Chapter 243:

Chapter 243:

"Nothing."

Kakashi came back to his senses and waved his hand, saying, "The most important thing is to go to the Land of Demons and meet the shrine maiden."

Several people nodded, and were about to use the instant body technique to leave.

Suddenly, a deep blue light lit up, and Kakashi and the other six looked over.

Several figures appeared in the jungle opposite, and from their clothes, they seemed to be ninjas from Kumogakure.

"Did the shrine maiden ask Kumogakure for help?"

69 Book Bar→69𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘹.𝘯𝘦𝘵

After a moment of hesitation, Kakashi said, "We can cooperate with them to break through the encirclement of the stone soldiers and enter the heart of the Land of Demons."

The current enemy is the monsters and the Yellow Springs Cult, so in this crisis, they are not averse to cooperating with Kumogakure.

So, after thinking for a moment, everyone nodded and agreed to Kakashi's proposal.

Kakashi and Yamato, who were responsible for the breakthrough, stood at the front of the team, with Neji and his three students in the middle, and Might Guy at the rear.

However, Neji insisted on staying with Yamato at the rear.

Knowing Neji's strength, Guy nodded and agreed without hesitation.

Squeak! !

Amid a sharp hissing sound like a bird's cry, Kakashi's palm was entangled by purple lightning.

"Lightning Release: Chidori!"

In an instant, Kakashi's figure rushed into the formation of stone soldiers like a spear flashing with lightning.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

In a series of booms, several stone soldiers fell to the ground one after another, and Kakashi, bathed in purple lightning, tore through the ranks of stone soldiers.

Kakashi showed the super-speed assault ability of Lightning Release to the fullest.

Hyuga Neji, who was at the end of the team, used his Byakugan and Gentle Fist with all his strength. In his eyes, the stone soldiers' originally stiff and slow attacks were already slow motions without any lethality.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Through the close-range fight, Hyuga Neji keenly discovered that the chakra aura in these stone soldiers was exactly the same.

"Does all this chakra come from that monster?"

Unconsciously, some evil and violent thoughts arose in Neji's heart.

"Wood Style: Tree Realm Wall!"

Instantly, a shield formed by multiple wooden vines grew out from the ground quickly, protecting the passage that Kakashi had forcibly broken through, and established a temporary safe passage in the array of stone soldiers.

Since it didn't take much effort, several people broke through the siege of stone soldiers and entered the heart of the Demon Country safely.

At the same time, the two people in the Kumogakure team in the distance also formed seals together.

"Water Style: Water Array Wall!"

The chakra in the body quickly gathered at the throat, turning into a turbulent stream of water and spitting out from the mouth to the front.

Behind the two, a ninja with black skin and white hair, and tattoos of "thunder" and "water" on his shoulders, followed closely and quickly formed seals with his hands.

"Thunder Style: Gratitude Wave!"

The blue lightning followed the water flow of the water style and turned into an electric current and rushed to the stone soldiers.

The stone soldiers were shattered one after another, further tearing the formation of the stone soldiers.

When the stone soldiers here were cleared, the fluctuations and sounds of the battle gradually dissipated.

Konoha and Kumogakure looked at each other.

"Konoha's first technician, copy ninja, Hatake Kakashi?"

"Kumogakure Village Jonin, the guard of the Fourth Raikage, Darui?"

The two white-haired people looked at each other with dead fish eyes, and they saw the meaning in each other's eyes.

—— What a trouble.

"Humph!"

The Kumogakure looked at Neji and the other two, and said sarcastically: "Is there no one left in Konoha? They actually sent three little ghosts to such a place."

The average age of the third team in charge of Might Guy is only twelve years old.

So in terms of height, he is indeed shorter than the two small-time Cloud Ninjas.

"Two useless people, for this level of mission, the three of us are enough."

Hyuga Neji glanced at them and replied in a cold tone: "Also, you'd better be careful. If something happens during the mission, it's not surprising to die here."

In normal times, if he was provoked, he might not bother to pay attention.

However, under the influence of that chakra, facing the Cloud Ninja who had invaded Hyuga before, he couldn't hold back for a while.

The face of the Cloud Ninja suddenly sank.

"Kid, do you want to die!"

"If you can do it, you can try it. It's a good time to settle new and old grudges together!"

Facing this small-time Chunin, Hyuga Neji was not afraid at all, and his murderous intent was revealed.

