The sound of the canyon collapsing still echoed in the distance.
Inside a temporary cave built along the outer edge of the spirit vein, Hyuga Xiao sat cross-legged on a flat rock. His eyes were closed, fine beads of cold sweat seeped from his forehead, and faint purple-black patterns drifted beneath his skin—the lingering traces of Mōryō's chakra after it had been forcibly devoured by the Covenant Stone Fragments but not yet fully digested.
The memory fragments Miroku had sent crashed against his consciousness like a tide.
The origins of the Land of Demons' sealing techniques, the jutsu structure modeled after the God Tree Root System, every detail of the Starry Sky Altar Ritual... and the cruel price: a shrine maiden was needed as a sacrifice, her life serving as a bridge to connect the three Covenant Stone Fragments and the Otsutsuki Bloodline.
"Xiao."
Kurenai Yuhi's voice came from the cave entrance. She walked in carrying a bowl of water heated with chakra, her movements gentle. Her red hair was slightly disheveled, and dust from the battle still clung to her face, but the worry in her eyes was unmistakable.
"Your chakra fluctuations are very unstable." Hong placed the bowl beside him, crouched down, and held her fingers an inch above his wrist—this was a sensing technique she had recently learned, one that could probe chakra flow without direct contact. "Is Mōryō's energy still retaliating?"
"It's struggling." Xiao opened his eyes. The starlight within his azure Tenseigan was brighter than ever, but colder as well. "Like prey swallowed into a stomach, still clawing at the esophagus before it dies."
His voice was calm, but Hong heard the tension beneath it.
"How much of Lady Miroku's memories have you digested?"
"Enough." Xiao took the bowl and drank. As the warm water