From within that vortex, a strange and piercing crimson glow slowly lit up. Another bolt of lightning swept across the sky, and under the pale white light, the massive Shadow hidden in the clouds finally became clear to all three of them. It was a gigantic headless humanoid Guai with enormous wings beating behind its back.
A crushing pressure surged out from the clouds and struck them head on. Their hearts pounded wildly as a chill washed over them. Mabui's face changed as she shouted "Enemy attack!" and slammed her finger onto a hidden red button beneath the desk.
A shrill top level alarm rang through all of Kumogakure, shattering the village's evening calm. At the same time, the crimson light finished gathering. A blazing red beam shot out from the center of the cloud vortex and struck straight toward the Ryoma Building with perfect accuracy.
Dodai's pupils shrank as he formed hand seals at extreme speed by pure instinct. He spat out a huge mass of sticky elastic rubber that expanded instantly into a massive sphere, wrapping Mabui, Cee, and himself inside just in time. The explosion that followed swallowed the entire Ryoma Building.
Inside the shield, all sound vanished as white light flooded their vision. Only the pounding of their own hearts echoed in their ears while a terrifying force smashed into them, wrenching their insides with violent pain. The three were hurled away by the shockwave and crashed into ruins filled with Gravel and twisted steel.
Mabui coughed as blood spilled from the corner of her mouth. She steadied her dizzy head and forced her eyes open to look outside the shield. What she saw was a scene like the end of the world, with the once imposing Ryoma Building reduced to a massive scorched crater.
Broken steel jutted out like warped bones amid burning Gravel. Flames crackled and thick smoke rolled upward, blocking out the sky. Above, "Wu" beat its wings beneath the storm clouds, mercilessly cutting down Kumogakure who tried to fight back, while all of Kumogakure burned in chaos.
"How can this be…" Cee trembled as he stared at the devastation. Mabui tried to stand but collapsed again as pain forced a hoarse gasp from her throat, showing her internal injuries were severe. Before the three could fully recover their senses, an icy killing intent surged from behind them.
"Watch out!" Dodai shouted first and formed seals without even turning around. Blue lightning gathered violently in his palms, forming two crackling spheres that screamed through the air as arcs spread like a web. The lightning slammed into a figure that had appeared behind them.
The figure's body was covered in a rock hard shell, but cracks spread rapidly under the lightning's assault. Lightning Release Ninjutsu naturally suppressed Earth Release. The figure snorted coldly and swung his right arm forward, the rock covered limb splitting apart at the wrist.
Countless writhing Land of Earth Grudge Fear shot out, dragging the severed hand like an arrow toward Cee. He barely managed a short cry before the hand clamped around his throat. The threads tightened and yanked him straight in front of the attacker.
"Let him go!" Dodai struggled to his feet, eyes filled with fury and tension. He identified the man at once as the Takigakure S rank rogue ninja Kakuzu. He demanded to know why he was here and whether he meant to make an enemy of all of Kumogakure.
Kakuzu ignored him and held Cee up by the neck. His cold green eyes swept over Dodai and Mabui before lifting toward the flying "Wu". More precisely, he looked at Muei standing atop its head.
"Well?" Kakuzu asked in a hoarse voice. "Did you find them?" From above, Muei slowly shook his head as he surveyed the burning village below. He reported that neither the Two-Tails Jinchuriki nor the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki had been found.
He explained that a Kumogakure Jonin had revealed the Two-Tails Jinchuriki had left the village with Ryoma to attend the Five Kage Summit in the Land of Demons. As for the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, it seemed to be hidden elsewhere. Hearing this, Kakuzu frowned deeply and muttered that the Two-Tails was not here after all.
The 'Gedo Statue' needed to absorb the Tailed Beasts in order from One-Tail Jinchuriki to Nine-Tails. Without the Two-Tails, the plan could not proceed even if others were captured. Homura Mitokado's intelligence only confirmed that the Five Kage Summit had left the village, never expecting Ryoma to bring a Jinchuriki to the Five Kage Summit.
After a moment of silence, killing intent flashed in Kakuzu's eyes at the thought of being looked down on later. He coldly declared that since the Two-Tails was not here, they would dig three feet into the ground to seize the Eight-Tails. Without bothering to interrogate further, his back arched as something stirred beneath the Black Red Kumogakure Cloak.
Countless Land of Earth Grudge Fear burst out of his body, forming fire and wind attribute masked Guai that opened their mouths on his shoulders. Flames poured out like a tide while shrieking gales followed. The combined attack surged forward as a devastating composite ninjutsu.
At the same time, far away in the Land of Demons that Kakuzu fixated on, the mood inside the Shrine remained solemn. Even after the Four Kage had left, the private meeting only deepened the sense of pressure. Candlelight flickered behind gauze curtains, filling the air with the scent of incense.
Ryoma narrowed his eyes at the slender silhouette beyond the curtain. He addressed the Miroku with calm clarity, saying her words about seeing his future were difficult to understand. Killing Moryo with her power and becoming the savior of the Shinobi World sounded far too strange.
He openly questioned it, stating that he was only an ordinary Konoha tasked with guarding the Hokage. Saving the entire Shinobi World was not a burden he believed he could bear. He also asked what this so called shaman power truly was and how it related to Moryo and the sweeping "Crimson giant".
Behind the curtain, Miroku's figure shifted slightly. She asked whether he knew the true origin of Moryo. Ryoma answered with the common explanation, but she denied it and said that was only what people believed.
She explained that Moryo was not from another world but was born from the Miko herself. In ancient times, before Chakra and before Ninja existed, humans feared natural forces they could not understand. They attributed them to Otsutsuki Deity and believed all things had spirits.
The first Miko created a different power by guiding people to gather fear, reverence, prayers, and desires into an invisible force called wish power, or spiritual energy. By accepting faith, the Miko absorbed and transformed this energy into her own strength, gaining power over nature itself. As believers grew, selfishness, Greed, and malice mixed into that energy.
Without firm will, one could lose oneself and be corrupted. Fearing this, the first Miko stripped away all negative emotions from her soul, including arrogance, fear, hatred, and Greed. That discarded soul became what is now Moryo.
From then on, all darkness in the energy absorbed by each generation of Miko was directed into Moryo, while they themselves took in only pure energy. Suppressing Moryo thus became an inescapable duty of every Miko. Leaning forward slightly, Miroku said that this was the power she wished to pass on to Ryoma.