'It's probably the future. Someone around me died, so I got reflected into the vision too.'
Kiyohara thought to himself.
He knew the priestess possessed a prophetic power similar to the Great Toad Sage's.
She could see scenes of death involving people near her.
In the ninja world, techniques that could materialize chakra and then scale it up into something gigantic were extremely rare.
Kiyohara guessed that golden giant had been his Susanoo.
As for whether that was a vision of his own death?
Kiyohara didn't believe Mōryō was capable of killing him.
That prophetic ability actually had quite a few flaws.
Naruto, for example, had triggered it just by having a shadow clone disperse.
"There's been a problem with Mōryō's seal."
Miroku looked at Kiyohara and Tsunade.
Kurenai and Shizune behind them looked a little lost. They had only vaguely heard the legend of Mōryō and knew it was some kind of dangerous monster.
"Mōryō's soul is sealed in the Land of Demons. Its body is sealed in the Swamp Country. Only I and the Daimyo of the Land of Demons know those two locations."
"But last night, my younger brother… the Daimyo of the Land of Demons, disappeared."
Miroku paused.
"I'm worried he may have already allied himself with Mōryō."
The hall fell silent.
Tsunade frowned.
"You mean the Daimyo of the Land of Demons is trying to release Mōryō?"
"That's the worst-case scenario."
Miroku nodded.
"Mōryō excels at manipulating human hearts. For a thousand years, it has continuously tempted humans into breaking its seal."
When it came to corrupting and deceiving people, Mōryō had perfected the art.
"If that's true, then we need to move quickly."
Tsunade said.
"You all got here fast, but the other countries should have received the request for aid too. More ninja will arrive tomorrow or the day after. We should wait until they get here before moving out together."
Miroku shook her head.
She was deeply wary of Mōryō's terracotta puppet army.
An immortal army like that would cause endless casualties in a drawn-out battle unless Mōryō itself was killed right away.
After that, Kiyohara's group spent one night in the Land of Demons.
Minato, Kakashi, and Rin arrived there the next morning, and by the afternoon, ninja from the other villages gradually began arriving as well.
"Kiyohara!"
The moment Rin saw him, she hurried over and stopped in front of him.
"So you made it."
Kiyohara nodded.
"Yeah. Good thing we weren't too far behind you."
Rin said.
"Kiyohara-kun, it must've been rough these past few days, right?"
"It was fine."
Kiyohara replied.
"How are things looking?"
Minato glanced around the Land of Demons and found nothing visibly unusual.
"Not good."
Kiyohara shook his head.
"The Daimyo of the Land of Demons has gone missing. There's a good chance he's allied himself with Mōryō."
Minato's brow tightened slightly.
"Then we need to act as soon as possible."
"The priestess said we should wait for the other villages' ninja."
Kiyohara shook his head.
"I see…"
Minato understood how dangerous Mōryō was, so it made sense that other villages would send reinforcements too.
Half an hour later, Kiyohara saw the Sand ninja arrive.
Baki was leading them.
Several familiar faces followed behind him.
Baki stepped into the hall and swept his gaze over everyone present.
In the end, it landed on Kiyohara.
He strode over at once.
"Kiyohara!"
There was obvious respect in his voice.
Baki had been on the battlefield during Kiyohara's fight against the Third Mizukage. He understood Kiyohara's strength all too well.
"I didn't expect to see you here too."
Kiyohara gave a slight nod.
"Captain Baki."
Baki smiled.
"With you here, this mission is basically in the bag."
Tsunade stood nearby, and the moment she heard that, the corners of her lips curled up.
"Of course."
She patted Kiyohara on the shoulder.
"My student. Naturally he's that good."
Baki nodded and said nothing more.
But his gaze still lingered on Kiyohara.
This young man was Konoha's hero now.
Cutting down the Mizukage in battle, capturing the Raikage, suppressing a tailed beast…
Any one of those achievements was enough to go down in shinobi history.
And someone like that was still this young.
Every time Baki thought about it, he became even more determined to stay on good terms with Kiyohara.
Meanwhile, Kiyohara looked at the Sand shinobi and found himself thinking about Pakura.
Her injuries had fully healed long ago, but she had stayed at the orphanage to train.
