Chapter 149 – A Sudden Pain in the Lower Back
Naruto rattled on and on.
Shion listened with sparkling eyes.
Mainly because she'd never imagined that the demon could be used like this.
The terror that had gathered in her heart was swept away.
Of course, she wasn't stupid.
She understood Naruto could do it only because he was strong enough.
As for the line of priestesses, being able to seal the demon in a one-for-one trade was already considered a miracle.
"Your Sealing Jutsu—can it keep the demon frozen in a single pose?"
"Eh?"
Shion received another odd question.
Sealing Jutsu is about sealing; who cares about posture?
"Seems not."
After carefully recalling every Sealing Jutsu she had learned, she shook her head.
Naruto felt this was bad.
If you're going to exhibit the demon, it has to strike a cool pose or no one will be interested.
"Wait here for me."
He left a Shadow Clone and returned to the Land of Sea.
By now Jiraiya's group had left Mother Island and were on a ship.
Because there was now one more girl aboard.
And because Jiraiya couldn't stand watching someone row with Rasengan, they rented a steamship.
The fare was generously sponsored by Tenchi.
Naruto dispelled the clone on this side, and its memories flooded in.
As expected, Jiraiya couldn't adapt to life at sea.
He planned to head back to land.
Their first stop would be the Land of Hot Springs.
Naruto didn't have the heart to expose Jiraiya's lie.
"Sensei, is there a Sealing Jutsu that can hold a target perfectly still—like an ice sculpture—without covering the target?"
For example, Gaara's Sealing Jutsu with Shukakusimply buried enemies in sand.
For a moment you couldn't tell whether it was sealing or an attack Ninjutsu.
"What are you planning?" Jiraiya blinked and asked.
"Studying," Naruto answered matter-of-factly.
Although Jiraiya was teaching him Sealing Jutsu, he wasn't dumping every technique on him at once.
They were learning them one by one.
Sealing Jutsu was too difficult; he feared Narutowould get ahead of himself.
Geniuses always have weird pride.
If something went wrong while learning, Jiraiyawould be the one to suffer.
He was certain that the moment he returned, he'd face Tsunade's bombardment.
And if he unfortunately died, in the afterlife he'd still get a combined beating from Minato and Kushina.
He eyed Naruto suspiciously. "There is one, but you can't—"
Naruto waved a hand, cutting him off. "I'm just learning a sealing technique. Why does it sound like I'm about to commit a crime?"
Jiraiya thought it over; yeah, and with him watching, nothing should go wrong.
He produced a scroll.
Naruto glanced at it—Acala, the Immovable King.
The name alone fit his requirement.
"I'll go find a place to practice and won't disturb your novel writing."
Naruto turned and left.
After exiting the room he left a Shadow Clone and returned to the Land of Demons.
"Can a dog and a human really have children in this world?"
The moment Naruto steadied himself, he heard Shion's question.
Black lines crept across his forehead: Shadow Clone, what on earth have you been chatting about?
I was gone only a short while—how did the topic turn to dogs and humans?
"Sure. Imagine a human body with fluffy dog ears—adorable, right? And maybe he really likes priestesses."
Seeing the original return, the Shadow Clone knew its time was up and hurried to finish.
With a pop, it vanished.
Shion turned, noticed Naruto, and asked in puzzlement, "Why didn't you let him finish? It sounded interesting."
Hearing the last line, Naruto roughly guessed: Inuyasha.
"Don't listen to his nonsense. There's no such creature in the Ninja World."
He froze—actually, there might be.
As a Jinchuriki, he could sprout fox ears himself.
"Oh."
Shion didn't doubt him.
She simply couldn't picture how a human and a dog could be together.
She could only blame the Shadow Clone for not finishing the story.
After resting, Naruto once again used Magnet Release to send Shion into the sky.
Meanwhile he took the time to study Acala.
They traveled with frequent stops.
By evening they had arrived in front of the Sealing Shrine.
Yellow Springs had not arrived yet.
That gave Naruto time to learn.
When he was almost done, he passed the jutsu to Shion and asked if she could combine it with her own Sealing Jutsu so that the demon could be posed before sealing.
After reading it, Shion said it looked simple.
Her talent in Sealing Jutsu far exceeded Naruto's.
Another day passed.
Yellow Springs arrived.
Naruto tied Shion up, showed himself, and said, "Lord Yellow Springs, I've captured the priestess."
Before Yellow Springs could speak, the demon inside him was already excited.
"Well done! Once I reclaim my body and merge with her, I'll be invincible! The world will kneel beneath my feet!"
