'Damn it!'
Obito clenched his fists, 'Madara is being that cautious?'
"You got a way?"
Moryo let out a dull, eerie laugh, "The easiest way to get rid of what's inside your body… is to keep training Dark Medical Jutsu."
As he spoke, Moryo stood up, pulled out a surgical knife from his body, rolled up his sleeve, and stabbed it straight into his arm.
He sliced open his arm all the way to his shoulder blade, yet not a single drop of blood seeped out.
Peeling back the skin, Obito saw that inside Moryo's body there wasn't a single bone, only pure dark energy, purple-black and swirling.
"To reach this level, you'll have to help me find something."
After saying that, Moryo pinched the cut with his fingers. The skin rolled back into place, and the wound sealed instantly.
Even Obito's right side couldn't recover that fast.
At this point, Obito also sat down.
"What are you looking for?"
"A Geomantic Energy Collector."
Moryo said a word Obito had never even heard before.
"What's geomantic energy?"
Moryo didn't laugh at him. It was, after all, something only a few people even knew about.
He also sat down on the ground, "To understand geomantic energy, first you have to know this world has all kinds of energy that can be used."
"Chakra's just the one most people use. Doesn't mean it fits everyone."
Obito's eyes flickered, he seemed to be thinking.
Moryo went on, "Generally speaking, energy can be divided into physical energy, natural energy, and spiritual energy."
"There's also energy formed by mixing them together."
"Physical energy forms chakra. When it's mixed with natural energy, that becomes sage energy."
"You're familiar with spiritual energy, so I won't bother explaining that."
"Geomantic veins usually nourish the land, but they also contain energy, it's a kind of natural energy."
"It's also what powers those stone golems."
Obito nodded slightly. So that's how those stone golems moved.
They were powered by geomantic energy.
"Geomantic veins are everywhere, but we can't extract or use their power."
"That's why those stone golems are limited in strength."
"But a Geomantic Energy Collector can draw out that energy and let me use it."
Obito picked up a bit more knowledge there.
"Got any leads?"
Moryo replied without hesitation, "A pure Geomantic Energy Collector doesn't exist anymore."
"But there's a lost ancient artifact that could draw geomantic energy and turn it into a weapon of destruction, same effect."
"It's called the 'Spear of Heaven(Ama no Hoko).'"
"Records describe it as a disk-shaped thing that can unfold into a tower."
The black mist around Moryo formed a small disk in front of Obito, then shifted and extended upward into a tall tower.
Obito looked it up and down, memorizing its appearance.
"…"
"…"
"…"
He waited several seconds, but Moryo didn't continue, "And the lead?"
Moryo shook his head, "That's it."
Obito almost choked on his own anger, "You're telling me to find it just from the name and what it looks like?"
Moryo let out a strange laugh, "If I had any other clues, why would I need you?"
"This is an ancient artifact after all. If you can find it, the energy you absorb could easily push your Dark Medical Jutsu to this level."
'Ancient artifact?'
Obito chewed on those words. He felt like there was something in that worth digging into.
"The white things you sent out are back," Moryo reminded him while he was still thinking.
Obito snapped back to focus. The White Zetsu he'd sent out had just popped a head up from underground.
"Izumo Town's been emptied. Not a single living thing left."
Hearing the report, both Obito and Moryo's faces darkened.
The worst outcome had happened.
The enemy had gone straight for the root, removed Miroku the Shrine Maiden's weakness entirely.
Now even if Moryo tore apart the entire Land of Demons, Miroku wouldn't show up.
"Looks like your only choice now is to send the Demon Legion to attack Konoha," Obito said helplessly.
It would've been best if Moryo could force out Uchiha power. But it seemed the enemy had used some unknown force to evacuate all the civilians.
That made Moryo's stone golems completely useless.
Like getting slapped in the face in public.
Moryo felt utterly humiliated. He snapped, furious, "Hmph! It just means spending a little more time."
"I don't believe he can evacuate everyone in Konoha Village."
Obito calculated the distance from the Land of Demons to Konoha, and the golems' marching speed.
"At your pace, it'll take at least two months to get there, and that's assuming you don't take any detours."
Moryo steadied himself again.
"It's the only way. The three great ninja villages are already eyeing the Land of Fire."
"They should be quite happy to welcome my Demon Legion."
———
[Land of Fire, Daimyo's Mansion]
This city was the largest in the Land of Fire, second only to Konoha.
The Sarutobi clan, after a long, exhausting journey, finally arrived here. But the messenger birds from the Fire Nation's merchant guilds had arrived long before them.
All the guilds near the Daimyo's Mansion jointly submitted a petition.
The message was simple: Sarutobi Hiruzen is a bad man who tricked them and took advantage of them.
Be careful, if you let him into the city, he'll cause chaos here too.
They warned the Daimyo not to let Hiruzen's group enter the city.
Otherwise, the merchant guilds wouldn't be so "friendly" in their future business with the Daimyo's city.
That was an open threat, plain and clear.
After all, those guilds had been screwed so hard by Hiruzen last time they'd practically lost their shirts.
The Daimyo knew all about the grudge between Hiruzen and the guilds.
But honestly, he didn't dare offend Hiruzen either.
So he chose a middle-ground solution, let the civilians in Hiruzen's group enter the city, but have the ninja stay outside in a camp.
The reason he gave was perfectly reasonable too: too many ninja entering the city could cause chaos.
Which was true enough. The gap between ordinary people and ninja in this world was enormous.
Even brushing against a "ninja lord" by accident could mean instant death for a commoner.
If someone important in the city died that way, it'd cause all sorts of unnecessary trouble.
Still, the Daimyo didn't dare completely ban ninja entry, he just limited their numbers.
So, civilians from the Sarutobi, Shimura, Nara, and Mitokado clans entered the city together.
They were quickly arranged with places to stay.
Hiruzen and the others, meanwhile, went to meet the Daimyo.
"Oh my, isn't this the Third Hokage himself? Must've been a hard journey," the Daimyo said, sounding kindly and harmless.
After all, Sarutobi Asuma had served as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja for years.
He'd arrived early to make arrangements, ensuring the Sarutobi civilians were settled quickly.
Though dusty and travel-worn, Hiruzen's spirits were still decent.
The plan had gone a bit off course, but he'd gotten everything he needed.
Now he just had to wait for the other ninja villages to invade—then his chance would come.
"Sorry to trouble you, Daimyo."
The Daimyo smiled warmly.
"Not at all, not at all. We just got word from Konoha, Uchiha Rengoku has taken the seat of Fifth Hokage."
He only made polite conversation, nothing deeper.
Hiruzen clearly already knew the news. His expression didn't change.
"There were some misunderstandings between me and Uchiha Rengoku. I'd like to ask you, Daimyo, to mediate between us."
The Daimyo chuckled awkwardly, "Of course, of course. I'll send someone to Konoha to see what's going on and get back to you."
The trip from the Daimyo's city to Konoha took ninja several days, let alone ordinary messengers.
By the time the messages went back and forth, who knew how long it'd take.
But Hiruzen wasn't really counting on the Daimyo anyway.
He just needed an excuse, a pretext.
"Then I'll trouble you for that, Daimyo. We'll be in your care for the time being."
The Daimyo replied kindly, "I'll have your people properly arranged. Whatever misunderstandings there are, I'm sure they'll be cleared up in time."