They're promoting the "Konoha threat" theory, and spouting nonsense about the Hidden

Chapter 271 The Jinchūriki of the Demon King

Passing through the deep, dark passage, Miroku finally met once again the sworn enemy of the priestess lineage, the Wraith.

"Milek, it's been so many years. Are you preparing to follow in your mother's footsteps and seal me away?"

The tightly sealed gate to the other world burst open, and purplish-black tentacles emerged from it, swirling around Miroku.

Hearing the alluring voice of the demon, Miroku was not angry at all. He simply raised his head calmly and looked at the sealed gate of the other world in the distance, speaking in a calm tone.

"Wraith, since you let me in here, you should know your own fate."

"This act of mischief ends here. Go back to your alternate dimension and reflect on your actions!"

As he spoke, Miroku gently raised his hands, preparing to use his spiritual magic, in accordance with the millennia-old tradition of the priestess lineage, to drive the demons back inside the gate.

Just then, a series of female voices suddenly rang out in this deep and silent space.

"Look there, there is a junior who has been caught up in the fate of a shrine maiden."

"Yes, she probably has no idea what fate awaits her!"

"I only realized now that the priestess and the demon are two sides of the same coin. What we're doing isn't sealing away the demon; it's clearly sealing away ourselves!"

……

Such sounds were heard repeatedly, and it was not difficult to discern from the content of the sounds that they were the voices of the ancestors of the priestess lineage.

Even among these voices, Miroku heard her mother's voice, which was also urging her to give up the seal, give up the fate of the priestess clan, and embrace her true self.

However, Miroku remained unmoved by these voices, calmly muttering to himself as he prepared for the sealing ceremony.

Just as a bright green light shone from her hand, and a surging power different from chakra was about to burst forth and repel the demon back to the seal gate of the other world, a golden light suddenly appeared. In an instant, sealing talismans with gold background and black patterns appeared out of thin air, transforming into a golden sealing talisman array with light flowing in all directions, thus firmly trapping Miroku in the middle of the arena.

Splash!

Golden sealing chains appeared out of thin air, one end connected to a sealing rune array, the other tightly binding Maitreya's limbs.

Affected by this abnormal force, the originally bright green light in Maitreya's hand gradually weakened and then disappeared.

"Hahaha, Miroku, for the past thousand years, it has been your priestess clan who have used the power of ninjas to deal with me. But the tables have turned, and now it is finally my turn, Moryo, to use the power of ninjas... How about it? Have you never felt the power of this chakra before?"

When Minato Namikaze broke the seal on the demon, he had already foreseen that the priestess of the Land of Demons would come to reseal the demon.

He also knew that the only way to seal the demon was through the power of the priestess; it would be useless for anyone else to come here, as Miroku would definitely come alone.

In order to wreak havoc on the northwest continent for as long as possible, Minato Namikaze made a deal with the demons in advance and set up a hidden sealing array here.

Although the death of the priestess would cause the demons to go out of control, Minato Namikaze at the time only wanted the demons to not be quelled in a short time and did not consider anything else.

Moreover, with natural disasters and man-made calamities, it's not that we're afraid of how big they are, but that we're afraid they're not big enough.

If it threatens the entire ninja world and drags everyone down with it, then naturally someone will stand up to stop it. There's no need for Minato Namikaze to worry about the consequences of letting this thing run rampant. Or rather, even if no one could control it, given the critical situation in Konoha at the time, he didn't care at all.

It must be said that Minato Namikaze's nickname "Little Sun" was only used to refer to his own people in Konoha. When dealing with outsiders, he was not shy about showing his ruthless side.

When the demon saw Maitreya trapped, its excitement was palpable, and its tentacles waved wildly in a frenzy.

It had waited far too long for this day. For the past thousand years since its birth, it had always been the priestesses who, in alliance with ninjas, fought against it. This was the first time that powerful ninjas had joined forces with it to fight against the priestesses.

As for those ninjas who joined it in the past for power... their power all came from it, so how could the demon possibly look at those people with a second glance?

Seeing Maitreya struggling and screaming, the demon had a thought and stuffed a tentacle into her mouth, silencing her cries.

"Waaah..."

