Shrine Maiden Miroku

I will come back--

Before the words were finished, the body, bound by layers of chains, suddenly began to writhe violently.

It wasn't a muscle contraction, but a more bizarre change, as if the skin contained not flesh and blood, but some kind of viscous liquid.

The form of the Moryo began to twist and deform, losing its fixed shape like a melting wax figure.

"Not good!" Taiichi's expression changed drastically in the sky.

He reacted almost the instant the Moryo spoke. Eight Adamantine Sealing Chains shot up from behind him, twisted in mid-air, and pierced the Moryo's mutating body like eight golden snakes.

"Reinforce the seal!"

Taiichi's shout brought the sealed ninja back to their senses.

The twenty people gritted their teeth and increased their Chakra output, causing the runes on the chains to shine brightly in an attempt to suppress the strange movement.

However, the mutation of the Moryo seems to have triggered some kind of unconventional mechanism.

The chains stretched taut across the twisted body, creaking under the strain, yet they could not stop the eerie melting process.

Two minutes.

For everyone on the battlefield, those two minutes felt like an eternity.

They watched helplessly as the Moryo's body deformed and swelled under the chains, its scales peeling away piece by piece to reveal a purplish-black, mud-like substance beneath.

"Hold on!" Kitsuchi roared from afar, "It's about to explode!!"

A deafening explosion interrupted him.

It wasn't an explosion of flames or Chakra, but rather a kind of rift.

Before everyone's eyes, the enormous body of the Moryo exploded like a sack filled with sewage.

There was no flying blood and flesh, only an overwhelming purplish-black liquid.

The foul-smelling sewage swept outwards like a tsunami, instantly flooding the entire area within a radius of 100 meters.

Taiichi rapidly ascended into the sky, avoiding the impact of the polluted waves. He looked down, his face so gloomy it could drip water.

"What... what's going on?" a young Konoha sealing ninja murmured, his voice trembling with tears.

No one could answer him.

Taiichi slowly descended from the sky, his toes lightly touching an unpolluted rock. He looked around at the bewildered, shocked, and unwilling faces, and took a deep breath.

"Reassemble." His voice was chillingly calm. "Prepare for the onslaught of the Ghost Legion."

The order was like cold water, waking the still-dazed ninjas.

Yes, although the Moryo "disappeared" in this bizarre way, the Ghost Legion is still here.

Moreover, judging from their continued frenzied attacks, the true nature of the Moryo has not been eliminated.

"Quick! Move fast!" Kitsuchi was the first to react, his Rock Fist smashing a lunging Resentful Spirit. "Everyone, move towards the center! Earth Style Team, construct a circular defense!"

The ninjas gritted their teeth and dragged their weary bodies back into formation. The Defensive Formation was reassembled, but this time, the unwavering belief in victory was gone, replaced by bewilderment and unease.

As soon as Taiichi landed in the formation, he was surrounded by Chiyo, Kitsuchi, Dodai, and others.

"Taiichi, what just happened was—" Kitsuchi's voice held a final glimmer of hope, "The Moryo self-destructed, does that mean—it's dead?"

Taiichi was silent for two seconds, then slowly shook his head. "It failed."

Those three words struck everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.

"It didn't die." Taiichi looked at the Ghost Legion still gathering in the distance. "That explosion wasn't death; it was more like—an escape mechanism. It transformed itself back into pure Negative Energy and merged into this land."

A moment of silence fell over everyone, all taken aback by the news.

Dodai reacted quickly, noticing the dejected state of those around him. To prevent morale from plummeting, he immediately encouraged them, saying, "It's alright. With this experience, the next seal will surely be a piece of cake."

After listening to Dodai's words, everyone rallied and, reflecting on what had just happened, realized that, as Dodai had said, the most important thing was—

Everyone looked at Taiichi, and couldn't help but sigh in their hearts, "It's so good that someone can take care of things."

Taiichi looked at the excited crowd, but his heart sank to the bottom. He felt the Chakra in the Yin Seal, and only a small portion remained. At most, it could be used for one more high-intensity battle.

Looking at the Assault Force, they were in even worse shape. After such a long battle, many ninjas were running out of Chakra. If they fought another battle and failed, they wouldn't even have the strength to retreat.

More importantly, can their Sealing Jutsu truly seal away the Moryo?

However, he did not say these things directly, and he believed that there were many intelligent people present, and he was not the only one who could see these problems.

Moreover, he had one last piece of information to confirm.