At this point, the only thing sustaining her was a burning desire for revenge.
Once she thought the time was right, she would probably strike at Sunagakure.
"Quite a lot of ninja showed up this time."
Uzumaki Kiyohara floated out from within Kiyohara's body.
His spirit form had faded noticeably.
"Yeah, there are."
Kiyohara nodded. Pretty much all five great nations had sent ninja.
He also spotted Cloud shinobi, but they deliberately kept their distance from him.
After all, the Raikage and the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki were still being held by Konoha, and negotiations over that situation were still ongoing.
Naturally, they wouldn't dare cause any diplomatic trouble at a time like this.
"If you don't get your hands on The Warring States Sealing History soon, I'm going to fade away."
Uzumaki Kiyohara glanced at the assembled ninja, then voiced the concern weighing on him most.
"Once I become Hokage, or at least move up in rank, I'll have a chance to get it."
Kiyohara said.
This wouldn't drag on for much longer. He had a feeling things would be decided once they returned from the Land of Demons.
Right now, the Hokage seat was only temporarily vacant.
"Good."
Uzumaki Kiyohara slipped back into Kiyohara's body and returned to the little urn inside him.
Kiyohara, meanwhile, continued watching the steadily growing crowd of ninja in the hall.
After waiting a while, he also saw a brown-haired woman arrive.
"Terumi Mei is here too."
Kiyohara noticed Mei.
She noticed him immediately as well.
"Hmph."
She gave a soft snort.
The moment she remembered what Kiyohara had done to her before, her irritation flared up again.
But she still knew how to distinguish priorities.
This mission was about sealing Mōryō.
Rumor had it Mōryō had already created a huge number of terracotta puppet soldiers. That had to be stopped.
"What a coincidence."
Kiyohara greeted her first.
"Yeah. Real coincidence."
Mei replied through gritted teeth.
But her features were lovely, so that expression actually made her look a little playful.
Kiyohara noticed that Mei had grown into something very close to the mature beauty she was in canon.
Beneath her strapless dress was an impressive curve, with a slender waist and full hips.
After that, Mei didn't bother responding to him further. She led the Mist ninja off to stand elsewhere.
As the number of people grew, the atmosphere in the hall gradually turned tense—almost ready to ignite.
The war had only just ended, and many of the ninja still had grudges against one another.
"I didn't expect the Mist to show up too."
The Stone shinobi Gari, user of Explosion Release, let out a cold laugh.
"What, Stone can show up, but Mist can't?"
The Mist shinobi shot back without giving an inch.
"During the last war, your Mist village ambushed plenty of our outposts."
"And your Stone village didn't do the same?"
Just as the tension between them was about to boil over, Miroku cut in directly.
"That's enough."
Everyone turned toward the source of the voice.
Miroku sat at the head seat.
"You all came from far away. Are you here to help, or are you here to argue?"
She spoke calmly.
In the Land of Demons, her status was equal to that of the Daimyo.
So the ninja all treated her with a great deal of respect.
"I invited all of you here today because there's something I need to tell you."
She paused.
"I saw something in a dream."
Everyone looked at one another.
"In a dream?"
"Your Highness, what do you mean?"
Miroku ignored the questions.
She lifted her eyes and looked at Kiyohara.
"In the dream, I saw a giant purple-black monster. Mōryō."
"And…"
She paused.
"A golden giant."
The hall fell quiet for a moment.
"A golden giant?"
Someone couldn't help asking,
"What is that supposed to be?"
Miroku shook her head.
"I don't know."
"But in the dream, that golden giant caught Mōryō effortlessly, like it was grabbing a snake."
Everyone exchanged uneasy looks.
A golden giant?
Something that could grab Mōryō so easily?
What kind of power was that supposed to be?
Standing among the crowd, Mei's green eyes flashed with confusion.
A golden giant…
She had never heard of anything like that.
"Lady Priestess."
She spoke up.
"Are you sure… that was real?"
Miroku looked at her.
"The power of our priestesses has never been wrong."
Mei still didn't quite know what to make of that.
She didn't really believe in prophecy.
But she had heard the name of the priestess.
There were indeed countless stories saying that the priestesses of the Land of Demons, passed down generation after generation, possessed the power to see the future.
