Naruto: I have an attribute panel

Chapter 459 Demons and Monsters

Rewind a month, while Taiichi was leisurely supervising his disciple's training in Sage Mode in Konoha, a disaster was brewing.

The Land of Rain, the base of the Akatsuki organization.

The cold raindrops relentlessly pounded against the mountain rocks, and the cave was filled with an even more gloomy and damp atmosphere than usual.

At this moment, deep within the base, on the four fingers of the Gedo Mazo, stood four figures. Pain and Konan were the real Pain standing on it, while the other two were colorful phantoms. However, judging from their shapes, it was not difficult to tell that they were Obito and Zetsu.

"Zetsu, you've started making big moves again lately. Don't expose yourself unnecessarily. The ninja world is watching us very closely." Pain's indifferent gaze swept over Zetsu's phantom, his tone clearly showing displeasure.

Zetsu's half-black, half-white body shrank slightly, and the white Zetsu immediately cried out in an exaggerated, high-pitched voice, "Oh dear, I—I just wanted to gather more information, so my actions inevitably went a bit too far. That wasn't my intention."

"Shut up!" Obito interrupted him, his colorful phantom flickering. "No need for unnecessary nonsense. Gather us, preferably with truly valuable intelligence."

Black Zetsu took control of the body, his deep, hoarse voice laced with a hint of smugness: "I've recently uncovered some interesting information that might bring us a—special ally."

"Oh?" Payne's gaze fell upon them, showing interest.

"In the Land of Demons, an ancient demon is sealed away, named Wraith." Black Zetsu said slowly, his voice echoing in the empty cavern. "Legend has it that its power nearly destroyed the world in ancient times."

Of course, the rumors are bound to be exaggerated, but a being that can survive from ancient times to the present and needs to be sealed for generations must have unique power.

The organization is currently in need of personnel, and I think it's worth trying to win him over.

"Monsters? World destruction?" Xiao Nan's eyes were full of doubt. She was the first to question, "You believe such mythical rumors?"

Pain and Obito also looked at Zetsu in silence, waiting for him to give a more compelling explanation.

Having experienced the backlash from the "Ten-Seigan" rumors, they also questioned the reliability of Zetsu's information.

Black Zetsu was prepared and continued calmly, "This is not an unfounded rumor. According to my in-depth investigation, the Land of Demons is a very special country. It has no daimyo and is ruled by priestesses for generations, while maintaining absolute neutrality."

Before their deaths, each generation of priestesses would travel to the Sealed Shrine in the Land of Swamps to reinforce the seal on the demons with their own souls. This is the fundamental reason why the Land of Demons is so unique, and the most powerful proof that the demons truly exist and possess terrifying power.

Most of what he said was true. The Kairyo was indeed a monster born after the era of the Sage of Six Paths, created by combining otherworldly demons with negative emotions from the world. With its immortality, it once caused great chaos in the ninja world.

The first priestess sacrificed herself to seal it, but the seal was not perfect and required subsequent priestesses to maintain it at the cost of their own lives.

Black Zetsu, as a witness to a thousand years of history, naturally knew these inside stories.

He initially looked down on monsters that existed solely on negative emotions, believing their power to be limited. But now, with his plans repeatedly thwarted and Konoha's Matsushita Taichi becoming a major variable, his plan to resurrect his mother is fraught with uncertainty.

Now, any leverage that might enhance our strength is worth trying. The Wraith can at least be used to create chaos and distract the attention of the five great powers.

"A power that nearly destroyed the world—" The voice behind Obito's mask carried a hint of amusement and scrutiny. "Sounds impressive. But how can we ensure we can control it, rather than be consumed by it? Or, is it even willing to cooperate with us?"

"The seal is its greatest constraint, but also our opportunity," Black Zetsu said with a sinister smile. "We can help it break the seal, or at least offer it the hope of breaking the seal."

As for control—if our plan succeeds, dealing with these monsters will be a piece of cake. Our immediate priority is to ensure the plan proceeds smoothly and to gather all available resources.

Xiao Nan frowned, still harboring reservations about using such an obviously evil entity: "Even for the sake of the ultimate plan, doesn't associating with such monsters betray our original intention of creating a peaceful world?"

Payne spoke slowly, his voice cold and resolute: "Peace requires strength to create, and it also requires strength to maintain. On the road to true peace, sometimes we have to rely on the forces of darkness. As long as the ultimate goal is light, the means of the process can be temporarily set aside."

He looked at Jue, "Are you sure you have a way to contact and persuade it?"

