Stop Staring

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Naoki sighed, then stepped forward and helped the remorseful priestess to her feet. "Now is not the time for regret. Once Moryo is sealed, you will have all the time you need to atone."

The priestess nodded silently.

After exchanging a glance with Shisui, Naoki said to her, "In a moment, the two of us may use forbidden techniques. I hope Your Highness can keep our secret and not reveal anything about them."

The priestess gave an extremely solemn promise. "Please be at ease. I will not disclose any information about either of you to anyone!"

Once that had been said openly, the distance between the three of them faded.

The priestess began setting up the sealing formulas, while Naoki and Shisui searched the cavern for a suitable place to fight.

Inside the belly of Demon-Sealing Mountain, the environment was vicious. Boiling lava lay everywhere. One careless step could send a person tumbling into magma, leaving nothing of them behind.

Fighting here meant facing not only the enemy, but also the harsh and complicated terrain.

The priestess did not seem to be here for the first time. She moved skillfully over the lava, setting one complex and obscure sealing formula after another.

After carefully scanning their surroundings with the Tenseigan, Naoki warned Shisui beside him, "The ground inside the mountain does not look especially solid. Once the fight starts, be extra careful."

Shisui nodded.

By then, he had also activated the Sharingan. Three tomoe rotated slowly in his eyes as he used his ocular power to observe the surroundings in detail.

On one side, Naoki and Shisui exchanged a few quiet words. On the other, the priestess seemed to have completed the sealing array.

Looking at the formulas hidden throughout the cavern, Naoki praised her sincerely. "Your Highness truly is extraordinary when it comes to sealing arts."

Shisui nodded as well. "The sealing arts of the Land of Demons' priestesses were once spoken of alongside the Uzumaki clan of the Land of Whirlpools. Now that the Uzumaki clan has fallen, the priestesses of the Land of Demons may be the most famous sealing specialists left in the shinobi world."

As if something had occurred to him, Shisui's mood dimmed. "Being too famous is not always a good thing."

The Uchiha were too famous. That fame had made one clan member after another arrogant and domineering, leaving them forever out of step with the village and trapping them in their current awkward position, unable to advance or retreat.

Seeing the priestess's mastery of sealing arts, Naoki's thoughts had already turned to his artificial Tailed Beast plan.

In the artificial Tailed Beast data Orochimaru had given him, sealing formulas accounted for more than seventy percent of all the techniques involved. Without sufficient skill in sealing arts, creating an artificial Tailed Beast would be impossible.

And for Naoki, sealing arts were unquestionably his weak point.

Because of that, the priestess of the Land of Demons had already become a treasure in his eyes.

However, the priestess held considerable prestige in several surrounding countries. If he wanted to learn sealing arts from her, he had to be careful in both method and approach. Otherwise, it would be very easy to trigger a diplomatic incident.

Thinking of that led Naoki to something else.

In the artificial Tailed Beast data, the village had used Uzumaki sealing arts. The Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques were extremely advanced, but one mind always had its limits. If the priestess line's sealing arts from the Land of Demons could be added to the artificial Tailed Beast formulas, the two systems might complement each other and produce unexpected results.

Just as Naoki's thoughts began wandering, the ground beneath his feet suddenly shook.

Loose stones rattled down from the ceiling above them.

Sitting at the center of the sealing array, the priestess shouted, "It is here!"

Naoki and Shisui looked at each other, then each moved into hiding.

Before long, a thunderous roar echoed through the cavern as Moryo's enormous body surged into the belly of Demon-Sealing Mountain like a raging flood.

"Miroku, you should not have refused me!"

Moryo arched its body, nearly blocking the entire cave entrance, and its deep voice seemed to rise from the underworld.

The priestess was silent for a moment, then shook her head. "You are the one who is wrong."

Moryo slowly approached her while tempting her. "Become one with me. Your power added to mine will leave us unmatched. The entire world will crawl beneath our feet!"

"That would only bring endless disaster to the world. In the end, both of us would fall beyond redemption."

To buy time, the priestess let her tone soften. Her rejection no longer sounded absolute.

Seeing that, Moryo did not attack immediately. Instead, it demanded, "What are you so afraid of? You know very well that once you and I become one, nothing in this world can stand against us. Shinobi, samurai, all of them are specks of dust. They are not worth considering at all!"

The priestess shook her head. "You are too arrogant."

"Arrogant!?" Moryo snorted heavily, then roared, "You are the ignorant one. You have forgotten how noble we are. You have forgotten what we once were... no. What are you doing?"

Halfway through its words, Moryo suddenly sensed the dangerous aura inside the cavern.

With the act exposed and no more time to stall, Naoki and Shisui burst from their hiding places.

Before Moryo could react, Naoki shouted, "Now!"

At Naoki's command, Shisui, who had kept his eyes shut, opened them sharply. The three tomoe in his Sharingan rapidly merged, forming a Mangekyo pattern shaped like a four-bladed shuriken.

"Susanoo!"

At Shisui's low shout, an emerald-green Susanoo manifested around him, standing between the priestess and Moryo.

For an instant, both the priestess and Moryo were stunned by the sight.

Clearly, neither of them had expected the small boy in the cat-faced mask to unleash such an awe-inspiring technique. Even by instinct alone, they could tell that this Susanoo was not something to take lightly.

Maintaining Susanoo was an enormous burden for the current Shisui, so he did not dare waste time. He immediately urged Susanoo to extend both arms, one in front and one behind, pinning Moryo down with all its strength.

Furious, Moryo roared, "Lowly human, how dare you-"

Boom!

At that moment, an enormous iron spear fell from above and stabbed straight into Moryo's mouth, cutting off its roar.

The priestess stared blankly at Naoki in midair.

Naoki stood on a mass of Iron Sand, suspended above the cavern. Beside him floated an unfamiliar shinobi with iron wings and bandages wrapped around his entire body.

Glancing at the dazed priestess, Naoki said evenly, "Your Highness, do not just stand there staring."

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