Seeing the witch whose mouth was blocked by tentacles and whose body was bound by chains, unable to whimper, the demon chuckled.

"Although none of those ninjas outside are any good, it's still not good to create unnecessary trouble. So you'd better stay here and be devoured by me, becoming a part of my body!"

However, just as the demon was feeling smug and showing his signature villainous smile, the protagonist of justice was about to make his appearance, as expected.

clap clap!

"Tentacles, shrine maidens, underground, bondage... I never expected to see such a spectacular scene in the ninja world."

As applause rang out, Hozuki Shingetsu, the embodiment of justice in the ninja world, made a dazzling appearance, stopping an unspeakable secret between a priestess and tentacles that was about to unfold.

What a pity... but congratulations!

"A ninja? Ignorance is bliss, isn't it? What can you possibly do here?... No, wait, this is... a soul?"

Upon seeing Hozuki Shingetsu suddenly appear there, Moro was taken aback for a moment. Before he could even let out his signature three-part laugh, he immediately realized Hozuki Shingetsu's true state and exclaimed in surprise.

At this moment, Hozuki Shingetsu was different from his usual self. His whole body was shimmering with a faint white light, and upon closer inspection, one could see that his figure was ethereal, with his feet three centimeters off the ground. Through his body, one could even vaguely see the black rocks behind him.

"As expected of a monster that has survived for a thousand years, it certainly has a wealth of knowledge!"

Hozuki Shingetsu smiled faintly, acknowledging its words. Then, without saying anything more, he slightly raised his right index finger, and with a soft "pop," a milky white droplet left his right hand and struck the tentacle that the demon had used to block Miroku's mouth.

"It's useless, a ninja's attack is nothing to me... Ah!"

Seeing Hozuki Crescent's attack, the demon originally wanted to mock him, but before he could finish speaking, he felt a sharp pain coming from his tentacles.

In pain, it immediately retracted its tentacles.

"How is that possible? How could you possibly know soul-binding techniques? What's your relationship with that guy, Liudao?"

At this moment, Miroku, whose mouth was finally free of the foreign object, coughed twice and looked at Hozuki Shingetsu with a shocked expression.

This was the first time she had ever heard of anyone outside the priestess lineage who could harm a demon. How did this person manage to do it?

"Ahem... Who are you?"

However, Hozuki Shingetsu ignored Miroku. Although Miroku's current state and appearance perfectly matched his fantasies, the focus now was on subduing the demon as soon as possible.

If he can gather the four extraordinary objects as he envisions to achieve the Six Paths, then wouldn't all the beauties in the ninja world be at his disposal, like collecting stamps?

At crucial moments, he can still control his second brother and prevent him from rebelling against the Heavenly Gang.

"So, it really requires attacks that strike the soul to be effective against these strange beings like demons and death gods?"

After absorbing the Grim Reaper and gaining the ability of "astral projection," any attack launched by Hozuki Shingetsu's soul only affects the opponent's soul and does not harm the opponent's physical body.

Having the results of the attack experiment in hand, Hozuki Shingetsu didn't waste any more words with the demon. With a wave of her hand, she severed the sealing chains binding Miroku, and then commanded her:

"Is there a problem with binding the demons?"

Maitreya was puzzled and nodded blankly. Then she heard a sentence that sounded both very familiar and unfamiliar to her.

"Alright, once you've restrained it, you can step aside."

?

Ignoring the stunned Miroku, Hozuki Shingetsu directly aimed at the otherworldly gate that sealed the true form of the demon and formed a hand seal.

"Spirit - Corpse Demon Sealing!"

Ugh~

A sinister wind blew, and the phantom of a death god, dressed in wide sleeves and biting a short knife, appeared out of thin air, floating above Hozuki Shingetsu's head.

Ever since he became the Jinchuriki of the Shinigami, the "Reaper Death Seal" sealing technique has become a regular ninjutsu for Hozuki Shingetsu, similar to the Tailed Beast Ball. Unlike others, it doesn't require him to sacrifice his life to forcibly perform it.

Looking at the interdimensional portal to the demon not far away, Shinjutsu Hozuki's hand above his head moved slightly, slowly taking the short sword from his mouth and aiming it at the demon.