Feeling the fierce murderous intent, the two Cloud Ninjas also narrowed their eyes and put their hands on the short swords at their waists.

And the few people on the Konoha side, Tiantian and Xiao Li took a fighting stance and became alert.

"Want to fight? What a youth!"

Gai grinned and clenched his fists, looking like he was enjoying the fun.

Instantly, the two sides became full of gunpowder.

"Ah, what a trouble."

Having said that, Kakashi still did not stop Neji and the others.

He knew why the Kumogakure ninjas were provoking him.

After all, the war faction of Kumogakure has been stirring recently, and it is said that they are also snatching and collecting secret techniques from other forces and countries.

The more this is the case, the more they cannot retreat.

They now represent Konoha.

"We are really sorry for the trouble."

Darui scratched his head and said lazily: "Everyone, now is not the time to argue. The monsters are already approaching here."

Both sides know very well that when the monster is coming, internal strife is not a wise choice.

With Darui's steps in sight, Kakashi and others descended down the slope, each taking a step back to maintain temporary peace.

Everyone came to a high place and looked at the towering shrine in the distance.

The shrine is currently shrouded in a purple barrier. The surrounding stone soldiers seem to be unable to enter the barrier and can only surround the shrine layer by layer.

Seeing this, Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief.

"It seems that the shrine has not been captured yet, and the miko should be safe now."

Darui slumped his shoulders and asked: "But, there are so many stone soldiers outside, how are we going to get in?"

Kakashi turned his head and looked at Neji behind him: "Neji, can you find a way to enter the shrine?"

Neji had already opened his Byakugan, shook his head and said: "The shrine has been completely surrounded by those stone soldiers, leaving no gaps or blind spots."

Hearing this, Metkai smiled nonchalantly and said, "Haha, it seems I can only force my way in!"

However, everyone in Konoha and Kumogakure knew that breaking through was obviously not an easy task.

They have already dealt with these stone soldiers.

Although the movements of the stone soldiers are extremely clumsy and slow, once they form a formation, they will be very difficult to deal with.

However, everyone who was thinking didn't notice Neji's slightly weird expression and eyes.

………………

The sky was getting dark, and the sunset dyed the western horizon red. It was an extremely beautiful dusk.

At the same time, in the barrier where everyone is watching.

"Is this the Witch Goddess Shrine in the Kingdom of Ghosts?"

A red torii gate stands in front of the shrine, with a red bird perched on it.

Menma passed through the red torii gate and walked along the mountain path.

At the top of the mountain path is the shrine where the shrine maiden from the land of ghosts lives.

Huge buildings were erected on huge platforms.

It is more like a palace than a shrine.

From this height, you can have a panoramic view of the entire Ghost Country.

After all, it is the residence of the miko from the Kingdom of Demons, so it is normal to have such a majestic palace.

However, given the highest status of a miko, she should be protected by maids and guards.

There is really a lack of people here. There is not a single person in front of the empty shrine, and the maids and guards have disappeared.

The air here is clean and clear, giving people a wonderful feeling that can wash away the dirt in the soul.

However, in this clean and clear air, there is still a bit of biting chill.

It's not a cold caused by weather changes, but something more complete and profound.

Judging from the wide open door of the shrine...

"Looks like he's waiting for me."

Menma smiled with interest and continued walking up the steps on the mountain path.

After crossing the long steps, we finally arrived at the shrine.

Walking along the long corridor of the shrine, the trees in the courtyard complement the dusk.

The atmosphere in the shrine was very quiet, as if separated from the chaos outside, which made Menma feel comfortable.

"Is this the power of a miko?"

Menma thought secretly in his heart: "It is completely opposite to the nature of the power of the sprite."

The powers of monsters and witches are inexplicably similar.

However, the properties displayed are completely opposite.

If it is the power of monsters, it is like all the dark and dirty parts of human hearts.

The power of the witch gives people a feeling of being supreme and inviolable.

Comfort, tranquility, nature, stability...

The reason why he could feel this change should be due to the influence of the witch's power.

This made Menma even more curious about the power of the miko.

He came to the main hall and the door was open.

In the empty main hall, a girl wearing a luxurious miko costume was kneeling on a high platform.

Beside her, there was a slightly illusory figure of a woman.

Although the faces of the two people could not be seen clearly because of the curtain.