"We need to try." Black Zetsu didn't give a definitive answer. "The demons have been sealed away for a thousand years, and what they crave most is undoubtedly freedom and revenge. We can start from there. Moreover, the priestess of the Land of Demons is the core of the seal, so perhaps—we can find a breakthrough through the current priestess."

Obito snorted coldly: "I hope your intelligence and plans will be more reliable this time, and not cause us any more trouble like last time."

Black Zetsu remained silent, while the White Zetsu awkwardly shifted their bodies.

"Then, the choice." Payne made his decision. "Ze, you and San Tai (Blood Raven) will go to the Land of Demons. You will act according to circumstances. Your primary objective is to contact and assess the demons, attempt to establish contact, and take extraordinary measures if necessary. Be discreet and avoid attracting excessive attention from the Five Great Nations."

"Understood," Black Zetsu replied in a deep voice.

The meeting ended, and the illusionary phantoms dissipated first. Obito snorted coldly and also canceled his illusionary body technique. Only Pain and Konan remained in the cave.

Konan glanced at Payne's cold profile, hesitating to speak.

Payne seemed to know what she wanted to say and slowly said, "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Jue's proposal is risky, but worth a try. Accumulating strength is urgent."

The Land of Demons, the Shrine of the Priestess.

Inside a magnificent bedchamber, the current priestess Miroku is fast asleep.

However, judging from her expression, she clearly did not sleep well. She frowned at times, breathed rapidly at others, and her eyeballs under her eyelids were rolling wildly. Before long, her entire forehead was covered with a thin layer of sweat.

Finally, as if he was extremely frightened, Maitreya suddenly opened his eyes, pushed himself up with his hands, and sat up straight.

"Whoosh—whoosh—"

Rapid breathing filled the bedchamber, and Maitreya hurriedly raised his hand to wipe the fine sweat from his forehead.

It turns out—it was a dream. How terrifying!

Maitreya let out a long sigh, turned to look at the child sleeping beside him—his daughter Ziyuan, and reached out to stroke her delicate cheek.

But as she touched him, her hand, which had been caressing him, suddenly stopped abruptly.

I can't remember anything from my dream just now!

You should know that a shrine maiden's dream is not like a simple dream of an ordinary person; it often foreshadows some kind of future.

Especially their branch, which is particularly effective in this regard, makes it absolutely impossible for them to immediately forget their dreams.

As the saying goes: the unknown is the most frightening thing.

As the priestess of the land of demons, she knew her destiny from the moment she took over the position from her mother. Therefore, she was not afraid of death; it was simply her destined end, her final destination.

But now it seems there's a problem. The forgotten dream foreshadows a shattered future. This ending might be better, but it's more likely to be even more tragic.

The terrifying feeling from that memory still lingers in my mind. Maitreya can hardly imagine what an ending worse than death could be.

She looked down at her sleeping daughter, and her fear intensified.

Star Ninja Village.

There is a palm technique called Tathagata Palm, and there is also a ninjutsu called Heavenly Fire Meteor.

As countless phoenix flames streaked across the sky like meteors, they utterly annihilated the charging chakra behemoth, as well as the ninjutsu released by Kakuzu and Hiruko.

Taiyi descended from the sky with Firefly and the three little ones.

The entire scene fell silent for a moment, both the Red Star side and the Star Ninja Village side were taken aback by this unexpected event—

The way they entered was breathtaking.

All that remained on the field was the crackling of flames and the rumbling of collapsing ruins.

Taiyi surveyed the entire area with his gaze, his invisible aura spreading out. Those weaker members of the Star Ninja Village unconsciously lowered their eyes, not daring to look directly at him.

His gaze swept back and forth between Red Star and the Akatsuki members behind him, finally settling on Red Star, or more precisely, on the wildly waving chakra tentacles around him.

An even heavier aura locked onto Hongxing, causing the already ferocious-looking Hongxing to involuntarily take two steps back.

"You're the one who attacked and killed two Konoha squads, aren't you?"

Although it was a question, Taiichi's tone was so certain.

The three little ones, upon landing, all turned their gazes toward Red Star. They hadn't forgotten that this was their true mission.

Upon hearing this, Hongxing's expression froze, and his entire emotion became disjointed.

He's massacring villages and hamlets, committing heinous crimes, and you suddenly ask me about the two squads of Konoha ninja who died.

But when he realized that he was Matsushita Taichi, a ninja from Konoha, Kurenai felt relieved, but after that relief came a surge of frustration and anger.

Then, Hongxing began to provoke them with reckless words, "So what if I killed them? The ninjas of Konoha are nothing special. I only used a little force and they fell down."

Upon hearing this, everyone stared at Red Star in astonishment, as if looking at a dead man, including Kakuzu and Hiruko behind him.

