Moryo Breaks Free
The Moryo controlled the three stone statues and walked a few steps to Uzumaki Hane. The three stone statues raised their stone knives and slashed down at Uzumaki Hane. Uzumaki Hane was carrying Shion on her back and was afraid that she would get hurt, so she did not dare to take the blow head-on. Instead, she leaped up and kicked the statue in the chest. With a crack, the stone statue was sent back several steps and fell into the lava.
Uzumaki Hane changed direction mid-air, leaping onto the shoulder of another stone statue. Using the momentum, he jumped over the statue and landed on the stone path. The statue's two stone blades shot directly at Uzumaki Hane Uzumaki Hane, but with Shion behind him, Uzumaki Hane immediately sent Shion away. Then he turned around, his hands rapidly turning into lava and expanding to ten times their original size. He reached out and grabbed the two incoming stone blades. This delay allowed the statues to reach Uzumaki Hane. Uzumaki Hane thought to himself, "Looks like I need to deal with them, otherwise they're too annoying."
Thinking of this, Uzumaki Hane said to Shion, "Shion, you should go first." The Moryo cannot harm Shion, and if Shion stays here, she might be injured by the aftershocks, so Uzumaki Hane told Shion to leave first.
Uzumaki Hane stared at the two stone statues before him. The statues were mere puppets, devoid of any emotion. One of them brought its right hand down on Uzumaki Hane's head. Uzumaki Hane snorted coldly, leaping up to dodge the attack. His right hand lashed out at the chest of the right statue, piercing through it. Lava could be vaguely seen flowing from the hole. The left statue, having missed Uzumaki Hane, swung its right hand horizontally. Uzumaki Hane forcefully turned in mid-air, avoiding the attack, and then swiftly lashed out again, piercing the chest of the left statue. Suddenly, the statue emitted a blinding light, then exploded with a deafening roar. Smoke and dust billowed, and debris flew everywhere. The force of the explosion slammed Uzumaki Hane into the lava.
The Moryo looked like it was on its last breath. Shion originally planned to come to the sealing array to seal the Moryo, so that the stone statue would fall into a deep sleep again.
As soon as they stepped onto the central sealing platform, they saw the Moryo reveal a sinister smile and say, "I knew all along that the opponent possessed Kekkei Genkai similar to Lava Release, but can it survive falling into magma?"
Upon hearing Moryo's words, Shion panicked. Then she heard a huge explosion behind her and hurriedly turned around to see that Uzumaki Hane had fallen directly into the lava in the explosion.
Shion felt as if something was gripping her heart, and she screamed in Kunai, "No, Uzumaki Hane, we made a promise..." She tried to run towards Uzumaki Hane. At that moment, Moryo seemed to teleport to Shion's side. Since he had exhausted all of Yomi's life force, Yomi was now hanging on Shion like a corpse.
Shion was startled and couldn't help but take two steps back. She lost her footing and fell to the ground.
The Moryo also fell to the ground, raised its head, looked at Shion, and said, "You're scared. It seems you know nothing. I can't hurt you. The Moryo and the priestess were originally one. The so-called seal is actually you and me merging back into one. Your mother did the same thing back then, which means your mother, Miroku, is inside me. The priestess's power was too strong, so in order to misuse this power, she separated her heart and mind. Sometime later, she became known as the priestess and the Moryo, and from the beginning, the two have lived as enemies. Come on, do you want to see your mother? Then come in." The Moryo, controlling Yomi's body, struggled to crawl towards Shion.
Shion was shocked that the Moryo said that Moryo and the priestess were one, which was different from what she had known since childhood. Shion couldn't believe it and screamed, "I don't believe it. I'll seal you right now!" Then she headed towards the center of the sealing array.
Shion entered the sealing array and immediately chanted an incantation. The sealing array lit up, emitting a purple glow that formed a mysterious purple pattern. Then, the stone coffin sealing the body of the Moryo slowly rose.
"Hehehe, you're really impatient, priestess. But thank you so much, because we can't break the seal on this shrine without you," the Moryo chuckled.
Upon hearing Moryo's words, Shion looked at the stone coffin sealing Moryo's body, which was slowly opening. Shion knew something was wrong and hurriedly rushed towards the stone coffin, but it was too late. Yomi's corpse on the ground suddenly exploded, Moryo's soul soared into the sky, directly pouring into his own body.
Shion could only watch helplessly, her heart filled with despair. She had failed to fulfill her promise to seal the Moryo, and neither had Uzumaki Hane. Thinking of Uzumaki Hane, Shion remembered Taruho had mentioned—that Uzumaki Hane had trained in magma. Realizing this, Uzumaki Hane might still be alive. A sudden surge of life welled up in Shion's despair. She looked towards where Uzumaki Hane had fallen and rushed towards it. With a bang, she crashed into the barrier. The barrier flashed with light, Shion was bounced back. Shion cried out, "No...!" She pounded on the barrier with all her might, and the barrier flashed again, bouncing Shion back.
At that moment, the voice of the Moryo coffin. "Once the barrier is set up, we will be unable to leave this place until we conquer the other side. And who will ultimately achieve victory depends on our Chakra."
Shion stared blankly at Moryo, feeling utterly disheartened. Tears streamed down her face involuntarily. What was the point of all her daily, desperate practice of Sealing Jutsu, and the constant deaths of people because of her?
On the other side, Uzumaki Hane didn't expect that the other party was targeting him and had placed Explosive Tag on the stone statue. He was directly blasted into the lava. After a while, Uzumaki Hane recovered and thought to himself, "Oh no, I wonder how Shion is?" He rushed out of the lava and saw that a barrier had formed at the seal, Shion was sitting there in a daze.
Uzumaki Hane called out, "Shion, how are you?" and rushed over quickly. Shion looked up at Uzumaki Hane and was indeed happy to know that Uzumaki Hane was not dead, but she had failed to seal the Moryo and was also one with the Moryo. Shion did not dare to see Uzumaki Hane again.
Inside the stone coffin, the Moryo was astonished to see that Uzumaki Hane was still alive and had even run over. "You're still alive? But you can't get into this barrier... uh..." Just then, as Uzumaki Hane crashed into the barrier, the wind chime on her chest rang melodiously and emitted a faint glow, allowing Uzumaki Hane to enter directly. Uzumaki Hane looked at the wind chime on her chest in confusion. When had Shion given it to her?
The Moryo exclaimed, "Impossible! How could you get in? Wait, that's Miroku's power!" The Moryo sensed the power emanating from the wind chimes.
The Moryo continued, "Gaga, but it's too late. Come back, my physical body." At this moment Moryo had completely merged with its own body.