Chapter 43: Sealing

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Sealing

Outside the cavern of Demon-Sealing Mountain.

"Scorch Style: Extremely Steaming Murder!"

Accompanied by the hissing sound of steam, countless warrior-puppet soldiers within the billowing mist began to crack and dry out.

The cracks spread wider and wider until, at last, every puppet crumbled into a pile of sand and gravel.

Yet Pakura of the Sand paid little attention to the results of her attack. Her face was pale, and her brows were tightly furrowed.

On the other side, after using Earth Release to temporarily immobilize a large group of warrior-puppet soldiers, the captain of Iwagakure’s Beheading Unit turned around and stared solemnly at the entrance of the cavern.

Ever since that monster had charged into the cave, thunderous crashes had been echoing continuously from within.

Even from outside, he could imagine just how fierce the battle raging inside must be.

At the cavern entrance.

After using explosive tags to temporarily drive back several warrior-puppet soldiers, Kakashi retreated to Guy’s side and asked anxiously, "Guy, are those two really going to be okay?"

Guy nodded.

"I believe in Kagami!"

Rumble...

No sooner had Guy finished speaking than another tremendous crash erupted from within the cavern.

Along with the deafening noise came a sinister chakra so evil that it sent chills down one’s spine!

Kakashi immediately turned toward the cavern, and the Sharingan that Obito had given him began to spin.

Through the Sharingan’s vision, Moryo’s evil chakra seemed almost tangible. It was so immense that the cavern itself appeared unable to contain it, spilling out through the rocky passageways and surging all the way outside.

Wiping the fine sweat from his temples, Kakashi couldn’t help thinking to himself, "Facing a monster like that head-on inside the cavern... they’re definitely going to die!"

Inside the cavern.

Hovering in midair, Hyuga Kagami called out to Shisui, "Leave the rest to me!"

Shisui nodded and dismissed his Susanoo.

Only a few minutes had passed from the moment he activated it to the moment he released it, yet he was already breathing somewhat heavily. Clearly, awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan at such a young age was not necessarily a good thing.

Without Susanoo assisting from the side, Moryo’s struggles immediately became even more violent.

Having failed twice in succession to use its secret techniques, Moryo’s pride had taken a severe blow. Without even realizing it, those failures had begun to shake its confidence in itself.

By now, it had already realized that both Hyuga Kagami and Shisui were powerful shinobi possessing strange dōjutsu kekkei genkai.

Their eyes in particular...

For some reason, just looking at them filled Moryo with unease from the very depths of its being.

In the past, something like this would have been unimaginable!

In truth, from the moment Shisui activated Susanoo, Moryo had been completely dumbfounded.

With its limited understanding of the highest levels of power in the shinobi world, it had never imagined that it could find itself in such a perilous situation. The string of developments that followed only threw it further into panic.

Only now did it finally realize with absolute clarity that the Yomi Cult, which worshiped it, was nothing more than an insignificant faction in the shinobi world.

Using the Yomi Cult’s strength as a benchmark for the strength of the entire shinobi world had been a colossal mistake.

As for the Third Kazekage human puppet hovering beside Hyuga Kagami, Moryo had long since realized that it was merely a soulless puppet.

It had even tried to forcibly seize control of the Third Kazekage human puppet, only for its power to be repelled by the Tenseigan chakra within the puppet.

Two powerful dōjutsu kekkei genkai shinobi whose true capabilities it knew nothing about, coupled with a Priestess of the Land of Demons who was its natural nemesis...

No matter how arrogant Moryo was, even it understood that the situation had become extremely unfavorable.

If it didn’t find a way to escape now, then it truly would be unable to avoid the fate of being sealed away.

Faced with Moryo’s almost frenzied struggles, Hyuga Kagami remained cold and composed.

He had already brought out his trump card, the Third Kazekage human puppet, so naturally there was no longer any reason to conserve chakra.

No matter how many iron spears Moryo managed to break free from, an endless stream of replacements would immediately take their place, firmly pinning it where it stood.

"Damn you!"

As more and more iron pillars pierced into its body, Moryo let out an unwilling roar.

With Hyuga Kagami pouring his Tenseigan chakra into it at full force, the Third Kazekage human puppet’s combat power was nearly equal to that of the Third Kazekage when he was still alive.

The Third Kazekage, hailed as the "Strongest Kazekage," was also one of the Kage-level shinobi particularly well-suited to dealing with gigantic monsters.

So if all he needed to do was suppress Moryo for a short while, it wasn’t especially difficult.

Time passed, second by second.

Before long, the Priestess’s sealing formation finally began to activate.

In an instant, the sealing formulas spread throughout the cavern all began emitting a faint glow.

Those countless glimmers converged together, growing brighter and brighter until, at last, they seemed to transform into a dazzling sun!

Sensing an overwhelming threat, Moryo began struggling with even greater madness, no longer caring even if it tore its own body apart in the process.

Rumble...!

For a time, the entire cavern shook violently, as though the earth itself were turning upside down. The iron spears restraining Moryo shattered one after another.

Hyuga Kagami steeled his heart and made his decision.

Things had already come this far. There was no way he would give Moryo even the slightest chance to turn the tables!

Casting all other concerns aside, he poured nearly every last bit of chakra in his body into the Third Kazekage human puppet.

The shattered iron sand immediately transformed once more into countless razor-sharp iron spears, viciously piercing into Moryo’s body!

Shisui wanted to step forward and help as well, but the moment he raised his leg, his knees gave way beneath him and he collapsed to the ground.

Using Susanoo just now had consumed far too much of his chakra.

He hadn’t noticed it before, but when he tried to activate Susanoo again, he suddenly realized that his body had already reached its limit.

At that moment, the Priestess finally finished reciting the lengthy incantation.

She slowly rose to her feet, extended one arm toward Moryo, and shouted softly,

"Sealing Technique—Activate!"

The dazzling sphere of light, as brilliant as the sun itself, slowly drifted toward Moryo.

"No!"

Moryo struggled desperately, wailing in terror.

Pfft—

Hovering in midair, Hyuga Kagami suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Moryo’s final struggle had been far too violent. Even after exhausting every last bit of chakra in his body, Kagami was still struggling to suppress it.

Left with no other choice, he activated the Body Regeneration Secret Art, forcibly squeezing out a little more chakra from the newly regenerated cells.

At last, the sphere of light descended upon Moryo’s head.

Accompanied by one final unwilling howl, Moryo’s enormous body rapidly shriveled and weakened like a balloon losing its air.

The Priestess then formed several more complicated hand seals.

The dazzling sphere of light immediately transformed into a curtain of light covered in intricate sealing formulas.

Like layers of cloth, the luminous curtain wrapped itself around Moryo’s massive, shriveled body, layer after layer.

Finally, when all the light faded away, a gigantic cocoon wrapped in white cloth covered with sealing formulas slowly descended to the ground before Hyuga Kagami and Shisui.

Still sitting on the ground, Shisui’s face lit up with joy.

"Did we succeed?"

Suddenly, a stream of dark-purple chakra, thick and viscous like sludge, burst out from a crack in the ground.

The sinister chakra that had suddenly emerged didn’t attack anyone inside the cavern.

Instead, it fled frantically toward the cavern entrance!

There was no doubt about it.

At the moment its physical body was sealed by the Priestess, Moryo’s soul had slipped free from its shell and hidden itself within the cracks beneath the rocky ground, allowing it to evade the Priestess’s sealing technique.

And now, taking advantage of the brief moment when everyone had relaxed after successfully sealing its body, it was attempting to make its escape...