But Kakashi's expression turned a little strange.
For all his usual cool and distant attitude, Kakashi understood this kind of thing better than most.
To put it simply, he was the silent type. The kind who noticed everything and said nothing.
"Kushina-sama?"
Rin was left with no choice but to turn toward Kushina, clearly at a loss.
Was nobody really going to stop this?
"Quit yelling and go back to sleep!"
Kushina snapped, rolling her eyes before storming back to her room with an annoyed look on her face.
"Uh... okay."
Rin scratched her cheek awkwardly and decided not to say anything else.
But Kakashi seemed to catch onto something.
He first glanced in Shiki's direction, then toward Kushina's, and little by little, the confusion in his eyes cleared. A knowing smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Not far away, Kurenai had just arrived where Shiki was when she spotted Tsunade's summoned slug beside him, carrying a scroll.
"Lord Shiki, I'll be taking my leave now."
Katsuyu clearly understood more than she let on. The second she noticed Kurenai approaching, she immediately seemed to realize the situation.
After politely speaking, she vanished in a puff and returned to the summoning realm.
"Shiki-nii, did something happen?"
Kurenai looked at the scroll in Shiki's hand with curiosity.
"It's nothing major."
Shiki skimmed through the contents, his brows lifting slightly.
He was a little surprised, but not enough to take it seriously.
He casually waved a hand at Kurenai.
"Tsunade looked into it. Koharu's gone to the Land of Demons."
"Koharu?"
Kurenai paused for a second, then quickly remembered.
Wasn't she one of Konoha's elders? The same woman who had schemed against Shiki before?
"That old hag's definitely up to no good."
Anyone who tried to use Shiki behind his back was obviously no decent person in her book.
"Hahaha..."
Shiki just laughed it off, not bothering to explain further.
Still, he was a little curious.
When Koharu saw him again in the Land of Demons... what kind of face would she make?
"Alright, enough talking. Get some rest first."
"Mm."
...
While Shiki and the others had already entered the Land of Demons, the very person they had been talking about was currently standing at the sealed ground of the monster.
Koharu.
"Power...! What incredible power! Hahahahaha!"
At that moment, Koharu looked nothing like the frail elder she used to be.
Her body had become grotesquely muscular, every inch of her frame swollen with unnatural strength. Her skin was covered in strange markings, making it obvious that this power hadn't come from any normal kind of training.
"Good thing I came across those old Konoha records... otherwise I never would've known there was a monster sealed in a place like this."
Her grin twisted into something vicious.
Aside from her face still bearing a trace of her former self, there was barely anything left of the old Koharu.
Ever since fleeing the daimyō's estate, she had known exactly what her situation was.
She had become a wanted woman.
Konoha would never take her back.
The rest of the shinobi world had no place for her either.
At that point, she only had two choices.
She could find some tiny backwater village and hide away for the rest of her miserable life...
Or she could gamble everything on one last desperate chance.
And for someone who had already tasted power, the choice wasn't hard at all.
Even if she was going to die, she refused to die as some pathetic, forgotten old woman.
"With my power now... I can crush Shiki! Hahahahaha!"
Her voice was hideous, like metal scraping across glass. Harsh. Grating. Ugly.
A bloodthirsty gleam flickered in her eyes.
Mōryō's power had turned her into something monstrous, and that alone made it clear this was no blessing.
Even if it had strengthened her, the sudden surge of power had also made her lose herself.
In the end, no matter how much strength she had gained, Koharu was still nothing more than a frog at the bottom of a well.
Then, from deep within the valley, a heavy voice echoed out.
"I gave you power. Don't forget the rest of our agreement."
There was no one in sight.
But the moment she heard that voice, the excitement on Koharu's face instantly gave way to fear.
"Of course I remember."
The one speaking was Mōryō.
Naturally, Koharu hadn't received his help for free.
This was a deal.
A deal whose full details only she truly knew.
Mōryō had given Koharu power, and in exchange, she was to help him eliminate the current priestess.
He had also promised her something else.
If the priestess of this generation was destroyed and the seal was broken, he would grant her even greater power.
He had even said that once he was fully freed, he would personally help her.
"Then don't forget your promise," Koharu said greedily. "Give me more power... and help me reclaim my seat as one of Konoha's elders."
To her, the Land of Demons was nothing special.
It wasn't a hidden village, and it barely had any shinobi worth mentioning.
Sure, the priestess had the power to seal Mōryō, but in Koharu's eyes, that was all.
Now that she had gained the monster's strength, she truly believed she was invincible.
Killing one priestess?
That didn't worry her in the slightest.
The only thing Koharu truly cared about... was getting back what she had lost.
Her position.
Her authority.
Her place in Konoha.
The voice in the valley echoed once more.
"Relax. Konoha means nothing to me."
Mōryō's tone was filled with pure contempt.
He genuinely did not care about Konoha at all.
In his eyes, once the priestess's seal was broken, the entire shinobi world would be at his mercy.
The tailed beasts?
He didn't care about them either.
As far as he was concerned, once he was free, there would be nothing in this world worth fearing.
"Good."
Koharu nodded deeply, as if his arrogance made perfect sense.
In that regard, she and Mōryō truly were a perfect match.
"I'll go kill the priestess."
She could hardly wait.
In her mind, once this was done, her return to Konoha was all but certain.
The valley soon fell silent.
Only after Koharu's presence had completely faded into the distance did Mōryō's voice ring out again, now filled with naked disdain.
"Hmph. A human like her thinks she's fit to cooperate with me?"
Monsters were prideful by nature.
Just like the tailed beasts, Mōryō was no different.
If he didn't need Koharu to break the seal for him, he wouldn't have spared her a second glance.
The truth was simple.
If she had been of no use to him, he would have crushed her the moment they met.
"She wants more of my power?"
Mōryō let out a cold, mocking snort.
"Once I leave this cursed place... every last one of them will die."
After being sealed away for so many years, the hatred festering inside him was no joke.
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