The demon Mōryō was not originally native to the shinobi world; it was a malevolent parasitic entity, hailing from another dimension entirely. It didn't exist as a conventional life form in the way mortals understood it, but instead sustained itself, growing stronger by absorbing the potent negative emotions generated by humans – fear, hatred, despair.
When Mōryō first descended upon the ninja world in ages past, it had immediately unleashed its power, creating a vast army of the undead that nearly brought about the complete annihilation of the large island shared by the Land of Demons and the neighboring Land of Swamps. Catastrophe was only averted thanks to the heroic actions of the first Miko of that era. She managed to absorb a crucial portion of Mōryō's overwhelming power and, utilizing potent fuinjutsu, successfully sealed its monstrous physical body and its separate, malevolent soul away from each other.
The immense, grotesque form currently emerging from the churning lava lake within Demon Sealing Mountain was precisely Mōryō's sealed physical body. After accumulating power over countless generations, continuously feeding on the ambient negative emotions emanating from the human world, Mōryō was now showing undeniable signs of imminent revival. If it managed to completely break the ancient seal, allowing its physical body and its potent soul to finally reunite, the demon Mōryō would achieve full, catastrophic resurrection. A fully revived Mōryō, legends claimed, possessed raw power entirely comparable to that of the legendary Nine Tailed Beasts.
"MIROKU!"
A furious, guttural, somehow psychic roar suddenly echoed throughout the immense cavern, vibrating not just in the air but directly within their minds. Below the central stone platform, the lava surged violently upwards, boiling over and nearly engulfing the entire stone structure in molten rock.
Hearing the enraged, named roar from below, the current Miko of the Land of Demons' expression hardened with grim determination. Without uttering a word in reply, she silently stepped forward, walking with unwavering purpose towards the exact center of the stone platform where the sealing ritual was meant to take place.
"Your Highness," Tatsuya called out suddenly, his voice steady, stopping the Miko just before she reached her destination.
The Miko turned her head, looking back at Tatsuya, her eyes questioning but resolute.
Tatsuya met her gaze directly, his own expression exceptionally grave. "Your Highness, I implore you – unless it becomes absolutely, unavoidable necessary as the very last resort, please do not resort to sacrificing your own life to complete this seal. At the critical moment... perhaps I can suppress Mōryō long enough."
He remembered vividly, chillingly, from his past life's knowledge: the Miko – Shion's mother, Miroku presumably – was originally fated to die during this very sealing ritual against Mōryō. Furthermore, even her sacrifice hadn't resulted in a perfect, permanent seal in the original timeline. More than a decade later, when Naruto and his generation were older, the terrifying threat of Mōryō was destined to erupt once again, demanding further sacrifice. Tatsuya was determined to change that outcome if he could.
"Thank you," the Miko said after a brief, contemplative pause, a flicker of surprised understanding crossing her beautiful features. She then nodded firmly, accepting his words, perhaps his resolve. With that silent acknowledgment, the Miko turned and resolutely continued her walk to the center of the platform.
Reaching the focal point of the ancient ritual site, the Miko immediately began her critical work. Her hands moved with practiced grace and speed, flowing fluidly through a continuous, complex series of intricate hand seals required for the powerful fuinjutsu.
Soon, a massive, intricate sealing formula began to glow brightly upon the dark surface of the stone platform beneath her feet. The luminous, vibrant purple pattern resembled the elaborate, stylized outline of a giant, fearsome demon's face. As it solidified, it began radiating an immense, almost tangible wave of pure sealing power outwards into the cavern.
Seeing the complexity and sheer power of the sealing array forming, Tatsuya couldn't help but reveal a hint of genuine surprise. He hadn't expected the current Miko of the Land of Demons' personal proficiency and deep understanding of fuinjutsu to be quite this advanced.
This level of sealing technique... Tatsuya mused internally, impressed despite the dire situation. It might even rival the legendary fuinjutsu capabilities of the Uzumaki clan!
At this intriguing thought, Tatsuya's strategic mind immediately began racing with possibilities. He wondered if the Miko's unique and powerful fuinjutsu techniques were exclusive, closely guarded secrets passed down solely through her ancient lineage. If he could somehow find a way to learn even a fraction of her knowledge, it would represent a massive, invaluable enhancement to his own developing sealing capabilities. Fuinjutsu, being such an incredibly versatile and fundamentally powerful 'BUG' within the framework of the ninja world's power systems, was something Tatsuya was determined to learn as much of as possible.
However, he also recognized the political realities. The Miko held significant prestige and respect throughout the entire shinobi world. Learning her sacred sealing techniques would absolutely require her willing consent and cooperation. Attempting to acquire them through other means would be foolishly risky and could easily cause a major diplomatic incident, something Tatsuya definitely wanted to avoid.
