Shion, like a ray of light, pierced into Mōryō hiding within the dark purple smoke!
Swish...
Instantly, a massive wave of chakra surged within the belly of the snow peak.
"Damn it!"
Shinnō's expression was grim.
From the moment the Miko of the Land of Demons uncharacteristically came to their door, he felt a faint sense of unease, and the current situation clearly validated his anxiety.
That seemingly frail and immature Miko actually harbored such terrifying chakra within her body.
And Mōryō, contrary to his constant boasting, could not easily devour the Miko but was instead suppressed by her chakra!
"This!?"
The injured Mifune stared blankly.
The development of the situation had completely exceeded his imagination. The arrival of the Miko of the Land of Demons left him baffled, and the terrifying strength she was displaying now made his jaw drop!
Especially when the Miko and the demon clashed, he could even see the chakra of the two entangled, condensing into tangible ripples echoing constantly within the mountain belly!
Haku did not relax his guard just because Shion seemed to have the upper hand.
Before setting off, Shinji had warned him not to underestimate the enemy or be careless.
Because the chakra of both the Miko and the demon were at the Tailed Beast level. If Shion's goal was only to seal Mōryō like previous Mikos, the battle might end quickly. But this time, Shion was aiming to face her own dark side directly; she wanted to merge with Mōryō once and for all.
Merging two Tailed Beast-level chakras of opposing good and evil—just hearing it revealed how difficult it would be.
So whether Shion merged with Mōryō or Mōryō devoured Shion, this confrontation between Miko and demon was bound to be a prolonged battle!
Crack...
Crack...
Suddenly, cracks appeared on the rock walls surrounding the mountain belly, and these cracks expanded rapidly amidst constant cracking sounds.
"Is it because of the chakra waves?"
Mifune was stunned.
In his understanding, chakra waves were traces that required sensory-type ninjas to detect. He had never imagined that mere chakra waves could destroy a mountain body and trigger a collapse!
"Not good, the mountain is collapsing!"
Haku was also startled, then his gaze swept towards the exit.
Swish...
At this moment, Shinnō was one step ahead of him, directly activating the 'Eight Gates', abandoning his partner, darting into the tunnel, and fleeing outside the mountain.
In a blink of an eye, the mountain body within began to collapse, with rubble constantly falling from the surrounding walls and the dome overhead.
Haku glanced at Shion and Mōryō who were in fierce confrontation. Seeing that falling rubble was instantly shredded into flying ash by the chakra lingering around them before even hitting their heads, he knew the mountain collapse shouldn't affect them much, so he formed a plan in his heart.
Rumble...
Before long, amidst a loud noise like the earth shaking and mountains swaying, this snow peak standing on the ice plain collapsed due to internal disintegration!
The huge shockwave caused by the collapse, wrapped in dust, momentarily suppressed the blizzard on the snow plain, clearing the surroundings.
Shinnō, who escaped the mountain belly first, looked back at the completely collapsed snow peak behind him, lingering fear still on his face: "That guy Mōryō won't die, will he!"
However, he soon relaxed because in the ruins of the snow peak, the chakra of Mōryō and the Miko were still fiercely contending. The collapse of the towering snow peak seemed not to have affected their duel.
"Two monsters..."
Even as Mōryō's partner, Shinnō couldn't help but mutter a complaint.
Immediately after, Shinnō discovered that there seemed to be other survivors in the ruins of the snow peak, and his brow furrowed instantly.
In the ruins.
Mifune stared blankly at the ice wall above his head. Not only him, but the other few surviving ninjas also had dull expressions.
With the mountain belly collapsing, they thought they had no chance of survival.
Unexpectedly, Akatsuki's 'C' actually chose not to seize the opportunity to escape the mountain belly for their sake. Instead, before the mountain belly was completely buried by collapsing rubble, he gathered them together and then used 'Ice Release' to create a huge semi-circular ice wall, shielding them underneath.
Crack...
At this time, cracks appeared on the ice wall. Subsequently, the ice wall began to slowly shatter, revealing the messy scene outside.
Standing in the center of the ice wall with sword in hand, Haku first glanced at Shion and Mōryō who were still clashing, then turned his gaze to Shinnō not far away who had escaped the mountain belly before them, and walked over slowly.
Seeing 'C' walking towards him with sword in hand, Shinnō's face darkened: "'C', you and I are both members of the Akatsuki organization. There is no need to fight to the death in a place like this!"
The blizzard had returned at this time, so Shinnō's shout, wrapped in the blizzard, sounded like howling or sobbing!
Haku did not stop, walking firmly towards Shinnō: "I sense ominous chakra from you. Letting you leave would be irresponsible to the ninja world!"
"Responsible to the ninja world?" Shinnō snorted lightly and said angrily: "Who do you think you are? One of the Five Kage? You are the same as me. The only difference is that I serve Nagato, while you are 'A's running dog!"
Haku said: "You wouldn't understand!"
Seeing 'C' had no intention of stopping, Shinnō began forming hand seals while saying: "I know you possess the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai and can display extraordinary strength on this snow plain of the Land of Iron. But don't underestimate me; I'm not the kind of guy who gets taken out easily!"
Completing the seals, Shinnō shouted and activated the 'Eight Gates'.
When Shinnō traveled various countries before, he did so under the guise of a wandering doctor, so his attainments in medical ninjutsu were extremely high. Later, he learned dark medical ninjutsu from Mōryō and carried out a comprehensive modification of his own body.
Otherwise, with his ordinary human body, it would be difficult to bear the 'Zero-Tails'.
Having already mastered the 'Eight Gates', after these years of honing, his taijutsu strength was no longer what it used to be. Coupled with his fully modified body and the endless chakra provided by the 'Zero-Tails', his strength had reached a whole new level.
This was also the reason why Mōryō, restored to peak condition, still acknowledged him as a partner. Otherwise, with Mōryō's arrogance, if Shinnō didn't have some strength himself, he would have been eliminated by Mōryō long ago.
Watching Shinnō opposite erupt with the 'Eight Gates', Haku gently exhaled and activated 'Water Breathing' with full force.
Now, he was only one step away from the highest realm of breathing styles, the 'Transparent World', so he yearned for a great battle that could break through his own limits...