But compared to the girl with an ordinary temperament, that woman gave Menma an ethereal and ethereal feeling.

Menma even felt that the person looking at him was not a flesh-and-blood human being, but some other special creature, with no "human" smell on his body at all.

"First meeting, Uzumaki Menma-san."

The woman's voice broke the silence in the main hall.

Menma sat cross-legged on the mat in front of the high platform, opened his mind's eyes for perception, and frowned subconsciously.

"My name is Miroku and this is my daughter Shion."

Miroku said softly and calmly: "Mr. Menma should be able to sense it, right?"

Menma nodded and asked with interest: "Is there really no problem in transferring power to the next generation, Lord Miroku?"

Miroku seemed to be in a stable state at this time, but Menma could sense her weakness.

On the contrary, Shion's aura next to her is getting stronger and stronger, and Maitreya's power is transferring to him.

Now, the critical point should have been reached.

Although he didn't know the specific reason, Menma was convinced that miko inherited mysterious power, which was completely different from the ninja system.

The historical origin of the country of Oni may be traced back to the era of Kaguya.

The loosening of the demon's seal should also be due to the transfer of the witch's power.

"It doesn't matter. This is the fate of the shrine maiden and the responsibility that the shrine maiden must bear."

Miroku said calmly: "Even if I am gone, Shion will become a shrine maiden, and the demons cannot break the seal."

There was no so-called sadness in her tone, and she seemed to be indifferent to her own death.

"Is it the so-called fate again?"

Menma touched his chin and said expressionlessly: "This kind of inexplicable thing is what the old toad likes the most. I didn't expect that you shrine maidens also like it."

Compared to the indifference of the living slug who sees through everything in the world, Miroku seems to have seen too many facts that cannot be changed, and finally accepted his future and death calmly.

Because the power passed down from generation to generation by the shrine maiden can see the fate of human death.

Both respected and feared by people.

To be precise, the shrine maiden should be a split from the kind side of human beings.

But Menma doesn't like this feeling.

"Since you can see death."

Menma raised his eyebrows and said calmly: "Then, can the shrine maiden see my death?"

"Yes, I did."

Miroku said bluntly: "But I only got your appearance and information. When I wanted to continue watching, the picture was already blurred and blocked by a red moon."

"Then, my power was completely exhausted, and it also affected the seal of the ghost."

Miroku himself was actually very confused.

In the past, when the "prophecy" was made, the picture never became blurred, and at most it ended directly.

However, the "prophecy" that worked every time was rubbed on Menma.

"Really?"

Menma raised the corner of his mouth and said jokingly: "Maybe I will never die?"

The ability of the shrine maiden... seems quite interesting.

"Maybe."

Miroku's smile remained unchanged, and he did not comment on Menma's words: "Someone is helping the ghost. The ghost may escape at the moment I die."

"I asked you to come here at this moment, hoping that you can protect Shion and prevent the ghost from escaping and causing trouble to the ninja world."

This is not a good thing for Menma.

So, he stopped talking nonsense and asked directly: "What can I get?"

"...The submission of the ghost country and the inheritance of the shrine maiden."

"The inheritance of the shrine maiden?"

"It is the inheritance of the immortal art you want to get. It is the power of witchcraft passed down from ancient times."

Miroku sat there, and the scroll in his hand floated up and fell into Menma's hands.

Menma opened the scroll and scanned it calmly. After reading it, a rare strange look appeared on his face.

"Three types of ancient witchcraft?"

God-proof witchcraft, using various techniques to seal the target's body or soul.

God-praying witchcraft uses means of praying such as sacrifice or flattery to pray for the gods to bless and avoid disasters.

God-judgment witchcraft, which is the so-called precognitive ability, can predict the will of heaven and what will happen.

Is this the fairy art inherited by the witch?

"In ancient times, at that time, the goddess of Mao had not yet descended."

Maitreya explained: "Due to the lack of mastery and understanding of nature, people cannot understand natural disasters and phenomena such as lightning, thunder, solar and lunar eclipses, landslides and floods."

"So they all attributed it to the control of gods, and then they revered nature and believed that all things have spirits."

"From this, the worship of nature and primitive witchcraft were derived, hoping to master the power to control nature through certain rituals and methods."

"Later, because of its extremely harsh training conditions and the spread of more popular chakras, this power called witchcraft by humans gradually disappeared."