"A seal?"
Hearing her words, Naruto finally noticed what was amiss. The red stone, while protecting the priestess before him, was also confining the energy within her body.
"It's not harmful to you." After discerning the true nature of the seal, Naruto withdrew his gaze. "In fact, it's even protecting you."
He didn't know the true nature of the priestess lineage's power, but it was undoubtedly formidable, so much so that it could enhance itself without the need for cultivation. The reason the young woman bore a seal, Naruto surmised, was simply because her mother had worried that her daughter would be overwhelmed by this naturally growing power, and thus had set the seal.
"I know." Shion silently lowered her head. From her tightly clenched fists, it was clear her heart was not at peace.
"Is it because you can't control your own abilities?" Naruto asked. When he first started cultivating chakra, he had encountered similar problems. During chakra control training, Kurama's chakra would always unintentionally overflow, severely hindering his training progress.
Hearing this, Shion suddenly looked up, her delicate little face filled with astonishment. "How did you know?" Ever since her mother passed away, she would always, at some inadvertent moment, foresee the life and death of others. This precognition troubled her deeply; she even felt that she was the one who had caused their deaths.
Naruto moved to stand before her and extended his right hand. "Place your hand on mine. Perhaps I can resolve your troubles."
Shion looked directly into his clear eyes, which held not a trace of desire. After a moment's hesitation, she slowly placed her fair, slender palm onto his right hand. A cool sensation rose from his palm; her hand was delicate, the kind described as "fingers untouched by the toil of spring water."
After a few breaths, Naruto withdrew his right hand and stood up. "How old are you this year?"
"Huh?!" Shion was puzzled. Didn't he say he would resolve her troubles?
"Do you know about spiritual energy and physical energy?"
"I do." In the current era, chakra was the mainstream of extraordinary power systems. Her ancestors had conducted systematic research on chakra.
Naruto squatted down slightly. A wisp of Wind Release chakra coated his fingertip, and he carved a Taijitu (yin-yang symbol) into the hard floor.
"Let's assume that for a normal person, physical energy is the dark part, and spiritual energy is the dotted part."
"And your current situation is..." He drew another concentric circle on the ground, shading most of the inner area with dotted lines, then pointed to the small circle at the center. "The proportion of your spiritual energy severely exceeds your physical energy. To put it bluntly, your currently frail physical body is shouldering a weight it shouldn't have to bear."
"If you want to perfectly control your abilities like your mother did, and not randomly pry into the life and death of others, you must find a way to bring the ratio of these two energies closer to the normal proportion. Giving up in despair and wanting to undo the seal won't solve the problem; it might even lead to the extinction of the Land of Demons' priestess lineage."
"The reason I asked your age was to estimate how much growth potential your physical energy still has under natural circumstances."
"Fourteen," Shion quickly replied.
"Then that's reasonable." Naruto nodded. The normal developmental age for girls was between ten and eighteen. Based on the young woman's current physical energy, by the time she reached adulthood, even without deliberate cultivation, her physical energy at that time would be sufficient to support her in harmoniously controlling her own abilities.
"Four years..." Shion mulled over the words.
"In the spirit of fair trade, I have a way to help you accelerate this process, but you must help me undo a seal," Naruto suddenly suggested.
"Really?!" Shion looked at him, overjoyed.
"I have some confidence in Yang Release cultivation," Naruto said, then turned his head to look at Taruho, who stood respectfully to the side. "But you should understand, I cannot stay in the Land of Demons for an extended period."
"How long would it take?" Taruho also understood his meaning. "The Land of Demons cannot be without Lady Shion for too long."
"A month at the shortest, half a year at the longest." Naruto didn't give a precise timeframe.
To be honest, Shion's aptitude had moved him. Including the soon-to-be-acquired Undead Army, Dragon Heritage already had enough mid-to-low-tier ninja. What they lacked was high-end combat power. Apart from himself, only Haku could barely reach the passing line. Although Karin and the others were good, it wasn't realistic for them to reach Kage-level in a short time. But Shion was different. As long as she could perfectly control the sealed energy within her body, she would undoubtedly be a high-end combatant.
To this, Naruto could only say that the gap between people, sometimes, was truly greater than that between a person and a dog.
"I agree!" Shion gave her answer directly. She had had enough of that precognitive ability popping up unexpectedly.
