Chapter 395: The Land of Demons
The next day, Ishiro took Katsumata, Natsuki, and the Gedo Statue fragment and flew away from Iwagakure.
The capital city of the Land of Demons.
To show respect, Ishiro did not fly directly into the capital but chose to land at a distance and walk.
Ishiro, leading Katsumata, Natsuki, and the two little Tailed Beasts, walked into the capital city, immediately drawing the stares of the civilians. Although Ishiro was not wearing his flamboyant Tsuchikage cloak, the Iwagakure forehead protectors on the three of them still announced their identity as ninja. Coupled with the two strangely shaped ninja beasts, it naturally instilled a sense of fear in the people.
Not long after Ishiro's group entered the capital, a team of guards appeared before them.
The leader bowed to Ishiro and asked, "I am Tōei, the leader of the Priestess's guard. May I ask if you are the honored Lord Tsuchikage of Iwagakure?"
"I am Ishiro," he replied with a nod.
The guard leader named Tōei hurriedly said, "Lord Tsuchikage, this way, please. Lady Priestess and your village's Advisor Megumi are at the Priestess's residence."
Ishiro nodded. "Thank you."
Under Tōei's guidance, the party smoothly arrived at the entrance of the Priestess's residence. There, the current Priestess, Miroku, holding the future Priestess from the original story, Shion, was standing with Megumi to welcome Ishiro.
Ishiro quickened his pace and was the first to speak. "Ishiro of Iwagakure pays his respects to Lady Priestess."
Miroku said, "Lord Tsuchikage is too kind. Please, come in."
After a round of pleasantries, Ishiro got straight to business. "Lady Priestess, Megumi should have already made my intentions clear to you. I wonder if you have a definite answer?"
Priestess Miroku nodded. "Just as I told Advisor Megumi before, if Lord Tsuchikage can help us completely resolve the matter of Mōryō, then we, the Land of Demons, are willing to follow the example of the Land of Snow and agree to Iwagakure establishing a branch here."
Ishiro nodded. "I understand."
After a pause, he added, "As far as I know, Mōryō and the Priestess are one and the same. Mōryō is the soul, and the Priestess is the body. Is that correct?"
Priestess Miroku's body trembled. Little Shion, who was climbing on her knee, looked up strangely at her mother, then turned her curious gaze to the two little Tailed Beasts beside Ishiro. Little Saiken and Little Chōmei were also looking at Little Shion. If not for the serious atmosphere, the two of them would have already run over to her.
Taking a deep breath, Miroku was both shocked and filled with a little anticipation upon hearing Ishiro's words. She was shocked that he knew this secret, which was only known to the successive Priestesses. She was expectant that since he knew this secret and still dared to propose annexing the Land of Demons, perhaps he really did have a way.
So, Miroku asked, "Lord Tsuchikage is correct. Mōryō and the Priestess are one and the same. The so-called 'sealing' is just using the power of the same origin to suppress Mōryō. And the price of sealing Mōryō each time is the Priestess's life."
Megumi, at the side, was stunned. Neither Ishiro nor the Priestess had told her any of this. She had thought Mōryō was just a monster similar to a Tailed Beast. It turned out there was this kind of relationship between Mōryō and the Priestess. No wonder sealing it was the Priestess's mission. But how does Master Ishiro know all this?
Megumi suddenly remembered the situation when she had first met Priestess Miroku. Miroku had not welcomed her arrival and had only received her politely out of diplomatic courtesy. When she had proposed Iwagakure's idea, Miroku had directly refused.
But when Megumi relayed a sentence from Ishiro, Miroku had hesitated.
Megumi clearly remembered Ishiro's words: "Little Megumi, if the current Priestess doesn't agree, ask her: Does she want her daughter to face the same choice in the future?"
Megumi hadn't known the deep meaning of these words and had just repeated them verbatim. Who would have thought that after hearing this sentence, Miroku's originally firm attitude would immediately vanish, and she would become indecisive. After that, Miroku had invited Megumi to stay. Her expression and tone clearly showed that she was struggling.
After about another month, Miroku finally made up her mind and agreed to Iwagakure's request.
Now, Megumi understood a little. If Miroku could not completely solve the problem of Mōryō, then this responsibility would fall on the cute little princess beside her.
Ishiro nodded. "Lady Priestess, since we have reached a consensus, our interests are aligned from now on. I will do my best to seal Mōryō, and I hope you will cooperate with all your strength."
"How does Lord Tsuchikage require my cooperation?" Miroku asked.
"I need all of the Land of Demons' data on Mōryō, as well as all the information related to the sealing jutsu of the Priestess's lineage. Later, when we seal Mōryō, I will likely also need to use your power as the Priestess," Ishiro replied.
Miroku hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement. If they could completely solve the problem of Mōryō, then none of these things would have any meaning anymore.
However, when Miroku had people bring out box after box of books, Ishiro was dumbfounded. He swallowed and said in disbelief, "So many?"
Miroku sighed. "Our Priestess lineage has been sealing Mōryō for many generations. These are all the materials left by the successive Priestesses. Inside are their training methods and insights, as well as all the intelligence on Mōryō."
