Naruto: I'm in Konoha, my name is Uzumaki Menma

Chapter 152 The Origin of the Wraiths and the Fate of the Shrine Maiden Clan
Om-!
A white beam of light, far more solid and dazzling than before, burst forth from Maitreya's body, piercing through the thin shield and precisely enveloping the chaotic, twitching body of the demon!

Within the pillar of light, countless ancient golden runes flowed, radiating a sacred and powerful sealing force!

Almost at the same instant Maitreya made his move!

"King Kong Blockade!"

Mianma gave a low shout and raised his right hand!

The space behind him distorted, and nine incredibly thick chakra chains, shining with dazzling golden-red light, shot out like nine golden dragons tearing through the void, carrying a magnificent divine power that could pierce through all illusions and suppress all evil!
puff! puff! puff! puff!
The chains pierced through the eight snake heads and the core of the demon's chakra body with unparalleled precision, as well as the very core of its chakra origin!

The body of the demon, composed of pure dark chakra, emitted a shrill scream that reached the soul level under the power of the Vajra Sealing Technique!

The dark purple chakra boiled and dissipated violently as if it had encountered its nemesis!
Nine golden-red chains, like the strongest shackles, tightly bound and tightened, forcibly compressing and binding his enormous, constantly struggling chakra body!
"Seal!" Maitreya used the last bit of his spiritual power to slam his hands together in a mudra!

The dazzling white beams of light and the golden-red chains intertwined, forming a massive, rotating sealing array!

At the center of the magic circle, the eight ferocious snake heads of the demon let out a final, unwilling, and hateful hiss. Together with its massive dark purple chakra body, it was forcibly dragged and compressed, eventually turning into a twisted purplish-black stream of light, which was completely absorbed into the core of the sealing magic circle!
With a flash of light, the magic circle rapidly shrank, eventually transforming into a palm-sized, purplish-black pottery jar covered in mysterious runes. With a "clang," it fell onto the blood-stained stone slab in front of the shrine.

The deafening battlefield instantly fell into a deathly silence.

Only the wind blowing through the blood-soaked shrine made a mournful sound.

The desiccated corpses scattered all over the ground, the broken ice crystals, the charred marks from the fire, and the sealed pottery jar lying quietly on the stone slab, all silently telling the tragic story that had just ended.

Maitreya could no longer hold on, her body went limp, and she collapsed behind the palace gate. Ziyuan, who was behind her, hugged her tightly and cried loudly.

Uchiha Hikaru slowly closed his Mangekyou Sharingan, the crimson in his eyes fading and returning to the deep black of a pool. He stared at Kimimaro and Haku, seemingly evaluating their mission.

Kimimaro silently retracted the bone blade from his body. His pale face revealed no emotion, only slightly rapid breathing.

Bai collapsed to his knees, panting heavily, his forehead covered in cold sweat. Maintaining the Ice Mirror Maze and subsequent attacks had nearly exhausted his chakra.

Mianma slowly retracted the Vajra Locking Chains on his back, and the golden light dissipated into the air.

He turned around, his white three-eyed fox mask facing the main hall. His empty eye sockets swept over the collapsed Maitreya and the weeping Shion, finally settling on the purplish-black pottery jar at his feet that sealed the demon.

In front of the main shrine, on the battlefield soaked in blood and ice, the air was thick with the stench of blood, burnt flesh, and corpses. The stench did not dissipate after the battle ended; instead, it became even more pungent and sticky as the evening breeze stirred it.

The ground was littered with twisted, mummified corpses, and broken ice crystals reflected the dim moonlight. The charred marks from the fire resembled scars.

Everything silently testifies to the battle that has just taken place.

Ashigashi, who had been anxiously watching the battle from the periphery, practically tumbled and crawled across the wreckage after the battle ended, collapsing in front of the tightly closed doors of the main hall.

"Lord Miroku! Miss Shion!" he cried out, his trembling hands pushing open the heavy palace door.

Inside the door, Miroku sat slumped on the cold floor, his face ashen, dried blood still clinging to the corner of his mouth, and the front of his wide white priestess robe stained red.

She held Ziyuan tightly, who was still sobbing. The little girl's violet eyes were filled with fear, and her small body was trembling in her mother's arms.

"My lord... how are you?" Zugan hurriedly stepped forward and carefully helped Miroku's weak body up.

Maitreya barely managed to stand steady by using the support of his feet on the shore, but his gaze went past him and landed on the open space outside the hall that was stained by both moonlight and blood.

There, the dark red figure stood quietly, its white three-eyed fox mask turned toward the hall, its empty eye sockets seemingly piercing through the shadows of the doorway.

“You…” Maitreya’s voice was weak but clear, and it carried a plea.

"You can call me Shura." Menma's figure silently stepped into the hall.

A faint smell of blood filled the hall, along with the suppressed sobs of a little girl.

Menma stood casually in the shadows near the door. Moonlight streamed through the high window, illuminating only half of his dark red robe and the jawline of his cold mask.

He didn't speak, but simply watched as Maitreya, supported by Zu'an, staggered to the low table in the center of the hall and sat down.

Zugan quickly and carefully placed the purplish-black pottery jar covered with mysterious runes, which he had picked up from outside, on the low table.

