Just as victory was within its grasp, a sudden turn of events occurred. Mōryō was so angry it forgot its surroundings. "Bastard, who are you?"
Ignoring Mōryō's furious gaze, Tōshirō's eyes moved to the old woman present. Although she was old, the features on her face suggested she must have been a stunning beauty in her youth.
Tōshirō greeted her with a tone of emotion. "It's been a long time, Miroku."
He knows me... Miroku was slightly stunned.
She didn't remember many people in her long life, but that person was definitely one of them.
When she heard of his death, she often wondered if telling Tōshirō the prophecy back then would have led to a different outcome.
This guilt left a clear impression on her even after many years.
Although his appearance had changed, Miroku recognized Tōshirō from his facial features. She asked in a probing tone, "Are... are you Tōshirō...?"
"You've gotten old..."
Tōshirō's gaze fell on the young woman who looked very much like her in her youth, and he lifted his chin. "Is she your daughter?"
When Shion saw him looking at her, her pupils widened slightly, and she turned to ask, "Mother, you know this person?"
Although she didn't understand what was happening, it seemed the two knew each other from the conversation between her mother and this boy.
Thinking of this, Shion glanced at the blue giant and gained a great deal of confidence. With this powerful ally, they would surely be able to seal Mōryō again.
When Mōryō heard that this white-haired boy was Tōshirō, it was startled and suddenly remembered the information about him.
Just as Miroku had a deep impression of Tōshirō, Mōryō also had a deep impression of him, only Mōryō hated him to the bone.
It was this human who had hindered its revival.
"You are..."
"Oh, have you forgotten me so soon?"
Tōshirō's voice was light as he teased it. "Looks like I'll have to help you remember me."
"Hiss..."
Flames rose from the Soul Flame's hand, burning Mōryō's body.
"A mere flame, you think you can..."
Before Mōryō could show its disdain, the flame that penetrated its soul made it scream in agony.
Impossible! This flame can burn my soul.
"A mere what?"
A sadistic smile appeared on Tōshirō's lips. He spoke mockingly, waiting to see how it felt.
"Aaaaaah..."
"It seems you can't speak..."
Tōshirō lost interest in talking and said plainly, "Burn it."
The Soul Flame increased its heat. The blue flames enveloped Mōryō's body, burning its physical form and revealing its massive evil soul within.
"You've finally come out..."
Tōshirō's expression was calm as he looked at the black mist filled with evil auras.
The black mist gathered into a humanoid shape, and its scarlet eyes emitted an incredibly malicious aura.
"Now!"
With Tōshirō's help, the mother and daughter recovered. They regrouped and used the sacred white lightning, relentlessly striking Mōryō.
"Aaaaaah..."
Mōryō let out a pained roar.
"Mother..."
Shion called out to Miroku.
Miroku understood and began to perform the sealing jutsu again, intending to re-seal Mōryō.
A white energy was projected from Miroku's body, soaring into the sky to form a massive net that descended upon Mōryō.
When Mōryō saw the giant net, a very bad feeling surged in its heart.
If it were to be covered by this giant net, it would return to that dark, sunless space.
It was not willing to accept this.
Victory was so close.
However, even with its unwillingness, it was powerless to change its fate.
The heavenly net was upon it. Just as Mōryō fell into despair, something unexpected happened.
"Crack..."
A claw tore the giant net in half.
"That won't do..."
The time was right. Tōshirō would no longer just watch.
"You..."
Mōryō looked at Tōshirō, unable to comprehend. Wasn't this guy with Miroku?
Suddenly, it noticed the evil aura in Tōshirō's eyes and understood something...
Miroku and Shion's eyes widened. They couldn't understand Tōshirō's action.
Was he stopping them from sealing Mōryō?
"Tōshirō, what are you doing?"
Tōshirō shrugged. "I'm sorry, but this time, I don't intend to let you seal Mōryō."
At this moment, Mōryō laughed. "So that's it! You want to get my power."
Miroku looked shocked, and her voice was filled with sorrow. "Why..."
Tōshirō closed his eyes slightly and said softly, "For greater power."
With a confirmed answer, Mōryō felt a surge of elation. "Okay, as long as you let me go, I can give you all my power."
Tōshirō opened his eyes, and a red light flashed.
Just as Mōryō was feeling relieved, a giant claw suddenly grabbed it at an incredibly fast speed.
"Wh-what are you doing..."
