I Am Invincible Under Heaven

"Thank you very much for saving my life."

The Shrine Maiden bowed gracefully, her gratitude sincere.

She had escaped that gray future.

Her prophecy had been broken.

No!

That wasn't right!

It wasn't that her prophecy had been broken; it was that the future she had seen was limited.

After all, she wasn't omniscient. It was only natural that she had missed something.

She summoned her subordinates and smiled faintly at Uchiha Genmei.

"Though Moryo and his minions were driven away by you, that loss means nothing to him."

"I am Miko, the Shrine Maiden. I invite you to the palace to discuss Moryo."

Uchiha Genmei nodded.

"You go ahead. While you're at it, reassure the people in the city. I'll wait for my companions. They haven't arrived yet."

The Shrine Maiden, Miko, nodded to show she understood, then bowed and left under her subordinates' protection.

A short while later,

the still-young Sannin finally arrived.

Tsunade looked at the destruction all around,

and at the lava flowing through the earth

outside the city, where the ground had been scorched.

She was a little shocked.

"Hey! Did you do all this?!"

"I did, Princess Tsunade. Things were rather urgent just now. I hope you'll forgive the mess."

Uchiha Genmei smiled faintly as he answered Tsunade's question.

At that,

Tsunade grew even more annoyed.

"Temee! What do you mean, 'forgive the mess'? You did a great job, so just say so."

"Such a hypocrite. Hmph!"

Just then,

Orochimaru shook his head and said helplessly,

"Genmei, don't be too modest. Excessive modesty from the strong comes across as arrogance."

That's right, Orochimaru! Tell him!

Jiraiya silently agreed from the side.

He was deeply impressed by the spectacle Uchiha Genmei had created,

but seeing Tsunade look straight at him as soon as she arrived had left him feeling rather upset.

"Such strength is truly impressive. I hope we'll have more chances to work together after this mission."

Hearing Orochimaru's praise, Uchiha Genmei nodded.

He smiled.

"We will, Orochimaru. I have complete faith in your talent."

"Orochimaru, enough small talk. Let's go see what instructions our employer has for us."

Seeing Orochimaru about to chat with the guy who often interrupted her when she was showing off at the casino,

Tsunade hurriedly suggested they go see their employer, cutting off their mutual praise.

The rest of the journey passed in silence.

They quickly reached the palace.

Under the guidance of officials from the Land of Demons, they entered a side hall.

This was where they were being received.

After exchanging polite greetings with Miko, the Shrine Maiden,

Uchiha Genmei, as the leader of their team for this mission, spoke frankly.

"Miko, please explain the mission objective in detail so my three companions can come up with a plan to protect you."

He paused and took a sip of the tea that had been set out on the table.

Then he smiled faintly.

"That will also help me track down and kill the target based on the information."

Miko understood the urgency of the situation

and didn't waste time.

She explained everything they knew about Moryo in detail.

After hearing the details,

Orochimaru asked calmly,

"Moryo's power and yours are one and the same? And he also has an immortal army of puppets?"

"What is your power? Forgive my ignorance, but I can't sense any power coming from you."

Hearing Orochimaru's question, Miko gave a helpless, bitter smile.

"At present, there is indeed no power left within me."

"Moryo has completely stolen my pure spiritual energy. Before long, he'll grow even stronger."

Thinking of this, the Shrine Maiden held her head.

She said with a pained expression,

"And even if I did have it, you ninjas wouldn't be able to see it."

Uchiha Genmei grew somewhat interested.

"What do you mean?"

"Moryo and I wield spiritual energy, but his is impure. Both kinds are degraded forms of divine power."

"Degraded divine power? Are you saying gods really exist?"

Jiraiya, standing nearby, thought the Shrine Maiden's claim sounded rather exaggerated, and quickly asked.

Miko glanced at the boisterous Jiraiya

and explained helplessly,

"I don't know whether gods exist. That's what the tradition says: Moryo is a fallen god."

