Shisui Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki did not know that Konoha had also sent an Anbu squad to the Land of Demons to carry out a mission.
At this moment, they were outside a massive volcano in the Land of Swamps, confronting Mōryō and its followers, who had arrived almost at the same time.
"How surprising… My ghost army did not stop you, Miroku?"
Mōryō, who had barely disguised itself in human form, exuded an unsettling cold aura from its entire body.
It stepped out from among the wandering ninja following it and stared fixedly at Miroku, who nervously shielded her daughter behind her.
With evil and greedy eyes, it asked the question.
"Mōryō… I will not allow your absurd ambition to succeed so easily."
Miroku stared at this enemy, who had nearly turned her nation into a sea of flames and killed countless people and soldiers who had believed she could protect the Land of Demons.
Her gaze was firm as she said, "Absolutely. I will absolutely not let you escape from the seal again."
"Just you? And these two Mist brats who look like children?"
Mōryō let out a piercing, unpleasant laugh.
Because of its agitation, its body expanded and distorted without concealment.
Dark chakra surged into the sky, tearing through Mōryō's human disguise. In just a few moments, it transformed into a savage form like the legendary Yamata no Orochi.
Hideous black serpent heads emanating a cold, evil aura coiled and rolled across its enormous body, which stood dozens of meters high, wantonly displaying a posture that looked like a natural disaster to ordinary humans.
"So that is… Mōryō…"
Looking at the opponent's fully revealed, despair-inducing massive form, Miroku's body trembled involuntarily.
It was a human instinctive fear when facing a colossal being far beyond their own size.
It did not change simply because she possessed the power to seal Mōryō.
Especially when her three-year-old daughter stood behind her, while the ones guarding her were merely two boys.
"Tch. That size and chakra really do feel like a Tailed Beast…"
Kisame Hoshigaki looked up and examined Mōryō's many huge heads, each large enough to swallow him whole in one bite.
Then he looked at the ninja blade in his hand, which was only about the length of his arm.
With great helplessness, he sheathed it behind his back.
As he activated the power of the Cursed Seal of Heaven, he asked Shisui Uchiha beside him, "Do you have experience fighting this kind of thing, Shisui Uchiha?"
"You are asking a brat under ten years old like me to have experience fighting Tailed Beasts? Kisame-san, you are overestimating both Konoha and the Uchiha a little too much…"
Shisui Uchiha answered somewhat speechlessly.
"But even without experience, I will do my best not to drag you down, Kisame-san."
"Unfortunately, I do not have experience fighting Tailed Beasts either… But that is fine. When we fight that thing next, we will not need to worry about whether our response fits some standard answer."
After saying that, Kisame turned back and glanced at Miroku, whose gaze was filled with worry.
He revealed a mouthful of sharp teeth and spoke casually.
"Priestess-sama said before that the ceremony to seal Mōryō must be completed inside the Shrine of Sealing, which is full of lava, correct?"
"Then I will trouble you to prepare the ritual needed for the seal as quickly as possible… We will deliver it to you very soon."
"…Then I will leave it to you."
Miroku looked at Kisame, whose face was now covered in flame-like curse markings and who looked only slightly less villainous than Mōryō.
After answering softly, she carried her daughter and ran all the way into the Shrine of Sealing.
Watching Miroku turn and flee, Mōryō did not hurry.
Instead, it merely laughed in a strange, wicked voice, looked at Kisame and Shisui, and spoke in a hoarse, unpleasant tone.
"I see. So your body also carries power bestowed by another. No wonder my ghost army could not stop you. However, the power that person gave you is far too little. Why not come to my side? With your talent, I can grant you power far beyond what that person gave you…"
"…It seems our next battle will be slightly easier than expected, Kisame-san."
"Ah. I think so too… A frog that has never seen the scenery beyond the tiny well of the Land of Demons cannot possibly understand what kind of mighty force the stormy waves upon the sea possess."
Seeing that not only did the two refuse to surrender and swear loyalty, they even "overestimated themselves" enough to mock it, Mōryō's dozens of heads let out displeased roars at the same time.
Then it erupted with terrifying speed completely inconsistent with its enormous size and charged violently toward the area where the two stood.
The wandering ninja who followed it also activated the chakra from Mōryō inside their bodies one after another and rushed forward with howls.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique."
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
A massive water dragon and fire dragon spat from Kisame and Shisui's mouths. The two dragons intertwined and rushed toward Mōryō's enormous body.
The Yamata no Orochi-like Mōryō did not dodge.
It directly gathered its black-purple, savage heads together as a shield and charged forward brutally.
The water dragon and fire dragon shattered against the giant shield formed by Mōryō's heads, yet could not even force Mōryō's body to take one step back.
But from the very beginning, their goal had not been that.
The bursting fire dragon instantly evaporated the splashing water dragon with extreme heat.
