Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village)
In the high-rise office of the Raikage's Building in Kumogakure.
Outside the window, a heavy, lead-gray thundercloud pressed down upon the village. Pale lightning constantly ripped through the churning, dark clouds.
Inside the office, the atmosphere was heavy and oppressive. Piles of documents were scattered haphazardly across the desk, threatening to engulf the surface.
"Damn it!" C slammed a report onto the desk, rubbing his throbbing temples with a voice that betrayed exhaustion and agitation. "Because of the appearance of those 'Hollows,' the Land of Lightning is in utter chaos right now!"
"Every region is reporting attacks by 'Hollows.' The nobles are sending letters every day, demanding we send more personnel for protection! People are panicking, rumors are flying! If this continues..."
Beside him, the composed Daruï was meticulously reviewing documents. Hearing C's complaint, he looked up and reassured him, "Raikage-sama personally went to the Land of Demons for the Five Kage Summit, didn't he? It's to resolve these very problems."
"Once Raikage-sama returns with the results of the summit, everything will be fine."
Seated at the main desk, Mabui exhaled deeply, gently setting down a harshly worded document stamped with the Land of Lightning's Feudal Lord's seal. The document was yet another urgent demand for Kumogakure to dispatch elite ninja to the capital to strengthen defenses against the Hollows' incursions.
"I hope everything goes smoothly for Raikage-sama..." Mabui's voice carried a hint of subtle worry. She then rubbed her sore neck, her gaze casually drifting towards the lightning-flashed, turbulent thunderclouds outside the window.
The moment her eyes swept across the horizon, a flash of lightning tore through the dense cloud cover. The blinding white light instantly illuminated the world.
In that brief, intense flash, reflected in Mabui's slightly contracted pupils, a monstrous outline of a gigantic black shadow fleetingly appeared in the depths of the roiling thunderclouds, visible in the tear of the lightning.
"What was that?" Mabui sprang up from her chair, blurting out the question.
C and Daruï, who had been looking down, instinctively raised their heads, following her gaze into the depths of the thunderclouds outside.
Boom! Rumble!
Accompanying the thunder, the section of thundercloud in the sky violently churned and twisted, as if stirred by an invisible hand. A vortex formed in the center of the clouds. In the deep center of the vortex, a peculiar and piercing crimson light slowly began to glow!
Immediately afterward, another bolt of lightning streaked across the thundercloud. This time, illuminated by the pale electric light, the gigantic black shadow hidden within the cloud cover was finally clearly visible to all three of them!
It was a huge, headless, humanoid monster with a massive pair of wings flapping on its back.
A suffocating, oppressive aura surged out from the thundercloud, making the hearts of Mabui, C, and Daruï pound frantically. A wave of cold dread instantly overwhelmed them!
"Enemy attack!" Mabui's expression changed drastically. Her finger instinctively pressed a hidden red button under her desk!
Wooo! Woo-woo!
The sharp, piercing sound of the highest-level alarm instantly blared throughout Kumogakure, shattering the village's evening tranquility!
However, just as the alarm sounded, the crimson light coalesced completely.
Vwoom!!
An intensely hot crimson beam of light violently shot out from the center of the cloud vortex, striking the Raikage's Building with terrifying precision!
Daruï's pupils contracted. Acting on pure instinct, he instantly formed hand seals with superhuman speed!
Lava Release: Rubber Ball!
Poof!
A large mass of sticky, highly elastic rubber spewed from Daruï's mouth, instantly expanding to form a tough, massive rubber sphere. In the nick of time, it enveloped Mabui, C, and himself!
BOOM!!
A deafening, terrifying explosion engulfed the entire Raikage's Building!
Inside the rubber sphere, the three felt only a blinding flash of white light. All sounds vanished, replaced only by the frantic drumming of their hearts against their ribs. A horrifying force slammed against them through the rubber, making their internal organs feel displaced. Intense pain instantly swept through their entire bodies!
Enveloped in the sphere, the three were fiercely flung away by the violent blast, crashing heavily into the ruins—a scene of devastation littered with shattered stones and twisted steel rebar!
"Cough!" Violent coughing was accompanied by blood spilling from her lips. Mabui shook her dizzy head, opening her bloodshot eyes to look outside through the rubber shield.
The blurry sight that met her eyes was a scene of utter devastation, like an apocalypse. The formerly grand and solid Raikage's Building was now nothing but a giant, charred, deep pit! Broken steel rebar looked like twisted skeletons exposed amidst the hot rubble. Flames crackled in the ruins, and thick, billowing smoke obscured the sky!