Time ticked by, the Ghost Legion continued its attack, and Taiichi's Shadow Clones had already dispersed to Scout ahead.

They didn't have to wait long. This time, the Moryo didn't reappear in their sight, and naturally, the Assault Force didn't notice it either.

The Shadow Clone, Scout eastward, found the reborn Moryo, which was less than 50 kilometers from the main force of the Allied Forces.

Kilometer.

When Taiichi discovered the Shadow Clone, Kitsuchi immediately responded, "Let's go, let's go and fight him again, this time we'll definitely be able to seal him successfully."

There were many respondents, and the morale that had just been boosted had not yet dissipated.

But soon Kitsuchi noticed something was wrong. Not only Taiichi, but also Chiyo and Dodai looked serious.

Kitsuchi looked at Taiichi in confusion, wondering what they were dawdling about at a time like this, when everyone was already exhausted.

Taiichi looked at the Kitsuchi, whose eyes were gradually dimming, and sighed, but still gave the order, "Adjust formation. Mission failed. Retreat."

"What!"

"How could that be? We were clearly in the lead the whole time."

"Try again, Taiichi. This time you'll definitely succeed."

Various expressions of surprise, doubt, and advice arose one after another. No one understood why they were suddenly retreating, even though they had already discovered the traces of the Moryo.

"This is an order. Time waits for no one. We must return as soon as possible to report the situation to the Allied Forces." Taiichi said firmly, leaving no room for compromise.

The group looked bewildered, glancing at Taiichi, then at Chiyo and Dodai. Seeing that they were also nodding solemnly, they reluctantly regrouped and prepared to leave.

Along the way, the group was in a low mood. Although they had followed orders, they were still very confused. Had all their previous battles been in vain?

Kitsuchi Tu approached Taiichi and, in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, voiced the question that had been bothering him.

"Commander, we still had a chance, why did we give up?"

Taiichi glanced at Kitsuchi and knew that he wasn't asking for himself, but for the 1,000 comrades who had fought in the war. He secretly praised Huangtu for being "rough on the outside but meticulous on the inside," but still gave his answer.

"You weren't directly involved in the sealing, so your experience isn't truly felt. The changes in the Moryo in the final stage weren't ordinary physical alterations; I still don't understand the underlying principles. Even if we seal them again, the success rate will be less than 30%."

Actually, 30% was an exaggeration by Taiichi. He was only trying to save face for the twenty sealing ninjas. According to Taiichi's own estimate, it should be less than half a percent.

Seeing that everyone was listening to his explanation, Taiichi continued, "You may not have noticed, but everyone's current condition isn't good. Some of you are probably already out of Chakra!"

Upon hearing this, many people looked around and indeed saw that many people were pale, a sign of excessive Chakra depletion. In such a state, they definitely couldn't withstand another battle.

"Most importantly, I believe Chiyo and Dodai also discovered this."

Taiichi glanced at the two people beside him, who simply nodded solemnly.

"The first time the Moryo was reborn, it appeared at the edge of our sight."

The second rebirth occurred dozens of kilometers away from us, and it was even moving closer to the heart of the Land of Demons.

What if we fail to seal it again, Moryo is reborn a third time, appearing in an even more distant place? What will happen to our defenses then?

Or, to put it another way, if the Moryo were to be reborn within the Allied Forces, given its destructive power, could the Allied Forces withstand it?

This step-by-step explanation completely dispelled everyone's confusion. Just thinking about the tragic scene that would unfold sent chills down their spines.

"Gentlemen, I brought you out here, and I intend to take you all back with me. Your useful bodies shouldn't be wasted on useless tasks. Back home, you all have missions to complete."

This was Taiichi's final consolation to everyone, and they all nodded silently and began their journey in quiet.

As time moved forward, just as the Assault Force first encountered the Moryo, twenty kilometers to their west, in a hidden cave, four figures dressed in Black-bottomed Red Cloud Robe were sitting cross-legged.

One of them sat in front, while the other three sat scattered behind him, each with their hands on his back. Their eyes were closed, but from their trembling eyelids and changing expressions, it was easy to tell that they were not at peace.

That's right, this is the four-person temporary team that Akatsuki sent out to recruit talent: Zetsu, Kakuzu, Hiruko, and Blood Crow.

At this moment, Zetsu is using the White Zetsu lurking around the battlefield to transmit the real-time footage to his three companions behind him via their consciousness.

This near-lag-free image transmission made the four of them feel as if they were in the middle of a battlefield, personally experiencing the brutality of the Moryo and the terror of Taiichi.

