After soothing Kikyo, Anyo turned his gaze to the thing beside her. He had found the second Demonic Statue of the Outer Path just like that. He had never expected Hagoromo to have placed it deep in the ocean. Judging by its dilapidated appearance, it had probably been abandoned for a long time.
Had it merely sensed familiar chakra on instinct, resulting in what had just happened?
Anyo raised his hand, preparing to test it with his own body.
"Don't, Dad! It's dangerous."
Still visibly shaken, Kikyo hurriedly stopped him.
Anyo smiled faintly. "It's all right. If something really happens, aren't you right here beside me?"
At that, Kikyo took out her weapon and aimed it at the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
"Dad, if it starts sucking you in, tell me. I'll shoot it dead."
"All right."
Anyo activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and channeled senjutsu chakra into the statue, sending his soul power inside at the same time.
With the combined aid of these three powers, the material of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was being analyzed bit by bit. Following the traces of chakra the statue had just absorbed, Anyo's soul power successfully reached its deepest recesses.
A leisurely sigh sounded. "Ah, young man, we meet again."
"So it was you, Hagoromo." Anyo understood perfectly. "There must be some sort of will within this Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Otherwise, it couldn't have so forcefully absorbed Kikyo's chakra on its own."
Hagoromo asked in puzzlement, "Before I died, I feared someone would use this statue to do evil, so I sealed it deep beneath the sea. As time passed and the landscape changed, it eventually rose above the surface and ended up on this deserted island. By all rights, no one should have been