Waking up from the dark unconsciousness, Ruri felt a severe headache. Opening her eyes, she saw a glowing white light hanging from above. There was the smell of disinfectant in the air, and a cool feeling which made her stand up alert in an instant.
"Are you awake? How do you feel physically?" Shiraishi walked over from the side, holding a cup of hot water in his hand, and asked about her condition with concern.
"Good, nothing out of the ordinary."
Ruri answered honestly. After taking the hot water from Shiraishi, she took a sip, the chill on her body dissipated significantly.
This was a dark room in Shiraishi's private laboratory, with high privacy and security. Outside the dark room was the cultivation laboratory where the Yang clone was located.
Immediately, Ruri remembered something and looked up at Shiraishi, "How long have I been in a coma?"
Shiraishi replied without hesitation, "Six days."
"Have I been in a coma for so long?"
Ruri's memory of what happened before she fell into a coma was very vague. She only remembered that she and Ayane were eroded by the dark will of the demon. Then, using her pupil power, she reversed the devouring, preparing to transform the demon's' darkness into her own power to increase the Sharingan's capabilities.
After that, she could not remember anything. However, seeing Shiraishi had brought her back without incident, their plan should have been successful.
"It did take a little longer than expected, but I'm relieved you were able to wake up."
In any case, it was extremely risky for Ruri and Ayane to serve as vessels for sealing the darkness to share the Miko's burden.
Although Shiraishi had ultimate protective means, it was still a relatively radical plan after all. If it didn't work out, he would have had to remove Ruri and Ayane's chakra like he did to himself before, putting them in suspended animation to avoid the' darkness.
Without chakra, Moryo would lose the channel of transmission. However, that would also mean the losing the potetial of their Sharingan and Byakugan respectively.
"Where about her? How's she?"
Ruri asked about Ayane's situation, not seeing her here, hence the question.
"She woke up an hour earlier than you. She's outside adjusting to her new power."
"Really? I didn't expect she would wake up before me." Ruri said, seeming disappointed at losing.
'You too...' Shiraishi smiled wryly to himself over their competitive attitudes.
"Now with the demon has been resolved, the Land of Demons will hold a succession ceremony for their new Miko." Shiraishi said seriously to Ruri.
"The new Miko....? Where about her?"
Shiraishi didn't speak as the answer was obvious. Ruri nodded, seeming to understand something.
The new Miko's succession ceremony meant the former was likely no longer alive now. As for where her soul went, based on the essence represented by the demon, that may be the final destination for Mikos.
To prevent Moryo from growing stronger each time it recovered, each previous miko would bid farewell to the world this way at the end of their term to carry out the mission of suppressing the darkness to the very end. This wasn't a noble way to bid farewell but rather a bleak one.
When Ruri woke up, Shiraishi felt greatly relieved. The follow up to the demon incident needed to be dealt with quickly. Next, he would go to the shrine again to oversee Shion's succession ceremony as the new Miko.
While there were many miko in the Land of Demons, they were not central figures but rather branch, mostly ordinary women with some medical knowledge, and occasionally outstanding ones who could use the pure power with certain lethality against evi. Only the position of head Miko was unshakable.
After the Miroku left, Shion became the new Miko of the Land of Demons. She would also be the absolute main force to deal with Moryo in the future.
After explaining some other things, Shiraishi left for the shrine where the head Miko resided.
Ruri didn't care about Shiraishi's movements. What she had to do now was get accustomed to the new and unknown power residing in her Sharingan as soon as possible.
She slowly closed her eyes, injected a massive amount of chakra into her pupils, opened them again, and three black tomoes appeared in the bright red pupils. This state only lasted a second before the three black hooks changed once more. The gaps disappeared and the hooks tightly connected. Bright red light shone brilliantly in her eyes.
Feeling the renewed influx of the Sharingan's power, the darkness had been completely swallowed up, leaving nothing behind.
"Is this the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan? It feels the same as before..."
Getting out of bed, Ruri came to a mirror and looked at her brand new Sharingan. It was no longer the three tomoe.
