The Erosion Abyss Erupts and the Seal Shatters

Gray-purple mist surged from the Crystal Ball in the Priest's hand like a flood bursting through a dam! It was no mere gas, but a highly concentrated energy entity composed of pure yin release chakra, chaotic soul fragments, and endless negative emotions. The instant it erupted, even the light seemed to be swallowed. The entire clearing before the ancestral shrine plunged into an eerie gloom, with only that ominous gray-purple glow violently swelling and spreading!

The first to bear its brunt was Fox, who was lunging straight toward him!

Her pupils contracted sharply. Her wealth of combat experience allowed her to make the right choice in the nick of time-abandon the attack and defend with everything she had! Her hands instantly formed hand seals, and a thick chakra shield patterned with swirling spirals unfolded before her. At the same time, she forcibly twisted her body and leaned backward in defiance of the laws of physics!

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

Rumble!

A thick earthen wall rose from the ground between her and the erupting mist, attempting to block it.

Yet before that gray-purple Erosion Abyss energy, the hastily formed wall might as well have been paper! The instant the mist touched it, the hard rock rapidly softened, broke down, and dissolved as though corroded by strong acid! After holding it back for less than half a second, the wall collapsed with a crash!

Fox's chakra shield was swallowed by the mist next! The spiral patterns on it spun furiously, trying to neutralize and repel the corrosive energy, but the mist's concentration and corrosiveness far exceeded anything she had imagined. The shield's glow dimmed at a visible rate, accompanied by an unending corrosive hiss.

Fox grunted as the tremendous impact hurled her backward. She slammed into a rock and slid to the ground. She struggled to rise, but blood had already seeped from the corner of her mouth beneath her mask. The backlash from her shattered chakra shield and the mist's corrosion left her momentarily unable to move. Worse still, the mist seemed to carry potent mental contamination. Countless insane whispers and hallucinations began battering her mind.

"Captain!" Ling and Xi cried out together.

Ling was entangled with three Soul-Eroding Beasts. Seeing Fox hurled away and the Erosion Abyss mist beginning to spread indiscriminately, he grew frantic. He abruptly unleashed a burst of chakra that mimicked the Fragment's energy, forcing the three monsters back, then turned without hesitation and rushed toward Fox while roaring into his communicator, "Azure Phoenix! Ranged support! Suppress the mist!"

"Understood! Secret art: Mind-Cleansing Buddhist Chant!"

Azure Phoenix's ethereal voice sounded with a trace of urgency. A moment later, a strange, melodious, crystalline sound wave that seemed capable of cleansing the soul came from far away, crossing the distance to envelop the eruption zone. It seemed to have a special purifying effect on mental contamination and negative energy. The spreading gray-purple mist churned noticeably more slowly within it, and the maddening whispers that struck directly at the soul weakened considerably.

But this could only delay it slightly, not stop it!

"Hahaha! Feel it! This is the power of the Erosion Abyss! The bane of all chakra, the resting place of souls!" The Priest spread his arms at the center of the eruption, gray-purple energy coiling around him. Beneath his beaked mask, his eyes gleamed with fanatical light. The Crystal Ball in his hand was already covered in cracks, yet it continued to release an endless stream of mist. "I originally intended to use it to open the seal gently... now, let this brutal method bring the ancient evil back into the light!"

Amid his wild laughter, the Erosion Abyss mist seemed to come alive, focusing its corrosion on the already faltering hexagram barrier and the ancient seal of the shrine protected within it.

Hiss-!

The dark-purple membrane of the barrier rapidly thinned and shattered under the mist's corrosion. The ancient runes carved into the shrine's stone walls fared even worse, swiftly dimming and disintegrating one after another like burning paper! The shrine itself began shaking violently, loose stones raining down. An even more ancient, deeper, and more evil presence faintly emanated from within, as though a ferocious beast imprisoned for countless ages was slowly awakening.

