura immediately unleashed her trump card, striking Mōryō’s head with tremendous force and driving it back down into the muddy swamp below.

At that moment, the Priestess, who had finished her preparations, began silently chanting an incantation.

As the Priestess recited the incantation, the sealing formulas inscribed along both sides of the canyon began to emit a faint glow.

Then, a barrier as thin as a cicada’s wing appeared, enveloping Mōryō within it.

Guy hurriedly asked, "Did it work?"

The Priestess weakly nodded.

Clearly, even though it was only a temporary sealing technique, maintaining it still placed a considerable burden on her.

Kakashi didn’t dare waste another moment and immediately urged everyone onward.

"Let’s go! There’s no telling how long this temporary seal will hold. We need to reach Demon-Sealing Mountain as quickly as possible!"

In an instant, everyone who had scattered around the area reassembled into their assault formation and raced toward Demon-Sealing Mountain.

Rumble... Rumble...

Thunderous crashes continued to echo from behind them.

Mōryō was clearly struggling violently against the restraints of the seal. Every time it slammed against the barrier, the entire canyon trembled along with it. The sheer magnitude of its strength was simply beyond imagination.

The Priestess, still being carried on Guy’s back, weakly warned everyone,

"Mōryō has the ability to manipulate people’s minds. Whatever you do, don’t get too close to it. Otherwise, it can easily take control of you and turn you into its puppet!"

Hearing this, everyone immediately felt their scalps go numb.

No one wanted anything to do with a monster like that.

But given the situation they were in, retreat was no longer an option...