Scorching high-temperature steam immediately enveloped Mōryō and the wandering ninja charging alongside it.
After briefly stealing the enemy's vision, Kisame Hoshigaki and Shisui Uchiha flashed forward at once, charging into the enemy formation like ghosts.
One was an Uchiha genius who had already risen to fame in the Third Shinobi World War and forged the title "Shisui of the Body Flicker" with enemy blood.
The other was a Bloody Mist Anbu with chakra as massive as a Tailed Beast's, being trained as a candidate for the next Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Before two people this outstanding, even an elite jonin from one of the great shinobi villages would expose a fatal opening after a single instant of distraction.
Let alone these wandering ninja, few of whom reached jonin standards even after obtaining Mōryō's chakra.
By the time Mōryō angrily waved its heads and dispersed all the high-temperature steam surrounding it, the followers who had been granted special chakra by it had already been killed by Kisame and Shisui, more than half of them falling under their combined attack.
"You dare! You dare!"
Mōryō roared in fury.
Countless huge heads smashed toward Shisui and Kisame like meteor hammers.
In the blink of an eye, stone fragments flew across the earth, and more than a hundred enormous craters appeared in the ground around Mōryō.
After using Mōryō's crazed attacks to force Shisui and Kisame back, the wandering ninja who had regrouped began assisting Mōryō with ninjutsu.
"Earth Release: Earth Corridor!"
The ground, already ravaged into chaos by Mōryō, churned up, attempting to trap Shisui Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki within.
But Shisui only used two Body Flickers to escape the range of the Earth Release jointly used by several wandering ninja without suffering the slightest injury.
Kisame was even more direct. He used Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage and burrowed into the ground, moving through the earth like a shark swimming through water as he chased after them without any obstruction.
"Damn it! Fire Release: Flowing Fire—"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
"Water Release: Water Sever—"
"Water Release: Great Shark Bullet Technique!"
Fire Release was canceled out by stronger Fire Release.
Water Release was crushed by larger Water Release.
Although Mōryō used its massive body as cover for the wandering ninja under its command, and constantly changed its form to attack Kisame and Shisui, the number of wandering ninja surrounding it still decreased at an astonishing speed.
"The gap… How can it be so large?"
Yomi, who had preserved his life through a dark medical ninjutsu that burned away his lifespan, raised his head.
Looking at Kisame Hoshigaki, who had directly raised the large river flowing outside the Shrine of Sealing and was now stepping on towering waves to launch an attack against Mōryō's true body, despair appeared on his face.
Yes, the ninja education received by wandering ninja was incomplete.
The ninjutsu they could learn was pitifully few.
Many times, they even needed to gamble their lives in battle just to obtain one new powerful ninjutsu.
But the effort they had paid to become stronger was absolutely no less than that of ninja born in the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
If their ages were included, every wandering ninja present had already spent several times more sweat and energy than Kisame and Shisui.
But why?
Why, when both sides had sworn loyalty to a powerful being and obtained a mark of power from them, did they shatter like floating ice after spring snow before these two Mist brats?
Was there truly such a huge gap between them and ninja born in the Five Great Shinobi Villages, one they were destined never to cross?
"Roar!!!"
Mōryō's massive roar woke Yomi from his self-doubt.
He raised his head and watched as Mōryō furiously smashed apart the water wave impact unleashed by Kisame with its head.
Then it roared.
"Humans! Humans! Humans are always this weak! But it does not matter! My true army, the foundation of my thousand-year empire, will never be such feeble things as humans! Endless ghost army, arise!"
Along with Mōryō's roar, the earth that had already been torn apart in the previous battle shook again.
Countless huge cracks appeared in the ground.
Shattered rock rapidly shed its original form under Mōryō's eerie, evil chakra, turning into one terracotta soldier after another holding weapons and acting according to Mōryō's will and commands.
They did not tire.
They did not fear.
More importantly, as long as Mōryō lived, they would not be destroyed.
"Hah. As expected."
Stepping on the head of a terracotta soldier that had just stood up from the ground and leaping into the air, Kisame Hoshigaki revealed an unsurprised expression.
He exchanged a glance with Shisui Uchiha, who had just tried and failed to attack Mōryō's main body with Fire Release.
He nodded lightly.
Then, with a loud shout, he decisively opened the Cursed Seal of Heaven to its second stage.
The black half-human, half-shark monster appeared once again.
With a black cross appearing in the center of his face, Kisame formed hand seals. His chest swelled high.
Then he faced the terracotta soldiers below, who were raising their weapons high and trying to stab him to death while he had no aerial mobility, and unleashed the Water Release ninjutsu he was best at.
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
A massive volume of chakra-laden water gushed from Kisame's mouth.
Like a giant waterfall, it crushed the terracotta army gathered below.
The bodies of the terracotta soldiers split apart under the unstoppable force, and their offensive was easily dissolved.