"The seal... it's going to be completely destroyed!" Xi's face was pale as paper. She could clearly sense the suppressed power within the shrine frantically battering the sealing shackles on the verge of collapse. If it broke free, the consequences would be unthinkable!

Ling had already reached Fox and pulled her up. Fighting through her distress, Fox said quietly, "I'm fine... hurry, stop him... we can't... let the seal break..."

Her voice was weak but firm. Ling nodded, looking toward the wildly laughing Priest in the mist's center and the crumbling shrine. He had to take down the Priest immediately and cut off the energy source! But the Erosion Abyss mist corroded chakra too severely for conventional ninjutsu to have much effect. Charging inside would be suicide.

What could he do?

His gaze swept toward his chest-the Fragment was growing faintly warm. It seemed both to crave the Erosion Abyss mist, wanting to devour it, and to harbor a trace of wariness because of their differing natures. His eyes... the Eye of Purification and Erosion sealed by Tsunade was throbbing violently, as though trying to break its restraints.

I can't use it fully... but perhaps... I could channel a portion? Just for defense and breaking the core? A dangerous thought surfaced in Ling's mind. Tsunade's warning still rang in his ears, but right now, there seemed to be no better choice.

"Xi!" Ling turned and called to Xi, who was struggling to maintain the Purifying Erosion Ring in an attempt to slow the mist's corrosion of the shrine. "I need your help! Use your strongest sealing jutsu formula to temporarily isolate a small area from the Erosion Abyss energy and create a path to the Priest! Just three seconds!"

Xi froze for a moment, then understood his intent. She glanced at the shrine's increasingly terrifying presence, then at the weakened Fox and the struggling Ling, and nodded firmly. "I'll try! Uzumaki Secret Technique: Four-Direction Sealing Formation!"

Her hands formed seals at maximum speed, and even the diamond-shaped mark on her forehead-the faint Yin Seal Tsunade had helped activate-glowed slightly. Her pale-red Uzumaki chakra stopped spreading and rapidly gathered before her instead, forming four palm-sized, rapidly spinning crimson sealing sigils.

"Go!"

The four sigils shot out, not to attack the Priest, but to land precisely in a square along the path between Ling and the Priest. The instant they hit the ground, crimson light linked them together, forming a temporary, small barrier cube. As though encountering its natural enemy, the gray-purple mist inside was forcibly pushed aside and partially purified, creating a temporarily "clean" narrow passage barely wide enough for one person!

But the passage was extremely unstable. Under the frenzied pressure of the mist outside, the crimson barrier flickered violently, about to shatter!

"Now!" Xi gritted her teeth as she maintained the technique formula, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.

There was no time to hesitate! Ling pushed his chakra circulation to its limit while carefully brushing against the edge of the seal on his eyes. He drew out an exceedingly faint thread of the vitreous-colored energy unique to the Eye of Purification and Erosion, mixed it with the Fragment's aura, and coated his entire body, especially his eyes and his kunai-wielding right hand!

A stabbing pain pierced his eyes, and blood began seeping at the edges of his vision, but a clearer, more fundamental perception emerged with it. He could "see" the pathways connecting the chakra inside the Priest to the Erosion Abyss core-the damaged Crystal Ball. He could "see" the stirring, heart-stopping dark presence within the crumbling ancient seal.

Three seconds!

Ling became a streak of light, shooting straight toward the Priest at the mist's center along the rapidly shrinking crimson passage Xi had opened! On either side, gray-purple Erosion Abyss energy battered the fragile barrier walls like an enraged tide.

The Priest noticed Ling's charge as well. A trace of surprise flashed through his eyes, but cruelty predominated. "You're courting death!" He stopped driving the Crystal Ball-it had already erupted anyway-and brought his hands together. As though receiving an order, the surrounding Erosion Abyss mist frantically pressed toward Ling. At the same time, he gathered dense gray-purple chakra and threw a punch straight at Ling's face!

That punch carried the corrosion and soul-shaking impact unique to Erosion Abyss energy!

At that very moment, the passage shattered! The crimson barrier light went out completely!

