Yomi's four underlings themselves were not strong.
Their ability to cause chaos among the many guards of the Land of Demons was entirely due to Yomi's Dark Medical Ninjutsu, which forcibly injected Chakra into their bodies, granting them power out of thin air.
This was somewhat like Orochimaru's Cursed Seal, but far inferior.
The Cursed Seal was a one-time finished product; once successful, one could freely activate it to enhance oneself.
But the price of failure was death.
Yomi's Dark Medical Ninjutsu, on the other hand, relied entirely on external Chakra injection to enhance their power.
In terms of convenience, it was far, far inferior.
Currently, with Yomi absent, the only one who could enhance their power was Kusuna.
Among the four, only Kusuna could control those insect-like things created by Yomi's Dark Medical Ninjutsu.
And now, Takumi, hidden in the shadows, watched as Kusuna, also hidden, took out two short blades, preparing to ambush Shion and Taruho.
Takumi suddenly rushed out.
Taruho turned back and was startled to see Takumi.
Especially seeing Takumi rushing over with a murderous look, he was thrown into confusion.
'Aren't you here to protect us?'
'Why do you look like you're going to kill us?'
'Could he also be an enemy wanting to kill Shion-sama?'
Thoughts raced, but Taruho's body certainly wasn't as agile as his mind.
He could only watch helplessly as Takumi rushed towards him at tremendous speed.
But the next instant, he only saw Takumi's hands pass on either side of him, without harming him.
"?!"
He shocked turned back, only then realizing that an enemy had appeared in front of him without him noticing.
'So he came to save us?'
It was only then that Taruho realized why Takumi had looked so murderous.
"If you tell me information about your employer, I might consider sparing your life."
Takumi said calmly, his hands tightly gripping Kusuna's wrists.
"Damn it!"
Kusuna's enhanced body was completely immobile in Takumi's grip; even using all his strength, he couldn't move an inch.
Then, with a thought, four pitch-black, insect-like things suddenly emerged from his body.
Seeing this, Takumi swung his arms, flinging him away, then grabbed Shion and Taruho together and tossed them behind him, before kicking Kusuna hard, sending him flying.
These insects couldn't hurt him, but Shion, with her ordinary physical constitution, might not be so lucky.
As for the guard Taruho, Takumi didn't care.
Bang!
Kusuna hit the wall hard. Even with his enhanced body, he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
"Quite a resilient body."
Takumi was still surprised.
After sending Shizuku flying earlier, he had confirmed that these four had very strong bodies, so he had added a bit more force to that kick.
The result was that Kusuna, unlike his expectation of dying, was only seriously injured and spit blood.
Kusuna glared hatefully at Takumi, knowing the mission couldn't be completed for now, and leaped away without hesitation.
Just then, the other three of the four-person team also flew over.
"Big brother! We need a Chakra refill!"
Gitai quickly said.
"Okay!
Kusuna quickly agreed.
He knew very well how weak his siblings truly were.
If they didn't replenish Chakra quickly, even escaping might be a problem.
They had just landed on a rooftop when,
A loud shout came.
"Stop right there!"
Naruto ran ahead, looking a bit disheveled, seemingly having suffered a bit.
Behind him were the other three.
"With Neji here, I thought none of them would escape."
Takumi below watched in some surprise.
After all, their enhanced strength wasn't that impressive.
With Neji's Gentle Fist being so targeted, these guys shouldn't have been hard to deal with.
It seemed he had underestimated their strength a bit.
But it didn't matter; it wasn't important. At least in front of him, these guys couldn't put up much of a fight.
"Just now, thank you very much."
Taruho said sincerely.
Takumi looked down and said seriously, "Protecting the Miko is our mission this time. No need for thanks."
"Even so, your timely appearance protected Shion-sama's safety at the critical moment."
Taruho was still very sincere.
He looked up at the enemies rapidly retreating and said, "The enemies have retreated. Perhaps we should rest first."
Takumi looked at Shion, who was being carried on Taruho's back. "What does the Miko think?"
Shion stared blankly at Takumi's face, superimposing it with the face she had seen in her dream earlier.
"You will die."
She suddenly said.
Instantly, both Takumi and Taruho's expressions changed.
'Even someone as strong as this person would die?'
'Could this mission be completed smoothly?'
Taruho's heart suddenly filled with worry.
As a member of the family that for generations protected the Miko, he certainly knew what the Miko's mission was.
But he also knew that under the orders of the previous Miko, Shion's mother, Miroku, Shion had not learned any techniques; apart from the method to seal Moryo, she was no different from other girls.
Without a powerful protector by her side, Shion's safety was very worrying.
He had just witnessed Takumi's strength.
The four-person team that the guard unit couldn't handle, one of them was easily defeated by Takumi.
If even he would die, then this journey was surely fraught with peril.
"The Miko's prophecy?"
Takumi's expression was grave.
"You know?"
Shion was taken aback.
"Then it seems it's true."
Takumi frowned deeply.
Things had as expected deviated.
The person predicted to die had changed from Naruto to him.
This was also to be expected.
"In any case, this is not the time to discuss this."
Taruho was somewhat alarmed.
He hadn't expected Takumi to know about the Miko's prophecy.
In essence, the Miko's prophecy used the death of others to substitute for the Miko's own death.
If Takumi, knowing this, fled far away, then the Miko's prophecy wouldn't come true.
Perhaps the Miko's prophecy would then fall on someone else, but Taruho had never encountered such a situation.
If possible, he didn't want Takumi to leave.
Because that would mean Shion would very likely die.
He was from the clan that protected the Miko; to protect her, he didn't even care about sacrificing himself, let alone others.
He just wanted Takumi not to overthink it for now, and to set off as soon as possible,
To avoid more complications.
Because of Shion's death prophecy, the atmosphere became somewhat heavy.
"Damn it, they got away."
As Naruto's annoyed voice faded, the others also arrived.
Sakura and Neji keenly sensed the strange atmosphere, but not knowing the situation, they naturally couldn't say anything.
Naruto and Lee weren't the types to read the room.
"Hey, what are you guys standing here for?"
Naruto looked blankly at the three silent people. "Is she the one we're supposed to escort?"