"Hey, I'm hungry."
The guards and servants lying on the ground still showed no signs of waking up. Shion silently approached Hiroki, hoping he would wake someone up or at least do something.
Hiroki smirked slightly. "You wouldn't be hungry if you were asleep."
"...Then I'm not hungry anymore." Shion instantly fell silent, then couldn't help but ask, "So these people won't wake up unless they see Yomi? What exactly did you do to them?"
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"You can take care of yourself, right? Besides, this place is big enough. There should be everything you need."
Upon hearing this, Shion stomped her feet in annoyance several times before running off alone.
"Classic princess syndrome," Hiroki muttered, shaking his head.
Besides sending White Zetsu to gather intelligence in the most primitive way, he also instructed him to intentionally spread rumors about the 'kidnapped miko' throughout the Land of Demons in search of Yomi's trail.
It was not until afternoon when one of the White Zetsu reported back—someone was approaching the palace.
Hiroki immediately looked for Shion.
At that moment, she was rummaging through the kitchen looking for food.
"It seems like you're really hungry?"
Shion rolled her eyes without responding.
"Stay here and don't run around."
He made a Shadow Clone to keep an eye on Shion while he himself hid inside the palace.
Who knew how much time had passed before four ninjas carefully sneaked into the palace.
They were Yomi's subordinates—Kusuna, Shizuku, Wei Chai Jing, and Setsuna.
Before them lay countless bodies scattered across the floor. Although there was no blood, clearly something had happened.
Kusuna and the others couldn't help but simultaneously sigh in relief.
"Looks like the rumors weren't completely baseless. The miko may have already suffered misfortune."
"Who could have done this?"
"Hmph, doesn't matter who. Whatever our master feared won't happen now."
"Who exactly is 'your master'?" An unfamiliar voice with an undetectable source entered their ears.
"Who's pretending to be supernatural?" Kusuna shouted loudly.
As soon as the words ended, a figure flickered—a young man wearing a pale moon-white outfit, a Konoha forehead protector, and long black hair appeared before the four.
"A ninja from Konoha? How did you end up here?"
"Did you defeat all these people?"
Hiroki nodded slightly toward their questions. "That's right."
After exchanging glances, they launched attacks. Shizuku used [Fire Release], Itai employed [Earth Release], and Setsuna unleashed [Wind Release].
Their jutsu were all blocked by Truth-Seeking Balls. Before they even had time to recover from their shock, Hiroki had closed in and implanted four green Spiritual Spheres—tools capable of mental manipulation—inside them.
Their expressions changed briefly before returning to normal again.
"Go back and report," Hiroki said.
The four disappeared using Body Replacement Technique, vanishing from his sight.
In the forest, "swish, swish, swish, swish"—four figures appeared in succession. The middle-aged man seated on a stone turned his head. His long black hair and short beard framed a thin frame as he spoke.
"How is the Miko situation?"
"Yomi, the Miko has already gone missing. As for her subordinates, they're all unconscious."
"Excellent." Yomi burst into loud laughter. "Such a nuisance as the Miko should have vanished long ago."
After laughing wildly for a moment, his expression returned to calmness as he muttered, "I must awaken that one before word spreads, to prevent other ninja villages from noticing."
"Come. Follow me."
Yomi led Kusuna and the others in a certain direction.
---
"Hey, aren't you hungry?" In the kitchen, Shion wiped oil from her lips and turned to Hiroki, who was watching her closely.
Hiroki shook his head. "How do you know I haven't eaten yet?"
"Really? Wait, how come you let him out again?"
White Zetsu's sudden appearance startled Shion once more.
"Has Yomi taken his position?" Hiroki asked.
"Precisely," White Zetsu nodded.
"Take me there."
"Wait, take me too!" Shion grabbed his arm.
"You want to come along just to cause trouble?" Hiroki calmly stared at her.
"I'm the only one who can defeat Moryo." Shion looked at him determinedly.
"But didn't you say before that Moryo couldn't be defeated?"
Shion lowered her head, whispering softly, "If it's like that, then I will also..."
"Fine." Hiroki made a move to hand her over to White Zetsu.
Shion clung tightly to his arm, pleading, "Please don't let that monster stick close to me, okay?"
White Zetsu shrugged indifferently.
"You're such a spoiled brat," Hiroki muttered as he scooped her up horizontally in his arms.
As he dashed along the mountain path, Hiroki muttered under his breath, "People here in the Ninja World really need trains and cars."
Meanwhile, Shion remained silent.