Ling was fully exposed within the surrounding Erosion Abyss mist! Bone-piercing cold and insane whispers engulfed him instantly, and the mixed-energy protection covering his body groaned under the unbearable strain. But his eyes held only the Priest and the core energy node inside him that connected to the Crystal Ball's remains!

His Sharingan spun furiously, predicting the trajectory of the Priest's fist and the gaps in the compressing mist. The power of the Jōgan-the tiny thread he had channeled out-let him precisely "see" the node's location: half an inch to the right of the Shanzhong acupoint in the Priest's chest, a pulsing gray-purple point of light wrapped in intricate dark-gold runes.

I can't dodge! If I dodge, I'll lose this one chance!

A fierce glint flashed through Ling's eyes. Rather than evade, he turned slightly and took the Priest's soul-corroding punch squarely on his left shoulder!

Thud!

Gray-purple energy flooded his left shoulder, instantly bringing excruciating pain, a terrifying corrosive sensation, and a mental shock! His left arm immediately lost all sensation, but he used the punch's impact to propel himself forward even faster! The kunai in his right hand, gathering all his strength, the Fragment's aura, and that thread of purifying erosion power, stabbed with unerring precision toward the gray-purple core node like the only meteor in the darkness!

"Wha...?!" The Priest's wild grin froze into incredulous shock. He had never imagined anyone would dare take an Erosion Abyss punch head-on, much less target him with such precision!

Shhk-!

The kunai's tip pierced the protective chakra covering the Priest's body, punctured his clothing, and plunged deep into the node!

No blood sprayed out. There was only a sharp crack like shattering glass, followed by the Priest's utterly agonized soul-scream!

"No-!!!"

The dark-gold runes covering the Priest's body instantly dimmed and shattered outward from the point of penetration! The gray-purple point of light in his chest abruptly collapsed inward like a punctured balloon, then erupted in a ring of chaotic energy! The cracked remains of the Crystal Ball in his hand exploded completely as well!

Like a puppet with severed strings, the Priest was hurled away by the exploding energy and crashed heavily to the ground in the distance, his fate unknown. Erosion Abyss energy no longer poured from his body. His connection to the Crystal Ball had been completely severed.

Without the Priest's control and its core energy supply, the pervasive gray-purple Erosion Abyss mist corroding the seal became like water without a source. Its spread stopped abruptly. The mist began thinning and falling into disorder, its corrosiveness greatly diminished.

"It worked..." In the distance, Xi sank to the ground as though all her strength had drained away. She gasped for breath, but relief appeared on her face.

Ling also dropped to one knee. Piercing pain and an eerie numbness came from his left shoulder, and the remaining Erosion Abyss energy was still corroding his body and mind. Enduring the discomfort, he looked up at the shrine.

Yet his heart sank.

Although the Erosion Abyss mist had stopped its corrosion, more than seventy percent of the ancient runes on the shrine's surface had already been destroyed in the eruption! The remaining runes shone extremely faintly, and the shaking within the shrine had not stopped at all-it was growing increasingly violent! That ancient, evil presence grew clearer and more terrifying like an erupting volcano!

"This is bad... the seal... it can't hold anymore..." Fox struggled to her feet, her voice anxious.

As though to confirm her words.

Crack-!

A sharp, resounding noise, as though something had snapped completely, came from within the shrine!

At the center of the shrine, the tightly closed stone doors covered in cracks exploded! Countless stone fragments shot inward!

Evil chakra, inky black and impossibly dense, surged from the broken doorway like tangible darkness! It was filled with brutality, hatred, madness, and malice toward all living beings. Its mere presence seemed to freeze and chill the surrounding air.

Then a deep roar, as though rising from the depths of hell, echoed throughout the valley:

"Roar-!!!"

"Free... at... last..."

"Blood... flesh... souls..."

Under the grave gazes of Ling, Xi, and Fox, an enormous, twisted shadow slowly stepped out of the darkness within the shrine.