Magma spread through the dense network of ravines, exposing itself on the surface and constantly sending plumes of heat steaming into the sky.
After the mountain space was breached, the walls—half of which had already collapsed—continued to shatter. Now, under the further destruction of Makiya's Susanoo, they crumbled into fine dust and vanished completely.
"A ninjutsu can actually achieve this?" Moryo looked at the black giant before its eyes, unable to hide its amazement.
"Hmm? You don't recognize Susanoo?" Makiya was somewhat surprised. He had assumed that as a living fossil of the ninja world, Moryo would be privy to many secrets, yet it seemed the demon had never seen Susanoo before.
On second thought, it made sense. The Land of Demons was far from the Land of Fire. From the moment of its birth, Moryo had been incessantly entangled with the priestesses, its status constantly toggling between [BEING SEALED] and [COMING OUT FOR AIR]. It was normal for it not to have heard of a dojutsu from thousands of miles away.
"So it's called Susanoo? A decent technique. Unfortunately, you're no longer a match for me." After swallowing the priestess's power, Moryo's confidence swelled instantly. Its body expanded once more, its magic dragon form thickening and lengthening until it stood a head taller than Makiya.
"We'll see who wins after we fight." Makiya's form appeared within the diamond-shaped crystal at the Susanoo's forehead. This was the most resilient part of the entire Susanoo, capable of completely protecting the user and preventing any sneak attacks from blind spots.
"Sage Art: Susanoo: Ryujin Jakka!"
In the Shikkotsu Forest, five more of Makiya's shadow clones burst. A massive amount of natural energy was transmitted across space and time into his original body, merging with his chakra almost instantly and pouring into the Susanoo.
The chakra blade in the Susanoo's hands erupted with a dazzling white light. Liquid flames, like flowing water, covered the entire blade. The white flames emitted a terrifying heat, yet the light reflecting off them made anyone who dared look directly at it feel a chill in their soul.
As for the name of the technique, Makiya directly plagiarized it from Old Man Yamamoto. The description of 'Ryujin Jakka' was perfectly fitting—it couldn't be better.
Besides, the Head Captain wasn't in this world anyway. If the old man really could enforce the law across different universes, Makiya would just have to accept it.
Rumble!
The giant and the dragon launched their attacks simultaneously, their massive bodies stirring the air as they moved, creating a violent gale.
Moryo condensed over a hundred hideous dragon heads, opening their blood-red maws to bite into the Susanoo. Their sharp fangs sank deep into the pitch-black giant's body, like venomous snakes latching onto prey. Through the fangs embedded in the body, it constantly released purple-black energy, attempting to disrupt the chakra flow within the Susanoo.
With a thought from Makiya, the giant's left hand swept around, grabbing the necks of dozens of dragon heads and yanking hard. Moryo stumbled, dragged from its position by the immense force, while Makiya's right hand swung the flaming blade.
Pitch-black cracks permeated the space as the blade intent formed from Sage Chakra spread through the air, cleanly severing the dragon heads Moryo had manifested.
Dozens of dragon heads crashed into the ground, further obliterating the already pitted landscape.
The cuts were as smooth as mirrors, but the purple-black energy upon them surged. At a visible speed, two dragon heads grew from every severed neck. In an instant, Moryo had even more heads than before.
"Useless, useless, useless!" Moryo laughed triumphantly. "Cut off one head, and two more grow in its place! My energy is infinite; you can't kill me!"
After merging with the priestess's power, Moryo's energy recovery speed had reached a new level. Yin does not give birth alone and Yang does not grow alone; having merged the priestess's power, it was as if Moryo had achieved a fusion of Yin and Yang. The energy attributes within its body reached a dynamic balance, becoming inexhaustible.
Makiya did not reply, focusing all his concentration on controlling the Susanoo. Ryujin Jakka flashed with pure white flames, pulling a brilliant curtain of light across the air.
After the terrifying blade intent sliced through Moryo, its momentum remained undiminished as it tore into the earth, severing continuous mountain ranges and leaving a hideous scar upon the land.
Moryo's body was split down the middle, but the purple-black energy remained connected like lingering threads. The two sides of its body linked back together and fused, restoring its dragon form.
In terms of offensive capability, Moryo's methods were quite singular. Aside from energy breaths, its only real advantage was its massive body, which it used in close combat to suppress others with sheer brute force.
Makiya's combat experience was incredibly rich; even while controlling the Susanoo, he could skillfully employ various sword techniques. However, the opponent's recovery speed was too fast. If this continued, he would eventually run out of chakra.
Miroku crawled out from the rubble, wiping the grime from her face. Ignoring her injuries, she looked up at the sky.
Looking up from below, the two battling behemoths were even more awe-inspiring. The magic dragon's body blotted out the sun, casting a vast shadow over the nearby land. On the other side, the black giant radiated a terrifying aura, the chakra flowing over its body resembling black flames that enveloped it entirely.
Miroku grit her teeth. Sealing Moryo was originally her responsibility, yet the demon had found a weakness and turned the tables on her. Now, she was even burdening the Konoha ninja to clean up her mess; anyone with a shred of pride would feel utterly humiliated.