Moreover, each Mangekyou Sharingan would host a powerful ability. Afer attaining these eyes, their strength would undergo an earth-shattering change. Uchiha Obito was a prime example.
Before awakening his Mangekyou Sharingan, he was just an average Chunin in strength. Even with a normal Sharingan, it would be hard to compete directly with Jonin. He could only win through sneak attacks. However, after awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan and its space-time ability, he could easily manipulate most Jonin. Even Ruri would find it hard to locate Obito if he wanted to escape.
"It's boring just watching. Let's find someone to experiment on." Ruri muttered.
Originally, Shiraishi's clone would have been a good test subject, but it was still incomplete with longer cultivation times than the other clones. She would have to find another target to experiment with the Mangekyou's power... she already had someone in mind.
.....
In fact, Shiraishi didn't really need to do anything for the new Miko's succession ceremony. Others would naturally preside over the proceedings, with envoys from various countries coming to witness it.
The previous Miko was gone, but her sealed gate containing the demon was kept in the shrine's side hall to prevent accidental opening.
After all, the current Shion was still growing into her role and unfamiliar with the full power of a Miko. If Moryo reappeared, it would exacerbate matters.
Leaving the gate near the new miko was the safest way to avoid mishaps. Moreover, other countries valued the Mikos highly and would not send a ninja to tamper with the gate and unleash disaster upon everyone.
Entering the side hall, Shiraishi saw the sealed stone gate bathed in the lingering sacred white glow, forming a transparent barrier, the Miko's parting gift. The barrier would bar entry to any with evil intent, ensuring they could never touch the gate.
Shiraishi stood before the barrier, pondered for a moment, then took out a paper seal from his pocket, gently pasted it on himself before stepping through the barrier unharmed.
The ancient stone gate, no longer oozing dark power, stood with gaps through it. And Moryo was weak after the Miko severely diminished the darkness. For it to recover enough to break the barrier, who knows how many years of accumulating darkness would be needed. By common sense, there was no need to worry about Moryo reviving for at least 20-30 years.
"How interesting, human."
An eerie voice said from behind the stone gate, seemingly addressing Shiraishi.
"Not reconciled?"
Shiraishi wasn't afraid of any attack before the sealed gate.
The Miko's power could glimpse the future via abilities involving time. The dimension behind the stone gate was also derived from such temporal powers.
According to the secret records, the dimension was completely static. Humans who entered would stop aging yet live forever in a sense. However, that eternal life also meant eternal loneliness and death. That isolated dimension was narrow, devoid of life - an eternal prison perfectly suited for sealing.
"Hmph, next time I won't let go so easily." Moryo stated stubbornly.
"Oh? It seems the Miko gave you quite a heavy blow in the end."
Shiraishi was able to sense its weakened state despite the gate.
Moryo fell silent, feeling rather complicated.
"Those two women should be dying from taking in my darkness... Otherwise, you wouldn't be here."
"You underestimate humans too much." Shiraishi shook his head.
"Indeed... I have underestimated them. Now I understand why every miko opposes me by siding with you."
The eerie sigh of concession came from behind the door. It seemed to agree with Shiraishi.
Having calmed down, Moryo began reflecting deeply on itself. Had it truly understood the world correctly? Was its view of humans overly one-sided due to embodying darkness? If so, how could humans ever overcome darkness? Yet such a human now stood before it, shattering its assumptions.
Recalling the consistency of Mikos assisting humanity across generations, it wondered if its ideas were properly aligned.
One or two times could be accidental, but thousands of years of the Miko's unwavering resolve indicated it was ignorance on the Moryo's part.
Perhaps the Mikos saw more than it did? Having spent most thousands of years sealed here, it never witnessed the wider world itself. Its malice towards humans stemmed from sheer instinctive disgust and contempt.
Unnoticed, Shiraishi's trace disappeared from the hall's altar. Moryo did not care, it had long been accustomed to isolation. It would be more of training for itself.