Hearing her decision, Taruho swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. The Land of Demons needed its priestess, but the priestess didn't necessarily need the Land of Demons. Their relationship wasn't equal; the current peace and stability of the Land of Demons were entirely thanks to the existence of the priestess lineage. He couldn't, and wasn't qualified to, dissuade Shion from her choice.
"Rest assured, the Land of Dragon is fully capable of ensuring the priestess's safety. In the entire shinobi world, there might be those who can defeat me in a frontal battle, but there are definitely none who can kill me in a frontal battle. As long as I am alive, nothing will happen to your Lady Priestess." Naruto spoke the most arrogant words in the calmest tone. But thinking about what this man had accomplished, Taruho couldn't find a way to refute him. That was strength personally verified by the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
"I understand." Taruho nodded and said no more.
"I've stated my price." Naruto looked at the priestess, his meaning self-evident.
"Please follow me." Shion stood up and led him to the underground palace where Moryo's soul was sealed.
Under the dim moonlight, they passed through a long, narrow, and rugged mountain path. A stone palace, surrounded by mountains, slowly revealed its full form to him.
"Lady Priestess!" As soon as the three approached, a guard came forward to greet them.
"I need to go inside and check something." As Shion spoke, an aura of majesty and solemnity involuntarily emanated from her.
"Yes!"
Behind the stone gate was a desolate space. Above the palace, an opening connecting to the outside world had been deliberately left. Silver moonlight slanted down through the skylight, illuminating the torii gates standing on all four sides. At the center of the area enclosed by the torii gates was a spirit house of modest size.
"This is where Moryo's soul is imprisoned," Shion said, looking at the stone house before her, her expression complex.
"A different system of sealing techniques," Naruto thought to himself, examining the runes inscribed around the stone house.
"Do you need my help to undo the seal?" Shion asked, turning her head to look at him. "Although I know you are very strong, I must still remind you, Moryo is also not weak. It once swept the flames of war across the entire shinobi world."
"I am aware." Naruto nodded. "It may be an old story, but I feel it's still necessary to explain the situation to you. Consider it broadening your horizons in advance."
"That last demonic calamity, Yomi chose his timing very well. At that time, the Third Great Shinobi War had only ended a few years prior, and there were still numerous internal conflicts within the Five Great Shinobi Villages. It was difficult to allocate too much energy to deal with the demonic calamity." Konoha's Sannin had left, the Fourth Hokage had died in the Nine-Tails' attack; Kirigakure was in its "Bloody Mist" era; the Fourth Kazekage was busy running around for Sunagakure's economic development... "They simply didn't dispatch any truly strong individuals."
"..." Shion pressed her vermilion lips together, clearly not believing him. She had witnessed Moryo's terror with her own eyes.
"Empty words, it's normal for you not to believe them." Naruto wasn't surprised. "Wait a moment."
"???" Shion and Taruho exchanged a puzzled glance.
However, before they could voice their questions, two figures appeared in the palace.
"Brought the person for you." Naruto Shadow Clone #4 tossed the unconscious man he was carrying on his shoulder to the ground. "His dark medical ninjutsu is quite interesting. Worth absorbing."
"Much obliged." Naruto nodded slightly.
Shadow Clone #4 vanished on the spot.
Shion looked at the unconscious man's figure, finding him increasingly familiar. To get a clearer look, she paced forward and gently turned the man over to face her.
"Yomi!!" This was a face she would never forget, even in death.
"Th-this, what's going on?" The development of events was too bewildering, causing the young woman's tongue to tie in knots.
"A primer to help you see beyond the bottom of the well, to the boundless blue sky," Naruto said, then roused the unconscious Yomi. "As I said just now, Yomi, who caused such devastation back then, is really weak."
Yomi's eyes snapped open. Several unfamiliar faces were reflected in his pupils.
Instantly! His figure, like a coiled serpent, struck towards Shion, who was closest to him.
"Ugh!" Feeling the brutal killing intent rushing towards her, Shion's face turned pale. Her body froze on the spot, completely unable to make an effective counterattack.
Taruho's expression changed drastically. He threw himself towards the young woman, intending to use his own body to intercept Yomi's surprise attack.
BOOM!
Suddenly, Yomi's figure was uncontrollably slammed into the ground. The terrifying impact directly created a deep crater in the hard stone slabs.
Thud!