The arrogant voice echoed through the night. "Yellow Springs, hurry, I can't wait any longer!"
Why did those words sound so familiar?
Naruto tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Great.
Ido had thought the same.
You lot aren't much to look at, but your imaginations sure are rich.
Naruto suddenly wondered: do otherworldly demons count as ghosts?
Would his Fire God Kagura have special effect against them?
After all, this is the Land of Demons.
He'd test it in a bit.
While he pondered, Yellow Springs stepped into the shrine.
The moment she regained consciousness, Shion snapped the ropes and rose; staring at the sealed gate, worry crept across her face.
Still, she felt it could have been worse.
Because even now she had not foreseen the death of Naruto—or of herself.
A hush fell, then the shrine exploded.
Naruto pulled Shion back.
"Hahaha! I, the Specter, have returned!"
A voice brimming with joy echoed outward.
The shrine lay in ruins; as the dust settled a monster emerged.
It looked like a mass of dark-purple energy, a swarm of tentacles giving it the semblance of an octopus.
Most of its body was cloaked in mist, yet in size it already rivaled Shukaku.
A bona-fide giant.
In the Ninja World, most Ninja are helpless against beasts of Tailed Beast proportions.
Naruto just happened to be an exception.
After proclaiming its freedom, the Specter shot straight for Shion.
Tentacles whipping through the air.
"Shion, come! Don't you want to see your mother? She is inside me. Merge with me and you'll never be parted from her again; together we'll sweep across the Five Great Nations and found an unprecedented Land of Demons."
As for Naruto, the creature ignored him.
With its body restored, it could destroy the world even without fusing with Shion—or so it believed.
The scene felt oddly familiar: a tentacled monster roaring in glee as it closed in on a small girl.
Naruto was sure he'd seen this somewhere before.
He drew the Yama, flames rising from a flicker to a blaze, the night lit in an instant as he shielded Shion behind him.
The Specter shuddered.
For some reason those flames grated on its nerves.
It tossed the feeling aside and bellowed, "Pitiful ant, dare stand in my way? I'll gut you!"
A dozen massive tentacles, snakelike, struck at Naruto all at once.
That attack looked familiar too.
Thinking of Orochimaru, Naruto slashed.
Sun Breathing, First Form: Circular Dance!
A crimson arc swept outward, forming a blazing semicircle.
The tentacles met the fire; black liquid hissed and dripped as their tips melted.
"What is this?!"
The Specter's thunderous voice cracked with disbelief. "How can a lowly human wound me?"
Even Shion, mid-seal, found it incomprehensible.
Otherworldly horrors are normally immune to ordinary Ninjutsu.
Only a shrine maiden born of the same essence can seal them.
"So you're a demon too."
The flames wreathing the Yama blazed brighter, a searing dragon of heat.
Naruto mused that the system's Fire God Kagurafelt a lot like Siegfried's Noble Phantasm—doubly effective against anything draconic.
It also let him judge whether a foe carried demonic traits.
Ignoring the Specter's howls, Naruto readied the next strike.
Sun Breathing, Second Form: Blue Heaven!
He refrained from Sage Mode; he might kill it outright.
A second use for the Specter occurred to him: the nine-curved horn.
Ido was gone, and the Specter now counted as a demon—its horn would be perfect for his marionette.
It hadn't sprouted one yet, but no matter.
A quiet talk should make horns easy enough; the severed tentacles were already regrowing.
In a way the Specter truly was an invincible monster—given enough energy it could regenerate.
The source of that energy, Naruto didn't know.
More shrieks erupted as tentacles melted against the flames.
Slash after slash, Naruto carved the creature apart; tentacles severed, regrew, severed again.
"..."
Shion lowered her sealing hands, suddenly feeling sorry for the Specter.
The sight was simply too pitiful.
Should she seal it now?
Half an hour passed.
The Specter stopped hurling threats.
It couldn't die, but it could feel pain.
Flee!
Nothing shameful in that!
It tried to convince itself.
"You have no idea whom you've crossed!"
A vast shockwave burst outward, a hurricane rising from nowhere.
"Watch out!"
Shion cried, her hair whipping in the gale.
Naruto nodded—looked like a big move.
Yet after half an hour the thing was still lively.
In the next instant the Specter turned tail and ran.
All phenomena vanished.
"..."
The Yama's flames guttered out.
Naruto's back twinged—he'd pulled something.
Ah, he'd slacked off lately—only fourteen thousand words this week, seven chapters. He'd pick up the pace next week; push too hard and the joy ran dry.