In the sky, 'Satori' flapped its wings, hovering below the churning thunderclouds, mercilessly harvesting the lives of the Kumogakure ninja attempting to fight back on the ground. The entire village of Kumogakure was engulfed in flames and chaos.
"H-how could this happen..." C's voice trembled with shock and fear at the horrific scene before him.
Mabui struggled to stand, but the intense pain forced her back to her knees, where she gasped hoarsely, clearly suffering internal damage.
However, just as the three were reeling in shock and had not fully recovered, a chilling, biting killing intent suddenly surged from behind them!
"Watch out!" Daruï, the first to sense it, roared out. Unable to fully turn his body, he formed hand seals!
Lightning Release: Continuous Strike Stream!
Zzzzzz!
Savage blue lightning instantly gathered in Daruï's palms, forming two fiercely crackling, buzzing orbs of electricity. The furious lightning screamed through the air, bursting out indiscriminately behind them. Electric arcs radiated like a spiderweb, slamming into a figure that had appeared behind them!
The figure was covered in a rock-hard outer shell, but under the impact of the savage lightning, the shell instantly cracked with spiderweb patterns, letting out a sound of unbearable stress. Lightning Release Ninjutsu is effective against Earth Release Ninjutsu.
"Hmph!"
The figure, pushed back a few steps, let out a cold snort and swung its right arm, which was covered in broken rock. Its right palm and wrist detached from its arm, connected only by countless black threads that writhed like living things. It shot out like an arrow from a bow, grabbing the still-shocked C!
"Urgh!"
C barely managed a short cry of alarm before the hand accurately clamped around his neck. The black threads connecting the palm immediately contracted, dragging C's body and pulling him right in front of the figure!
"Let him go!" Daruï struggled to stand, ignoring the severe pain. His eyes were filled with fury and grimness.
"Kakuzu, the S-rank Missing-nin from Takigakure!" He glared at the masked Kakuzu and stated grimly, "Why are you here?"
"Are your current actions a declaration of war against the entire Kumogakure??"
Kakuzu expressionlessly gripped C's neck, lifting him high in front of him. He ignored Daruï's questions, his cold green eyes emotionlessly sweeping over Daruï and Mabui. Finally, he looked up at 'Satori' flying in from a distance.
More precisely, he looked at Mui standing atop Satori's head.
"Well?" Kakuzu's voice was hoarse and muffled. "Did you find it?"
Mui stood high up, looking down at the inferno that was Kumogakure, and slowly shook his head, his voice reaching Kakuzu's ears. "We did not find the Two-Tails Jinchūriki or the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki."
"I found a Kumogakure Jōnin just now. I learned from him that the Two-Tails Jinchūriki has already left the village with the Fourth Raikage to attend the Five Kage Summit in the Land of Demons."
"And the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki seems to be hidden elsewhere."
Kakuzu's brows furrowed. "The Two-Tails Jinchūriki is actually gone?"
The Gedō Mazō (Heretic Demon Statue) needs to absorb the Tailed Beasts in order, from One-Tail to Nine-Tails. If they couldn't get the Two-Tails, they couldn't proceed even if they captured the other Tailed Beasts.
Oyashiro En's intelligence only knew that the Five Kage had left the village; he never would have expected that madman, the Fourth Raikage, would take a Jinchūriki to the Five Kage Summit.
Kakuzu was silent for a moment. The thought of being looked down upon by others when he returned caused a murderous intent to flash in his cold green eyes.
"Since the Two-Tails is gone," Kakuzu's voice turned icy cold, "Then we'll dig up the ground to find the Eight-Tails and take it!"
With his words, he didn't even bother with an interrogation. He slowly hunched his back, and something alive seemed to churn beneath his black cloak with red clouds.
Pssh! Pssh!
Countless black threads burst out of his body, transforming into a Fire-Nature Masked Beast and a Wind-Nature Masked Beast, which opened their mouths over his shoulders.
Fire Release: Searing Migraine!
Wind Release: Pressure Damage!
The Fire-Nature Masked Beast spat out a tide-like mass of flames, and the Wind-Nature Masked Beast spat out a surging, screaming hurricane.
"Compound Ninjutsu: Bizarre Mask Exploding Flame!"
The Land of Demons
Meanwhile, in the Land of Demons, which Kakuzu was so intently focused on.