Mōryō's heart sank at Tōshirō's fickle actions.
"Did you get something wrong? I never said I was on your side."
"Wh-what..."
Tōshirō lost interest in wasting words on Mōryō and his eyes sharpened.
"Soul Flame, eat it!"
This shocking statement stunned everyone present.
What did he just say? He was going to eat Mōryō?
The Soul Flame grabbed Mōryō and pulled it toward its mouth, which tore open to form an opening.
Mōryō saw the bottomless mouth and felt fear. What kind of monster was this?
"Wait..."
The Soul Flame ignored Mōryō's pleading voice, opened its mouth wide, and bit down.
"Aaaah—"
With a scream, the Soul Flame swallowed Mōryō's soul.
"Thanks for the meal..."
Tōshirō touched the corner of his raised mouth with his index finger, feigning politeness.
At this time, Mōryō's soul was already in a very weak state after being bombarded several times. The Soul Flame didn't take much effort to devour it.
Although the soul was not very strong, Mōryō's specialty lay in its nature.
For example, to revive the Ten-Tails, it wasn't necessary to absorb all the tailed beasts. It needed the chakra characteristics of the nine tailed beasts to fuse and undergo a qualitative change within the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
The current Soul Flame was in a similar situation. After devouring Mōryō's soul, the Soul Flame also began to develop qualitatively.
Even the usually calm Miroku couldn't help but open her mouth wide when she saw this.
It... it ate it...
Mōryō was actually eaten.
What was this blue giant in front of her?
Tōshirō covered his eye with one hand. His pupils were constantly strengthening. This one mouthful of Mōryō's soul was more nourishing than all the souls he had devoured in the past combined.
Now, this power was feeding back to the Soul Flame. A black, malicious aura wrapped around the Soul Flame. The original blue body was affected by this power, taking on a blue-black hue.
"This feeling is..."
Tōshirō clenched his hand and decided to test it out.
Tōshirō used his massive chakra on the Soul Flame.
After receiving Tōshirō's chakra, the Soul Flame's body expanded at a visible rate, causing a fundamental change.
Except for the large tentacles on its head, which began to shrink, the rest of its body expanded. Its lean figure became muscular, taking on an inverted triangle shape.
Its chest muscles bulged, its back was broad and full, and its muscles were well-defined. Its abdomen also had a pattern like shark fins. Its originally slender legs also became very thick, and its feet were covered with black armor-like lava, giving it a majestic appearance.
Tōshirō stood on top of the Soul Flame's head, looking down at the shrine below. The massive shrine looked particularly small in comparison.
The soldiers around the shrine were all shocked and speechless when they saw this behemoth. Those with weaker mental fortitude instantly had their legs turn to jelly and collapsed onto the ground. "What kind of monster is that?!"
Feeling this immense power, although Tōshirō had never personally witnessed the Complete Body Susanoo, this was most likely what it felt like.
From now on, the Soul Flame in this state would be called the Complete Body Soul Flame.
Tōshirō named it after the Susanoo.
A single movement from the Complete Body Soul Flame would cause the ground to shake. If it weren't for the fact that this was a shrine, Tōshirō would have liked to use the Soul Flame in this state properly.
This power is truly magnificent...
With this power, Tobi with his Kamui, Nagato with his Rinnegan, and everyone else would be a piece of cake...
Oh, and Danzō and the Third Hokage...
I'll show you what true despair is...
Thinking of this, Tōshirō's mouth curved into a smile.
Then, this smile grew uncontrollably, and his shoulders began to shake as well.
"Hahahaha..."
Tōshirō laughed wildly, letting out a maniacal laugh.
Great power could make a person fall and become corrupted.
Tōshirō was currently in this state.
But soon, the laughter came to an abrupt halt.
If Tōshirō was initially afraid of external influence and didn't dare to use the Soul Flame in this state, the subsequent internal influence made him have to stop using the Complete Body Soul Flame.
After activating this state for a few seconds, his eyes felt a burning pain. Blood vessels began to burst, and blood even started to ooze from his eye sockets.
The side effects of the Complete Body Soul Flame were too great. Even with Tōshirō's sage body, he found it difficult to counteract them. Tōshirō covered his bleeding eyes with both hands. The intense pain prevented him from maintaining this state.
The red light in his eyes faded and turned emerald. Tōshirō deactivated his Mangekyō Sharingan, and the Soul Flame beneath his feet also dissipated.