"It's you! What are you doing here? Damn it, you bastard, do you even know what you're doing...?"

On the other side, the demon who recognized the existence of the Grim Reaper was immediately plunged into endless terror and wanted to close the gate to this alternate dimension and exile himself into it.

Knowing the true nature of Death, it understood that if it were wise enough to be banished to another dimension, it might have a chance to come out again in a few decades.

But if you were sealed inside Death's belly, you might never be able to get out.

Splash!

Before it could finish speaking, several green chains, like venomous dragons emerging from their bodies, nimbly spun several times in the air before firmly anchoring themselves to both sides of the gate, preventing the demon from closing it.

"Miroku... that wretched priestess..."

This familiar scene enraged the demon, but before it could do anything, the towering phantom of death began its action. With a light swing of its short sword, it transcended time and space, accompanied by layers of ethereal ripples, and slashed directly at the gate to the alternate dimension.

Click!

With the powerful soul force of Hozuki Shingetsu, this strike directly cleaved the demon in two, and its momentum continued unabated, splitting the entire interdimensional seal gate in two.

Amidst the mournful wails, the remnant soul of the demon was drawn to the mouth of the Grim Reaper. With a swallowing sound, the demon entered the stomach of the Grim Reaper and into the body of Hozuki Shingetsu.

Perhaps due to the use of the Reaper Death Seal this time, no new cell appeared in Hozuki Shingetsu's spiritual world. The demon was sealed inside the stomach of the Grim Reaper in Hozuki Shingetsu's spiritual world cell, just like a nested doll.

"As expected... there's a cooldown period for absorbing these four evil entities, huh...?"

Sensing the waves of negative emotions, including violence and resentment, emanating from the depths of his brain, Hozuki Shingetsu rubbed his forehead and expertly sealed himself away.

He had anticipated this situation before sealing it, which is why he abandoned his physical body and chose to travel as a soul.

In that case, as long as he is in a soul state, even if he is discovered, no one can do anything to him.

In the ninja world, there are very few ninjutsu that can affect the soul. Apart from the Six Paths Sage Mode and Truth-Seeking Balls, the only other ninjutsu that involve the soul are Spirit Transformation Technique, Summoning Technique, and Impure World Reincarnation Technique. Ninjutsu with offensive capabilities are almost non-existent.

However, even so, it would be best to leave this place safely without any trouble.

With a burst of light, Hozuki Crescent Moon's soul strength visibly weakened, becoming dozens of times weaker than before.

"Fine, Jonin level it is then. I'll just consider it as surviving for another three months..."

He glanced once more at Miroku, who had knelt on the other side due to exhaustion, but was powerless in his soul state and did not want to engage in a spiritual communion. He shook his head and prepared to leave.

"Wait a minute...you wouldn't happen to be Lord Hozuki Shingetsu from Kirigakure, would you?"

Despite the iconic appearances of the Grim Reaper and Hozuki Shingetsu, Miroku finally recognized Hozuki Shingetsu's identity at the last moment.

"You have saved our lineage of priestesses from a thousand-year-old fate and prevented us from sacrificing ourselves generation after generation. This kindness is too great for us. On behalf of the priestesses who have died in the past, I pay my respects to you."

Maitreya knelt on the ground and performed a standard earthen seated posture.

"Paying respects? Forget the formalities, I prefer something more substantial."

Hozuki Shingetsu rejected Miroku's sincerity and frankly expressed his thoughts.

"If you're truly sincere, bring your child to the Land of Water to thank me in person!"

"Since you're priestesses, everything you have is dedicated to the gods, isn't it?"

After leaving behind these meaningful words, Hozuki Shingetsu left the cave without hesitation, leaving Miroku standing there blankly, seemingly lost in thought.

Soon after, noticing that the Undead Legion had stopped moving and knowing that the Wraith had been sealed away, Onoki and his group finally passed through the passage and arrived underground.

Meanwhile, Maitreya had already tidied his clothes and was solemnly cleaning up the wreckage scattered on the ground.

"The demon has been sealed away by me!"

For reasons unknown, Miroku concealed the existence of Hozuki Shingetsu, pointed to the shattered interdimensional gate, and directly announced the fate of the demon.

(End of this chapter)