But seeing this scene, Mōryō did not feel angry at all.
Instead, it let out a sharp, piercing cackle.
"Good! Chakra of this level… I am liking you more and more, shark-faced boy. Come to my side. With your body, I can grant you nearly half of my chakra and make you the supreme general commanding the ghost army!"
"Heh. Before offering such utterly unattractive conditions, do you not consider the possibility that you will be defeated by us, Mōryō?"
Standing atop the surging waves, Kisame Hoshigaki spoke disdainfully to Mōryō.
"That army you are so proud of? I can kill all of them casually!"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Mōryō decisively denied Kisame's words.
"My ghost army is immortal. No matter how many times you break them, they will stand again. Sleepless, tireless, fearless, and continue fighting! Your ninjutsu is indeed powerful, but how much chakra do you think it consumes to release Water Release on that scale? Do you think I do not know!?"
"You are merely lingering on your last breath and barely protecting yourself! If you know what is good for you, obediently surrender and admit defeat. Become my chakra vessel!"
"Oh? Really?"
Kisame opened his huge mouth.
Together with his features, it formed a cold smile filled with disdain and mockery.
The waves beneath his feet surged forward.
Then he drew the standard ninja blade from his back and leaped toward Mōryō, bringing down a heavy slash with tremendous force.
"Useless, useless, useless—"
Mōryō habitually smashed one of its heads toward Kisame's body, wanting to knock him out of the air.
But after activating the second-stage Cursed Seal, Kisame's strength had greatly increased.
Not only did he forcefully withstand Mōryō's impact through brute force, he also successfully drove the ninja blade wrapped in dense natural energy deep into the head Mōryō used to meet him.
As Mōryō let out a miserable scream, Kisame split that head completely in two.
"Aaaaaaaahhh—Impossible! Impossible! How can you harm my body!? How can anyone besides the priestess of the Land of Demons hurt me!?"
Caught off guard and heavily slashed by Kisame, Mōryō immediately began rampaging like a mad beast.
Kisame, who had never expected this attack to seriously injure Mōryō to begin with, promptly sank into the water he controlled, avoiding Mōryō's head strikes as it thrashed.
Then he revealed half his body from the water and mocked loudly.
"Did you feel pain, monster? Did that strike just now wake you from your daydream of conquering the world?"
"You, you! I will kill you! I will kill—"
Mōryō roared in impotent rage, nearly driven mad by Kisame's provocation.
But when its gaze swept across the area struck by Kisame's Water Release earlier, the ghost terracotta soldiers shattered across the ground without the slightest sign of recovery made it abruptly calm down.
"What did you do!? What did you do to my ghost army!? Why? Why have they not recovered!? Why!?"
Hearing Mōryō's voice, which now carried panic and unease beneath the anger, Kisame gave no explanation.
He dived into the water again, exposing only the dorsal fin grown from his second-stage Cursed Seal form above the surface.
Like a shark that had already bitten open a bleeding wound on its prey, he charged toward Mōryō with fierce momentum.
"D-Damn it!"
The unexpected change threw Mōryō's formation into chaos.
It could not understand why Kisame, after becoming a half-human, half-shark monster, could truly wound its main body and even destroy the immortality of its ghost army, preventing them from regenerating as they had before after being smashed apart.
What could not be understood was unknown.
And the unknown was the greatest source of fear in this world.
Even for a monster like Mōryō, it was the same.
Therefore, it fled without hesitation.
Toward the interior of the Shrine of Sealing.
Toward the Shrine of Sealing where the priestess of the Land of Demons had already gone to prepare the sealing ritual.
Mōryō could not understand why Kisame could wound it.
But it knew that inside the Shrine of Sealing, which was filled with lava, a Water Release ninja like Kisame absolutely could not use such powerful ninjutsu again.
And without ninjutsu as cover, the other party would absolutely have no chance to hurt its body again.
Absolutely!
Looking at Mōryō's panicked, fleeing back, Kisame did not pursue.
Instead, he slowly breathed a sigh of relief, released the Cursed Seal of Heaven, and let his body float on the surface of the water.
Kisame Hoshigaki had long since heard from Miroku what kind of environment existed inside the Shrine of Sealing.
He knew he could not participate in the final battle inside the shrine.
That was why he had launched such a violent attack against Mōryō earlier without caring about his chakra consumption, making Mōryō focus its attention on him, the one who could destroy its ghost army and injure its true body.
All of it was so the other party would ignore Shisui Uchiha's existence.
"In the end, it is just a monster raised by a small country. Its knowledge and combat experience are pitifully lacking… I wonder whether you will also show despair when you see Shisui release the power of the second-stage Cursed Seal before you, Mōryō?"
Join my Patreon to read public release chapters and get 1 chapter ahead for free. Paid members can read more advanced chapters.
Continue reading here
patreon.com/Inkveil_