If what she said was true…
Then what exactly was that golden giant?
Amid the crowd, Kiyohara's expression didn't change.
In the future Miroku had seen, he had summoned Susanoo and grabbed Mōryō.
"Kiyohara-kun."
Miroku's voice rang out again.
"There's something I'd like to ask of you."
Kiyohara looked up.
"Please, Lady Priestess."
Miroku looked at him.
"Would you… be willing to serve as my bodyguard?"
A low murmur spread through the hall.
Her bodyguard?
Did the Land of Demons trust Konoha the most?
Mei frowned.
She looked at Kiyohara, then at Miroku.
Why him of all people?
"Lady Priestess."
Mei said.
"Why him?"
Miroku looked at her.
"Because…"
She paused.
"He looks like the man from my dream."
The hall fell silent once more.
He looks like the man from your dream?
What kind of reason was that?
But Miroku didn't explain herself.
She only kept looking at Kiyohara.
"Kiyohara-kun, would you be willing?"
"Of course."
Kiyohara had no reason to refuse.
Besides, he wanted to borrow some of the priestess's chakra anyway.
Miroku smiled faintly.
Standing to the side, Tsunade glanced at Miroku, then at Kiyohara.
This brat…
How does he keep attracting women everywhere he goes?
…
The Swamp Country was very close to the Land of Demons. By afternoon, the ninja had already arrived.
Kiyohara stood at the front of the group and looked up at the mountain range rolling across the distance.
"I'll go take a look."
The moment he finished speaking, he shot straight into the sky.
A pair of massive paper wings formed behind him.
Dance of the Shikigami!
The wings beat lightly, and Kiyohara's body rose at once, cutting through the low clouds until he was nothing but a dark blur overhead.
Where no one else could see, his black eyes shifted to a pale, luminous white.
Byakugan!
At once, with his sensory ability spread wide and the Byakugan working in tandem with it, Kiyohara carefully searched everything in sight.
…
A moment later, the dark point in the sky began to grow larger.
Kiyohara descended from the air, and just before landing, the paper wings scattered into scraps and vanished.
"Did you find it?"
Miroku asked.
Kiyohara nodded.
"Twenty kilometers west. Inside a cave."
He relayed the information he'd gathered.
"There are a lot of puppets in there. They're already marching out."
Miroku's brow furrowed slightly.
"The terracotta soldiers?"
"Yeah."
Kiyohara looked at her.
"There are a lot of them. At least a thousand."
A low wave of murmuring spread through the group.
Over a thousand terracotta soldiers…
And those things were supposed to be immortal.
Standing at the edge of the crowd, Mei's green eyes grew more serious.
She lifted a hand and tucked a loose strand of brown hair behind her ear, revealing the elegant line of her profile.
"If there really are over a thousand of those things, they won't be easy to deal with…"
Gari stood not far from her. Hearing that, he let out a cold snort.
"Not easy to deal with? I'd like to test that myself."
He rolled his shoulders.
"Immortal and indestructible? That depends on whether they can withstand my Explosion Release."
Miroku shook her head.
"The terrifying thing about the terracotta soldiers isn't how strong they are. It's that they don't truly die."
She looked at the group and explained,
"As long as Mōryō remains unsealed, those terracotta soldiers will revive endlessly. Even if you blast them into dust, they'll just reform."
"So the task of sealing Mōryō falls to me."
She paused.
"As for those terracotta soldiers… I'm entrusting them to all of you."
Kiyohara nodded and said there was no problem.
"I'd like to test them myself too, see just how tough those so-called immortal puppets really are."
Gari stepped forward, eager excitement written all over his face.
"Kiyohara, what about using sealing jutsu?"
Rin asked curiously.
"If we can just stop them from moving, it won't matter whether they're immortal or not."
Minato, standing nearby, nodded.
"That's a good idea."
Kiyohara thought about it.
"We can try."
He looked toward the distant mountains.
"But first we need to see them up close before we can decide how best to handle them."
The group continued forward.
After crossing several mountain ridges—
Kiyohara suddenly stopped.
"They're here."
The moment he said it, heavy, chaotic footsteps echoed from ahead.
