"Naruto... you must survive!"
Without hesitation, Shion placed the red sealing stone on Naruto.
"I didn't expect you to make it here... I've seen that kind of power before."
"Should you really be giving the miko's amulet to someone else?"
"Even if he made it in, it won't change the outcome."
The ghost's voice echoed ominously.
Naruto reached into the air—and a figure manifested in front of him.
At the same time, the sealing stone's power faded from Shion's hands, and in an instant, she was cloaked in the same spiritual garb her mother once wore.
"This power... Now's the time to use it!"
"Release!"
Like Tsunade undoing the Yin Seal, light erupted from Shion's forehead as intricate curse marks spread across her body.
A dazzling aura surrounded her, her hair floating upward in a radiant flare. She looked like an angel.
A bikini angel, to be exact.
Shion turned to Naruto one last time, tears brimming in her eyes.
In that moment, she finally understood the dormant power that had always lived inside her.
'From now on, you'll live in the world to come. This is my destiny... You big liar!'
But as she closed her eyes in sorrow, a hand suddenly pinched her cheek.
"What are you doing?"
"Imagining yourself as the great savior again?"
Shion's eyes flew open—Naruto stood before her, completely unharmed.
Behind her, a silhouette loomed. Its shape was eerily similar to the mother from her memories.
"Stupid miko," Naruto muttered, flicking her forehead.
In a flash, the radiant form vanished—Shion returned to normal. The bikini archangel was gone.
Without pause, Naruto reached into the mass of the monster and pulled Shion out.
The ghost spirit recoiled in confusion.
Miroku's power had vanished.
In other words, the force suppressing it had completely disappeared.
"HAHAHA~!"
The creature cackled wildly.
It hadn't yet realized the full gravity of the situation.
Boom. Boom.
Deep beneath the earth, magma churned. The ground trembled. A volcanic eruption was imminent.
"Naruto…" Shion called out softly.
"Didn't you just call me 'Mother' a moment ago?"
As he spoke, Naruto reached behind her and absorbed the ghostly shadow into his own body.
"I let my guard down for a moment. But did you really plan to trade your life for this thing?"
Shion looked down, tears flowing freely. She collapsed into Naruto's arms, sobbing.
Her resolve to die had disappeared, leaving behind only a raw and consuming fear.
Naruto held her with one arm while drawing on the miko power swirling wildly inside her.
Whoosh—
Just then, White Zetsu's wooden clone reappeared, having absorbed the chakra from all the terracotta soldiers outside.
"Master, the terracotta warriors have been completely drained."
"There are still more on the outskirts. The other clones are already absorbing them."
"The Land of Demons has been cooperative. With help from Nadeshiko Village and the Land of Nadeshiko, the situation has stabilized. We also helped them eliminate corrupt landlords and rogue ninja."
Squelch—
"Naruto!"
Shion's eyes widened in horror.
It had happened… The prophecy was coming true…
Had Naruto died after all?
Why? she thought. If only I had died earlier… then he wouldn't have had to…
"No, you idiot miko. That's just a clone," Naruto sighed. "Why are you freaking out? And look closely."
Following his pointing finger, Shion saw the black-and-purple spectral hand of the monster had pierced through the clone's chest.
But something was off.
The clone hadn't disappeared.
Upon closer inspection, she realized—the chest had turned into solid wood.
The dark misty hand had stabbed straight through it.
"Huh?"
The monster's true form—the black and purple mist—shifted, forming a twisted, hideous face.
"What… what is this?"
"Who the hell are you?"
"Why can't I contact my ghost army?!"
"Damn you all!"
In a flash, the mist transformed into countless black and purple serpentine dragons, launching a furious assault on Naruto and Shion.
"The volcano's going to erupt soon. Stay here and wait for me," Naruto instructed.
Whoosh—
He appeared at the original entrance, holding Shion securely in his arms.
"After the eruption, this land will be reborn... The Land of Demons is rich in resources. Once things settle, Konoha will send its science teams here too..."
After thinking for a moment, Naruto shouted from within the sealed space,
"Kurama! Have Zabuza and Haku prepare to escort the scientific research team to the Land of Demons."
He paused, then added, "Also, let them know: the Land of Demons has a unique secret technique, something like a permanent Transformation Jutsu. Once you transform... there's no going back."
Kurama scratched his ear lazily. "So it's some kind of permanent benefit for long-term employees?"
Naruto smirked. "If you're calling it a benefit, then don't charge them for it."
"Ugh... Tch. Mind your own business!"
Naruto chuckled softly and exited the seal.
Behind him, the White Zetsu wood clone silently approached and dissolved into Naruto's elemental body. In an instant, streams of magical power surged within him.
But this power wasn't his own—not like the direct absorption of Shion's miko energy or bloodline-based abilities that generated true spiritual force. No, this was residual.
The reason monsters had appeared was due to the former shrine maiden Miroku having lived too close to the border between the Demon World and the Shinobi World.
By nature, those monsters were beings born of the Demon World's tainted spiritual energy.
Miroku, the priestess of the Land of Demons, had possessed a unique bloodline—something akin to a kekkei genkai. Without it, she wouldn't have survived giving birth to those creatures, much less sealing them away.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the approaching cloud of black-and-purple mist—the monster's true form.
He analyzed quietly, "We can't just barge into the Demon World."
"Whether these spirits are actual demon-world creatures isn't clear."
"If they are living beings, then entering might be feasible."
"But if not... if they're purely energy... then there's only one possibility."
Whoosh—
Suddenly, the black-and-purple mist surged forward and pierced straight into Naruto's chest.
Shion's heart stopped. Her eyes went wide in horror as she watched the fog consume him.
"Naruto!" she gasped, bracing to run forward.
But—Naruto didn't fall.
There was no blood. No wound. No reaction.
Blinking in confusion, Shion stared again. The mist had passed right through him—like a phantom.
"Did... did he become a shadow clone?" she muttered, rubbing her eyes.
Then, she and the ghost simultaneously realized the truth.
Naruto wasn't being pierced—he was absorbing it.
The entire mass of the cursed mist was being pulled into Naruto's body like water into a drain.
"Wha—what is this?!" the ghost screamed. "Why can't I get out?!"
It tried to flee, but Naruto's chakra acted like a black hole, drawing in every last wisp of the demonic haze.
Its resistance was useless. Its army of ghost-infused terracotta soldiers? Gone. Vanished.
"You... You can absorb my power?!"
"Who the hell are you?! Only the miko of the Land of Demons could do that!"
"No... No! My power! It's slipping away! Uzumaki Naruto—!"
"Stop! If I die, that little miko dies too!"
Naruto didn't reply.
He just cast a glance at the creature—calm, emotionless—his golden eyes narrowing.
"If this thing isn't a living creature from the Demon World…"
'Then the only explanation is that Miroku, the previous priestess, entered the boundary between the Shinobi World and the Demon World... and accidentally drew in demonic energy.'
'That energy... it's like chakra, but far more volatile.'
'If demonic energy alone can generate this kind of threat… then the Demon World is operating on a power level way beyond what we've seen here.'
He let out a breath, thoughtful.
"Fascinating. The shinobi world isn't as simple as it looks…"
'The Ōtsutsuki aren't the peak—not even close.'
'If ghosts and gods exist, then the world they inhabit... may surpass even this Demon World in strength.'
'The Three Great Sage Regions—Mount Myōboku, Ryūchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest—may just be access points into this world.'
"If Moryo had succeeded… we'd have had a fourth sacred land."
He smirked.
"And that future... still isn't impossible."
...
TN:
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