---
Atop a high slope, Yomi stood with four subordinates, overlooking the shrine entrance below.
"Finally, time to use [Dark Medical Ninjutsu] to awaken Moryo and conquer the world."
Then, several tendrils emerged from his body, channeling dark chakra into each of the four subordinates, amplifying their power.
After observing them easily eliminate the guards stationed there, Yomi leapt downward.
Just as he was about to enter, he ordered, "You wait here. Only I may go inside."
Kusuna and the others exchanged glances before blocking his path.
Frowning, Yomi coldly asked, "What is it now?"
"Yomi-sama, we are still waiting for someone else."
"What did you say? Get out of my way!"
"We cannot comply."
Still unmoving, Kusuna and the others stood firm.
Enraged, Yomi launched an attack against them.
Just as the fight began among them, Hiroki, carrying Shion, arrived outside the shrine.
The stone gate had been opened, and several men lie dead in a pool of blood. Shion said, "Someone has already entered. However, without a host body, Moryo's spirit should quickly dissipate. What can that person possibly accomplish now?"
Hiroki glanced at her and replied, "If Moryo's spirit truly disperses, it could be considered defeated."
"No," Shion shook her head. "Moryo is the embodiment of evil. When its essence disperses, it actually attaches to more people and stirs the evil within their hearts."
"Eventually, it will gather again on some day—stronger than ever before. That's why it can only be sealed — not destroyed."
Hiroki nodded and stepped through the stone gate.
After hesitating for a moment, Shion followed closely behind him.
At the entrance to the underground staircase, Yomi and Kusuna were locked in fierce battle with four others. Hearing approaching footsteps, all of them simultaneously turned to look.
As Hiroki appeared, Kusuna and the others stopped fighting but remained around Yomi.
Yomi quickly understood and coldly asked, "Was it you who made them betray me?"
Without a word, Hiroki raised his hand.
His gravitational force surged to life.
What? Yomi's body shot forward uncontrollably — and was seized in Hiroki's grip.
Then, Hiroki formed a green chakra sphere in his other hand and placed it into Yomi's body.
Frowning deeply, Shion watched in confusion. She never quite understood what purpose this green orb served.
"Go fulfill your destiny."
With those words carrying an almost hypnotic quality, Yomi suddenly lost all hostility toward him and walked down the stairs deeper into the palace.
Shion tried to follow but Hiroki extended his arm to stop her.
Moments later, a surge of malevolent aura swept toward them. Shion's expression turned tense. "It's coming out! Let me go immediately!"
"Just wait a moment," Hiroki still blocked her way.
Shortly after, those dark energies vanished, replaced instead by Yomi's arrogant laughter echoing: "Awaken, my legion."
The earth beneath them trembled violently. Shion's face grew even more anxious. "We're in trouble."
Hiroki furrowed his brows.
Yomi had already lost control. The spiritual sphere Hiroki left inside Yomi dissipated completely.
"So Moryo isn't powerless after all. A millennium monster like this is indeed not one to underestimate."
As he spoke, Hiroki relaxed his frown and smiled slightly.
Moryo could control others, using them to replenish psychic energy. Was that truly an efficient way to use power?
Thinking along these lines, he walked even deeper into the palace.
Staring blankly at the stairway, Shion felt as if her legs weighed a thousand pounds. Her heart sank into despair.
"Really… am I really going to do this? Must I sacrifice myself?"
Farther below, countless terracotta warriors were revived by Yomi using monstrous chakra. These three-meter-tall stone figures held stone blades in their hands, eyes burning with golden flames, waiting restlessly under Yomi's command.
Standing at the center, Yomi turned slowly. His eyes shimmered with a sinister violet-black glow. Upon seeing Hiroki arrive, an evil smile spread across his face.
"Thank you for bringing the miko here too. Once I kill both of you, there will be nothing left in this world to stop me."
"Summoning Jutsu."
With a loud *boom*, smoke filled the air, and then the Hamura Otsutsuki Golem appeared.
Yomi burst into laughter. "You're not seriously thinking of using this thing against me, are you?"
This golem wasn't even as large as his Terracotta Warriors—what use could it possibly be?
"Of course not meant to fight you," Hiroki smiled.
The moment the Hamura Otsutsuki Golem appeared, it charged straight into the Terracotta Warriors army.
It possessed tremendous power, rivaling even the Tailed Beasts, and under the control of the Tenseigan, it could automatically repair itself.
After several crashes, over a dozen Terracotta Warriors had already shattered. Compared to this mighty force, those soldiers seemed clumsy and powerless.