Inside the shrine, the solemn and tense atmosphere had not dissipated with the departure of the other Kage. If anything, the one-on-one private talk had only added to the depth and oppression. Candlelight flickered, casting unstable shadows on the gauze curtain, and the air was thick with the scent of sandalwood.
Hinata Kawa looked at the slender, hazy figure behind the layers of gauze, narrowing his eyes.
"Miko-dono," his voice was steady and clear, carrying a touch of well-placed confusion and inquiry. "What you just said is truly baffling."
"You said you saw my future? That I would use 'your power' to kill Mōryō? And become the Savior of the Ninja World?"
Hinata Kawa's tone carried unconcealed skepticism, bordering on a sense of absurdity. "That sounds too incredible to believe," he said with a frown. "I am just an ordinary Konoha ninja, tasked with protecting the Hokage-sama."
"The great responsibility of saving the Ninja World is probably not one I can bear."
"Furthermore, what exactly is this 'Miko's Power' you speak of?"
Hinata Kawa ignored the system prompt ringing in his mind and continued, "What is its connection to Mōryō, and to this 'Hollow' calamity sweeping across the Ninja World?"
Behind the gauze curtain, Miroku's figure flickered slightly in the candlelight.
"Hyuga Kawa-dono..." Her voice was still ethereal but carried a sense of distant history. "Do you know Mōryō's true origin?"
Hyuga Kawa naturally knew, but he put on a thoughtful expression and said, "Mōryō is a monster from another world, sealed here by the Miko..."
"No," Miroku shook her head. "That is just common rumor. Mōryō did not come from another world; it was born from the Miko herself."
"In ancient times, in the age of ignorance before Chakra was born and the ninja existed, humanity faced the incomprehensible, irresistible natural forces of lightning, earthquakes, and floods with the most primitive awe and fear."
"They attributed all of this to the gods. They revered nature and believed in spirits. The First Miko pioneered a completely different kind of power."
"She guided the people to condense their fear, reverence, prayers, and hope... into an invisible force, which we call 'Votive Power'."
"Or, in a term more familiar to you ninja, it is Spiritual Energy."
"The Miko-sama gains power by accepting the faith of the people, absorbing this pure Spiritual Energy, and converting it into her own strength."
"And then, she uses this to wield a great power capable of controlling the heavens and nature."
A great power controlling the heavens and nature?
Hearing Miroku's words, Hyuga Kawa's eyes flickered. He instantly associated it with something similar.
Sage Mode? A human version of Sage Mode?
"Later, more and more people came to believe in the Miko," Miroku continued. "The Spiritual Energy the Miko absorbed began to mix with the believers' selfish desires, greed, and even malice."
"Without a sufficiently firm will to maintain one's true nature, one would become lost and corrupted by the believers' malice and greed."
Here, Miroku's voice deepened. "The First Miko worried that she might one day become lost in that power, turning into a disaster for the world."
"So, she forcefully stripped away all the negative emotions that had sprouted in the depths of her soul—Arrogance, Fear, Hatred, Greed... every dark aspect that could possibly erode her heart."
"This stripped-away soul became the Mōryō of today."
"Since then, all the darkness within the Spiritual Energy absorbed by successive Mikos has been channeled to Mōryō, while the Miko herself absorbs, digests, and converts only the pure Spiritual Energy."
"Thus, suppressing Mōryō became the inherent, unavoidable mission and responsibility of every Miko."
"Kawa-dono!" At this point, Miroku's figure seemed to lean forward slightly behind the curtain, and she said deeply, "The power I want to pass on to you is this very power!"
"Not as the successor to the Miko, but as the Savior who can wield this power and bring an end to Mōryō and the 'Hollows'!"
Hyuga Kawa listened quietly. The look in his pure Byakugan eyes was growing profound.
He had been wondering how he could convert Spiritual Energy into his own strength to accelerate the awakening of his Ōtsutsuki bloodline and the Tenseigan without turning into a 'Hollow.'
The Miko's power and ability had undoubtedly opened a new path for him.
He thought of an 'artificial construct' from the world of Bleach. It possessed a similar ability to the Miko's power—it could absorb the wishes of humans around it, thereby materializing and granting their wishes!
—The Hōgyoku
If he could utilize the Miko's power to absorb Spiritual Energy and forge a core similar to the 'Hōgyoku,' thereby constantly evolving his body toward a higher level...
At this thought, Hyuga Kawa's eyes narrowed slightly, concealing the depth of his intent.
"Materialize," he murmured in his mind. "Based on the Miko's power, create an item similar to the 'Hōgyoku' that allows the self to constantly evolve towards a higher level..."
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