Kiyoshi released the Priestess he was holding.
A portion of the Priestess's chakra still remained on the ninja sword.
Kiyoshi walked over step by step, holding the sword.
Mōryō sensed that something was wrong. It looked at Kiyoshi in horror, instantly realizing something.
Sure enough, Kiyoshi used his sword to cut Mōryō into several squares.
Mōryō let out a painful wail. His already weakened body accelerated its rate of dissipation.
"Priestess-sama, since the previous Priestess was able to seal the physical body and the soul separately in the Land of Demons and the Land of Swamps, there should be a corresponding method, right?"
Kiyoshi said lightly.
Sealing formations that separate the soul are considered a very advanced ability.
At present, among everyone present, the Priestess is likely the only one who can perform it with minimal cost.
The difficulty of the Reaper Death Seal and the Soul Eject Technique goes without saying.
Also, the fundamental Rinnegan dōjutsu, the Soul Removal Technique, can achieve this.
Of course, one must possess the Rinnegan; otherwise, don't even think about it.
In the entire ninja world, only Uchiha Madara's pair of Rinnegan, currently residing in Nagato, exists at this stage.
Hmm, there might be one more in the heavens.
"Alright."
Miroku nodded.
Kiyoshi stepped aside, watching Miroku.
Miroku walked up to Mōryō, recovered some chakra, and then chanted incantations. The sealing barrier reappeared, performing the operation to separate Mōryō's essence.
Kiyoshi swallowed a soldier pill.
He turned to look into the distance.
It seemed the Land of Demons ninjas, led by Yomi, chose to flee now that Mōryō's demise was certain.
Minato and the others intercepted only a portion of the Land of Demons ninjas before stopping their pursuit.
Mōryō, the threat to the ninja world, was now under control. Their remaining mission was to protect the Priestess, not pursue the Land of Demons ninjas.
"Kiyoshi, are you alright?"
Kurenai ran over, her rosy mouth gasping for breath.
"I'm fine, just the sword is a bit damaged."
Kiyoshi took out his ninja sword and looked at it; it was utterly battered.
On his first long-distance mission, this ninja sword was nearly retired.
Naruto and Shion used the Priestess's bell ritual tool as a medium for chakra fusion. The red stone inside the bell was likely a treasure, capable of suppressing the Priestess's power while also storing a portion of her chakra.
When Shion encountered danger, the chakra left by Miroku came out to help Shion.
It was very similar to the chakra left by Kushina and Minato for Naruto, which would appear under specific conditions.
Kiyoshi's ninja sword, however, was just an ordinary ninja sword with some chakra metal added.
After a moment of contemplation, Kiyoshi took out the bell ritual tool from his ninja pouch and looked at the red stone inside.
Fearing that the Priestess lineage would be severed, Miroku gave him this item after she knelt down and helped him upgrade his dōjutsu power.
He needed to find a way to keep it.
He could use it to upgrade his ninja sword.
If he did this, the sword might essentially carry a demon-slaying buff if he encountered monsters generated by negative emotions like Mōryō in the future.
He had shed blood and chakra for the Land of Demons; surely, such a small request would not be refused.
"Priestess-sama, are you ready?"
Kiyoshi put away the bell ritual tool and turned to look at the Priestess, who was enveloped in purple chakra.
"Wait a moment."
Clearly, this separation operation required a significant amount of chakra from the Priestess.
Kiyoshi waited patiently.
Meanwhile, Minato continued to block the terracotta soldiers from entering outside.
Mōryō's main body could no longer cause trouble, but the terracotta soldiers he left behind were still active.
However, Mōryō could no longer summon more terracotta soldiers, so eliminating a part meant one less part remaining.
Kiyoshi waited for about ten minutes.
The Priestess finally managed to strip Mōryō's soul away.
The reason the Priestess dies after sealing Mōryō is that she enters a special state.
In that state, the Priestess herself can perceive fragments of feelings from all previous generations of Priestesses, and her power surges.
The Priestess's task is to separate and seal Mōryō during this process and then embrace death.
It's somewhat similar to the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.
Now that Kiyoshi had used her chakra to shatter Mōryō, the Priestess would not have to pay such an expensive price.
Kiyoshi was still counting on the Priestess's future development, hoping to gain Traits from her and complete his advancement.
Of course, some deeper communication, perhaps involving the character *Kun* ( a term often used playfully in this context to imply physical intimacy or 'deep' interaction), would also be nice.
"Ahhh… Priestess, what are you trying to do!"
Mōryō's soul, now in a spiritual state, was rapidly fading. He tried to re-enter the Daimyō's body to hide, but the Priestess blocked him.
"The feud of a thousand years ends with this generation, Mōryō."
The Priestess strengthened the sealing barrier as she spoke.
Even after Mōryō's death, negative emotions would still breed a second Mōryō, but this is calculated in units of years.
This would allow the Priestesses of the next few hundred years to die naturally.
As for the Priestess's status, Miroku no longer wished to dwell on it.
"I will take Mōryō's physical body back. Sealing it in the Land of Swamps is a security risk; it would be better to seal it in the Land of Fire."
Kiyoshi said this while pulling out a sealing scroll.
On the night before departure, Kiyoshi had gone to purchase a new sealing scroll.
He had spent 120,000 Ryō, leaving only 30,000.
