Moryo

Based on the Yin Release stages summarized by Katsuya, all three were at the second stage. After these few days of research, their Yin Release had all improved to some extent.

Yichen's spiritual power has surpassed that of most Kage Level, so he has made the greatest progress in the research process. Yichen has a feeling that he is about to reach the third stage.

At this point, if Yichen were willing to calm down and spend time learning the Spirit Transformation Jutsu, even with persistent effort, Yichen could reach the third stage.

However, Yichen never had enough time. Yichen felt he couldn't afford to waste too much time on Yin Release, a cultivation path unrelated to the main storyline.

After resting for a day, Yichen said to Miroku, "Your Lady Miko, I plan to partially unseal the seal and then attack the Moryo within, weakening its power first."

Miroku was somewhat surprised. She thought Yichen had finished his research and was preparing to seal the Moryo. Unexpectedly, Yichen not only did not intend to seal it, but also wanted to help the Moryo widen the hole in the seal.

Yichen explained, "Our research shows that the seal cast by your Miko is very powerful. As long as the seals at these key locations are protected, even if the others are broken, the Moryo will have a hard time escaping for a while."

"However, at that time, the Moryo will have the ability to attack us. But just as easily, we can also attack the Moryo."

"The Moryo is a spirit, so it's not easy to damage it with normal attacks, let alone destroy it completely. But I can try to weaken it."

"Once I weaken the Moryo to a certain extent, you, as the Miko, can then decide whether to continue sealing it or merge it into yourself."

Miroku's body jolted, and he said incredulously, "Merge with Moryo?"

Yichen nodded and said, "That's right. To completely eliminate Moryo, there are only two ways. The first is to possess extraordinary soul cultivation and directly obliterate it. The second is for Miko of the same origin to devour it."

"The main reason why the Moryo has become so terrifying is that it has been constantly absorbing the power of generation after generation of Miko."

"When the Miko Seal the Moryo, they used all their power, including their own lives. Some of this power must have been absorbed by the Moryo, which is why they grew stronger and Moryo."

Miroku was startled; this was a conjecture that her mother, the previous Miko, had also mentioned.

Yichen said, "From those documents, we can see that it wasn't difficult for you Miko to seal away Moryo before, and the seals could be maintained for a long time."

"However, the seals have been holding for shorter and shorter periods of time lately. If you, like the previous Miko, use your life to seal the Moryo, then by the time the Moryo attempts to break the seal again, Little Shion might not even be grown up yet."

Miroku looked at his daughter, who was crawling around on a carpet not far away, playing happily with the Little Rhino Dog, Little Chōmei, and felt a little panicked.

Then she quickly said, "Lord Tsuchikage, I'll do whatever you say. I'll do whatever you want me to do!"

Yichen drew the seal on a piece of paper and then said, "Here, here, and here—these places must be preserved; they are the key to this seal. And these places—their function is unknown, so we need to be careful. The rest can be removed."

"Let's take it one step at a time. The Moryo shouldn't just wait around until we're ready to attack. It might attack us along the way, so try to stay as far away as possible."

"Yes." Miroku nodded vigorously, then asked, "When will it begin?"

Yichen looked up at the mountain and said in a cryptic tone, "Wait a minute, I still need to do some preparations."

After speaking, Yichen gestured for everyone to leave the cave and head away from the valley. Once Yichen was alone in the cave, he immediately entered Six-Tails Chakra Mode and began to unleash a wide-range Earth Release.

Using a combination of A-rank Earth Style Jutsu and Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique, Yichen directly moved the mountain where the cave sealing the Moryo was located.

Yichen directly exposed the seal that imprisoned the Moryo to the sunlight.

After completing all this, Yichen flew to the group, who were far from the seal, and said to the dumbfounded Miroku, "Your Lady Miko, we can begin."

Miroku nodded blankly, and it took her a while to come to her senses. She handed the Little Shion in her arms to Tomoko to look after, and then went back to the location of the seal and began to slowly break the seal.

At first, there was no movement beneath the seal. But when Miroku released half of the seal, the Moryo beneath could no longer restrain itself. It let out a huge roar and then stretched out countless tentacles that pierced towards Miroku like lightning.

Fortunately, Yichen was prepared and had activated his Mind's Eye to its maximum. As soon as he sensed the movement below, Yichen grabbed Miroku and used the Light-Weight Rock Technique to rush into the sky.

Undeterred by its missed attack, the Moryo continued to extend its tentacles, trying to reach Miroku in mid-air. Soon, the area where the cave had been was filled with the Moryo's body.

At the same time Moryo, the eerie and terrifying voice of the demon clearly entered Yichen's ears. "Miko, don't even think about sealing me again this time. The day I break free will be the day the Ninja World is destroyed. Hahahahahaha!"

