"There are rumors that if Mōryō's body and soul unite, it will destroy the world. It might not be quite that exaggerated, but if he really succeeds, he'll definitely become much harder to deal with.
So I suggest we act quickly—before Mōryō can unseal his body, we seal him again. And rumor has it that you, Priestess, have the ability to seal Mōryō. I wonder if that's true."
"It's true. Don't worry. Although I'm still very young, I won't back down on this matter. I will seal him again just like my mother did. But before that, I'll have to ask all of you for your help."
Seeing Shion confirm the rumor, smiles appeared to varying degrees on the faces of Kakashi, Furina, and the others.
As the saying goes, every trade has its master. While they could deal with the demon Mōryō directly, having another method was naturally better—especially since the priestess is inherently the existence that counters Mōryō. It was simply too perfect.
"Then let's go. Since Mōryō has revived now, the first thing he wants is surely to regain his physical body. So without surprise, he should be heading there right now too.
The place where his body is sealed—Land of Swamps."
.....
"Kakashi-sensei, don't you think this feels kind of familiar?"
"Hm?"
"It's the same as traveling with an important figure from a country, the same as going together to deal with a bad guy, and it's still us together—just like last time in the Land of Snow."
On the way to the Land of Swamps, with nothing better to do, Furina struck up a conversation with Kakashi beside her. Unfortunately, she didn't get the agreement she hoped for.
"You still have the mood to think about this? As expected, you're as carefree as ever. But that friend of yours—are you sure you want to let her come along?
Even if Mōryō doesn't have the power to destroy the world, he's definitely not someone easy to deal with. You might be fine, but for her, it could be very dangerous."
"Kakashi-sensei seems really concerned about my friend. Don't worry. If nothing else, she should at least have the ability to protect herself. And besides, there's still me—I'll protect her."
"Is that so? Then I was overthinking it."
Although Furina hadn't mentioned anything about Uchiha Hikari's strength, Kakashi already had some guesses in his mind. He understood his own disciple.
Things like "I'll protect her" were just words to listen to—if the other party truly lacked self-preservation ability, she absolutely wouldn't agree to let them come along.
As for what level of strength counted as having self-preservation ability... well, given Furina's cautious nature, Kakashi figured that girl named Hikari probably wasn't much weaker than himself.
Tch, what a monster.
While sighing inwardly, Kakashi suddenly noticed four blurry figures appearing in the distance. Though he couldn't see them clearly, his subconscious told him they were most likely enemies.
And the next moment, he knew his subconscious was right—the figures in the distance, upon spotting them, simultaneously began forming hand seals.
"Fire Release: Stream Fire" ×2
"Wind Release: Gale" ×2
Fire rode the wind's power, wind fueled the fire's momentum. The four's coordination was extremely tacit; the combination of different nature techniques caused the ninjutsu's power to surge dramatically. In an instant, half the sky ahead was dyed red by flames, sweeping toward the group like an overwhelming tide.
Faced with the sudden assault, Kakashi was just about to dodge back when he noticed Uchiha Hikari standing in place without moving to evade, as if nothing was happening. Then, as if realizing something, he turned his head to look at Furina beside him.
"Are you just going to play by yourself? Don't look at me."
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique"
Though her mouth said that, Furina's hands didn't slack off at all. In the second the flames appeared, endless water currents surged from beside Furina, then collided head-on with the incoming flames.
The massive steam from the water-fire clash blurred the surroundings somewhat. In the end, perhaps because Furina's ninjutsu was superior, or due to the natural suppression between water and fire—
After the flames vanished, the water currents continued unabated, rushing toward the four enemies opposite, forcing them to scatter and dodge individually.
"There are only four people in total—limited numbers. First come, first served~"
"If you're going to say that, then why don't you go up yourself?"
Seeing Guy shouting about youth as he charged forward with Team 3, Kakashi was just about to follow and pursue when he heard Furina's words and couldn't help pausing, his face full of speechlessness.
"Come on, Kakashi-sensei, I have a reason for staying here, okay? If we all charge in, who's going to protect the priestess? This is me thinking about the bigger picture."
"Ha."
Though Furina's perfectly reasoned slacking left Kakashi somewhat speechless, since Guy had already engaged the enemies, he couldn't delay too much. He could only shake his head with a wry smile before heading up to provide support.
"No way, people actually came? Didn't you see your teammates are almost getting beaten to death?" Watching the person charging resolutely toward her side, Furina couldn't help feeling a bit awkward.
The current situation on the field: Kakashi and Guy were each suppressing one opponent, and neither had used the Sharingan nor opened the gates—clearly not going all out.
Meanwhile, Team 3's Neji, Lee, and Tenten were teaming up against one person, resulting in a roughly even fight. Kakashi and Guy not going full force was probably also to give them experience.
The remaining attacker was the one rushing this way. But that didn't add up—the priestess's escort guards and the non-attacking Uchiha Hikari seemed non-threatening, fine.
But hadn't she just acted? A normal person wouldn't think they'd be easy to deal with after one person blocked their four-man combo ninjutsu. Could it be because she hadn't formed hand seals earlier, leading to a misunderstanding?
"But no matter what, since the opponent came, this fish definitely can't keep slacking. After all, I just said I'd stay here to protect the priestess—I still have to take responsibility for my own words."
Watching the enemy charging toward her, a trace of panic appeared on Shion's usually indifferent face. She'd seen that ninjutsu just now and knew her guards' strength couldn't match the attacker.
But whether Kakashi or the others were still focused on fighting their own enemies—she didn't know if they hadn't noticed or if their opponents were too troublesome to free up a hand.
"You seem a bit worried, but did you forget there's still me?"
Just as Shion's full attention was on the rapidly approaching enemy, the familiar voice suddenly in her ear made her realize that Furina had somehow already appeared beside her, looking as if she was gloating over the misfortune.