Kiyoshi released the shrine maiden he had been holding.
Some of the shrine maiden's chakra still lingered on the shinobi blade.
Kiyoshi stepped forward, walking step by step with the sword in hand.
Mōryō immediately sensed something was wrong. He looked at Kiyoshi in terror, realizing it in an instant.
As expected, Kiyoshi sliced him into several square-shaped blocks.
Mōryō let out a painful, agonized scream. His already weakened body accelerated its dissipation.
"Lady Shrine Maiden, since past shrine maidens were able to seal their bodies and souls separately in the Land of Demons and the Land of Swamps, there should be a method to deal with this, right?"
Kiyoshi said indifferently.
Soul-separation sealing techniques were considered extremely high-level abilities.
At present, among everyone here, only the shrine maiden could likely perform it with minimal cost.
Techniques like "Shiki Fūjin" (Dead Demon Consuming Seal) and "Ranshinkai no Jutsu" (Soul Transformation Technique) were needless to explain in difficulty.
There was also a basic Rinnegan ocular technique, "Soul Absorption Technique," that could achieve something similar.
Of course, that required a Rinnegan—without it, it was meaningless.
In the entire shinobi world, at this stage, only Uchiha Madara's pair of Rinnegan existed… now in Nagato's possession.
And… there might be another one up above.
"Understood."
Miroku nodded.
Kiyoshi stepped aside and watched her.
Miroku approached Mōryō. After recovering some chakra, she began chanting. A sealing barrier appeared once again, initiating the process of soul separation.
Kiyoshi swallowed a soldier pill.
Then turned his gaze toward the distance.
It seemed that the Demon Country ninjas led by Yomi had realized Mōryō was already doomed and chose to retreat.
Minato Namikaze and the others only intercepted part of them and did not pursue further.
Now that Mōryō, who threatened the shinobi world, had been subdued, their remaining mission was to protect the shrine maiden—not chase fleeing enemies.
"Kiyoshi, are you alright?"
Yūhi Kurenai ran over, slightly out of breath, her lips still flushed.
"I'm fine. The only problem is the blade is a bit damaged."
Kiyoshi examined his ninja sword.
It was already in a severely worn condition.
This was its first field mission, and it had almost been declared "retired" already.
Naruto and Shion had used the shrine maiden's bell artifact as a medium for chakra fusion. The red stone inside the bell was likely a treasure—it suppressed the shrine maiden's power while also storing chakra.
When Shion was in danger, Miroku's residual chakra had manifested to protect her, similar to how Kushina and Minato left chakra inside Naruto that would activate under certain conditions.
Kiyoshi's sword, however, was just an ordinary blade with some chakra metal reinforcement.
After a moment of thought, Kiyoshi took out the bell artifact from his tool pouch and looked at the red stone inside.
Miroku had been afraid the shrine maiden lineage would end, so after enhancing his ocular power, she had entrusted it to him.
He needed a way to secretly keep it.
To upgrade his sword.
So that in the future, if he encountered creatures like Mōryō again—born from negative emotions—it would be like having a "demon-slaying buff" built in.
He had shed blood and chakra for the Land of Demons; such a small request shouldn't be refused.
"Kiyoshi, is it done?"
He put away the bell artifact and looked at the shrine maiden surrounded by violet chakra.
"Not yet. Wait a little longer."
Clearly, this separation process consumed a significant amount of chakra even for her.
Kiyoshi waited patiently.
During this time, Minato continued holding back the clay soldiers outside.
Mōryō's main body was no longer a threat, but his clay soldiers still remained.
However, without their core, they were gradually being eliminated one by one.
About ten minutes passed.
Finally, Miroku completed the separation of Mōryō's soul.
When the shrine maiden sealed Mōryō, she would normally enter a special state—feeling the consciousness of past shrine maidens and gaining a massive surge of power, while ultimately sacrificing herself.
It was somewhat similar to the "Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique."