Therefore, his path was clear. He absolutely had to give his all during this current sealing attempt against Mōryō. He needed to ensure the Miko survived this encounter, not only for the sake of the world, but also potentially for his own future learning opportunities.
His resolve firmly solidified, Tatsuya immediately refocused his entire attention, concentrating intently on both the Miko diligently performing the sealing ritual and the struggling, monstrous form of Mōryō raging within the lava beneath them.
The complex sealing formula continued to take shape under the Miko's expert hands, the luminous purple glow of the intricate array intensifying steadily, pulsing with contained power. As the sealing formula neared its completion, the churning and boiling of the lava below grew even more violent and agitated. Destructive waves of molten rock constantly surged upwards, attempting to breach the platform and disrupt the ritual.
At the center of the platform, visible signs of intense strain began to appear on the Miko's elegant face, and fine beads of sweat dotted her forehead as she poured her chakra and focus into the demanding technique.
Seeing her begin to struggle against Mōryō's resistance, Tatsuya's heart tightened with concern. Instantly, he cast aside any remaining hesitation. Maintaining his active Sage Mode, Tatsuya began deliberately, actively absorbing the dense ambient demon chakra that Mōryō was radiating outwards into the superheated air of the cavern.
A continuous, potent stream of Mōryō's unique demon chakra flowed rapidly into Tatsuya's body. His internal bio-chip immediately went to work, rapidly processing the influx – converting the usable energy component into pure, compatible senjutsu chakra, while simultaneously isolating and compartmentalizing the accompanying evil psychic will. Compared to the relatively small amounts of energy he had absorbed from the individual terracotta soldiers earlier, the sheer volume of potent chakra Tatsuya was now drawing directly from the ambient field generated by Mōryō itself was vastly, overwhelmingly greater.
Such an immense volume of incredibly potent senjutsu chakra flooding his system so rapidly began to severely tax even Tatsuya's enhanced physical limits; his body struggled to handle the sheer throughput. Consequently, Tatsuya found he had to pause his absorption process after only short, intense bursts. During these brief pauses, he quickly created several shadow clones and immediately dispatched them out of the cavern – presumably to engage the remaining terracotta soldiers outside and rapidly burn off the excess overflow energy he couldn't safely contain. Only then could he resume absorbing Mōryō's ambient chakra again.
Simultaneously, demonstrating incredible focus and control, Tatsuya's original body was multitasking amidst the chaos. While actively absorbing the demon chakra and managing the energy conversion, he was also continuously channeling a portion of the newly converted senjutsu chakra inwards, using it to stimulate his own body's cellular structure. He seized this rare, perhaps unprecedented, opportunity to utilize his personally developed Body Activation Secret Technique, leveraging the potent Sage chakra to dramatically enhance his own physical conditioning at an accelerated rate. This complex, dangerous balancing act – absorbing external power, managing internal limits, and simultaneously performing body enhancement – was only feasible thanks to the constant, precise regulatory assistance provided by his internal bio-chip, managing the intricate energy flows and mitigating the immense mental strain.
Compared to using ordinary chakra for the same purpose, the transformative effect of pure senjutsu chakra on modifying and strengthening Tatsuya's physical body was significantly more profound and efficient. In just over ten intense minutes of this process, the potent stimulation provided by the senjutsu chakra had achieved physical enhancement results comparable to what would normally take him one or two months of his regular, rigorous training regimen.
ROOOAAAR!
"IT IS YOU AGAIN, DETESTABLE HUMAN!"
Suddenly sensing its own power being significantly drained away by Tatsuya's unexpected absorption, Mōryō, which had been focusing the majority of its efforts on actively resisting the Miko's progressing seal, finally lost its remaining patience entirely.
It let out a furious, soul-shaking psychic roar, and Tatsuya immediately felt an incomparably immense, concentrated wave of raw demon chakra, far exceeding anything before, surge directly and purposefully towards him.
Mōryō had completely abandoned its struggle against the Miko's sealing ritual! It was redirecting all of its remaining accessible chakra and psychic energy into one final, overwhelming attack aimed squarely at Tatsuya!
This incoming torrent of pure demon chakra felt like a boundless, crushing ocean of power; Tatsuya knew instantly his physical body couldn't possibly contain or process such an impossible volume without catastrophic consequences.
Instantly, Tatsuya's expression changed drastically, alarm flaring in his eyes. He reacted purely on instinct, hurriedly deactivating his Sage Mode in a desperate attempt to avoid absorbing the overwhelming chakra influx that would surely destroy him from the inside out.
However, while he managed to shut down his energy absorption just in the nick of time, it was already too late to avoid the psychic component of Mōryō's all-out assault. The demon's entire remaining evil will, concentrated and focused with malevolent intent, slammed directly into Tatsuya's mind with its full, devastating force.
"ARGH!"
