Seisui glanced at the High Priest, already raving like a madman, then knelt in front of the captured Konoha ninja and began unlocking their restraints.
"In this world, demons and gods rise together. I have no intent to compete for dominion, yet I know the suffering of the living. I only wish to cleanse all corners and protect one corner of this fleeting world."
After freeing Kamizuki Ichiko from her shackles, Seisui turned to the High Priest.
"I told you, to you, I am the heavens!"
His voice suddenly boomed, reverberating through the silent cave.
"Since you see the heavens, why do you not kneel?!"
Though normally quiet, in the stillness of the cave his words struck like hammer blows against everyone's heart.
After a moment, there was a thud. The first cultist fell to their knees.
Like dominoes, one kneeling figure triggered another, until the cave echoed with the sounds of cultists prostrating themselves.
The captured ninjas stared at Seisui's back, awestruck.
Cleanse all corners, protect one corner of this fleeting world.
Over and over, they whispered the words in their minds, their eyes growing brighter as they looked at Seisui's figure.
The ninja world was a bleak place.
Most people here lacked faith or purpose.
They didn't know why they lived, nor why they would die.
Most ninjas simply existed without direction.
Even Jiraiya in the original story could see this.
When searching for the Child of Prophecy, he had spoken with many in taverns—but all the ninjas he met drifted aimlessly through life.
Now, hearing Seisui speak, many felt a thought arise in their hearts:
Perhaps… this is the one to cleanse us.
Seisui could sense some of these thoughts, but only faintly. While the Kamui-like eye granted him insight into people's presence and the Nine-Tails' moral sense could detect intent, he could not fully read minds.
All he knew was that most of the ninjas behind him looked upon him with admiration.
"Hahaha! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" The High Priest cackled, madness in his eyes. He bit himself, spreading black runes across his body, matching the right guardian.
"Die!"
"You will all die!"
He charged at Seisui, and the right guardian followed.
Their speed was incredible—but in Seisui's eyes, it was slow.
"Slow… too slow!"
What seemed blindingly fast to others crawled under his Mangekyo Sharingan. His eye, an evolved insight of the Doujutsu, rendered their attacks almost motionless to him.
He did not dodge. Arms crossed, he awaited their approach.
"Die!"
The High Priest lunged, claws outstretched toward Seisui's chest, joy flashing briefly across his face.
This cursed technique wasn't mere self-enhancement. Anyone scratched while he was in this state would be infected, cursed, and die.
Seisui detected that fleeting glee.
BANG!
He kicked the High Priest hard, sending him crashing into the cave wall.
The right guardian rushed in next. Seisui vanished, reappearing behind him and decapitating him with a single strike.
Though confident in his skill, Seisui remained cautious. Initially, he had thought to let them attack first, testing defenses—but seeing the High Priest's delight, he changed tactics.
The ninja world was full of unknowns, especially here, within the cult. Who knew what tricks they might employ?
Standing over the High Priest, Seisui smiled.
"You are the High Priest?"
"… Jashin will never forgive you!" the High Priest groaned weakly from the ground, utterly drained from the impact.
Seisui pressed a foot to his chest.
"Then let your Jashin try."
"Today, your cult will cease to exist!"
"No one can stop me!"
With a slight push, the High Priest's chest cracked under his weight. Bones splintered. Blood seeped from his mouth; he was pale, lifeless.
"Finished." Seisui applied a final force, and the High Priest collapsed, lifeless.
Turning to the remaining cultists, Seisui shook his head in mock regret.
"Such a waste."
"Once unified, you could have served as laborers… but now—"
Seisui's form blurred, moving faster than the eye could track. In an instant, every last cultist was wiped out.
"Better off dead."
Kamizuki Ichiko had freed everyone's restraints by now. They watched Seisui obliterate hundreds of cultists in a blink, swallowing nervously.
They had been here long enough to know roughly how many the cultists numbered—at least a couple hundred. All gone in an instant.
"By order of the Hokage, everyone is to return to Konoha," Seisui said, smiling warmly.
"Surely, you'll enjoy visiting Konoha, yes?"
One ninja, without a headband, gritted his teeth and rushed forward. "Master, allow me to follow you!"
Seisui paused. Afraid to go to Konoha?
But hearing the ninja's story, he understood.
"I was born to a common family. Life was peaceful until bandits raided my village, slaughtering everyone. Only my parents' protection saved me. Then I wandered the ninja world, trained by chance, and became a ninja.
"I never knew why I became a ninja. I never understood why people kill or why wars exist.
"But I know… your ideals surpass mine. Hearing your words before, I wanted to be part of it!"
Cleanse all corners, protect one corner of this fleeting world!
The ninja bowed again. "Please accept me!"
"I have no village, no enemies. I live off the black-market bounties. I won't trouble you."
Seisui considered him for a moment. "Your name?"
"Asami Kumo!" the ninja replied loudly.
"I don't need subordinates," Seisui said.
Kumo's shoulders slumped in disappointment.
"But," Seisui continued, "the Hokage orders all of you back. You'll come too. I'll speak to the Hokage about having you join Konoha. You'll be under my command someday.
"Stand."
Hope shone in Kumo's eyes as he rose.
"I will follow your path, Master!"
"Indeed."
Seisui turned toward the cave interior.
"Everyone, move out."
Kumo didn't hesitate. Ichiko, Fushimi Sosuke, and her three students followed. The others dared not defy him.
They envied Kumo's freedom—any of them would follow someone of such caliber.
Inside, Seisui saw a massive stone statue, over ten meters tall.
Before it, a platform etched with intricate grooves and stained with dark, dried blood—countless had died here.
Looking up at the statue, Seisui felt as if something was watching him.
"Indeed, there is an Evil God here," he muttered, summoning an explosive clay.
Staring directly at the statue, a smirk crept across his face.
He knew the statue was "alive." Statues' eyes do not move on their own, after all.
Seisui leapt into the air, molding the clay into a bird that lifted him higher than the statue itself.
"I dislike looking up at others. I prefer to look down."
"You're alive… or sealed here by someone, playing god to deceive the world."
The statue remained motionless—but anger radiated from its eyes.
"Seems I guessed right."
Seisui chuckled. "Then I'll send you somewhere special."
Forming hand seals, he summoned a twenty-meter-tall panda.
The cave was vast—summoning such a creature posed no problem.
"Seisui?" Panda Wu scratched his head, noticing the clay bird beneath Seisui. "You finally mastered my Clay Transformation Technique!"
Seisui smiled.
"Brother Bu, help me move that statue, please. Remember to use Senjutsu."
The panda nodded. White light emanated from him as he lifted the Jashin statue.
Seisui's eyes glimmered. Duel Arena—Activated!
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100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
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