298. Undercurrents in Shadows

A/N:- So, this upcoming part of the arc is entirely based on hints given in the Naruto series about demons. I will use a bit of pieces of story from Manga, anime, and even official Naruto games to write this arc and modify it according to my liking. When the part from the game will appear, I will point it out together with the name of the game.

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In the Land of Demons,

Inside a deep valley surrounded by various mountains ranges,

There is a gigantic rock temple carved into a mountain in the middle of a ridge. The temple has a gigantic rock gate with two fire torches burning on each side.

A giant kanji for 'demon' is carved in the temple's helm.

Whoo… whooo…

Heavy winds blow in the ridge as the clothes of the guards flutter with the winds.

Yawn…

One of the guards yawns slightly and rubs his eyes.

"Stop slacking! Miko-sama has warned us to maintain strict surveillance."

Another guard chides his partner.

The guard rubs his eyes and straightens his posture.

Whoosh… whoosh… whoosh…

Five figures appear on top of a nearby hill. Four of them are dressed in white shinobi garbs. There is a hexagonal symbol inscribed on their robe.

The fifth person who seems to be their leader is dressed in grey attire, with a black trench coat and black shinobi sandals.

The group calmy gazes at the temple.

"The moment has arrived. The moment we have been waiting for!"

He raises his hand and gazes at the night sky.

Swirl…

"The stars have aligned perfectly."

In the sky,

The red moon, sun, and other planetary bodies align in a straight line.

"It is for this night that we developed the Dark Medical Ninjutsu."

He turns towards the four members of his squad.

"With it, we shall reawaken the Lord Kishin and unite all the lands."

Whoosh…

He flickers and reappears behind the four people.

"For that, we must first awaken the general of Lord Kishin's army."

The man in black waves his hands towards the group.

Fwoosh… Fwoosh…

Four dark snakes of chakra erupt from the ground and stab into the four shinobis in white.

"Strengthening Prescription: Chakra Injection"

Dark purple chakra courses through the snake. The man in black forcefully injects this chakra into four shinobis.

"Prescription Filled."

He spreads his arms and the black snakes return to his body.

Whoosh… whoosh…

The four white figures jump from the hill and dash towards the temple.

"Intruder!"

"Be on your guard!"

The guards raise their weapons and dashes towards the four shinobis.

"Do it, Gitai, Setsuna!"

One of the shinobi, with a blue cloth around his face, slowly walks towards the guards.

His hair flutters in the wind as he infuses a large amount of chakra.

"Fire Style: Fire Run"

A stream of fire erupts from the ground. The stream of fire surrounds the guards and forms a ring to trap them.

"Don't flinch at the meager flames like this!"

The guards raise their weapons and swing them around to extinguish the flames.

"I won't give you the opportunity to do so!"

Another shinobi in white with three triangular puffs of hair jumps in the air. He waves his hand and releases several small wind tornadoes.

"Wind Release: Divine Wind"

The wind tornadoes combine with the fire and form a gigantic fire tornado. The giant fire tornado incinerates the guards and slams into the giant rock door.

BOOM…

An explosion occurs at the point of contact. The giant tornado blows the rock gate to smithereens.

The group walks deeper into the temple, and another giant door appears in front of them.

The four figures push open the door.

Shoom… shoom… shoom…

Multiple torches light up in the temple.

"The time has finally come."

The black figure walks deeper into the temple.

"Wait here! From here on lies the boundary of life and death. Only I, the one with the name 'Yomi' can enter."

He takes a step into the shadows and disappears from the vision of four shinobis.

Yomi continues to walk deeper into the temple as more and more torches light up in the temple. He descends multiple rock staircases and arrives in a giant hall.

There are multiple rock statues bound to the ground in the hall. Numerous ropes with multiple paper seals hang across the cavern.

At the center of the room lies a shrine-like building with five tall pillars. A massive seal with white light lies on top of the shrine.

There is a small gap in the cavern from which moonlight illuminates the seal.

Yomi walks in front of the seal and raises his head. The stars and the celestial bodies slowly align with each other.

"It's waiting! Waiting!"

He stretches his arm towards the seal. Veins pop out on his body and his muscles stiffen as a large amount of dark purple chakra rises from his body.

Clap…

Yomi clasps his hands together.

"Rite of Descension commence!"

"Min, Shin, Gan, Reppyou, Shouzen, Mika, Dan, Raku, Shou!"

Yomi chants a long ritual rite.

