Shennong, who had been silent until now, watched and chuckled. "Yes, yes. I've read the records. As long as a royal heir of the Sky Country consecrates the relic with their own blood, recites the incantation, and then turns the mechanism, the Sky Country's relic will activate. The first two steps are the crucial ones—once those are done, anyone can perform the third."
Saying this, his eyes gleamed and he took several eager steps forward.
Shigeo flicked a glance at his wooden clone; the clone understood, slipped into the mountain tunnel, and began rescuing the hostages.
Wuqianling's palm bled; the thick blood flowed like water through the sigils, finally filling the tiniest recess at the center of the altar. The blue chakra suddenly swelled, and a strange keening rang through the cavern.
At the sound, Shigeo's eyes widened—memories of tales about the Sky Country rushed back. Could the so-called relic actually house the Reibi (Zero-Tail)?
In those stories, Shennong seized the Reibi to fight Konoha.
Wuqianling began to murmur the incantation. As her blood seeped in and the chant repeated, a surge of chakra blasted the altar floor apart.
The relic awakened.
Wuyouka and Shennong vaulted aside into a side tunnel in the rock wall.
As the ritual vessel, Wuqianling dropped downward.
Seeing it, Shigeo dove after her.
"These two brats," Shennong sneered, lips twisting, "so eager to die. Whatever's down there won't spare them—it'll eat them both."
Wuyouka felt oddly relieved. "I've wanted that little brat dead for a long time—too slippery by half. Looks like even the clever make mistakes—throwing away his life for a girl!"
"I never go to my death willingly."
The clear voice rang through the cavern. In the chakra light, a boy held a girl as he floated—godlike.
Wuyouka's face contorted. "What technique is that?" Her body as a hair-fiend could drift and strike, but not hover motionless. Yet the child floated there, rising.
"If you're wondering, I brought you a gift," Shigeo said with a faint smile. He turned with Wuqianling in his arms and vanished.
A heartbeat later, detonations rolled up from the abyss. Waves of force pummeled the vault; the Reibi's shrieks shook the stone. Shennong, aghast, plunged into the blasts. Wuyouka scowled and cast kinjutsu (forbidden techniques) to shield the chamber below.
In the western refuge, over twenty thousand citizens huddled together. Scouts reported that soldiers were dragging people from their homes across the city. When Shigeo set Wuqianling down, the crowd bowed as one.
"Princess!"
Only then did he learn the truth: Wuqianling was a princess of the Sky Country, and the real Wuyouka was the daimyo. The "Wuyouka" who ruled now was an impostor who had stolen her face.
The history fell into place. Long ago the Sky Country clashed with the great villages and lost; its capital fled overseas and hid. Years later the old lord sealed the relic to keep the peace, but hardliners clung to vengeance, scattered Sky-nin cells persisted, and the city—now Wumang—lived quietly under a new name.
The impostor hair-fiend wormed into the city, won the ruler's trust, then wounded the true Wuyouka and took her form. Wuqianling discovered the fraud, but before she could seek help the usurper sealed her voice and confined her—only to bring her back three days ago to serve as the key to the relic.
Only the blood of the Wu lineage could open it, and the daimyo's secret incantation was required. Torture hadn't broken the true lord, so they turned to the princess.
Their single goal: restart war—no matter if every citizen of Wumang died for it.
But war had burned the shinobi world three times already. Right and wrong blur; it's the common folk who pay the price.
Wuqianling, gentle yet clear-sighted, had asked Shigeo to find Bu-sama and use the tunnels to save the townspeople. She hadn't expected them to be hidden beneath the city itself.
"We can't hide people here," Wuqianling said, shaking her head as she stared at the crowded refuge. "This place won't hold."
"Princess, we know your wish is for us to leave the city, yes?" Bu-sama's tears shone, but his voice was iron. "No. We were born of Wumang and we die as its spirits. If the city stands, we stand; if it falls, we will not live on."
Shigeo exhaled. "I don't share that view. If there's even a sliver of a chance, I won't throw my life away. Leave the mountain standing and you'll never lack for firewood. If I thought like you, I'd have been dead a hundred times."
He stepped aside, mind racing—supplies, antidotes, maps. Plans formed. He would not let Wuqianling or Bu-sama's family become sacrifices. If the thing below truly was the Reibi, the stakes had just spiked—and every second mattered.
"Gather everyone who can move," he ordered. "We use the underground routes Bu-sama showed me. Some get out, some keep the city's lights on. Do exactly as I say, and we keep our chances."
Wuqianling met his gaze and nodded faintly. Around them, fear and defiance mingled in the murmur of the crowd. Shigeo tightened his grip on the princess's hand. The night was far from over.
(End of Chapter)
[50 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[10 Reviews = 5 Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]