Chapter 154: Chapter 157: Wiping Out the Iwagakure Anbu, The Priestess of the Land of Demons’ Prophecy
A village on the north side of Amegakure.
Natsuki, Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato moved quickly through the rain, finally stopping in front of a courtyard.
It was already deep winter, and the continuous, gloomy rain made the dusk look like the dead of night.
Under the curtain of rain, the courtyard before them appeared extremely quiet.
Natsuki waved his hand.
Yahiko and Konan simultaneously used Half-Demonification.
Their blood accelerated, chakra churned, and they suddenly underwent changes, their bodies growing taller, becoming adults.
Demon horns appeared on their foreheads.
Less than two months after Konan awakened Half-Demonification, Yahiko also successfully unlocked it.
The turbulent chakra fluctuations immediately alerted the Iwagakure Anbu ninjas inside the courtyard.
Four Iwagakure Anbu ninjas appeared one after another.
Seeing this, Natsuki wasn’t surprised.
Because his purpose this time wasn’t a sneak attack, but to verify the growth of Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato.
Yesterday, Natsuki received intelligence from Team Haru and Team Taka.
They discovered an Iwagakure Anbu squad.
According to their confirmation, this Iwagakure Anbu squad was secretly supporting the faction of Hanzo’s subordinate, Heibei, in Amegakure.
After considering it, Natsuki decided to eliminate them.
But it wouldn’t be his 4th Anbu Squad doing the deed. It would be the trio of Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato.
The composition of this Iwagakure Anbu squad was one Jonin and three Tokubetsu Jonin.
The three Tokubetsu Jonin could perfectly serve as opponents for Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato.
After comprehending Half-Demonification, Yahiko and Konan already possessed the strength of Tokubetsu Jonin.
Although Nagato hadn’t been transformed into a demon, his talent far exceeded Yahiko and Konan’s.
After learning the Rokushiki and Armament Haki, he began learning Water Breathing.
Although he had only learned half of it, he barely possessed the strength of a Tokubetsu Jonin.
It was just that the three of them hadn’t had real combat experience against Tokubetsu Jonin yet.
Especially Tokubetsu Jonin from the Five Great Villages.
In the various small hidden villages outside the Five Great Villages, they would deliberately relax the standards when assessing ninja ranks.
In other words, their ranks were inflated.
But it was normal.
Small hidden villages had a small number of ninjas. If they truly followed the standards of the Five Great Villages, they wouldn’t have many Jonin or Tokubetsu Jonin.
However, when employers from various countries issued missions, they had requirements, and many missions could only be accepted by Tokubetsu Jonin and Jonin.
Having no other choice, the small hidden villages could only play some tricks and lower the requirements.
"Who are you?"
The appearance of Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato immediately put the Iwagakure Anbu ninjas into combat mode.
Soru!
Natsuki flashed forward and blocked the captain of this Iwagakure Anbu squad.
Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato also quickly found their respective opponents.
What was supposed to be a chaotic sneak attack immediately turned into one-on-one battles.
The Iwagakure Anbu ninjas didn’t notice this change, or rather, they didn’t care.
Their reaction was fast, and they immediately began to attack.
With Natsuki’s strength, he could quickly finish off this Iwagakure Jonin, but he didn’t.
Because if this Iwagakure Jonin died, the other three Tokubetsu Jonin would definitely be affected.
Or they might lose the will to fight and try to escape, which would mean Natsuki’s goal wouldn’t be achieved.
The best method was to stall him.
While fighting him, Natsuki observed the battles of Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato.
First was Konan.
After entering Half-Demonification, she took out the Sorcery Clima-Tact Natsuki had given her.
Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood!
Blood seeped from her palm and quickly covered the Sorcery Clima-Tact.
Soon, blazing flames erupted on the surface of the Sorcery Clima-Tact.
This was another usage of Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood. It could coat ninja tools in blazing flames.
At Natsuki’s suggestion, it was called Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood Blade.
When enemies touched it, they would be burned.
The Art of Weather was quite difficult to learn.
Konan hadn’t fully learned the Art of Weather yet, but because of the Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood Blade, she first learned Nami’s staff techniques.
She gripped the Sorcery Clima-Tact and suddenly accelerated.
With a Soru, she arrived in front of the Iwagakure ninja.
Without a word, she swung the Sorcery Clima-Tact at him.
Wherever it passed, the rainwater was instantly evaporated.
The Iwagakure ninja had seen the burning Sorcery Clima-Tact in her hand from afar.
Now that it was close, he dared not touch it directly.
Earth Release: Earth Spear!
