Chapter 271: The Shrine of Seals
After travelling through the forest for some time, the group noticed a lone figure waiting ahead.
Naruto slowed first.
Sakura, Neji, and Lee followed.
Shion, still riding on Sakura's back, looked up.
"Tariho?"
The man standing in the road was none other than the attendant they had deliberately left behind.
His glasses reflected the morning light as he looked toward Shion.
There was no anger in his expression.
No complaint.
Only quiet determination.
"No matter what happens, I cannot leave Lady Shion's side."
He adjusted his glasses.
"Not even for a single step."
"That is my duty."
Shion immediately frowned.
"I told you to go back!"
Tariho remained unmoved.
"You'll only slow us down!"
"I will not return."
His answer was calm.
Firm.
Shion's expression became increasingly irritated.
"I don't need you following me!"
Tariho bowed his head slightly.
"Even so, I will follow."
Shion glared at him.
Tariho endured it without reaction.
Naruto exchanged a glance with Neji.
Neither bothered interfering.
This clearly was not an argument they were going to settle.
In the end, Tariho joined them.
The journey continued.
By the time night arrived, the group had already covered a considerable distance.
They chose a relatively defensible location to rest.
No one truly slept.
Neji maintained watch over the surrounding area.
Lee remained alert nearby.
Sakura stayed close to Shion.
Naruto eventually moved toward the edge of a nearby cliff.
Tariho was sitting there alone.
The man had hardly rested since catching up with them.
Naruto approached and held out a rice ball.
"Here."
Tariho looked at it.
"You've been travelling all day."
Naruto sat nearby.
"If you don't eat, you're going to collapse before we reach the Land of Swamps."
Tariho hesitated before accepting it.
"Thank you."
Naruto looked out over the dark forest below.
For a while, neither spoke.
Then Naruto asked,
"Tariho."
"Yes?"
"About Shion's prophecy."
Tariho turned slightly.
Naruto continued.
"Is there really no way to avoid it?"
Tariho was silent for a moment.
Then he looked at the rice ball in his hand.
"The prophecy itself cannot be avoided."
Naruto frowned slightly.
"But…"
Tariho continued.
"The people whose deaths Lady Shion has foreseen were all people who chose to protect her."
Naruto looked toward him.
"If those people had valued their own lives more…"
Tariho's voice remained quiet.
"If they had abandoned Lady Shion instead of sacrificing themselves…"
"Then perhaps she would have died long ago."
Naruto's eyes narrowed.
Tariho looked toward the distant camp.
"The people of the Land of Demons fear Lady Shion's power."
"They fear her prophecies."
"They fear that being close to her might mean hearing about their own deaths."
He lowered his head.
"But a prophecy only describes what will happen if events continue along that path."
"In the end, whether someone walks that path depends on the person himself."
Naruto understood.
Tariho was almost telling him directly.
Leave Shion.
Distance himself from her.
Refuse to protect her.
Then the death Shion had foreseen might never happen.
Naruto remained silent.
The idea did not tempt him at all.
Instead, Tariho's words reminded him of something else.
A child walking through Konoha while people whispered behind his back.
Adults glaring at him.
Children being dragged away from him.
Fear.
Hatred.
Isolation.
Naruto understood what it meant to be treated like something dangerous simply because of a power one had never asked for.
Shion's circumstances were different.
But the loneliness was familiar.
Naruto looked toward the camp.
"Must be hard for her."
Tariho glanced at him.
Naruto smiled faintly.
"To have everyone afraid of you because of something you can't control."
Tariho said nothing.
Naruto stood.
"Get some food in you."
He walked back toward the others.
"I'm not planning to die."
The night passed quietly.
When sunlight appeared over the eastern horizon, the group resumed their journey.
Surprisingly, no enemies appeared.
No ambush.
No pursuit.
Nothing.
For the next two days, the road remained almost unnaturally peaceful.