The space in this sealing scroll was adequate and could store a lot of Mōryō's flesh.
"I will keep such a dangerous object within the Uchiha clan and have the clansmen guard it with the Sharingan."
Kiyoshi sealed the scroll and looked at Minato, who was walking over.
Minato nodded.
The Uzumaki clan's Sealing Jutsu was indeed useless against Mōryō, but Kiyoshi and the Priestess together managed to defeat Mōryō.
Placing it within the Uchiha clan was a good choice.
Furthermore, Mōryō's soul would soon vanish, and the physical body could no longer absorb negative emotions, so it would eventually disappear over time.
*Crack.*
Mōryō's illusory soul shattered during their conversation.
At the same time, the terracotta soldiers uniformly began to dissolve, turning into puddles of mud.
"The crisis is resolved."
Minato finally relaxed.
These terracotta soldiers were much more dangerous than Mōryō itself.
When the sealing jutsu initially failed, Minato thought Mōryō was very powerful.
But even after retrieving his physical body, he only became difficult to kill and seal.
With the specialized skills of the Priestess and Kiyoshi's concerted efforts, this threat was eliminated.
"The Uchiha clan guarding such an evil demon…"
Jiki looked at Kiyoshi, who had already sealed Mōryō into the scroll.
Although the Land of Demons ninjas were strong earlier, they clearly saw the side effects of using that power.
If the Uchiha or Hidden Leaf were to rely on this power, although it could briefly increase strength, it would inevitably lead to a lack of succession in the long run.
These Land of Demons ninjas needed to continuously consume the parasitic worms created by Mōryō; without them, normal chakra recovery was difficult to achieve.
"Let's go, Maki. We should go check on the Daimyō-sama."
Jiki called out to Maki.
"Oh… yes."
Maki withdrew her gaze from the tall figure in front.
The joys and sorrows of people are not interconnected.
The citizens of the Land of Swamps and the Land of Demons cheered that Mōryō, the source of all evil, had been defeated, resolving a major crisis.
The ninjas and guards also secretly breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that the Priestess-sama was safe and their mission was accomplished.
In this moment, one culprit was overlooked.
That was the Land of Demons Daimyō.
Miroku walked up to him and sighed.
She gently brushed the dust off the Land of Demons Daimyō's clothes.
Looking at the wrinkles on the Daimyō's face, Miroku knew this was the price paid for using Mōryō's power.
The Daimyō, possessed by Mōryō, flew from the Land of Demons to the Land of Swamps.
During this journey, the Daimyō was continually corrupted and aged significantly.
"Priestess-sama, are you alright?"
Ashisō quickly ran over from the cave entrance.
He only relaxed when he saw the Priestess-sama, whom he worried about constantly, was safe.
"The Daimyō-sama…"
Ashisō hesitated, unsure if the old man lying below was the Land of Demons Daimyō who had looked young only yesterday.
"He is merely reaping what he sowed."
Miroku shook her head.
If the Daimyō hadn't been blinded by his ambition, why would he have unsealed Mōryō?
If the seal hadn't been actively broken, the formation on Mōryō could have been maintained for several hundred years.
The Priestess would only need to perform maintenance once every few decades.
"Minato-sensei, what should we do now?"
Rin asked.
Minato was the only Jōnin leader present, and the Hidden Leaf ninjas had to follow his command.
"I will go scout the outside, just in case the Land of Demons ninjas attempt a counterattack."
Minato said, and his body flickered, disappearing from the spot.
He had clearly used a Space-Time Ninjutsu to reach a marked location outside.
"Hey, does this mean we are heroes now?"
Obito was focused on this point, grinning.
"Perhaps."
Asuma nodded.
Saving the Priestess, who held the same status as the Daimyō in the Land of Demons, was indeed a great achievement.
It was a shame that the evaluation rank for this mission was C.
Unless the Priestess was willing to pay more money and raise the reward, it would remain a C-rank mission on their record, not a higher-ranked one.
Seeing Minato leave, Rin, having recovered some chakra, attempted to treat the Land of Demons Daimyō.
The Land of Demons Daimyō had only been drained of life force, so he could still be rescued.
"Hoo hoo…"
Rin was soon drenched in sweat after treating him for a while.
Her chakra capacity wasn't very large, and continuously treating the Daimyō would consume a significant amount of chakra.
Miroku frowned slightly.
The ninja with purple markings on both cheeks looked like she hadn't been long out of the Academy.
However, the Daimyō, who had been drained of life force, could only be kept alive through medical ninjutsu.
"Are there any other medical ninjas?"
Miroku called out.
The Land of Demons is remote, but that doesn't mean it is completely cut off from the outside world.
She had a good understanding of ninjas, recognizing different categories such as sensory ninjas, genjutsu ninjas, and so on.
The others exchanged glances. Only Kakashi and Rin knew that Kiyoshi was also a medical ninja, and they all pointed towards Kiyoshi.
Then they looked at the Hidden Sand ninjas.
Hidden Sand also had medical ninjas, and their medical ninjutsu was different from the popular style in Hidden Leaf.
They used Water Release.
Named Medical Water Release, it included techniques like Medical Water Release: Water Mantis and Medical Water Release: Water Mosquito.
"We don't have any here."
Jiki shook his head.
Aside from Maki, who specialized in sealing jutsus, he and the other few Hidden Sand ninjas specialized in Wind Release.
***
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