The earthenware jar was warm to the touch, as if the evil imprisoned within was still writhing resentfully.

Maitreya gently held the pottery jar in front of him, as if cradling a sleeping infant, or protecting a danger that might shatter at any moment.

Ziyuan nestled beside her, her little hands tightly gripping her mother's sleeve. Her purple eyes, still brimming with tears, couldn't help but curiously observe the mysterious man wearing a terrifying mask a few steps away.

Outside the palace, under the cool moonlight.

Uchiha Hikari stood quietly with her back to the main hall's entrance. Her dark blue, high-collared clan robes fluttered slightly in the night breeze as she warily scanned every shadowy corner around the shrine that might harbor danger.

Not far away, Kaguya Kimimaro leaned against a broken stone pillar, silently closing her eyes to regulate her breathing. Her face was expressionless, and her chest rose and fell slightly.

Bai sat on a relatively clean stone step, hugging his knees, breathing heavily, his face still somewhat pale.

Clearly, the battle just now was somewhat difficult for the two of them, after all, they were facing six Jonin-level enemies.

However, Huang Quan and the others only reached Jonin strength by borrowing the evil chakra of the demons, so there is still a gap between them and Jonin who have trained on their own.

The three members of the Uchiha clan, like three silent boundary markers, separated the conversation inside the hall from the bloodshed and danger outside, quietly awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from the Land of Stars.

The air inside the hall was stagnant and heavy, with only the occasional sobs of Ziyuan and the slight crackling of the burning candlelight.

"What exactly is it?" Menma's voice finally broke the silence, like a pebble thrown into a deep pool.

His gaze fell on the ominous-looking earthenware jar on the low table.

Maitreya's fingers tightened slightly as he held the pottery jar, his knuckles turning somewhat white.

She took a deep breath, a movement that aggravated her internal injuries, causing her brows to furrow in pain.

Zugan nervously tried to step forward, but was stopped by a look from her.

“It’s called a demon.” Maitreya’s voice was soft, tinged with weariness.

"Everyone believes it to be an ancient demon, a calamity that descended from another world." She slowly shook her head, her gaze lowered, staring at the flowing runes on the pottery jar, as if staring at a nightmare that had haunted countless generations.

"But it... is not actually an external object."

She raised her head, her purple eyes, which could foresee the future, now filled with sorrow, staring directly at the two unfathomable depths beneath the mask.

"It is the evil of the 'human heart,' the dark thoughts that have been bred by countless generations in war, oppression, fear, and greed, flowing and converging on this land like a filthy river... Ultimately, it has stirred up violent natural energy, shaping it into this terrifying entity."

Miroku's voice, heavy with a sense of destiny, echoed in the empty hall: "To restrain demons is the mission of our lineage of priestesses..."

She gently stroked the warm earthenware pot.

“We are containers, we are dams. With our pure priestess power and life, we contain, guide, and seal away the filth and hatred that grows from the human heart and is amplified infinitely by the power of nature.”

“We... are the other side of this darkness, a shackle that coexists with it yet must also bind it.”

She paused slightly, as if recalling what Wangliang had just said.

A bitter smile appeared on her pale lips: "That's why the demons said... we are one. As long as the darkness in people's hearts persists, the demons' source will never dry up. Sealing it once is only temporarily plugging the breach in the flood."

"As long as there is suffering, injustice, and endless desires and hatred in the world... it will eventually make a comeback."

"The fate of the priestess clan is to pass down from generation to generation, using their lives to fill this bottomless abyss dug by the human heart."

Ziyuan listened, seemingly understanding but not quite, her little face filled with confusion and fear. She clung tightly to Maitreya's arm and asked timidly, "Mother... why do bad things come from our hearts?"

Maitreya did not answer his daughter's innocent question, but simply hugged her tighter, his gaze turning to Menma again, with an almost desperate search: "Lord Shura, the Star Kingdom you established claims to end war and oppression. Perhaps this is the only chance to break this endless cycle of darkness? If people's hearts can find peace, the demons will eventually lose the source of their power."

Mianma remained silent.

The white mask cast shifting shadows in the flickering candlelight, completely concealing all his expressions.

Menma made no promises or answers to Miroku's questions, his gaze remaining fixed on the pottery jar that sealed away endless hatred.

He is now almost certain that the power used by the priestess is natural energy, and that the evil in people's hearts gave birth to monsters like the demons; even if they are sealed, it is only temporary.

Just like in the movie version of the original work, ten years later, the demon will still break free from its seal. Even if there is no Yellow Spring, there will be people like Purple Spring or Red Spring to do this.

Inside the main hall, only the restless flickering of the candlelight and the mournful howl of the night wind sweeping across the ruins of the shrine remained.

"She possesses even greater power than you, so why seal it away?" Menma stared at Koshion behind Miroku, sensing through Kagura's Mind's Eye that the immense energy within her was sealed by a bell brooch on her chest.

Maitreya was slightly startled upon hearing this. She looked down at her daughter and hugged her tightly, as if drawing warmth from her last moments.

"I just want her to be an ordinary girl and grow up safely." Miroku, as her mother, was well aware of the power within Shion.

However, the fate of the witch clan made Miroku, as a mother, feel very guilty towards Shion. She had even prepared to seal away the demon at the cost of her own life.

(End of this chapter)