Fortunately, at the final moment, Miroku had timely severed the connection, retaining a portion of the priestess's power and preventing Moryo from obtaining her full strength.
Miroku knew very well that with her current strength, it was absolutely impossible to seal Moryo. Master Makiya was fighting, and she hoped her remaining priestess power could help him.
The pitch-black giant took a step forward, its massive sole landing right next to Miroku. Seizing the moment, she burst forth with power and threw herself against Makiya's Susanoo.
Thud!
The expected effect of merging into the giant's body did not occur. Instead, Miroku found that the giant's surface was terrifyingly hard and extremely hot.
The large, smoking bump on her forehead was proof enough of that.
"Hmm?"
Makiya sensed Miroku's movement and glanced down at his feet. With a thought, a massive black hand extended from the surface, grabbing Miroku and pulling her inside.
Miroku felt as if she had entered a wondrous world. Looking out from within the Susanoo, it was as if her vision was covered by a grey filter. Boundless chakra flowed past her, faintly mixed with a certain cold power. The scorching heat made Miroku's body flush, while the cold ocular power cooled her down. The sensation of dual extremes of ice and fire alternated constantly, making her feel dazed.
This peculiar sensation vanished once she arrived inside the crystal at the Susanoo's forehead. Miroku let out a quiet sigh of relief, loosening her death grip on the corner of her robe.
Before Makiya could ask, Miroku said hurriedly, "Master Makiya, though my power is nearly spent, it shares the same source as Moryo. I can affect its recovery speed. Please, accept my power! This is also my way of atoning!"
"...Alright." Makiya said nothing more, placing a hand on Miroku's shoulder. Instantly, a strange sensation spread through his body. The priestess's power flowed continuously through the point where they touched, and Makiya funneled it into the Susanoo.
The pitch-black giant underwent an immediate mutation. Numerous white patterns appeared across its burly body, and a massive halo slowly condensed above its head like an angelic ring, radiating divinity and majesty.
"What? You can actually use the priestess's power? I must kill you here today!" Moryo's crimson pupils flared with light. Anyone capable of wielding the priestess's power was its natural enemy. Today, only one of them would leave alive.
The chakra blade flowing with white flames grew even brighter. The priestess's power caused the flames to retract slightly, like a divine object concealing its brilliance, yet the temperature within only increased.
Moryo went wild. Countless heads huddled together, merging and condensing into a single, thick, massive dragon head. A purple-black light orb brewed within its blood-red maw, the concentrated power within even distorting the surrounding space.
"Such an unoriginal attack method. I'm tired of looking at it."
Releasing another thirty shadow clones, the massive natural energy was poured out the moment it entered his body, all of it gathering within the chakra blade. Natural energy was highly corrosive; the slightest mistake could result in a backlash.
"Sage Art: Void Sword Technique - Imperial Sword Technique: Ryujin Jakka!"
The pitch-black giant leaped backward, its heavy body displacing a massive amount of air. It released the white blade in its hand and pressed its palms together in front of its chest.
The discarded blade did not fall to the ground under the influence of gravity. Instead, it hovered eerily in front of the giant. An invisible force made the blade as easy to command as his own arm. It pierced through space like a meteor falling from the highest heavens, stabbing fiercely toward Moryo.
A second before the blade reached it, Moryo finally finished charging. A terrifying torrent of energy erupted. Under the gaze of Makiya and Miroku, it collided with the blade.
Boom!
A massive mushroom cloud soared into the sky. White flames mixed with purple-black energy erupted upward. The cloud layer was shattered by the immense force, looking as if a hole had been poked through the sky.
The scene before them looked like an atomic bomb explosion. The massive mushroom cloud rolled continuously, while vast amounts of energy within the dark clouds rubbed together, causing lightning and thunder.
The Susanoo crouched slightly, its feet exerting sudden force against the earth. The ground instantly cracked into countless ravines. Using the counterforce, Makiya charged quickly into the chaotic torrent of energy, spotting Moryo pinned to the ground by the blade.
Under the combined attack of Sage Art, Priestess Power, Chakra, and Ocular Power, Moryo had not directly perished. It even had enough strength to glare at Makiya with wide eyes; it was quite the resilient fellow.
Strike while he's down.
Makiya was not in the habit of chatting with villains. The Susanoo braved the aftermath of the explosion to approach Moryo, both hands gripping the blade.
"Wait, I..."
"Go to hell." Another surge of Sage Chakra was channeled into the blade by Makiya. Miroku also took the opportunity to squeeze out the last bit of strength from her body, sending it all into Makiya.
"No, wait, don't—!"
The disparate energies annihilated each other. Moryo's cry of alarm was still echoing through the air when its body dissipated into nothingness.
"Phew, it's finally over!" Makiya wiped the sweat from his forehead and stopped the output of chakra and ocular power. The Susanoo gradually faded away—first the skin, then the muscles, until only the skeletal frame remained.
By the time Makiya slowly landed while holding Miroku, the last of the skeletal frame had also vanished.
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