But now, since Kiyoshi had already shattered Mōryō's body and chakra with her help, she no longer needed to pay such a heavy price.
Kiyoshi still intended to leverage her future development, obtain traits from her, and complete his evolution.
Of course… deeper "communication" in that sense wouldn't be bad either.
"Aaaah… Shrine Maiden! What are you doing?!"
In soul form, Mōryō screamed as he rapidly dissipated.
He tried to return to the Daimyō's body to hide, but was blocked by the shrine maiden.
"Your thousand-year grievance ends in this generation, Mōryō."
She reinforced the sealing barrier.
After death, Mōryō's negative emotions could eventually give birth to another entity—but that would take years, even centuries.
This at least ensured generations of shrine maidens could live in peace.
As for the shrine maiden's status afterward… Miroku no longer wished to think about it.
"I'll take Mōryō's physical body back. The seal in the Land of Swamps is unstable—it's better to store it in the Land of Fire."
Kiyoshi said calmly while taking out a sealing scroll.
He had purchased a new sealing scroll the night before departure.
It cost 120,000 ryō, leaving him with only 30,000.
The scroll had enough space to store a large amount of Mōryō's flesh.
"This dangerous object will be kept under the Uchiha. The clan will watch over it using Sharingan."
Kiyoshi said as he closed the scroll, looking at Minato.
Minato nodded.
The Uzumaki sealing techniques had little effect on Mōryō, while Kiyoshi and the shrine maiden together had defeated him.
The Uchiha were indeed a suitable choice.
Moreover, Mōryō's soul would soon vanish, and without feeding on negative emotions, his body would eventually disappear as well.
Crack.
Mōryō's remaining soul shattered.
At the same time, all the clay soldiers dissolved into mud.
"The crisis is over."
Minato finally relaxed.
These clay soldiers had actually been more troublesome than Mōryō himself.
At first, when sealing techniques failed, Minato had assumed Mōryō was extremely powerful.
But after retrieving his body, it turned out he was simply difficult to kill and seal.
With the shrine maiden and Kiyoshi working together, the threat was resolved.
"Uchiha will be responsible for guarding such an evil monster…"
Gike muttered while watching Kiyoshi store the scroll.
"Let's go, Shinju. Let's check on the Daimyō."
He called out.
Shinju withdrew her gaze from Kiyoshi's tall figure.
Human emotions were not shared equally.
The citizens of both the Swamp Country and Demon Country were celebrating Mōryō's defeat.
Ninjas and guards were relieved the shrine maiden was safe.
But in this moment, one sinner was forgotten.
The Demon Country Daimyō.
Miroku stood before him and sighed.
She gently brushed the dust off his clothes.
Looking at the wrinkles on his face, she knew this was the price of using Mōryō's power.
After being possessed, the Daimyō had traveled from the Demon Country to the Swamp Country—corrosion accelerating his aging.
"He brought this upon himself."
Miroku shook her head.
Had he not been consumed by ambition, he would never have unsealed Mōryō.
Without unsealing, the seal could have lasted hundreds of years.
It only needed periodic reinforcement every few decades.
"Master Minato, what should we do now?"
Rin asked.
"Let me go on patrol outside in case of a counterattack."
Minato said, and in an instant vanished using a space-time technique.
"Are we… heroes now?"
Obito grinned.
"Maybe."
Asuma nodded.
Saving the shrine maiden was a major achievement.
Unfortunately, the mission was still ranked C.
Unless the shrine maiden increased the reward, it would remain a C-rank mission.
Rin began healing the Daimyō, who still had faint life force remaining.
"Anyone else a medical ninja?"
Miroku asked.
The others looked at each other.
Only Kakashi and Rin knew Kiyoshi had medical skills, and pointed toward him.
The Sand ninjas also had medical specialists, but theirs used water-based techniques.
"We don't have one."
Gike shook his head.
Aside from Shinju's sealing techniques, the others specialized in wind release.
(End of Chapter 125)