Even Naruto found it strange.
By the evening of the second day, the entrance to the Shrine of Seals was finally within reach.
The sky was already darkening when Asuramaru spoke.
"Naruto."
Naruto's steps slowed.
"What?"
"Mōryō is ahead."
Naruto's expression sharpened.
Asuramaru continued.
"If I am sensing correctly, he reached the Shrine of Seals before you."
Naruto immediately raised one hand.
"Stop."
The group halted.
Neji looked toward him.
"What is it?"
"Mōryō is already at the shrine."
Everyone's expression changed.
Neji activated his Byakugan immediately.
Veins rose around his eyes as his vision extended forward.
"So that is why nothing attacked us for two days."
His voice became serious.
"They were not trying to stop us on the road."
"They were waiting here."
Lee clenched his fists.
"A final battle?"
His expression became concerned.
"I wonder how Guy sensei and the others are doing against the Immortal Army."
Sakura looked toward the shrine.
Then at Shion.
"We should split up."
Neji turned toward her.
Sakura continued.
"If the enemy is already here, then getting Shion to the sealing point matters more than anything else."
She looked at Naruto.
"Naruto should take her."
"He's the fastest one here."
"And the strongest."
Naruto nodded immediately.
"Leave it to me."
Shion looked toward him but said nothing.
The group advanced a little farther.
Then Neji suddenly stopped.
His Byakugan focused ahead.
His expression hardened.
"What do you see?" Sakura asked.
Neji stared through the forest.
"Soldiers."
"How many?"
"Thousands."
Lee's eyes widened.
Neji continued.
"They do not appear to be human."
"They must be the Immortal Army Lady Hokage warned us about."
Sakura took a breath.
Then she looked at Naruto.
"We'll hold them here."
She clenched one fist.
"You take Shion to the shrine."
Lee immediately nodded.
"We will not let them pass!"
He looked toward Naruto.
"And Naruto…"
Naruto glanced at him.
Lee's expression became uncharacteristically serious.
"Come back alive."
For a second, Naruto said nothing.
Then he smiled.
"The prophecy is annoying."
He rested one hand against the sword at his waist.
"But trust me."
"I'm coming back."
Lee grinned.
Sakura relaxed slightly.
Even Neji gave a small nod.
Tariho stood nearby and looked toward Shion.
There was worry in his eyes.
But there was nothing more he could do.
At this point, his only choice was to remain with the Konoha Shinobi and help delay the Immortal Army.
The sound of marching began to spread through the forest.
Heavy.
Perfectly synchronized.
Then the first ranks emerged.
Stone soldiers.
Rows upon rows of them.
Their footsteps shook the ground.
Sakura and the others moved.
"Go!"
Naruto crouched slightly.
Shion climbed onto his back.
He secured her carefully.
"Hold on."
Shion wrapped her arms around him.
Naruto disappeared.
Body Flicker.
His figure blurred through the forest.
Behind them, Sakura, Neji, Lee, and Tariho rushed toward the advancing Immortal Army.
Naruto did not look back.
His speed increased.
Trees streaked past.
The distant roar of battle began behind him.
Shion held tightly to his shoulders.
Naruto vaulted over a fallen trunk.
Then another.
Within a short time, the entrance to the Shrine of Seals appeared ahead.
Naruto passed through it.
The sound of the outside battle faded behind them.
Inside the shrine, the air felt hotter.
He slowed once they reached a long stone corridor.
Shion climbed down from his back.
Naruto looked toward her.
"Can you walk from here?"
Shion did not answer immediately.
She stared at him.
Then she spoke.
"You should leave."
Naruto blinked.
"What?"
Shion looked away.
"If you leave now…"
Her fingers tightened against her robes.
"You will not have to die."
Naruto understood.
The prophecy.
He smiled.
"Don't worry."
Shion frowned.
Naruto continued.
"Neither of us is dying here."
Shion turned her face away.
