As long as she used the power in her bloodline, she could reseal Mōryō.
But before she could finish speaking, the ground beneath her feet suddenly began to glow with a strange light.
"This chakra… annoying. A witch, huh?"
A deep voice echoed up from the altar below.
"N-No…! It's Mōryō!"
Shion's eyes widened in shock.
She would never forget that voice. Not for as long as she lived.
Her mother had died sealing Mōryō.
The same place. The same voice. The same suffocating atmosphere.
In an instant, Shion was dragged back into that memory. The helplessness she had felt back then washed over her all at once, so heavy that it made her whole body tremble.
It was that same despair… the kind that had once driven her to think about ending her own life.
"Shion."
Shiki had been watching her quietly this whole time.
He did not say much. He simply smiled faintly and called her name in a calm voice.
"Huh…?"
Shion looked up.
Shiki was standing there with his head tilted slightly, smiling at her as if none of this was worth fearing.
"Don't worry," he said softly. "I'm here."
It was only a short sentence.
But somehow, those words alone steadied Shion's heart.
At the same time, Shiki's overwhelming presence slowly spread outward, and the sinister influence of Mōryō's chakra was blown away in an instant.
Boom!
It was obvious what Mōryō had been trying to do.
He wanted to use that oppressive aura to drive Shion into despair and force her to take her own life. After all, she was still just a child.
Unfortunately for him, it did not work.
Still, Mōryō did not seem to care.
"If you had come sooner, you might actually have succeeded," he said with a dark roar. "But now… you're too late!"
As his voice thundered through the sealed land, the ground began to crack apart.
One strange light after another burst from the fissures, while Mōryō's unique chakra spread across the entire altar and swallowed everything around it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A monstrous mass of chakra burst out from underground.
Its size was enormous, easily comparable to a tailed beast.
Mōryō's arrogance made him sound like some ignorant fool boasting from the bottom of a well, but that did not mean he was weak.
"Witch!" Mōryō roared. "If you had fully matured, then perhaps I would have feared you. But right now… you are still far too weak!"
The more he roared, the more violently that eerie light poured from his body.
At last, Mōryō's full form tore itself completely out of the sealed ground.
Even Shiki had no idea how to properly describe the thing in front of him.
It was grotesque. Twisted. A true monster.
Like a tailed beast, Mōryō was also a being made from chakra.
The difference was simple.
A tailed beast could revive even after death.
Mōryō could not.
"How… how is this possible…?"
Shion stood there frozen, staring blankly at the monster before her.
Her lips trembled, but for a moment, she could not even form words.
"Why…? Why did this happen?!"
Mōryō had broken free.
It was over.
She was finished. The Land of Demons was finished. Maybe even the entire ninja world was finished.
In Shion's mind, Mōryō's return meant a disaster unlike anything the world had ever seen.
And if she had failed to stop him from breaking through the seal…
Then she would become a sinner to the entire ninja world.
"I'm sorry…! I'm so sorry…!"
Tears streamed down her face as she lowered her head.
She truly had not realized things in this sealed land had already become this serious.
Rin Nohara, who had been standing nearby to look after Shion, seemed completely at a loss.
She wanted to comfort her, but for a moment, she did not even know what to say.
"Lord Shiki…"
Left with no other choice, Rin could only turn toward Shiki for help.
Even she could feel her heart tighten under the pressure of Mōryō's dangerous chakra.
"Don't worry."
Shiki answered with the same calm smile as before.
That composed expression alone was enough to help Rin settle down.
"Shion."
"Shiki-san…"
Still crying, Shion slowly raised her head and looked at him.
"This thing has been your nightmare all this time, hasn't it?"
"Huh…?"
She did not understand why he was asking that now, but after a brief pause, she still nodded.
It was true.
Her mother had died sealing Mōryō.
And ever since then, there had been countless nights when she woke up trembling from nightmares about him.
"Then watch carefully," Shiki said with a confident smile. "Because today, that nightmare ends for good."
As soon as he finished speaking, his swords came out at the same time.
A dazzling sword light filled the sealed land.
In an instant, the dangerous aura of Mōryō's chakra was swept away.
"This…"
Shion stared at Shiki in a daze.
He had only drawn two swords, and yet the pressure around him felt completely different from before.
"Don't worry."
Rin smiled gently and placed a hand on Shion's shoulder.
"Lord Shiki is known as the strongest swordsman in the ninja world. Even tailed beasts are no match for him. Mōryō won't be any different."
"Mm…"
Mōryō was still the nightmare that haunted her.
But now, Shion chose to believe in Shiki.
Boom! Boom!
Two arcs of sword light flashed out.
The monstrous chakra form condensed by Mōryō was sliced apart instantly.
"You…" Mōryō's voice dropped into a low growl. "What exactly are you?"
He stared at Shiki in disbelief.
That strange sword energy had cut straight through his chakra with ease.
Even Mōryō found it hard to understand.
"You really don't know anything, do you?" Shiki said with a cold, mocking smile. "You're no different from that old hag Koharu. Just another fool staring up from the bottom of a well."
A monstrous Demon?
What a joke.
He was just some oversized creature with no idea how wide the world really was.
Even if Mōryō had escaped the seal completely, destroying the ninja world was nothing but a delusion.
Forget the entire world.
He would not even be able to destroy any one of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
"You dare mock me?!"
Mōryō's rage exploded.
How many years had it been since anyone had spoken to him with such contempt?
Not only that, this human had actually called him a frog in a well.
"ROOOAR!"
The furious howl shook the entire sealed land.
His dangerous chakra surged wildly in every direction.
One strange tendril after another took shape, writhing like the limbs of some giant octopus as they shot straight toward Shiki.
"Lion Might…"
Shiki raised his swords and held them level before his eyes.
A disdainful smile appeared on his face.
"Judgment."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
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