The Iwagakure ninja formed a hand seal with his left hand and punched out with his right.
A massive amount of rock covered his right arm.
His fist became heavy and powerful, violently clashing with the Sorcery Clima-Tact.
Boom!
The muffled sound of the collision kicked up a gust of wind.
The wind spread, scattering the nearby rainwater.
Konan gripped the Sorcery Clima-Tact with both hands, entering a stalemate with the Iwagakure ninja.
Right at this moment, she raised her leg and kicked.
Rankyaku!
A high-speed kick caused the air to howl.
The Iwagakure ninja originally wanted to counterattack with a kick of his own, but he keenly sensed danger.
Konan’s kick felt incredibly sharp to him, as if a ninja sword was slashing over.
If he countered with his leg, it might get severed.
In the nick of time, he lowered his right hand, smashing it onto the vacuum slash wave created by Konan’s Rankyaku.
Crack.
The rock on his right arm shattered.
The vacuum slash wave, though weakened by more than half, landed on his right arm.
A bloody gash appeared.
The Iwagakure ninja’s pupils shrank in shock.
He hadn’t expected to be injured in the very first exchange.
Konan seized the opportunity and smashed the Sorcery Clima-Tact toward his head.
Earth Release: Hiding in Rock Technique!
Enduring the pain, the Iwagakure ninja slammed his hands together.
He burrowed into the ground.
The Sorcery Clima-Tact hit the ground, instantly cracking it open.
But it didn’t deal any effective damage to the Iwagakure ninja.
Konan looked around but saw no trace of him.
However, she didn’t panic.
During this period, besides learning the Art of Weather, she had also continued to research Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood.
Coating ninja tools in flames was just one way.
Blood Demon Art: Blood Rain!
Konan raised her hand, blood surged out, and merged with the omnipresent rainwater.
She stood in place, and the moment the Iwagakure ninja emerged from the ground, she pinpointed his location.
At the same time, the rainwater mixed with blood instantly exploded.
The rainwater evaporated, and countless flames burst into the air.
The Iwagakure ninja, who was just preparing to ambush Konan, had a drastic change in expression and hurriedly formed hand seals.
Earth Release: Earth Spear!
His entire body immediately became harder than rock.
Flames from all directions impacted his body, causing no damage, but the force pushed him back uncontrollably.
Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blades!
Konan raised one hand, and blood transformed into two Kurosawa swords, piercing through the flames to reach the Iwagakure ninja.
The speed was too fast. Just as the Iwagakure ninja was about to form hand seals, the two Kurosawa swords exploded.
The flames, as if poured with hot oil, became even more ferocious, completely engulfing him.
The Iwagakure ninja let out a scream and was blasted away.
His Earth Release: Earth Spear could no longer block the high temperature of the flames.
He looked as if he had been fished out of boiling water, his whole body bright red.
Armament Haki!
Konan pressed her advantage, immediately stepping forward and thrusting the Sorcery Clima-Tact.
In a life-or-death moment, the Iwagakure ninja hurriedly formed hand seals.
Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!
A wall of earth rose up.
Rankyaku!
Konan kicked out, slicing the earth wall open.
At the same time, the Sorcery Clima-Tact, enhanced by Armament Haki, pierced through the Iwagakure ninja’s heart at an extremely fast speed.
He opened his mouth, a large amount of blood gushing out, and finally lost consciousness.
Next was Yahiko.
The moment the Iwagakure ninja saw him, he flicked both hands.
Eight shurikens flew out, surrounding him.
Blood Demon Art: Shuriken!
Yahiko didn’t choose to close in with Soru like Konan did. He raised his hand.
Blood transformed into shuriken-shaped ice crystals and met the attack.
Clang, clang, clang.
All the shurikens were knocked away by his ice crystals.
"Ice Release?"
The Iwagakure ninja’s heart jolted, and he couldn’t help but blurt out.
But his reaction wasn’t slow. He immediately formed hand seals.
Earth Release: Rock Gun Technique!
He opened his mouth, and chakra condensed in his throat, turning into small pebbles.
The small pebbles flew out, growing in the wind, and shot toward Yahiko like cannonballs.
Blood Demon Art: Scattering Lotus!
In front of Yahiko, countless petals surfaced.
These petals were all made of ice shards, looking as sharp as blades.
They all scattered, wrapping around each rock bullet.
In the blink of an eye, the rock bullets were sliced apart, turning into gravel and falling to the ground.
The remaining petals continued to float toward the Iwagakure ninja.
Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!
An earth wall rose in front of the Iwagakure ninja, blocking the floating petals.
Blood Demon Art: Freezing Cloud!