Looking down at the dense tentacles covering an area of several hundred meters, Yichen revealed a cold smile.

"Finally out," Yichen said, creating a Porcelain Release Clone to care for Miroku while assuming the starting stance for Light Release. Then, with a low shout, he chanted, "Light Release - World Splitter Jutsu."

Boom~~

Whether the Moryo didn't expect anyone to be able to harm it, or its senses were restricted by the seal, it didn't notice Yichen's attack at all. The Light Release struck the Moryo's countless tentacles that extended from the seal without any surprise, immediately vaporizing a large number of tentacles.

The Moryo immediately retracted all its tentacles at top speed, leaving only a few tentacles that had been separated from its main body after being bombarded by the Light Release, still twitching Hon on the ground.

At the same time, the Moryo let out a sharp roar, which carried a powerful Soul Impact, spreading outwards from the seal.

Fortunately, Yichen and the other person were far away, so the Soul Impact had weakened considerably by the time it reached them.

As Miko, Miroku was naturally unafraid of such soul attacks. She simply used her Miko Power to block the Moryo's attack for a short while.

Yichen's soul strength was already very high, so he only lost focus for a moment before recovering. However, Yichen's Porcelain Release Clone was directly shattered by this Soul Impact.

Yichen grabbed Miroku, who was falling downwards, somewhat surprised.

Unexpectedly, the Porcelain Release Clone was destroyed by a single Soul Impact. It should be noted that the Porcelain Release Clone has no soul and is usually immune to soul attacks.

The fact that Moryo's soul attack could shatter Yichen's Porcelain Release Clone indicates that Moryo's Yin Release level, according to Katsuya's ranking system, is likely close to reaching the fourth level.

Katsuya's Yin Release theory is divided into four stages as follows:

The first stage involves mobilizing the power of the soul, that is, spiritual power. The second stage involves sensing the existence of the soul. The third stage involves being able to use the soul to directly attack and kill the enemy's soul. The fourth stage involves the soul breaking free from the body and existing independently.

Even at the third stage, it's still just attacking soul with soul. To achieve soul attack on a physical body, according to Yichen's understanding, a fourth stage is needed. And the fourth stage is the same stage that Black Zetsu, or rather, Kaguya Otsutsuki.

That's a bit scary.

However, the soul attack just now did not have much effect on his physical body, which shows that the Moryo has not truly reached that level.

By this time, the explosion below had ended, and the Moryo had retreated back underground. Yichen could only see the seal that Miroku had partially broken and some severed tentacles on the seal; he could no longer see any of the Moryo's body.

Clearly, the Moryo was also seriously injured by Yichen's Light Release and dared not show itself again.

This is troublesome. The Moryo won't come out, and he doesn't dare to go in. If he were to take a few more blows from the Soul Impact he just experienced at close range, Yichen felt he wouldn't be able to withstand it.

As if sensing Yichen's predicament, Miroku handed Yichen a bell, saying, "Lord Tsuchikage, this contains the Miko Power; it can ignore the kind of attack the Moryo."

Yichen's eyes lit up. Wasn't this the bell that Miroku left for Shion in the original story, which Shion then lent to Naruto?

Taking the bell, Yichen led Miroku to where Tomoko and the others were in the distance. He first entered Sage Mode, and then flew in alone through the gap in the Miko Seal.

After Miroku's unsealing and the recent torment by Moryo and Yichen, the Miko Seal is now completely secure enough for Yichen to enter and exit.

Upon entering, Yichen immediately used the Senjutsu - Porcelain Release.

Countless Porcelain Mud spread outwards from Yichen as a scout.

Soon, Yichen discovered the location of the Moryo. The Moryo was simply too enormous, even larger than the Perfect Form Nine-Tails that Yichen had ever seen.

At the same time, the Moryo also discovered Yichen's intrusion and immediately extended its tentacles to launch an attack.

Yichen manipulated countless slurries to meet the countless tentacles attacking him head-on.

The mud sometimes transforms into hard rocks to defend against the tentacles' attacks, sometimes into Kunai and other sharp weapons to attack the Moryo's main body, and sometimes into flowing mud, bypassing the Moryo's blockade and constantly approaching it.

The Moryo was not careless either, using its tentacles for both offense and defense while frequently launching soul attacks on Yichen.

Fortunately, Yichen was protected by the bell given to him by Miroku, and a layer of white light around his body constantly resisted the attacks of the Moryo, rendering the Moryo' most powerful methods ineffective against Yichen.

Both sides were capable of attacking and defending from any angle, resulting in a stalemate where neither side could gain the upper hand.

"Who are you? You're not Miko. Miko doesn't attack like that. How could you have the Miko Power?" The Moryo, filled with shock and anger, continued to rang out.

"Humans, pledge your allegiance to me, and I can grant you eternal life. I will give you the opportunity to lead my undead army."