Fwoosh…

He stretches his right hand towards the seal.

Swoosh…

He emits a thick wisp of dark purple chakra from his body. The wisp of chakra enters inside the seal.

Crack… crack… crack…

Multiple cracks appear on the seal and it slowly crumbles apart to reveal a dark other-dimensional passage.

Siii…

Dark winds blow from the passage and a thick, dark blue miasma leaks from the passage.

Fwoosh…

The dark miasma pushes Yomi back. Yomi kneels on the ground.

"It has been a while… Have I returned to this world?"

A deep, chilling voice erupts from within the passage.

"My liege! It has been a long time."

"You are…" The dark chilling tone creeps out of the cavern.

"It's Yomi, my liege! I am a survivor of the shinobi clan, which used your powers to lead the thousand ghost army." Yomi grovels in front of him.

"Why have you summoned me?" A voice full of irritation and resentment falls in his ears.

"I have been sealed in this place for almost a thousand years as my lord is banished to another realm."

"My liege! The stars have aligned again. Soon, the door to the other realm will appear again. It's an opportunity for us to wake Lord Kishin from his slumber and establish the Thousand-Year Kingdom." Yomi replies in a humble tone.

"But where is my physical self?"

The voice groans in anger.

"With only my soul, I will fade away in no time and will disgrace the dignity of the Lord!"

"Please use my body as your vessel until we recover your physical self!"

Yomi slowly stands up. He removes the black trench coat to reveal his chest.

"With my dark medical skills, I will transfer your soul into my body."

He takes a scalpel out of the multiple tools hung in his trench coat.

Swish…

Yomi skilfully waves the scalpel in his hand.

Swirl…

The scalpel lights up with a dark purple chakra.

Swish…

He makes a clean cut across his sternum to reveal a dark mass of chakra.

"Now, please enter my body!"

"Very well…"

A mass of dark blue flames rises in the passage. It leaps out of the passage and jumps into the gap in his sternum.

AHHA… AHHH…

Yomi screams in pain as the soul possesses his body.

"Rite of Descension complete!"

His pupils turn round and deep blue light flickers through them.

Hahaha…. Haha…

"Now my master shall be the sole ruler of this world."

Yomi raises his head and stares at the alignment of stars.

"It will take another two months for stars to align perfectly. Till then, I should slowly amasss my strength without alerting the priestess."

Whoosh…

He releaseas four dark purple snakes from his body. The snakes possess the bodies of the guards and they slowly stands up.

Soon, calm returns to the temple as Yomi restores the gate of the temple with his new-found power.

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In Konoha,

Inside the Yakiniku-Q restaurant,

Achoo…

Izuna sneezes loudly.

"Here!"

Ayaka passes a handkerchief to him. He blows on it and wipes his nose.

'Strange! How can I catch a cold? No, it must be Mei. She must be thinking about me.'

He shakes his head and turns towards his team.

"Eat up! Eat your fill! Today your Sensei is very happy with your performance!"

Izuna signals them to eat.

"Then I won't hold back, Sensei!"

Yakumo grills a piece of red meat until turns brown. She dips it into the sauce and puts it in her mouth.

Nom… nom…

"What a delicious piece of meat?"

Stars appear in her eyes.

Ayaka and Hanabi also grill their meat and slowly chew on it.

Izuna fondly stares at his team as he reminisces the past two weeks.

'It has been two weeks since my team three came into being. In these two weeks, these little girls completed 3 C-Rank missions, 2 D-Rank missions, and even a B-rank mission.'

Their most spectacular performance was in the previous mission, which was also their first B-Rank mission.

Initially, it was a C-Rank mission where a bunch of bandits were plundering and murdering people in a small civilian village in the territory of Land of Fire.

However, after investigation, the mission escalated to a B-rank when some rogue chunnins of small villages were found among the bandit gang. These bandits abducted the villagers and held them hostage.

But the girls calmly sorted out the situation, earning Izuna's praise and this well-deserved treat.

Izuna grills a large piece of steak. He layers it with sauce and takes a bite of it.

"Delicious!"

He closes his eyes and relaxes slightly.

'I can relax for a couple of months before departing to seek a solution for my problem. If it boils down to worse than I can always consume that vitality fruit to buy myself some time.'

Izuna stretches his arm and relaxes.

"Peaceful times sure are good!"

Swoosh…

A shadow creeps behind Izuna. Izuna turns towards the shadow.

"Huh?!"