You're so brave! How could you say something like that? Are you really in such a hurry to get to the Pure Land?

"Oh, since you've admitted it, there's no need for me to waste any more words."

Taiyi flashed a bright smile, a smile of joy at completing the mission.

Before Hongxing could react, he suddenly leaped up and charged forward, covering the distance of more than ten meters in the blink of an eye.

He raised his hand and made a grasping motion, instantly condensing a chakra beam blade, which he then slashed down at Red Star's head without hesitation.

Taiyi was incredibly fast and caught everyone off guard. Even though the three opponents were on guard, they still couldn't react in time.

Hongxing's body shot backward, but he stopped abruptly just as he was about to jump.

Immediately afterwards, everyone saw him clutch his neck, stagger back two steps, and with a spurt of blood, he slowly collapsed to the ground, twitched twice, and remained motionless.

"Dead—dead!"

Xia Rixing murmured in disbelief. The ruthless man who had driven them to the brink of despair had died so swiftly in front of them, without even a chance to utter a harsh word.

Xia Rixing turned to look at Taiyi, who was already holding a knife and confronting the two accomplices. She couldn't quite describe her feelings, only that she felt incredibly insignificant.

On the other side, Taiichi no longer paid attention to the corpse of the red star at his feet. He turned his gaze back to the two Akatsuki members opposite him, and then looked over Kakuzu and sized up Hiruko.

"A new member of the Akatsuki? Haven't we met somewhere before?"

Although Taiyi asked sincerely, it sounded like mockery to Hiruko.

He, Hiruko, was once a Jonin of Konoha, and he even greeted you, Matsushita Taichi. And you actually ask me, "Have we met somewhere before?"

"You—Matsushita Taichi, you've gone too far!"

With a loud shout, the extremely ashamed and indignant Beiluhu formed a hand seal with his ten fingers pointing forward.

Storm Release: Ten-Finger Light Fang.

Ten purple beams of light shot out from Hiru's finger, like ten whips of light lashing out at Taiyi from different angles.

Wherever the light whip passed, the rocks and ruins were sliced ​​in two as if cut by a hot knife through butter.

"Oh, that's interesting."

Taiyi held the knife in his right hand, advancing instead of retreating, and made a seal with his left hand. Then he took a deep breath and exhaled.

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.

A raging hurricane, accompanied by dense, fine wind blades, enveloped the entire area in front of Taiyi in a fan shape.

The ten beams of light that Beilu Hu struck out shattered within a single breath of the wind blades, eventually turning into specks of purple light and dissipating into the air.

With the obstruction removed, Taiichi moved even faster, closing in on Hiruko in an instant. He slashed down with his right sword while still having time to joke.

"Fine, don't talk then. What do you mean by 'going too far'? Weren't you just bullying the people from Hoshinobi Village? You can bully them, but I can't bully you? That's ridiculous."

Taiyi became more and more righteous and confident as he spoke, and his sword slashed faster and faster.

But in the end, he frowned.

"You are... a shadow clone?"

It wasn't him who noticed; even the Byakugan couldn't distinguish the shadow clones, let alone his normal vision.

As a master of shadow clones, he knew all too well the state of shadow clones when facing an enemy. In order to avoid being destroyed, both offense and defense would be restricted.

"asshole!"

With a furious roar, Taiichi's light blade, amplified by his superhuman strength, became even more powerful. Hiruko's kunai could no longer withstand the attack and was forcefully struck by the light blade, turning into a puff of white smoke and disappearing.

Despite the lengthy explanation, it was essentially just Hiruko unleashing a single ninjutsu, which was immediately followed by Taiichi closing in and dominating him.

Once they got close, Kakuzu had no way to help; close-quarters combat was not his forte.

In that moment of hesitation, Hiruko's shadow clone was already destroyed by Taiichi.

"Foolish!" Kakuzu cursed inwardly, unable to even buy time.

His four clones exchanged a glance and immediately dispersed in all directions. Instead of attacking Taiyi, he took a detour and attacked the remnants of the Star Ninja Village and Itachi and his two companions.

Seeing this, Taiyi was no longer in a hurry. Needless to say, none of these people were the real Akatsuki members. He also sensed and checked the surroundings but found no trace of other Akatsuki members, so it was clear that they had already run far away.

Since that's the case, there's no need to rush to eliminate these few; it's a good opportunity for the apprentices to practice.

The situation quickly changed. Taiichi intercepted a Wind Release clone, Firefly Star faced off against a Lightning Release clone, Nine-Tails faced off against a Water Release clone, and the last Fire Release clone was given to the three little ones.