Taruho slid uncontrollably into the distance.
"Gulp..." Shion stared blankly at this scene. Her delicate face, combined with her expression, was indescribably cute.
Naruto unhurriedly retracted his extended fingers. The gravitational force acting on Yomi also dissipated.
"As I said just now, he really is weak." With that, he strolled to the edge of the crater and dragged Yomi's body out.
"Wh-who are you?" Yomi, barely breathing, forced his eyes open. His voice was filled with suspicion, shock, and disbelief.
"Your dark medical ninjutsu is very interesting." But Naruto said something that completely baffled him. However, before Yomi could understand its meaning, a powerful, incomprehensible, terrifying force surged from the hand gripping his head into his brain.
"Ugh!!" Yomi's body convulsed, and he directly lost all consciousness.
"He's just... dead?! Dead just like that?!" Shion was dumbstruck. This man who had attempted to release Moryo, rule the shinobi world, and indirectly caused her mother's death, had died just like that?
"Are you alright?" Taruho asked, clutching his shoulder as he walked to her side.
Shion turned her head to look at him. Just as she was about to speak, a series of images, like a revolving lantern, flashed through her mind. Her most detested precognitive ability had appeared again. She had seen these fragments once before, a long time ago—it was the scene of Taruho's death. However, this time, the flashing images had changed. Yomi's figure was gradually blurring, until it disappeared. In the end, the scene where Taruho should have died protecting her became as indistinct as if a mischievous child had scribbled all over it.
"What does this mean?" Her thoughts were like a chaotic porridge.
"Are you alright?" Taruho asked nervously.
"You're not going to die."
"Huh?!" Taruho was completely bewildered.
"In my prophecy, the scene of your death has disappeared!"
"Hmm!"
"Wuwuwu!" Looking at Shion, who was crying tears of joy, Taruho's own nascent joy was instantly suppressed. He flustered, not knowing what to do.
Naruto stood before the stone house, his peripheral vision glancing back. "In this world, there has never been a fixed future. The past is settled, the present is happening, and only you yourself can decide the future."
Snap...
A faint sound came from the corpse at his feet. Naruto also stopped injecting his Yin-Yang Release chakra.
The Animal Path - Yomi slowly opened its eyes and stood up straight.
"Look out!" Noticing this, Taruho quickly pulled Shion behind him.
"..." Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose. After a moment's hesitation, he decided to ignore these two. Do they really not trust me this much...
The Animal Path - Yomi nodded slightly towards him, then placed its palm on the stone house. Its assimilated tomoe Rinnegan glowed faintly golden.
CRACK!
The stone house sealing Moryo suddenly burst open, creating a gap. Inside, a mass of pitch-black substance churned ceaselessly.
VWOOM!
An icy, oppressive chakra instantly enveloped the entire palace.
"Who are you?" a voice, neither male nor female, sounded.
"Another aggregate of emotions..." Naruto frowned. The Sky Ninja Village's Zero-Tails was like this, and so was the Moryo before him...
"Your master!" the Animal Path - Yomi declared.
BOOM!
The moment its voice fell, the stone house violently exploded. Moryo's soul, like a spider's web, suddenly expanded, completely engulfing Yomi's figure. Immediately after, the soul-web violently contracted.
"AAAAARRRGH!!!" A bloodcurdling scream suddenly echoed through the palace. Shion and Taruho felt goosebumps erupt all over their skin upon hearing it.
"I don't like disobedient pets. You understand what I mean, don't you?" The Animal Path - Yomi forcibly dragged Moryo's soul into its own body.
"Un-understand..." Moryo's voice trembled violently, as if it had seen something incredibly terrifying.
"Hand over control of the Undead Army to me."
Listening to Yomi speak, sometimes in a male voice, sometimes in an androgynous one, muttering to himself, Shion looked slightly puzzled. She didn't know if it was her imagination, but she actually saw a shadow of Lord Naruto in Yomi. No, it couldn't be called a shadow... It was as if the two were fundamentally the same person. Recalling Lord Naruto's actions just now, and the change in Yomi's eyes, she seemed to understand something.
BOOM!
From beneath the palace, the sudden sound of neat, synchronized footsteps echoed.
BOOM! BOOM!
The sound of footsteps grew louder, closer.
"About two thousand... their strength needs to be tested." Sensing the might of the Undead Army, Naruto thought to himself.