Naruto: Lost to Hinata on Purpose, and Now Everything's a Mess

The two figures who had reverted to their original forms carried Shion on their backs as they glanced at Riku, who stood in the middle of the magma lake, then turned and sprinted toward the edge of the volcano.

Meanwhile, the people of the Land of Marsh turned their eyes toward the direction where the Sprite’s body was being sealed. A violent plume of smoke erupted from the peak.

The towering volcano—over a thousand meters high—began spewing lava in massive quantities. Tremors rippled outward, shaking the ground for dozens of kilometers in every direction.

With Shion secured, the two raced away from the volcano at full speed, covering more than ten kilometers on foot. As they finally stopped, they looked back at the distant eruption, frowning in concern.

"That guy should be fine."

From within the Wooden Golem, Matatabi’s voice sounded. "Don’t worry. With his strength, nothing will happen to him. He’s even stronger than I expected. Wooden Golem... that guy’s power may even surpass Senju Hashirama."

"Don’t provoke him again," Matatabi added grimly. "He really could kill you without effort."

The pair remained wary, frowns still etched on their faces.

They didn’t know much about Senju Hashirama personally, but they understood what he represented—a legendary shinobi who ended the Warring States period and earned the title "God of Shinobi" across the entire ninja world.

He was a man powerful enough to dominate an entire era.

Most importantly, he was the one who originally captured the Two-Tails, Matatabi.

Even so, the one thing that concerned the Wooden Golem more than anything else right now was whether Riku had survived.

"That monster was being sealed by Riku... but I don’t know if he succeeded."

Matatabi explained, "I think he did. From their exchange earlier, it seemed like Riku figured out the secret behind the Sprite’s seemingly infinite chakra. He deliberately activated his chakra to seal it himself."

"The Sprite’s chakra is on par with the Nine-Tails... it’s terrifying, like it’s endless."

"But don’t worry—Riku’s chakra reserves are even greater than Kurama’s. And the most terrifying part is that he’s mastered Sage Mode."

Beside the Wooden Golem, Shion remained deeply worried.

She had come here fully prepared to sacrifice her life to seal the Sprite. But to her surprise, Riku had stepped forward to do it himself.

Even though the final result was still uncertain, everything was happening just as she had foreseen in her dreams.

Riku really had sealed the Sprite using only his own strength.

Suddenly, a tear opened in the sky above the volcano. From within that rift, chains made of countless golden runes began threading through the air, stitching the tear shut like a needle pulling thread.

In less than thirty seconds, the rupture closed.

A glowing golden Eight Trigrams seal materialized above the volcano, spinning for a few seconds before slowly fading from sight.

At that moment, the ghost legions terrorizing the world abruptly halted.

Then, one by one, they began to crumble into mounds of dirt and stone—grave mounds.

At the border of the Land of Fire, Tsunade was leading a combined force of Konoha shinobi and the Fire Daimyo’s soldiers against the unrelenting ghost army. The enemy had seemed endless, with each destroyed unit instantly replaced by another emerging from the ground.

But just as several key cities had fallen, all of the ghost legions suddenly crumbled into graves.

The Konoha shinobi were stunned speechless.

Tsunade, however, looked toward the distant Marsh Country and murmured, "Riku... you did it."

Across the borders of the other four great nations, the same scene played out.

The ghost army, which had bypassed the Land of Fire and attacked the other major countries—including even the isolated Land of Water—had all disintegrated into graves.

Relief spread through the ranks.

After a long pause, they finally accepted the truth: the Sprite had been sealed successfully by the priestess.

Or so they believed.

In the midst of the ghost army’s collapse, Yugao Uzuki, who had been fighting furiously, sheathed her katana and turned her gaze toward the erupting volcano.

But no one paid the volcano much mind anymore.

The entire world had been saved.

A few minutes later, Riku emerged from the heart of the volcano in a blur of motion and appeared beside Yugao, who stood more than ten kilometers away.

"Sister Yugao, it’s done."

Though Riku had just emerged from molten magma, not a single burn marred his skin.

Yugao was overwhelmed with emotion. Having fought the ghost army firsthand, she knew just how horrifying those stone specters had been.

Now that it was truly over, she couldn’t hold back anymore. She threw her arms around Riku, voice trembling. "We did it..."

Riku returned the hug with a smile. "Sister Yugao, after this, there won’t be any more dimensional rifts or broken seals in the ninja world. The passage to the otherworld is sealed for good."

Letting go, Yugao smiled through her tears. "Mission complete. Perfectly."

Riku laughed joyfully. "This’ll go down as an NS-rank mission on my record."

Both were beaming with happiness.

And they weren’t alone.

Across the world, people cheered. When the ghost legions appeared on every border, most thought the end was near.

They never imagined salvation would come so swiftly.

What they didn’t know, however, was that the monster hadn’t been sealed by the priestess—it had been Riku.

But Riku would never reveal that. As long as people believed the priestess was responsible, the Land of Demons would remain safe from conquest.

Everyone knew that the only reason the Ghost Country hadn’t been invaded before was because their priestesses could seal powerful demons.

If word got out that the priestesses were no longer necessary, the country could easily be swallowed up during future shinobi wars.

This was Riku’s quiet act of kindness.

A small nation like the Land of Demons could easily be annexed by any of the Five Great Nations...

Or worse, turned into a battleground, like the Land of Rain—its people displaced, its land ruined.

After the mission, Riku brought Yugao to reunite with the Wooden Golem and Shion.

The moment she saw him, Shion burst into tears.

Riku patted her gently on the shoulder, smiling. "You need to train the next generation of priestesses well. It’s unlikely that the Sprite will resurface during your lifetime."

Sniffling, Shion nodded. "Thank you, Riku..."

The two beings controlling the Wooden Golem looked at Riku with newfound respect.

At first, they had thought Riku was just a frivolous and unpredictable young man.

But seeing him face death to seal the Sprite had changed their minds.

Now, gazing at him, the two spoke in unison: "Riku... this time, you really saved the world."

It was the first time either had spoken so gently while controlling the Golem.

Riku said nothing. He just smiled.

In truth, he had originally planned to use Yin-Yang Release to seal the Sprite. But to his surprise, it hadn’t been necessary. A space-time seal alone had been enough.

This sealing technique was one Riku had developed after extensive study of the most advanced fūinjutsu.

But it wasn’t a technique ordinary shinobi could perform. Even Riku needed to enter Sage Mode to summon enough chakra for it.

In fact, the chakra required for the space-time seal was several times greater than that needed for True Several Thousand Hands.

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