Pakura, Miroku

Douyang glanced at the Kumogakure and Kirigakure teams, his brow furrowing slightly.

These two teams had the same composition as theirs, with only four members each.

But they were all elites.

The ninja leading the Kumogakure team was named Toroi, a renowned Magnet Release kekkei genkai user from Kumogakure.

The ninja leading the Kirigakure team was named Juzo Biwa, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and the wielder of the Kubikiribōchō.

Kakashi negotiated with Toroi and Juzo Biwa. The three teams reached an agreement to fight their way into the Priestess Temple together.

The three team leaders stood at the front in a triangular formation, forming a spearhead.

The Kumogakure and Kirigakure teams provided support from the middle.

The Konoha team brought up the rear.

Once the assault team was formed, the twelve immediately moved out.

Hiss!

A series of shrill cries rang out.

Chidori in hand, Kakashi charged into the ranks of the Ghost Army.

At that moment, Kakashi pushed Chidori's charging power to its limit.

In the space of a breath, five or six terracotta soldiers shattered to the ground.

Standing to Kakashi's left, Toroi rapidly formed hand seals and shouted, "Magnet Release: Conserving Bee Twin Blades!"

Two specially made blades emitted a hazy glow, slicing the surrounding terracotta soldiers to pieces.

Juzo Biwa stood to Kakashi's right, swinging the Kubikiribōchō in an impenetrable flurry. The terracotta soldiers beneath his blade were severed in two.

Working with Kakashi, the two easily tore a massive opening in the Ghost Army's ranks.

The three Mist Ninja in the middle of the team simultaneously unleashed a jutsu. "Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

In an instant, walls of water rose on either side, turning the opening Kakashi and the other two had torn through into a makeshift passage.

At the rear of the group, Shisui Uchiha drove his Three-Tomoe Sharingan to its fullest.

In his vision, the terracotta soldiers' movements slowed several times over.

"Uchiha Style: Sword Leap Flame!"

The short sword in Shisui's hand blazed with flames as he brought it down hard on a terracotta soldier.

At that moment, Uchiha Douyang quietly activated his Kokugan.

He discovered that although the terracotta soldiers could repair their bodies, repeated damage sharply depleted the chakra within them, making their repairs increasingly slow.

Furthermore, all the terracotta soldiers had chakra of the same nature, which gave off an evil feeling.

This evil chakra seems to come from Moryo, the otherworldly demon. If that's the case...

Uchiha Douyang raised his eyebrows slightly.

The surrounding terracotta soldiers kept coming. At a rough estimate, there were at least five hundred.

Moryo could disperse such an enormous amount of evil chakra.

That alone showed that Moryo's vast chakra reserves could be considered tailed beast level.

Although the three teams numbered only twelve, every member was well trained.

In less than half an hour, the assault team broke through the Ghost Army's formation and safely entered the temple.

As soon as the team entered the temple, cheers erupted from the guards around them.

Throughout the Ghost Army's siege, the guards had been on edge, unable to sleep at night.

Now that powerful reinforcements had arrived, they were naturally overjoyed.

At the center of the temple.

Priestess Miroku sat upright on a cushion with her brows tightly knitted. A girl of four or five nestled quietly against her lap.

The girl bore some resemblance to the priestess and seemed to be her daughter.

To the combined team's surprise, two other four-person teams were already inside the temple.

They were the Iwagakure team and the Sunagakure team.

The Land of Earth and the Land of Wind were closest to the Land of Demons, so after receiving the priestess's request for help, they had been the first to reach the temple in the Land of Demons.

The jonin leading the Iwagakure team was an unfamiliar face. Douyang did not know him.

But the jonin leading the Sunagakure team made Douyang's eyes light up.

She was a slender woman wearing a sexy, backless outfit.

Pakura, a Scorch Release kekkei genkai user, commanded prestige in Sunagakure second only to Fourth Kazekage Rasa.

At the same time, Pakura and the jonin leading the Iwagakure team were also studying the reinforcements curiously.

Yan Luoya, the jonin leading the Iwagakure team, swept his gaze over Kakashi and his three teammates before saying coldly, "Four little brats? Does Konoha have no one left to send?"

In Team Kakashi, even Kakashi, the oldest, was not yet twenty. The youngest, Uchiha Douyang, was only sixteen or seventeen.

Among the five teams, they were noticeably a head shorter.

Hearing this, Uchiha Douyang stepped forward and said coldly, "You'd better pray you make it back from this mission alive."

Backing down and admitting weakness in the face of provocation would only encourage the enemy to push further.

As for the deeper intent behind Yan Luoya's provocation of the Konoha team, Douyang understood it perfectly.

Rather than a provocation, it was more of a probe.

Things had not gone well for Konoha in recent years.

First came the Nine-Tails' Attack, in which the Fourth Hokage and his wife had heroically sacrificed their lives. Then came Orochimaru's defection, followed by Hizashi Hyuga's death.

Konoha's prestige in the shinobi world could be said to have plummeted.

Among the other four great ninja villages, the weaker Sunagakure and Kirigakure did not dare provoke Konoha.

But Iwagakure and Kumogakure had long harbored designs of their own.

Toroi was a jonin who had made his name long ago. He acted prudently and did not let his thoughts show on his face.

This Yan Luoya, however, was clearly blunt and hot-tempered, handling things in a simple, heavy-handed manner.

Uchiha Douyang's tough response surprised the Iwagakure captain somewhat, and his hand slowly reached toward the sword hilt on his back.

He had only intended to probe Konoha's strength and had not expected such a forceful response.

At that moment, Kakashi, Shisui, and Guy immediately stepped forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Uchiha Douyang.

Seeing this, Pakura, Toroi, and Juzo Biwa frowned slightly, but none spoke up to mediate. Instead, they took their teams aside to rest.

For a moment, the atmosphere was tense, swords all but drawn.

At that point, the priestess stood up.

She was in her twenties.

Her skin was fairer than snow, her features as delicate as a painting. Her voluptuous figure exuded maturity, with a touch of pitiful vulnerability.

"Ninja of Konoha and Iwagakure, the demon is about to descend upon us. Please set aside your grudges and put the greater good first."

"Hmph."

Yan Luoya snorted coldly, withdrew the hand reaching for his sword hilt, and led his team to one side.

Kakashi and the other two also breathed a sigh of relief.

Their purpose on this journey was to seal Moryo. Before completing the mission, they were unwilling to fight among themselves unless necessary.

Toroi, who had been watching from the side, now addressed Priestess Miroku. "Lady Miroku, what is the current situation?"

They had only just fought their way into the temple and knew nothing of the situation.

With shame on her face, Miroku said:

"Ninja, I am very sorry. The otherworldly demon Moryo was released by a group of heretics from the Yomi Cult."

"The barrier around the temple restrains Moryo and its Ghost Army, but it cannot stop the Yomi Cult's ninja. Before long, those heretics will come here and attack the temple."

"If the temple's barrier is destroyed, there will be nothing left to stop Moryo. Then it will wreak havoc upon the Land of Demons, and even the entire shinobi world."

After hearing Miroku's account, Toroi, Juzo Biwa, and Kakashi looked anxious.

Before arriving in the Land of Demons, they had thought the threat posed by Moryo was exaggerated.

After all, the Third Shinobi World War had lasted over a decade, and peace had now gradually returned to the shinobi world.

How could a mere Moryo possibly shake the shinobi world?

But after fighting the Ghost Army, they had changed their minds.