[Ten Minutes Earlier]
After obtaining the Sealing-Demon Jade, Ryosuke carefully sensed the god-of-ghosts power contained inside, and confirmed that the Daimyō of the Land of Demons was most likely possessed.
Combined with the earlier meeting, where the shrine maiden Shion sat next to the Daimyō like a wooden doll, not saying a single word.
Obviously, putting all their hopes on the sealing strategy of past shrine maidens had completely failed.
The evil ghost Mangetsu, who caused countless bloodshed hundreds of years ago, had most likely already escaped its seal long ago, hiding inside the Daimyō's body, becoming the supreme commander of this entire country.
'No wonder the whole Daimyō's residence, from servants to samurai, everyone, looks like fake people. Their souls have probably all been tainted by the evil ghost. They look alive, but they're already half-dead.'
If this was allowed to continue, the entire Land of Demons would become Mangetsu's "food warehouse," and the dead would become the immortal ghost-army painted on the murals.
Ryosuke put away the Sealing-Demon Jade.
He had originally come to the Land of Demons for the Masked Man, but instead of finding him, he unexpectedly discovered the country's secret ahead of time.
From the most rational, cold-blooded angle, since Ryosuke could absorb the god-of-ghosts power and turn it into Ripple, then letting Mangetsu slaughter and grow in the Land of Demons, waiting for it to become "fat" enough before refining it in an instant, would be the most beneficial for Ryosuke.
Maybe he could even use it to break through the Ripple realm in one go.
But…
Ryosuke recalled the ordinary people in the murals, constantly screaming in agony under the torment of ghost-god power, living worse than death.
'I'd better kill it early.'
Hermit Purple.
Purple vines wrapped around Ryosuke's arm. In the golden flame in his palm, Mangetsu's image was projected.
Mangetsu was standing in front of a massive barrier array. The array's pathways extended far away, until it left the image range of Hermit Purple's mind-projection.
Strands of black-purple smoke surged out from the array, condensing into Mangetsu's body.
Whoooo~ Whoooo~
A strong wind blew. The dark clouds above the heavens condensed into a terrifying ghost face, horrifying to the extreme.
"Heavenborn ghost face, human world purgatory."
Yomi, who was running around the Daimyō residence with his subordinates, stood by a window, looking at the abnormal phenomenon in the sky, his eyes full of longing.
This was the power he desired. This was the lord he followed.
A subordinate ran over and said, "Sir, we let Neji escape, and also, the shrine maiden Shion secretly ran out too. It seems she's trying to contact Uzumaki Naruto."
Yomi waved his hand.
"It doesn't matter. The entire Daimyō residence is inside the Ghost-God Barrier. Ordinary people can't escape.
The only thing they can do is be trapped in this building and wait…"
"For Lord Mangetsu's judgment."
———
Ryosuke sensed the pressure coming from the sky.
Ordinary people would only feel the world suddenly becoming gloomy and cold.
But in Ryosuke's eyes, there was an endless flow of Extreme Yin natural energy flowing out from the void, finally pouring into Mangetsu's body.
This act, to Ryosuke… was basically like adding an egg to a stuffed pancake.
Hermit Purple pointed downward, the direction was exactly the ancient Summoning-Ghost Ritual Array of the Land of Demons.
A new moon appeared behind Ryosuke, and the ground beneath his feet naturally split apart.
Ryosuke floated mid-air, slowly descending.
Halfway down, he caught a glimpse of densely packed explosive tag traps.
BOOM!
The blast wave flung up thick layers of dirt, blowing away the temple above, the training array, and even the statue of the first shrine maiden.
The statue's head was blasted high into the air, spinning before landing heavily into a pond, crushing a poor frog.
The frog let out a tragic cry before dying, and the cry mixed with the gusty yin wind, echoing through the city, shaking windows so hard they thumped, waking the sleeping citizens.
They crawled up from their beds in shock, pressed against their windows, staring at the ghost's twisted face in the heavens.
At this moment, people remembered the fear of being ruled by evil ghosts long ago.
Fear grew uncontrollably from their hearts, and just when that fear reached its peak, a violent storm struck.
The blazing flames filling the sky were instantly swept away. Ryosuke hovered in the sky, completely unscathed.
He glanced at the grotesque ghost face formed by the clouds, then looked down at Mangetsu, who was slowly rising from the center of the summoning array, and softly said, "You seem to really like these flashy things."
"It's like…"
"That kind of overly decorative plating in Western restaurants."
As he spoke, Ryosuke waved his hand, and the heavens suddenly lit with lightning. Silver dragons coiled and tore through the clouds, shredding the ghost face into fragments in an instant.
The fear of the ghost-god silently vanished beneath the soul-shaking thunder. People stood at their windows, staring at Ryosuke, who was surrounded by lightning.
Mangetsu did not like Ryosuke's wording.
How was this flashy?
Ruling and controlling the lowly masses had always required fear as the foundation.
He disliked Ryosuke's gaze even more.
This was a gaze Mangetsu was extremely familiar with. Its meaning was simple,
Devouring.
Mangetsu patted the dust off his body.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm not trying to be your enemy. I want to give you an opportunity, a true path to immortality.
Ryosuke, you have conquered the world, but one day, you will die."
"Don't you desire eternal life?"
Mangetsu pointed at his own heart.
"I will give you all my memories, my experience, my power.
With the blessing of ghost-god power, Ryosuke, you can sit on your throne forever, immortally ruling the world.
And all you need to give is a very small price, your memory will become a little fragmented.
But I believe you'll adapt quickly."
"..."
Ryosuke listened to Mangetsu's words, his expression complicated.
These ghost-stories might fool someone native to the Naruto world.
But Ryosuke instantly heard it for what it was.
"This thing you're talking about…"
He pulled the Ruination Greatsword out of the ghost-room.
"Is called possession."
The moment the iconic Ruination Greatsword appeared, all the lightning dragons hidden in the clouds roared simultaneously.
Thunder rolled, illuminating the world like daytime, and a razor-sharp killing intent filled the air.
Dozens of lightning bolts fell toward Mangetsu.
Even before the lightning touched him, Mangetsu felt his skin go numb, his vision turn blank white.
He couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything.
He was just about to use ghost-god power to counterattack...
'Star Platinum: The World!'
Even after all these years, Ryosuke still remembered the troublesome White-Haired Cult Leader of the Cult of the Evil God.
Maybe it was just like how natives of the Naruto world viewed Ryosuke.
Unconventional power systems would always show power beyond the "ninjutsu system" within their specialized fields.
So Ryosuke used his strongest move right away.
The lightning summoned from the weather report froze mid-air, and Ryosuke moved through the stopped-time domain, arriving in front of Mangetsu. Star Platinum stood behind him.
One man, one Stand.
Each raised their long sword and fist.