"You still don't understand."
Her voice became quieter.
"Fate has already been decided."
She looked toward the darkness ahead.
"Between the two of us…"
"One person is destined to die here."
Naruto watched her.
There was fear beneath her cold tone.
Not fear of her own death.
Fear of seeing someone die for her again.
Naruto stepped closer.
Shion noticed and turned slightly.
Naruto smiled.
"Then trust me once."
Her eyes widened.
"I'll protect you."
Shion looked away again.
For someone who had spent years watching people die after appearing in her prophecies, those words were almost unbearable.
Promises like that had always ended the same way.
Death.
She had tried to keep people distant.
She had tried to make herself difficult to approach.
Yet Naruto stood there smiling as though the future had no authority over him.
Shion slowly turned back.
She met his eyes.
There was no fear in them.
No hesitation.
Only certainty.
Something inside her finally gave way.
"Naruto…"
Her voice became softer.
"Then promise me."
Naruto's expression turned serious.
"I promise."
His hand rested over the sword at his waist.
"I stake my Way of the Ninja on it."
"We will both survive."
Shion stared at him.
Naruto smiled.
"And we absolutely will not lose."
Inside Ryūjin Jakka, Asuramaru watched the entire exchange.
Then he gave a quiet laugh.
"This skill of yours…"
Naruto heard him.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Asuramaru smirked.
"Among every Sword Master I have ever had, your ability to charm people might actually be the strongest."
Naruto nearly stumbled.
"Asuramaru!"
Shion looked at him strangely.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Naruto cleared his throat.
"Let's keep moving."
The two continued through the shrine.
The temperature rose with every step.
Before long, the narrow passage opened into an enormous cavern.
Naruto stopped.
Below them was a vast crater.
Molten lava glowed beneath intersecting stone paths.
Heat distorted the air.
At the far end stood a raised platform.
A man sat upon a stone throne.
Mōryō.
He had already possessed a human body.
His gaze settled on Shion.
Then he smiled.
"So you finally came."
Shion stepped forward.
Mōryō's eyes narrowed with amusement.
"And you even brought someone else."
Naruto remained beside her.
Mōryō ignored him.
"You came to seal me, didn't you?"
Shion said nothing.
Mōryō leaned back.
"Then perhaps you should know the truth."
His voice echoed through the cavern.
"What you call sealing…"
"Is merely the process of merging you and me into one existence."
Shion's expression changed slightly.
Mōryō continued.
"Your mother, Miroku, was no different."
"She is inside me even now."
He smiled.
"Two minds."
"Two hearts."
"Bound together."
"Living in endless resentment toward one another."
Shion's gaze hardened.
She stepped toward the sealing platform.
"Even now…"
"You still try to deceive me."
Mōryō laughed softly.
Shion ignored him.
She stepped onto the platform.
Her hands began forming seals.
Naruto watched Mōryō.
Part of him wanted to end everything immediately.
One attack.
One clean strike.
But Shion's sealing ability existed for a reason.
There was no need to abandon the safer method merely to prove he could kill Mōryō himself.
Naruto remained still.
Shion completed the first sequence.
The sealing technique activated.
A barrier erupted.
Light spread across the chamber.
Naruto's eyes narrowed.
Mōryō began laughing.
At first quietly.
Then louder.
"Hahahaha!"
Shion looked toward him.
Mōryō rose from his throne.
"You were too impatient, Priestess."
His smile widened.
"The moment this barrier activates, it cannot disappear."
"Not until one of us devours the other."
Shion froze.
Mōryō spread his arms.
"And what decides the victor?"
His voice echoed through the crater.
"Chakra."
The energy around him began to surge.
"That is why I should thank you."
"You opened the path yourself."
Mōryō laughed.
"Without you…"
"I could never have completed this."
Shion's face changed.
Then golden light erupted in front of her.
Flash!
Naruto appeared between Shion and Mōryō.
....
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