Chapter 40: Secret

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Secret

Traveling day and night without rest, the group finally arrived at their destination, Demon-Sealing Mountain, several days later.

Staring at the forbidding mountain before her, Pakura suppressed the unease welling up inside her and asked, "This godforsaken place is Demon-Sealing Mountain!?"

The priestess nodded before explaining, "Deep inside Demon-Sealing Mountain is a natural lava cavern. The lava there can suppress Mōryō’s sinister, cold chakra, making it an ideal place to seal it."

Pakura immediately asked, "Then what do we do next?"

Unlike the arrogance they had shown when they first arrived, after witnessing Mōryō’s power firsthand, neither the Sunagakure shinobi nor the Iwagakure shinobi had any trace of pride left.

All that remained was an anxious desire to finish the mission as quickly as possible.

The priestess pointed toward the cavern entrance leading directly into the depths of Demon-Sealing Mountain. "Lure Mōryō into the cavern, then seal its physical body here!"

The captain of Iwagakure’s Beheading Unit frowned in confusion. "Only its physical body?"

The priestess gave a slight nod.

"Yes. Only its physical body."

The captain of Iwagakure’s Beheading Unit voiced the question on everyone’s mind. "Why?"

"Mōryō’s power is simply too great, and its chakra is extremely corrosive. If we were to seal it whole, it would only take a few years for it to erode the seal and break free." After a brief pause, the priestess continued, "That’s why its physical body and soul must be sealed separately. Only then can we ensure that nothing goes wrong."

"Then please begin the preparations immediately!" Kakashi said before glancing into the distance. "I have a bad feeling about this. I’m afraid we don’t have much time left to set up the seal."

At that moment, Hyuga Kagami stepped forward and addressed the others. "You just need to hold the outside. I’ll handle the final sealing."

Everyone was taken aback.

Sealing Mōryō inside Demon-Sealing Mountain was arguably the most dangerous part of the entire mission. Not only the Sunagakure and Iwagakure shinobi, but even Kakashi and Guy, who were from the same village as him, looked at Hyuga Kagami in confusion.

They couldn’t understand why Hyuga Kagami would willingly take such a dangerous task upon himself.

Pakura asked in a grave voice, "What exactly do you mean by that?"

Hyuga Kagami calmly replied, "I think I’ve made myself perfectly clear. When Mōryō arrives, there’s no need for you to stop it. You only need to hold off the terracotta soldier puppets under its control. Leave everything else to me."

The captain of Iwagakure’s Beheading Unit immediately objected. "You expect me to trust a brat like you with this? Not a chance!"

Although the captain had no desire to fight a monster like Mōryō, he wanted even less for the mission to end in failure. As a result, his instinctive reaction was to reject Hyuga Kagami’s proposal.

At that moment, Shisui stepped forward as well. He bowed to everyone and said sincerely, "I’ll complete the final sealing together with him. Please rest assured. We will not fail this mission!"

Hyuga Kagami looked toward Shisui. "Thank you."

Shisui said nothing, merely giving him a gentle smile.

Pakura said coldly, "If this fails, Konoha will bear full responsibility!"

In Pakura’s eyes, if Hyuga Kagami and Shisui could remain so confident even after witnessing Mōryō’s terrifying power firsthand, there was only one possible explanation—they truly had some means of dealing with it.

As the team captain, Kakashi still had his doubts, but in the end, he chose not to voice them.

On Iwagakure’s side, seeing that both Pakura and Kakashi had agreed, the captain of the Beheading Unit wore a conflicted expression. After a moment, he finally nodded and compromised.

With the matter settled, everyone immediately began making preparations.

Hyuga Kagami, meanwhile, pulled Guy aside and quietly instructed him, "Once we enter Demon-Sealing Mountain, you are only to let Mōryō inside. No one else is allowed to enter—not you, not even Kakashi. Understand?"

Guy looked puzzled. "Why?"

"I’ll explain it to you later. For now, you just need to remember what I said."

Guy anxiously protested, "But what if something happens to you in there? Are we supposed to just stand outside and watch!?"

Hyuga Kagami calmly replied, "If Shisui and I can’t handle it, then coming inside would only get the rest of you killed."

"Kagami, you have to trust your comrades! Even if I’m not strong enough to help you, Kakashi is really powerful! If it’s him, I’m sure he’ll find some way to help you!"

"It’s precisely because I trust you that I’m leaving the entrance in your hands. You don’t seriously think holding off those terracotta soldier puppets will be easy, do you?" Hyuga Kagami smiled briefly before his expression turned serious. "Remember what I said. Other than Mōryō, no one is allowed inside. If necessary, use the Eight Gates technique."

Seeing how serious Hyuga Kagami was, Guy could only nod. "I promise!"

After receiving Guy’s assurance, Hyuga Kagami, Shisui, and the priestess entered the depths of Demon-Sealing Mountain together.

Inside the dim cavern, Hyuga Kagami asked the priestess, "How long will it take to prepare the seal?"

The priestess seemed to have already considered the question and immediately replied, "Setting up the sealing formula itself won’t take very long. But activating the seal will require at least fifteen minutes. Perhaps... perhaps even longer!"

Hyuga Kagami frowned slightly. "In other words, we’ll need to keep Mōryō under control for at least fifteen minutes?"

The priestess nodded solemnly.

Even she wasn’t certain whether Hyuga Kagami and Shisui could restrain Mōryō for fifteen whole minutes. That was why, before coming to Demon-Sealing Mountain, she had already prepared herself to perish together with the monster if necessary.

At this moment, the only person she still couldn’t let go of was her daughter, Shion.

Hearing this, Shisui gritted his teeth. "Senpai, leave those fifteen minutes to me!"

Hyuga Kagami shook his head. "You’re not even twelve years old yet. If you overuse your ocular power, your body won’t be able to withstand the strain."

Shisui’s strength lay primarily in his dōjutsu. In terms of physical constitution alone, he was only somewhat above the Uchiha clan’s average and could hardly be considered exceptional.

Moreover, he was still young and his body had yet to fully mature. As a result, in terms of chakra reserves alone, he had only barely reached the level of an ordinary jōnin, leaving him noticeably behind Hyuga Kagami.

Shisui still wanted to argue. "But..."

Before he could finish, Hyuga Kagami interrupted him. "I already have a plan. You only need to handle the initial suppression. Leave everything after that to me."

The priestess, standing nearby, thought for a moment before saying, "I may be able to buy us some time."

Hyuga Kagami asked, "How?"

The priestess hesitated for a moment before finally letting out a sigh. "Actually, the monster Mōryō has certain ties to the lineage of priestesses from the Land of Demons. If I had to put it into words... it could even be considered a part of me."

Shisui’s eyes widened. "This..."

Hyuga Kagami, on the other hand, wasn’t particularly surprised.

Although he couldn’t clearly remember the details surrounding the connection between the priestesses of the Land of Demons and the monster Mōryō, he vaguely recalled that there was some hidden relationship between the two.

Otherwise, Mōryō wouldn’t have been so relentlessly fixated on the priestess, pursuing her all the way from the Land of Demons to the Land of Swamps.

After revealing the secret she had kept buried in her heart, the priestess seemed considerably more at ease. She then knelt before Hyuga Kagami and Shisui, bowing deeply.

"I am truly ashamed that all of this happened because of us..."