Yahiko raised his hand and waved it.
Blood surged into the sky, transforming into a large cloud.
The cloud plummeted downward. It was called a cloud, but it was actually a massive amount of ice crystals.
Hearing the sound of wind breaking overhead, the Iwagakure ninja hurriedly used the Body Flicker Technique to retreat.
Soru!
Yahiko accelerated and arrived in front of him.
Rankyaku!
A high-speed vacuum slash wave was aimed at the Iwagakure ninja.
The Iwagakure ninja felt his scalp tingle.
He hadn’t expected Yahiko, who was just exchanging ninjutsu with him a moment ago, to suddenly turn into a taijutsu ninja.
Earth Release: Earth Spear!
The Iwagakure ninja felt the terrifying sharpness of this kick.
He clenched his right fist, covered it in rock, and smashed it forward.
The rock was immediately sliced open.
The Iwagakure ninja felt a stabbing pain.
But he was experienced. Using the force of the kick, he opened up some distance between himself and Yahiko.
Blood Demon Art: Freezing White Princess!
Yahiko didn’t pursue. He stood in place and clapped his hands together.
Two maidens appeared, opened their mouths, and spat out freezing air.
Wherever the freezing air passed, the rainwater froze.
The Iwagakure ninja couldn’t help but shiver.
He hurriedly formed hand seals.
Earth Release: Earth and Stone Flow!
He punched the ground, the ground cracked open, and a mudslide surged out.
The mudslide collided with the freezing air and was quickly frozen solid.
But the speed at which the freezing air spread also slowed down.
He didn’t have time to breathe a sigh of relief.
Yahiko used Soru again to appear in front of him.
Earth Release: Earth Spear!
The Iwagakure ninja punched out as a conditioned reflex.
Armament Haki!
Yahiko grabbed his fist with his left hand.
The Iwagakure ninja was stunned.
Before he could react, Yahiko extended his right hand and aimed his index finger at his heart.
Shigan!
Intense pain spread. He looked down at his pierced heart, a look of disbelief on his face.
Rankyaku!
Yahiko followed up with a final kick.
His body was sliced in half, falling to the ground and dyeing the rainwater red.
Yahiko and Konan’s strength were similar, and their battles ended at almost the same time.
But Nagato’s strength was slightly inferior, so his battle ended last.
At the very beginning of the battle, Nagato took out the projected version of the Kusanagi Sword that Natsuki had given him.
Soru!
He appeared in front of the Iwagakure ninja without any warning.
Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash!
He leaned his body forward and swung the Kusanagi Sword.
The nearby rainwater was drawn in, transforming into a stream of water that attacked the Iwagakure ninja.
Earth Release: Earth Clone!
The Iwagakure ninja didn’t dodge and was struck by the sword.
But the expected blood didn’t appear. His entire body turned into rock.
The sound of wind breaking rang out.
Nagato turned around and saw a massive number of earth spikes appearing from the ground.
The earth spikes flew out, attacking him like shurikens.
Kami-e!
Nagato seemed to turn into a butterfly in the wind, dodging all the earth spikes in a bizarre yet effortless manner.
"What kind of taijutsu is this?"
A look of surprise couldn’t help but appear on the Iwagakure ninja’s face.
But the next second, he was even more surprised.
Geppo!
Nagato flew above his head.
Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel!
He turned his entire body into a water wheel, spinning as he swung the Kusanagi Sword.
The water flow moved with the Kusanagi Sword, pouring down in an instant.
The Iwagakure ninja immediately raised his hands.
Water Release: Water Wave Palm!
A stream of water flew from his hands, clashing upward like a water dragon.
Water Release: Water Wave Palm was a rare Water Release ninjutsu that didn’t require hand seals.
Nagato didn’t dodge or evade, directly slicing through this water dragon with the Kusanagi Sword.
At this moment, his body was not far from the Iwagakure ninja.
Without stopping, the Iwagakure ninja flicked both hands.
A large number of shurikens were aimed at Nagato in an instant.
Geppo!
Nagato disappeared from his spot.
"Flying ninjutsu are really troublesome."
The Iwagakure ninja frowned slightly, looked around, and quickly found Nagato.
Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance!
Nagato charged toward him.
Water flow surrounded him, and as he swung his sword, it visually formed multiple streams of water.
Earth Release: Earth and Stone Dragon!
The Iwagakure ninja formed hand seals. The ground cracked open, and a massive amount of earth and stone flew out, condensing into a dragon.
Nagato swung his sword several times, all landing on the earth and stone dragon.
In an instant, rubble flew everywhere.