Tatsuya let out a strangled scream of pure agony, blood suddenly pouring freely from his nose and mouth as the psychic impact overloaded his senses. He collapsed heavily backwards onto the hard stone platform, his body convulsing. Within the chaotic storm of his violated mindscape, Tatsuya 'saw' a significant portion of Mōryō's ancient, alien consciousness forcefully invading his thoughts, tearing through his mental defenses. Compared to the first psychic assault he had endured just minutes earlier, the raw volume and intensity of the evil will flooding his mind this time felt dozens, perhaps hundreds, of times more powerful and concentrated.
This demon... it truly intends to possess my body! Tatsuya realized with horrifying clarity amidst the blinding pain.
Hmph! Not happening! Even overwhelmed and reeling, a core of defiance remained. Tatsuya scoffed internally. His hands, though trembling violently, began rapidly, almost instinctively, forming a familiar sequence of seals.
"Yin-Yang Seal: Release!"
As the seals snapped into place, a massive surge of pure, untainted life energy and raw spiritual energy rapidly dispersed outwards from the dormant Yin-Yang Seal matrix stored deep within Tatsuya's own chakra network. Crucially, without Tatsuya actively controlling and molding them, these potent raw energies did not coalesce into usable chakra but instead flooded his system as pure potential, creating a temporary buffer or void.
Once the seal's stored primordial energies had fully dissipated – effectively 'emptying the container' – the bio-chip immediately seized control of the process. The invading evil will of Mōryō, now swirling within the 'empty' seal framework, began to be forcibly purified, hyper-compressed, and systematically stored within the now-vacant matrix of the Yin-Yang Seal itself. It was a desperate, dangerous gamble, turning his own internal seal into a containment vessel for the demon's psychic remnants.
But even with this ingenious, last-ditch defense mechanism frantically working, a significant, rampant portion of Mōryō's immense evil will still managed to temporarily ravage Tatsuya's unprotected mindscape before being fully contained. The psychic backlash nearly caused him to lose consciousness completely, his vision tunneling, his thoughts fragmenting under the strain.
Several agonizingly long minutes later, the immediate psychic storm subsided as the bio-chip completed its work. Tatsuya finally managed to regain partial control of his battered senses, staggering painfully before collapsing heavily into a sitting position on the ground, gasping for breath.
"Tatsuya!" "Senpai!"
Seeing him finally collapse but seemingly conscious, Anko immediately rushed forward, kneeling beside him to offer support. Kurenai, Hayate, and Yugao instinctively moved to form a tight, protective perimeter around the vulnerable Tatsuya and Anko.
Nearby, the watching Kumo and Iwa ninja exchanged uncertain glances, their eyes flickering with complex calculations for a tense moment. Ultimately, however, none of them chose to make a hostile move against the weakened Konoha shinobi. They recognized this was the absolute critical moment for successfully sealing the demon Mōryō. Attacking the Konoha team now, especially their clearly powerful leader while he was momentarily incapacitated, was simply far too risky for everyone involved. If the Miko's sealing ritual failed because of their infighting, everyone present in this cavern would likely face inescapable doom from the fully unleashed demon. Furthermore, the sheer magnitude of the raw, untamed life and spiritual energy Tatsuya had instantaneously released from his internal seal just moments ago had been utterly immense, far beyond anything they had witnessed before. Frankly, the display had deeply intimidated everyone present, reinforcing the perceived danger of engaging him directly.
At the center of the stone platform, hearing the commotion and the shouts of alarm from Kurenai and the others as Tatsuya collapsed, the Miko's hands faltered in their intricate sealing movements for just a fraction of a second. Her eyes flickered towards Tatsuya with concern, but then, with renewed focus and determination, she resolutely continued the final stages of the ritual. Benefiting greatly from Tatsuya having drawn Mōryō's full, undivided attention and destructive power just moments before, the Miko, now facing virtually no direct psychic or physical resistance from the distracted demon, was able to complete the intricate sealing formula at a significantly faster pace than before.
Several more tense minutes passed, the purple light from the sealing array growing almost blindingly intense. Then, finally, the light reached its peak, flooding the entire inner cavern with brilliant violet energy as the Miko slammed her palms down, completing the final sequence of the ancient fuinjutsu.
ROOOAAAR!
A final, silent psychic roar of ultimate fury and despair seemed to echo through all their minds simultaneously. The massive, glowing sealing formula blazed with overwhelming, absolute sealing power. It forcibly tore Mōryō's newly-regenerated, struggling soul away from its monstrous physical form once more, inexorably separating the two components and sealing them apart again within their respective prisons.
When the brilliant purple light of the completed sealing formula finally, slowly faded, the inner cavern had fallen completely silent and eerily calm. The oppressive psychic presence was gone.
Phew...
Seeing the seal successfully applied and the demon subdued, the Miko visibly slumped, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead with a trembling hand. She let out a long, quiet, shuddering sigh of profound relief.
Against considerable odds, the demon Mōryō had been successfully sealed once again.