Whenever the two sides clashed fiercely, the shockwaves that rippled outwards and the blows that leveled the mountaintops made the four men's scalps tingle and their bodies tremble.

Is this the kind of person their organization needs to deal with?

Are these inhuman monsters truly capable of being dealt with?

A series of questions kept popping into the minds of Kakuzu, Hiruko, and Blood Crow Raven, causing them to begin to doubt the organization's future.

The scene continued until the Moryo was resurrected for the third time, Taiichi's team abandoned their mission and began to retreat, at which point the synchronized transmission of consciousness ceased.

The cave was silent as everyone savored the details of the battle they had just fought, remaining speechless for a long time.

"Oh dear, what's wrong with everyone? You all look like you've lost your parents. Oh, wait, I forgot, your parents died a long time ago."

That smug tone, that way of speaking that makes you want to punch him twice, you don't even need to look to know it's White Zetsu.

White Zetsu manipulated his body, leaping up from the ground and flailing his arms and legs wildly, looking quite comical.

Kakuzu and the other two glared murderously at White Zetsu. Blood Crow's hand was on his Ninja Tool Pouch, and White Zetsu seemed to be frightened, standing stiffly on one leg.

But undoubtedly, the previously subdued atmosphere was completely dispelled by White Zetsu's antics.

The next moment, the stiff White Zetsu's body trembled, and the comical, crooked expression on his face returned to calm, as Black Zetsu had taken over the body.

"No need to worry. No matter how well Taichi Matsushita performs, he still only possesses the power of a mortal, and that power has its limits. Our leader, however, possesses the Rinnegan, the power of the Sage of Six Paths, the strongest power to have created the Ninja World."

Black Zetsu looked at everyone and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that their expressions had finally eased. If their morale collapsed, he wouldn't be able to lead the team in the future.

Composing himself, he immediately changed the subject.

"Currently, our plan is actually progressing smoothly. The Moryo have been released, and the strength of various countries has been weakened. Now, all we need to do is wait for the right opportunity to intervene at the last moment."

"Get involved?" Blood Crow curled his lip, quite dismissive. "I don't think that Moryo is a match for Taichi Matsushita. We might as well sacrifice him to the Evil God. The great Evil God will surely grant me more power."

"Indeed." Hiruko in agreement. "That Moryo has already been defeated twice. Could it really have been killed by Taichi Matsushita?"

Kakuzu's eyes also showed doubt. Although Blood Crow's claim about sacrificing the Evil God was pure nonsense, it was true that the Moryo was no match for Taichi Matsushita.

"You don't need to worry about that. The immortality of the Moryo is tied to Negative Energy. As long as there is Negative Energy, it will keep regenerating. It can't be solved by simply killing and sealing it. Unless they have the level of the Sage of Six Paths, it's impossible to completely kill the Moryo."

"So?" Kakuzu seemed to have figured something out, and his gaze towards Black Zetsu changed.

"So in the end, they could only turn to Shrine Maiden. Only Shrine Maiden of that lineage possessed the power to restrain the Moryo and prevent Moryo from self-destructing and regenerating during the final stage of the sealing process."

"I see. That's why Taichi Matsushita and the others ultimately failed to seal it."

Everyone nodded in realization, understanding why the seal had suddenly failed at the final stage; it turned out the Moryo had such methods.

Seeing that everyone was deep in thought, Black Zetsu, no longer looking dejected, turned and walked out of the cave.

He gazed at the polluted, purplish-black earth, but his heart was not as confident as he had previously claimed.

It's not a matter of subduing the Moryo, but rather the Ninja World, the Allied Forces, and Taichi Matsushita.

In order to deal with the Moryo, all the ninja villages in the Ninja World contributed their efforts and eventually formed Allied Forces with great tacit understanding, which was something that Black Zetsu did not expect.

This also made Black Zetsu realize the strength of the Ninja World and its determination to deal with external enemies. In particular, given this precedent, if his plans were to threaten the entire Ninja World in the future, the reactions of the villages would inevitably be even faster, which was not good news for him.

Then there's Taichi Matsushita. He's only ever seen such power in Senju Hashirama and Madara Uchiha. The next step would allow him to reach the same level as Indra and Asura back then.

This person already possesses the ability to change the course of the battle. It's a pity that Madara's Rinnegan awakened too late. If he had a few more years, he would have killed Taichi Matsushita now, even at the risk of being exposed.