Akira's brow furrowed slightly. "Looks like the Ghost Army has already overrun the capital of the Land of Demons. Lady Priestess, once we reach the Land of Swamps, you have to seal Mōryō as quickly as possible. Otherwise this whole world is going to spiral out of control."
Shion lowered her head a little, fear flickering across her face. "But... I'm afraid I won't be able to..."
Before she could finish, Akira fixed her with a steady, unwavering look and said seriously, "Lady Priestess, you're the only one who can do this. Don't worry. I'll clear every obstacle out of your way. You only need to focus on sealing Mōryō. Leave the rest to me."
Shion looked into those eyes, so full of confidence in her, and finally nodded hard.
At the moment, Yūgao was still carrying her on her back as they traveled, since Shion was an ordinary person and could only keep up with ninja speed that way.
As she ran, Yugito kept stealing glances at Akira from the side. The strength he had just displayed had completely overturned everything she thought she knew.
That ghostlike speed, that overwhelming command of jutsu, this sixteen-year-old boy might really have surpassed the Fourth Raikage.
So Samui hadn't exaggerated at all. This guy might actually be able to suppress a Tailed Beast with one hand.
If that was true, then why had he told me all that about the Akatsuki yesterday?
Yugito's stare was too intense for Akira not to notice. He turned his head and asked, "What? Is there something on my face?"
The three of them kept leaping swiftly through the thick forest canopy.
The situation was already critical. The Ghost Army had destroyed several smaller countries and was now pressing straight toward the borders of the Land of Fire.
If Mōryō itself wasn't sealed quickly, those stone monsters would never stop. They would just keep pushing deeper into the Land of Fire in endless waves.
Tsunade had already mobilized Konoha's ninja, and the Fire Daimyō had sent regular troops to the border to establish defensive lines.
But as long as Mōryō's true body remained, the fall of the Land of Fire was only a matter of time.
After all, the Ghost Army was nothing but lifeless stone puppets. Break one apart, and another seemed ready to rise from the earth.
On top of that, those stone soldiers had terrifying durability. Ordinary weapons would chip or break against them.
The army that had nearly destroyed the world once was no exaggeration.
As she ran, Yugito said, "For this sealing mission, I'll help you with everything I've got. After seeing that kind of power from you, I can believe sealing that monster might actually be possible."
In the ninja world, strength was still the final word.
The crushing force Akira had shown was enough to win Yugito's respect and trust.
Akira nodded. "This is my mission. Of course I'm going all out."
Yugito looked at Akira's young profile and couldn't help marveling inwardly. This guy was only sixteen.
To have power beyond Kage level at sixteen was terrifying.
When she thought back to herself at sixteen, even with the help of her Tailed Beast, she had only just reached elite jonin level at best.
But when Akira faced powerful jonin, it was pure overwhelming force. He erased them instantly.
That was the kind of strength that stood at the top of the ninja world.
Even for a Kage-level fighter, instantly killing a battle-hardened jonin was extremely difficult. Jonin were the backbone of every village, and they always had layers of survival tricks.
Unless, of course, you possessed the sort of absolute speed wielded by the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze, or the Fourth Raikage.
Along the way, they passed several villages that had already been flattened by the Ghost Army. Looking down at the endless stone soldiers advancing in perfect formation, Akira frowned.
"If these things spread across the whole ninja world, nobody will be able to stop them. They'd be like an endless plague."
Shion, still on Yūgao's back, looked down at the devastation below and clenched her small fists. For the first time, she felt the full weight of the responsibility on her shoulders.
Yugito's expression turned grim. "These stone soldiers can't be killed off for good, and they can't be wiped out completely. If they sweep through the Five Great Nations, I don't think any one country could survive on its own."
Akira replied, "Exactly. That's why we're racing against time. Even if all five great nations joined forces, I'm not sure how long they could hold."
Yugito grit her teeth. "I'll help you. Let's just hope that sealing jutsu actually works."
Akira shot her a glance. "Don't start talking like we've already lost. We're winning this fight. Even if something goes wrong on the priestess's side, I'll still force that monster back where it belongs."
Yugito blinked. "That's a bold claim. If even the priestess, whose power is specifically meant to counter it, fails, what exactly could you do?"
Because the two of them were guarding the rear, Yūgao and Shion up ahead didn't hear the exchange.
Akira burst forward with chakra under his feet, kicked off a tree trunk, and said casually, "I have my own methods. If even I can't handle it, then the world might as well start writing its farewell letters."
It sounded unbelievably arrogant, yet the more Yugito thought about it, the more it made a strange kind of sense.
If even a monster like him couldn't stop this thing, then humanity probably really had no future left.
So she said, "If you really can seal Mōryō, then I'll listen to you and start paying closer attention to the Akatsuki."
Akira laughed. "That's your own business anyway. Watching out for the Akatsuki only helps you. Why are you saying it like you're handing me a reward?"