While it kept failing across the years, Moryo never bothered analyzing why, merely attributing the failure to bad lick. But next time, it wanted to see for itself how large the world was. Were humans as hopeless as it envisioned? If it could do that, then perhaps it could touch that light even closer...
"If I remember right, the new Miko's name is Shion... her child. I truly look forward to the future."
.....
Shion, the successor Miko, was only five years old. But for the Land of Demons, this marked the beginning of a new era.
The branch mikos handled the succession ceremony, with envoys from several countries coming to observe the ceremony. Shiraishi lurked behind the scenes, scrutinizing them all. While it seemed the envoys came purely to congratulate Shion's accession, he knew they harbored other motives.
The Land of Demons resolved its turmoil extremely quick this time. By the time other countries readied to intervene, the demon was already suppressed and the stone soldiers had deactivated into useless rubble without the demon's' backbone.
In the past, the Land of Demons definitely didn't have such fast efficiency to suppress demon. Even with the Miko's absolute power, fully exorcising the demon took significant time. In the past, the Miko spent many arduous years continually suppressing them. Back then, the surrounding countries also endured the attacks that demolished towns and inflicted heavy casualties. Smaller countries grew particularly restless while the major powers treated matters with caution.
Hence these envoys aimed to uncover how the Land of Demons quickly settled the chaos now. Especially considering its booming economy rivaling powerful countries recently plus the expanded ninjas military bases for greater security.
Neutral territory normally faced no restrictions on military growth, but when ninjas were involved, it inevitably drew attention and questions.
What were the scope, personnel numbers and extent of the Land of Demons forces? The other countries had to define those facts.
However, compared to the Land of Demon's thriving businesses, its military expansion seemed disproportionately low-profile to the point that many deemed it an empty façade lacking substance.
Therefore, the envoys only paid lip service to watching the Miko ceremony while truly aiming to probe internal Land of Demon affairs.
Shiraishi had been long prepared. His traitorous identity still required concealment, so the Land of Demon's officials would pretend to be ignorant of these envoys actions.
The military handled the spies and military zones had a sensory barriers with ninjas from the Uzumakis, and Hyugas watching the perimeter all day long. Moreover, distinctly separating the military and civilian districts, unlike unified ninja villages, undoubtedly made it more difficult for the foreign ninjas to infiltrate their forces.
The viewing ceremony ended, but the envoys didn't leave promptly as Shiraishi had also expected. Instead, they lingered to try explorimg Land of Demon secrets. However, the long-ready military easily handled the situation.
Shiraishi no longer paid any attention to the situation. The rapid development meant interest and meddling from other countries was inevitable. Those shrewd leaders would keep on investigating. Such matters were unavoidable.
.....
"Even for an observation ceremony, you, as the Fourth Mizukage, didn't need to come in person."
Shiraishi expressed helplessly in the reception room, addressing the Mizukage Yagura who had personally attended the ceremony.
Although the Miko held a unique status in the ninja world, it was deemed impractical for Yagura, one of the Five Kages, to personally come to watch the ceremony.
"Please stop making jokes, you know I'm not here for something like that."
Matters concerning Miko and the like, although he was privy to some insider information, were not the concern of Kirigakure. He entrusted such affairs to the Land if Demons.
Yagura's visit this time wasn't on behalf of the Land of Water but operated through a covert channel, to the Land of Demons for a meeting with Shiraishi.
"Why, did something troublesome happen to you?"
"I'm already making plans on Kisame's defection. With no surprises, within a month or two, countries will receive news of Kisame's defection from Kirigakure one after another."
Over a year ago, Kisame had completed his training as a spy in the Land of Demons. Upon returning to Wuyin Village, he continued playing the role of the remnants of the Blood Mist faction as ordered by Yagura, drawing hostility from villagers and fellow ninjas.
Further intensifying the conflict, Yagura, the fourth Mizukage, held respect and trust for Kisame. Recently, under Yagura's secret instigation, Kisame inadvertently injured two village ninjas who had provoked him.
