Chapter 41: Don’t Space Out

Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Don’t Space Out

Hyuga Kagami sighed, then stepped forward and helped the remorseful priestess to her feet.

"Now isn’t the time for repentance. Once we’ve sealed Mōryō away, you’ll have all the time you need to atone for what you’ve done."

The priestess silently nodded.

After exchanging a glance with Shisui, Hyuga Kagami said to her, "The two of us may have to use forbidden techniques later. I hope you can keep what you see here a secret and not let word of our techniques get out."

The priestess gave them an exceedingly solemn promise.

"Please rest assured. I swear I won’t reveal anything about either of you to anyone!"

With everything out in the open, the last barrier between the three of them disappeared.

The priestess immediately busied herself setting up the sealing formation, while Hyuga Kagami and Shisui began searching the cavern for a suitable place to fight.

The interior of Demon-Sealing Mountain was an exceedingly treacherous place. Boiling lava could be found everywhere, and the slightest misstep could send someone plunging into the molten rock, leaving not even a corpse behind.

Fighting here meant that their enemy wasn’t the only danger they had to contend with.

The harsh and complicated terrain itself was just as deadly.

The priestess seemed to have been here before. She moved skillfully back and forth above the lava, laying down one intricate and abstruse sealing formula after another.

After carefully surveying their surroundings with his Tenseigan, Hyuga Kagami reminded Shisui beside him, "The ground inside the mountain doesn’t seem very solid. Once the fighting starts, we’ll have to be especially careful."

Shisui nodded.

His Sharingan was already activated as well, the three tomoe slowly revolving within his eyes as he carefully examined the surrounding terrain with his visual prowess.

While Hyuga Kagami and Shisui chatted intermittently, the priestess seemed to have finished setting up her sealing formation.

Looking at the sealing formulas discreetly arranged throughout the mountain’s interior, Hyuga Kagami sincerely praised, "Your sealing techniques truly are remarkable, Lady Priestess!"

Shisui nodded in agreement. "The sealing techniques of the Land of Demons’ priestesses were once considered on par with those of the Uzumaki Clan of the Land of Whirlpools. Now that the Uzumaki Clan is gone, when it comes to sealing techniques alone, the priestesses of the Land of Demons are probably the most renowned in the entire shinobi world."

As though something had suddenly occurred to him, Shisui’s enthusiasm faded.

"Being too famous isn’t necessarily a good thing either."

The Uchiha Clan was a perfect example.

Their reputation was simply too great, causing one generation after another of their clansmen to become arrogant and overbearing, looking down on everyone around them. They had always struggled to fit in with the village, ultimately leaving the clan trapped in its current awkward predicament, unable to advance or retreat.

Seeing just how accomplished the priestess was in sealing techniques, Hyuga Kagami’s thoughts had already drifted toward his artificial tailed beast project.

In the research materials Orochimaru had given him on artificial tailed beasts, sealing formulas accounted for more than seventy percent of all the techniques involved.

It could be said that without sufficient mastery of sealing techniques, creating an artificial tailed beast was simply impossible.

And for Hyuga Kagami, sealing techniques were undoubtedly one of his greatest weaknesses.

Therefore, in his eyes, the priestess of the Land of Demons had already transformed into a veritable treasure trove.

However, the priestess of the Land of Demons enjoyed considerable prestige among the surrounding nations. If Hyuga Kagami wanted to learn sealing techniques from her, he would have to be very careful about how he approached the matter. Otherwise, it could easily spark a diplomatic incident.

Thinking of this led Hyuga Kagami even further down that train of thought.

According to the research materials on artificial tailed beasts, the village’s design relied on sealing techniques from the Uzumaki lineage.

Although the Uzumaki Clan’s accomplishments in sealing techniques were extraordinarily high, two heads were always better than one. If the sealing techniques passed down through the priestesses of the Land of Demons could be incorporated into the artificial tailed beast’s formula, allowing the two schools of sealing techniques to complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses, perhaps it would produce some unexpected results.

Just as Hyuga Kagami’s imagination began to run wild, the ground beneath his feet suddenly trembled.

Rumble...

At the same time, countless fragments of rock fell from the cavern ceiling.

Seated in the center of the sealing formation, the priestess shouted, "It’s here!"

Hyuga Kagami and Shisui exchanged a glance before each finding a place to conceal themselves.

Before long, accompanied by a deafening series of rumbles, Mōryō’s enormous body surged into the heart of Demon-Sealing Mountain like a raging flash flood.

"Miroku, you should not have rejected me!"

Mōryō’s massive body nearly blocked the entire cavern entrance as it arched upward, its deep voice sounding as though it had risen from the depths of the underworld itself.

The priestess remained silent for a moment before shaking her head.

"No. You’re the one who was wrong!"

Mōryō slowly approached her, its voice filled with temptation.

"Become one with me! With your power added to mine, no one will be able to stand against us. The entire world will grovel at our feet!"

"That would only bring endless calamity to the world. And in the end, both of us would fall into an abyss from which there would be no return."

In order to buy more time, the priestess deliberately softened her tone, making her refusal sound less resolute than before.

Seeing this, Mōryō did not attack immediately. Instead, it demanded loudly, "What exactly are you afraid of? You should know perfectly well that once you and I become one, there will be no power in this world capable of opposing us! Those so-called shinobi and samurai are nothing but ants. They aren’t even worth our attention!"

The priestess shook her head. "You’re far too arrogant!"

"Arrogant!?"

Mōryō gave a heavy snort and roared angrily, "You’re the ignorant one! You’ve forgotten what noble beings we are! You’ve even forgotten that we once were— No! What are you doing?!"

Halfway through its words, Mōryō suddenly sensed a dangerous presence within the cavern.

Their deception had been exposed.

The priestess could no longer stall for time, so Hyuga Kagami and Shisui immediately burst out from their hiding places.

Before Mōryō could react, Hyuga Kagami shouted, "Now!"

At Hyuga Kagami’s command, Shisui, whose eyes had been tightly shut, abruptly opened them.

The three tomoe within his Sharingan rapidly merged together, transforming into a Mangekyō pattern resembling a four-bladed shuriken.

"Susanoo!"

With Shisui’s low shout, an emerald-green Susanoo erupted from his body, towering between the priestess and Mōryō.

In that instant, both the priestess and Mōryō were stunned by the sight before them.

Clearly, neither of them had expected that the small, slender kid wearing a cat-faced mask could unleash such an imposing technique. And from the aura alone, they could tell that this Susanoo was not something to be trifled with!

Maintaining Susanoo placed an enormous burden on Shisui in his current state, so he didn’t dare waste even a second. He immediately controlled the Susanoo to spread its arms, grabbing Mōryō from both ends and pinning its massive body firmly in place.

Mōryō flew into a rage and roared, "You insignificant human! How dare you—"

Boom!

At that moment, a gigantic iron spear descended from above and viciously impaled Mōryō through the mouth, cutting off its furious roar!

The priestess stared dumbfoundedly at Hyuga Kagami in midair.

At this moment, Hyuga Kagami was standing atop a mass of iron sand, hovering in the air. Beside him floated an unfamiliar ninja whose entire body was wrapped in bandages, a pair of iron wings extending from his back.

Glancing at the somewhat dazed priestess, Hyuga Kagami said calmly, "Your Highness, don’t just stand there spacing out."