The Iwagakure ninja snorted coldly and raised his hands.
He manipulated the rubble, accelerating them toward Nagato.
Kami-e!
Nagato sensed the air currents created by the rubble and quickly dodged.
"This taijutsu again?"
The Iwagakure ninja frowned, and his hands immediately moved like phantoms.
Dozens of kunai flew out.
Although Kami-e was formidable, it couldn’t dodge such a dense attack.
Armament Haki!
Soru!
Nagato didn’t retreat. Instead, he advanced.
The rubble and kunai that landed on his body were all deflected.
"What?"
The Iwagakure ninja’s expression changed drastically.
But Nagato had already arrived in front of him.
Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide!
All the nearby rainwater was gathered. Nagato swung his sword, as if carrying the weight of a thousand pounds, with the momentum to crush the tide.
Earth Release: Earth Spear!
The Iwagakure ninja reacted very quickly, raising his arms.
Clang!
His arms hardened, blocking the sword strike.
Rankyaku!
Armament Haki!
Nagato reacted even faster.
In an instant, he kicked out.
The kick, wrapped in Armament Haki, directly sliced the Iwagakure ninja in two.
With this, all three Iwagakure Tokubetsu Jonin were dead.
The Iwagakure Jonin, who was currently entangled with Natsuki, only felt a moment of distraction before his three subordinates died one after another.
He instantly realized things were bad and wanted to flee.
But Natsuki naturally wouldn’t give him the chance.
Figure Eyes!
"How could you..."
The Iwagakure Jonin completely didn’t expect Natsuki’s eyes to suddenly release a genjutsu.
He was caught in the genjutsu in an instant, a dazed look appearing on his face.
Although he reacted very quickly and immediately tried to dispel the genjutsu, Natsuki was faster.
With one swing of his sword, he cut off his head.
"We actually defeated the Iwagakure Anbu?"
Yahiko patted his face, still feeling it was somewhat unbelievable.
After all, he knew very well the caliber of the Anbu from the Five Great Villages.
Saying they were the most elite batch of ninjas was no exception.
Nagato and Konan also felt in a daze.
Going back to more than two years ago, they never would have thought there would be a day when they would defeat the Iwagakure Anbu.
After all, back then they didn’t have enough to eat or wear, and they didn’t even know if they would survive tomorrow.
And all of this was naturally because of Natsuki.
He saved them, taught them, allowed their strength to progress by leaps and bounds, and enabled them to survive in this chaotic ninja world.
"Gather their bodies together."
Natsuki instructed. "Konan, burn their bodies."
Dead men tell tales.
Natsuki didn’t want Konoha or Iwagakure to learn about the details of the battle through their corpses.
"Yes, Natsuki-sensei."
Konan raised her hand, and her blood turned into flames, incinerating them.
Having gone through quite a few battles now, they were already accustomed to this kind of thing.
"Let’s go. We’re heading back."
Seeing the corpses burn to ashes, Natsuki spoke up.
Since the New Year was approaching again, it was time for him to return to Konoha.
Coincidentally, with the annihilation of the Iwagakure Anbu, Amegakure would be much quieter for a short period.
Next year, Natsuki could make a trip to the Yomi Cult.
Previously, he had unlocked the Kibutsuji Muzan template’s Blood Demon Arts.
This meant he temporarily didn’t need to learn any ninjutsu or secret jutsu. The remaining abilities all required time or combat to unlock.
The Priestess Shrine in the Land of Demons.
A young woman suddenly awoke from a nightmare.
She wore a traditional priestess outfit, her snow-white hair scattered, her chest heaving as she panted heavily.
Without a doubt, she was the current Priestess of the Land of Demons, Miroku.
She pressed her forehead, recalling her nightmare, or rather, prophecy.
Priestesses possessed an extremely special ability.
Besides being able to seal Moryo, they also had the ability to prophesy life and death.
Just now, she foresaw Moryo’s death.
This was an impossible thing.
In the nearly thousand years the Land of Demons had existed, Moryo had never been killed. It could only be sealed by the Priestesses.
The reason Priestesses could seal Moryo wasn’t because their sealing jutsu was incredibly powerful, but because their powers shared the same origin.
This was also why she could prophesy Moryo’s death out of thin air.
And every time Moryo broke free, it would try every means to devour the Priestess to achieve a unification of power.
"Whose face was that?"
Miroku also foresaw the appearance of the person who killed Moryo.
She thought about it and decided to find an artist to draw this face, and then seek his help.
Although she didn’t know why he could kill Moryo, he was undoubtedly the savior of the Priestess lineage.
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