As expected, the ensuing incident caused Kisame to be the most discriminated ninja in Kirigakure. Former friends distanced themselves, preparing to isolate him entirely.
Everything was proceeding according to Yagura's expectations.
"It is indeed important. I'll say it again, after Kisame enters the Akatsuki, don't expect to get any information from hum in the early stages. Knowing too much will endanger Kisame."
"I've already discussed this with Kisame. Before Akatsuki officially implements the Tailed Beast Capture Plan, he doesn't need to provide the village with any information about Akatsuki. As a member of the Akatsuki, he can act for them."
Undoubtedly, Akatsuki assembled S-rank ninja defectors, and Shiraishi wasn't privy to all the details. It was a challenging and dangerous mission for Kisame infiltrating alone. Because once his identity as a spy was discovered, it would be a dead end.
Gaining trust in the early stages was far more important. After gradually earning the trust of the Akatsuki members and leaders, Kisame could then feed information back to the village.
If the Akatsuki organization weren't highly dangerous, Yagura wouldn't risk sending a capable ninja like Kisame to work for them.
"Currently, Akatsuki's whereabouts are somewhat uncertain. Following Kisame's defection, he will certainly wander around the world for some time before catching Akatsuki's attention. From the way i see it, before recruiting core members, they undoubtedly will assess the strength of new members to identify the core members and non-staff members." Shiraishi conveyed his thoughts.
Akatsuki was broadly categorized into three levels. The first level naturally included the leader, Nagato.
The second level consisted of the dangerous S-rank ninjas like Orochimaru and Sasori. They were the core members, having their own code names, rings, and wearing black robes adorned with red clouds.
The third level involved non-staff members engaged in intelligence gathering, various activities, and providing logistical support for Akatsuki's core members, including tools, food, money, and other supplies.
Given Kisame's strength, once the Akatsuki took notice, transitioning into a non-staff member was implausible. Non-staff personnel comprise the lowest-level organization consisting of a group of weak ninjas.
Over a year ago, Shiraishi assessed Kisame's various abilities. He noticed his formidable strength alone being able to wield Samehada single-handedly.
Kisame's chakra was likely approaching the level of a tailed beast in the future. He exhibited exceptional adaptability with his sword, possessing a unique jutsu fusion jutsu with the sword. His primary ninjutsu revolved around large-scale water release, suitable for battles at various ranges. However, despite lacking of proficiency in genjutsu, Kisame, armed with Samehada, could dispel genjutsu when faced with against an opponent using one.
Proficient in taijutsu, kenjutsu, and water release, he would be able to handle most ninjas. Even against powerful enemies, Kisame can leverage his advantages to engage in prolonged battles.
"It's not an issue. After Kisame defects, I'll arrange for him to work part-time as a bounty hunter in the underground market. With that, the likelihood of catching Akatsuki's attention will be greater."
Rogue ninjas were people who abandon their villages, facing the challenges of survival without village protection. Hence, most rogue ninjas choose to become bounty hunters in the underground market to earn a living.
Furthermore, Bug Men were involved in the bounty work. When the time comes, they would will assist Kisame, accelerating his recognition in the market, attracting Akatsuki's attention.
"No problem. So, what charges will you be using as Kisame's reason for defecting. If the charges are too minor, it might not be convincing."
Shiraishi asked. Charges could vary in magnitude, with the level of rogue ninjas generally assessed based on strength and the severity of charges. If it was solely based on strength, when he defected from Konoha, he was at most A-rank. The reason he was deemed an S-rank rogue ninja was due to the grave nature of his defection.
Defecting alongside members of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans, as one of the chief culprit, it earned deep animosity from Konoha's senior management, because it significantly tarnished the village's reputation.
Therefore, for Kisame to become an S-rank rogue, he needed to leave from Kirigakure under the pretext of a major felony. Otherwise, with the seven swordsmen's reputation, becoming a rogue ninja would at most classify him as an A-rank rogue, falling short of the S-rank category.
Yagura smiled.
"Assassinating the Water Daimyo should be a big enough crime, right?."
-----