The sound was dense and overwhelming, like an entire army closing in.
Everyone looked up.
On the distant slope, countless figures made of fired clay stood in orderly rows.
They were humanoid, with heads, torsos, arms, and legs, their entire bodies formed from gray-brown ceramic.
The rough surfaces of the clay showed firing cracks and imperfections from the kiln.
But their movements were unnervingly smooth. Step by step, they advanced, each footfall thudding heavily against the ground.
Terracotta soldiers.
A countless swarm, stretching across the mountainside.
They took up most of the field of view.
"So that's… Mōryō's immortal army."
Then, suddenly, the ranks of terracotta soldiers split apart to either side.
A figure slowly emerged from behind them.
The Daimyo of the Land of Demons was dressed in luxurious robes and wore the fan-shaped ceremonial crown unique to the daimyo, decorated with the national crest of the Land of Demons.
But his face now carried a cold, sinister smile.
Miroku's pupils contracted slightly.
"Miroku."
The Daimyo of the Land of Demons spoke, his voice low.
"So it really is you."
"Yes."
The Daimyo smiled.
He spread his arms wide.
"Mōryō has given me power. Given me eternal life. Just look at these terracotta soldiers—they'll never die, never grow tired. If I want, I can lead them and conquer the entire ninja world!"
His gaze swept across everyone present before finally settling on Kiyohara.
That sinister smile on his face suddenly turned amused.
He studied Kiyohara, his eyes moving over him before lingering on that handsome face for a moment.
"This one's got a good face for a shinobi."
"This daimyo happens to be in need of a personal bodyguard. If you're willing, you can stay and serve as my guard."
Mei lifted a brow, but the corner of her lips couldn't help twitching upward, like she was already waiting to enjoy the show.
Kiyohara looked at the Daimyo of the Land of Demons.
People from small countries really were arrogant.
Other people might hesitate to act because of the daimyo's status, but Kiyohara had no such concerns.
"It seems His Lordship has already been possessed by Mōryō. This is no ordinary crisis anymore. We need to respond with force!"
Kiyohara casually gave himself the moral high ground.
Then he flicked a hand.
Smack!
The air compressed instantly and struck the Daimyo of the Land of Demons across the face.
The daimyo's smile froze.
Clear anger surfaced on his cold face.
"You…"
He took a deep breath and suppressed his rage.
"Very well."
Originally, he had wanted to collect talented ninja from the great nations and learn their techniques through them.
But now he had changed his mind.
Now he only wanted to kill Kiyohara.
The daimyo stopped looking at Kiyohara and turned back to Miroku.
"Miroku."
His voice turned coaxing.
"Mōryō and the priestess were always meant to be one."
"You should understand how much power we could wield if we joined forces."
"We could unify the ninja world and make everyone kneel at our feet. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
Miroku looked at him.
"You've fallen."
"Fallen?"
The daimyo frowned, unable to understand why Miroku refused to see reason.
"I've simply chosen the stronger path!"
"The priestess's duty is to seal Mōryō."
Miroku cut him off.
"That has never changed. Not from ancient times until now."
The daimyo's face darkened completely.
"Good. Good. Good."
He ground the words out through clenched teeth.
"If all of you insist on courting death one after another, then I'll grant it."
The moment he finished speaking—
Yomi stepped out from behind the terracotta soldiers.
Behind him came a group of ninja from the Land of Demons.
Though calling them ninja was no longer quite right.
At this point, they could hardly be called human.
Their bodies had already warped into something grotesque.
Some had one arm swollen and enormous, covered in purple-black scales.
Others had half their faces completely twisted, eyeballs bulging from their sockets, mouths split open nearly to their ears.
Purple light glowed from inside their bodies, as though something were writhing beneath their skin.
"Mōryō's power…"
Yomi raised a hand.
Purple light poured out from his palm and flowed into the bodies of those twisted shinobi.
The next second, their bodies began trembling violently.
The whites of their eyes vanished, turning the entire eyeball pitch black.
Something writhed frantically beneath their skin, like worms burrowing under flesh.
Their chakra surged upward all at once.
"Dark medical ninjutsu…"
Kiyohara activated the Mangekyō Sharingan, tracking the flow of chakra.