Ishiro nodded, then began to sort through the books with his disciples. Megumi hadn't come alone this time either; she had brought her second batch of three disciples. The four of them, along with Ishiro, Natsuki, and Katsumata, sorted through the materials together.
Miroku did not stand by and watch but came forward to help everyone study the data.
Ishiro was very skilled at handling a large volume of documents. After a simple categorization, he gave the content related to Mōryō, or rather, Yin Release, to Katsumata and Natsuki. He gave the content related to the Priestesses' training to Megumi and her disciples. He himself chose to read the journals of the past Priestesses. Miroku, on the side, answered everyone's questions.
Little Shion, meanwhile, spent her days playing with Little Saiken and Little Chōmei. Her laughter constantly echoed, making the tedious process of checking data seem less unbearable for Ishiro and the others.
There was too much information, and it took longer than Ishiro had expected. The group spent nearly ten days just organizing the data.
Finally, they compiled a small pile of potentially useful information. Ishiro then spent another day carefully reading through it.
After that, he did not go directly to find Mōryō but instead analyzed the intelligence carefully with Natsuki and Katsumata. By drawing inferences from it, all three of them felt they had gained a lot, and their Yin Release had improved.
Just like that, after spending more than ten days in total, Ishiro's party finally set off for Mōryō's sealing place.
In the original story, Mōryō had run rampant and was finally sealed by Miroku in the Land of Swamps at the cost of her life. But now, Mōryō's sealing place was not in the Land of Swamps but right within the Land of Demons.
Ishiro had read in the documents that this was the fixed location where the successive Priestesses had sealed Mōryō. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that the Priestesses only needed to go there to reinforce the seal.
Miroku, holding Shion, led Ishiro, Megumi, Natsuki, and Katsumata to the sealing place. It was a valley with a natural cavern inside, where Mōryō was sealed.
But when the six of them reached the edge of the valley, Miroku's face immediately changed. She quickly ran towards the natural cavern.
Ishiro and the others hurriedly followed.
"There's a problem with the seal," Ishiro was the one who spoke. Although the Priestess's lineage's seal was different from conventional ones, with his level of skill, he still easily discovered the problem.
Miroku did not reply but rushed into the cave.
Seeing the complete seal inside the cave, Ishiro and Miroku relaxed slightly. The seal was still there, but there was a small breach.
"It's impossible for Mōryō to escape the seal with just such a breach. But Mōryō's form is special. A part of its soul should have escaped from this place," Ishiro said.
Seeing that Miroku was about to reinforce the seal, he added, "No rush. Let's study it first."
Miroku took a deep breath and did not insist. It had already happened. Reinforcing the seal now would not bring back the part of Mōryō's soul that had broken out.
Ishiro carefully examined the breach in the seal. "Someone voluntarily acted as a vessel for Mōryō, carrying a part of its soul away from here!"
Upon hearing this, Miroku blurted out, "Impossible. Who else besides the Priestess can withstand the power of Mōryō?"
Ishiro said, "Others naturally cannot withstand Mōryō completely, but it's not impossible to withstand a part of it."
Miroku's composure was somewhat lost at this point. She held Shion tightly and asked Ishiro, "Lord Tsuchikage, what do we do next?"
Ishiro thought for a moment. "Two things. First, deal with the main body of Mōryō that is still here. Second, find and deal with the part of its soul that has already escaped."
"As for the second matter, we have no clues right now, so we can only deal with the first matter. Lady Priestess, please calm down. The more unexpected things happen, the more composed you must be. A mentality like yours will not help in dealing with Mōryō later."
"Actually, Mōryō losing a part of its soul might be a good thing for us. At least it will be much easier for us to deal with this main body."
Miroku nodded, her heart still somewhat unsettled.
Ishiro thought for a moment. "Mōryō's goal is definitely to escape. Although we don't know what the part of its soul that split off is going to do, it will definitely come back to release its main body."
"So, if we wait here for the rabbit to fall into the trap, it's also possible that we'll wait for that part of the soul to return."
Hearing this, Miroku finally felt a little more at ease.
From the perspective of a seal master, Ishiro carefully observed the breached seal for a while. As he observed, he would ask Miroku when he encountered something he didn't understand. But although Miroku knew how to set up the seal, she was not very clear on the principles, so she could not be of much help to him. The sealing of Mōryō by the successive Priestesses was more of an instinct, just like a Kekkei Genkai inherited through the bloodline. Once awakened, they could use it, but they didn't understand the principles.
Most of the time, Ishiro was just guessing, then discussing his guesses and analysis with Natsuki and Katsumata.
Miroku had originally thought that Ishiro was just going to check the seal. Who would have thought that the three of them would end up studying it for several days without rest?
What Miroku didn't know was that through this seal, the three of them had made great progress in their research on Yin Release. This seal, plus the data they had sorted out before, was a systematic theory related to the soul. This was different from the shrine that Ishiro had moved back to Iwagakure. The shrine was just a practical example related to the soul, but it had no theoretical basis.
So, when the three of them were studying the seal, they almost forgot about the matter of Mōryō.
A few days later, the three of them, having all made progress in Yin Release, although tired, all appeared to be in high spirits.
(End of Chapter)
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