Seeing this, Yomi's eyes turned cold.
Hiroki also shifted his gaze away from the battlefield, fixing his eyes on Yomi himself. "Once I destroy this body, Moryo will have no other choice, right?"
One of the floating Truth-Seeking Balls transformed into a blade shape. Hiroki struck with one blow, cutting off Yomi's head.
The head fell onto the ground, and yet the expression on Yomi's face changed dramatically—astonishment, fury, bewilderment...
He didn't die immediately. Instead, he tried to reattach his limbs using monster chakra and dark chakra, but nothing worked.
Hiroki slashed again, slicing open Yomi's belly.
"What do you think? Choose to Gatai with me."
"You little brat..." A strange, gloomy voice came from inside Yomi's stomach—it was Moryo speaking.
"Compared to splitting into countless fragments and taking who-knows-how-long to reunite, a stable host should be a better option for you, shouldn't it?"
"You've seen how weak that fool Yomi really is."
"…" For a moment, Moryo remained silent before asking, "Kid, were you lookin' for me?"
"You got it." Hiroki replied.
"Why?"
"Of course, it's to borrow your strength." Hiroki added mentally: *And yeah, I'm gonna slowly devour and absorb you too.*
If Moryo refused, then he'd have no choice but to suck out its chakra with the Tenseigan's power. He just wasn't sure whether the soul would get filtered out or not.
"Borrowing my strength comes at a price," Moryo laughed, leaving Yomi's decaying body and flowing into Hiroki's.
Yomi's corpse collapsed to the ground, instantly losing all vitality, his body aging rapidly.
Shion stepped in and saw thick streaks of purplish-black energy surging toward Hiroki.
She paused for a moment, then stopped her steps and asked, "What are you doing?"
"…"
"Did you Gatai with Moryo?" Shion asked in disbelief.
"More or less," Hiroki nodded.
"Moryo is pure evil! You'll get corrupted! You'll become exactly like him!" (the embodiment of malevolence) Shion sounded both anxious and sorrowful, even angry.
"So now you want to seal me away?" Hiroki tilted his head and said.
"…" Speechless, Shion tightly gripped the bell left by her mother, unable to make up her mind for a moment.
"I'm fine—nothing's wrong. Don't worry, Shion."
"Kid, take this little fellow to the Ancestral Shrine in Swamp Country," Moryo's voice echoed in his mind.
"Shut up," Hiroki replied coldly.
Moryo hesitated for a moment. This kid's attitude wasn't like this just now...
In an instant, it decided to do what it had previously done with Yomi—directly interfere with his thoughts.
Just as it was about to act, a crisp female voice rang out, "This thing doesn't even have a stable form—yet it's survived for over a thousand years?"
Moryo froze again.
"Kid, exactly how many things are dwelling inside you?"
Is he actually raising gu (poisonous cursed creatures)? How come he shows no fear at all?
Moryo felt deeply puzzled.
More disturbingly, he hadn't sensed her at all—not even a trace of her presence—until she spoke.
Didn't this mean that her existence was far more powerful than himself?
"Kaguya, logically speaking, you should know about it," Hiroki responded toward Kaguya.
"I don't recognize it at all. Neither the previous Satori nor this current monster appeared back in my time. It might've been during Hayato's era that these creatures dared to come out," Kaguya said, also showing some confusion in her tone.
A man who advocated love and peace clearly lacked the terrifying aura of an autocratic tyrant. Hiroki sighed inwardly.
Moryo fell silent and said nothing, suddenly feeling like it had willingly jumped into some kind of trap.
Hiroki refocused and controlled the statue of Hamura Otsutsuki to stop fighting. The Terracotta Warriors, due to Moryo's distraction, failed to reconnect and, without anyone controlling them, came to a halt as well.
At this moment, Shion was still caught in hesitation, unsure of what to do.
Hiroki walked forward, knocked her unconscious, and carried her back to her palace.
When she woke again, she was right back in her own bed.
She got up, pushed open the door, and saw people in the palace going about their business as usual.
A strange haze clouded Shion's mind.
Was everything just a dream?
"Asahoho..."
She called out to Asahoho, a handsome man wearing black-rimmed glasses.
"Lady Shion," Asahoho stepped forward and supported her.
"Asahoho, can you remember anything that happened recently?"
"Lady Shion, which event are you referring to?"
"Don't you recall anyone coming here these past few days?"
Asahoho looked at her oddly and shook his head. "Lady Shion, no one has visited recently. Are you having nightmares again?"
"Not right… not right…" Shion muttered, rubbing her forehead.
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