"In ancient times, our line of Shrine Maidens received blessings from the gods and gained power from them."

"My power has always been the yin to Moryo's yang. That is irrefutable proof."

Seeing that Jiraiya and Tsunade still looked unconvinced,

Miko sneered.

"If you don't believe me, then as those who serve the so-called sacred lands of today, you can ask those yok—"

Realizing she had almost let something slip, Miko quickly covered with a cough.

"Ahem... the summoning beasts. They'll know."

Orochimaru nodded to show he understood.

With his scholarly curiosity, he would look into these secrets in the future.

Then he calmly continued,

"We understand the situation well enough. My two companions and I will do our best to protect you, Lady Shrine Maiden."

"First, we'll go into the city and prepare the Sealing Jutsu."

Miko nodded.

"You're all so dependable."

She turned to look at the boy, who seemed lost in thought.

Her expression grew serious.

"As for the other mission, killing Moryo, I'd like to speak with Genmei at the shrine."

Uchiha Genmei indicated that he understood, then stood up.

He parted ways with the Sannin, who were going to make preparations for the Undead Army's siege.

He followed Miko,

to a shrine in the city.

As they entered the shrine, Miko looked at the offering stand.

The broken Spirit Bow filled her with sorrow.

"The Spirit Bow is broken. Moryo no longer has any weakness."

She turned around and bowed gracefully.

"Genmei, please let me teach you the Cursed Speech of Onmyodo."

Hearing this,

Uchiha Genmei, a little surprised,

asked in confusion,

"You want to teach me Cursed Speech, Lady Shrine Maiden? Why?"

Miko raised her eyes, her expression solemn.

She said gravely,

"I can sense that the jutsu you used to save me, Genmei... was the power of a god."

"And there are traces of spiritual energy in you!"

Hearing this, Uchiha Genmei was at a loss.

He asked directly,

"The power of a god? Traces of spiritual energy?"

At the boy's question,

Miko stepped in front of him and looked directly into his eyes.

"That's right. Divine power must be combined with Cursed Speech and spiritual energy to be fully unleashed on this land."

"And spiritual energy is the power of nature. It gathers within the human body and can be refined."

The Shrine Maiden's firm tone made Uchiha Genmei raise an eyebrow.

That was true!

After his dojutsu had been upgraded through Aura Epiphany,

it had undergone some remarkable changes.

And the power of nature was none other than Sage Mode!

He hadn't used it in front of her,

yet she could still tell.

It seemed what she said was true.

It looked like he could gain quite a bit from learning this.

With that in mind,

he said with some interest,

"Oh... now you've got my attention, Lady Shrine Maiden."

"Let's start right now."

While Uchiha Genmei and the others were making their preparations,

in a gloomy valley in the Land of Demons,

"My power has finally returned in full!"

As the whispered words rang out,

the world changed, and the atmosphere turned to raging waves.

A violent purple whirlwind tore open the sky, allowing moonlight to spill down!

Lightning crackled across the clear sky!

The whirlwind became an ominous radiance, staining the moon blood-red.

Twisted black winds of ill omen descended, forming a cloak around the enormous demon.

The splendid, ominous power quivered, enclosing him in a giant egg.

[Child of Ashihara no Nakatsukuni]

[Why do you tremble?]

Crack—

Cracks appeared across the giant egg.

The mighty, splendid power of ill omen poured out through the fissures.

Boom!

The giant egg shattered,

and surging black water coalesced into a humanoid body.

The black water swirled around him, forming an archaic robe.

Black eyes, black hair, black ancient robes.

At that moment, he was as black as the night sky, as if he could devour everything.

He clenched his fist, feeling the power within him.

"Hahahahaha! Only now am I truly complete."

"Thousands of years of plotting have finally succeeded!"

"I am invincible under heaven. It's time to take revenge on the Outer-Heaven Demons!"