Without the Soul Flame to support him, Tōshirō's body fell, and he landed on one knee.
Tōshirō looked up, and the figures in front of him appeared as multiple illusions. This was a side effect of the Mangekyō Sharingan backfiring on his eyes.
He shook his head, refocusing his vision.
Damn it, I overdid it a bit...
I have to find a way to deal with this side effect.
Although the sage body had greatly reduced the side effects of the Mangekyō Sharingan for Tōshirō.
But perhaps because it wasn't the same type of power as Hashirama's, the side effects of the Mangekyō Sharingan still existed.
Tōshirō knew of two ways to solve this side effect: find a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan from a relative or capture a White Zetsu for research.
The former was impossible, so only the latter remained.
Although White Zetsu was very weak in combat, they were too good at hiding. It was easy to defeat them, but hard to find them.
The most certain White Zetsu he knew of was the one in the Akatsuki organization.
It seemed he had to find Orochimaru as soon as possible and have him help him capture this White Zetsu...
He remembered that Kabuto was probably still in Konoha. As long as he found him, it wouldn't be difficult to find Orochimaru.
With this thought, Tōshirō immediately prepared to move, intending to return to Konoha, and at the same time, settle Karin and her mother there, which would be a huge slap in the face to the Konoha elders.
"Wait..."
As Tōshirō took a step, a voice came from behind him.
Tōshirō turned around. "What is it?"
Miroku asked, "What did you do with Mōryō?"
Tōshirō said casually, "I ate it."
"You ate it?"
"..."
"Speaking of which, there's something I've always wanted to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Back then, did you see my future?"
Miroku opened her mouth slightly, then nodded in silence.
"I see..."
Miroku said apologetically, "I'm sorry. If only I had..."
Tōshirō's voice was flat, and he raised a hand to interrupt her. "What's done is done. Let it be..."
Miroku sighed. "Sigh..."
Tōshirō looked at the young miko beside Miroku. "If I'm not mistaken, your name is Shion."
Shion was stunned, and her eyes seemed to say, How do you know that?
Tōshirō smiled. "Are you wondering how I know your name? After all, I was the one who gave you your name..."
Shion looked at her mother, her eyes filled with questions.
Miroku nodded with a bitter smile.
Shion said with emotion, "It seems a lot of things happened back then that I didn't know about."
"Mother, Grandmother..."
With the crisis resolved, a blonde little girl ran up to them.
Tōshirō looked at the little girl and asked, "Your daughter?"
"Yes."
"What's her name?"
Because of Tōshirō's tendency to prank people, the name that was supposed to belong to this girl became her mother's name. Tōshirō was quite curious about what this girl's name was now.
"Shion."
Shion stroked the little miko's head and answered.
Shion? I get it now.
Tōshirō shook his head and smiled. Then he asked, "Mōryō has now been devoured and replaced by my Soul Flame. From now on, with no more opponents, you can be freed from your duties as miko, right?"
At his words, Miroku and Shion fell silent.
They were a little lost without a direction.
Tōshirō saw the blonde hair of this child, Shion, and couldn't help but think of his former lover. He let out a long sigh. "How are you going to raise this child? Will you continue to have her be a miko?"
"..."
Seeing that the two of them didn't respond, Tōshirō suggested, "If you have no other ideas, let her come to Konoha. I can teach her some ninjutsu."
Their paths were the same. As a natural miko, Shion should theoretically have a talent for being a ninja, especially with sealing-type ninjutsu.
"A ninja?"
"I didn't say that. I just think it's not a bad idea for her to learn some self-defense techniques and get out and see the world, don't you think?"
Miroku was silent for a moment before answering, "...I will seriously consider it."
"If there's nothing else, then I'll be going." Tōshirō added before leaving, "If you have any thoughts, you can always come to Konoha to find me."
After Tōshirō left, Shion and Miroku looked at Shion. This child was a little too lively. Since Mōryō was gone, perhaps it wasn't a bad idea to let her go to Konoha.
After leaving the shrine, Tōshirō found Karin and her mother and said, "The matter is settled. Let's go back to Konoha."
PS:
I managed to type a chapter on my phone.
It seems I have time to write more, but I'm feeling a bit depressed, so I'll just leave it at this...
It's been a bad year. Three of my relatives have passed away.
Sigh, this is probably the kind of trouble that comes with getting older. However, after the pain, life has to go on...
(End of Chapter)
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