As the lingering resonance slowly faded, the space around the altar gradually returned to its natural flow.
Orochimaru let out a long breath, his eyes shining with surprise and joy.
"What did the Sage of Six Paths mean by that?"
"He didn't delve into why I know so much about the future development of the ninja world. He didn't blame me for using the power of the Tailed Beasts to advance the Kekkei Genkai into a stronger state..."
"Even knowing that I wanted to devour the power of a demon like魍魉, he didn't intervene, only saying to proceed as I wished..."
"That means..."
Orochimaru's gaze fixed intensely on the sealing altar before him.
"I can obtain anything I desire in the ninja world at will, and at the same time, I don't have to worry about any powerful figures coming to trouble me!"
"Then my future actions can be a bit bolder!"
The Nine-Tails withdrew its somewhat dejected gaze, returning to its usual transformed appearance. Its eyes lingered on Miroku, who looked a little lost, for a moment, imprinting her image in its mind.
A child who could summon the soul of an old man into reality might be useful in the future. Was it a waste to keep such talent in a desolate place like the Land of Demons?
Miroku looked at the sealing altar before her, which showed no signs of disturbance, and then at Orochimaru and the Nine-Tails, who looked calm. She felt as if something she didn't know had happened.
"Lord Orochimaru, did something happen just now?"
"I feel..."
Orochimaru glanced at her and slowly shook his head.
"Nothing!"
He gave a perfunctory reply and patted the Nine-Tails, which harbored ulterior motives in its heart.
"Kurama, let's go in!"
"Just like we dealt with Void before, I need your help to erase魍魉's consciousness."
"You know, my Yin-Yang Release isn't strong enough yet to completely kill a demon."
The Nine-Tails nodded and transformed into a streak of light, diving into the seal of魍魉 before Orochimaru.
Orochimaru created a shadow clone to guard the altar outside, and his main body followed the Nine-Tails inside.
After all, this seal was personally set by the Sage of Six Paths. Orochimaru was not entirely at ease without leaving some contingency outside.
Even though he was just a clone, if he were trapped inside the seal, not only his disciples might be in danger, but if the Nine-Tails were somehow trapped by such a high-level sealing Jutsu, it would be difficult to get out.
It wasn't that he didn't trust the character of Miroku, the shrine maiden, but it was always better to be cautious when traveling.
Miroku wisely took a step back, but her gaze towards Orochimaru's shadow clone became even more dejected.
"Is he wary of me?"
...
Inside the sealed space below the altar.
In the deep darkness, twisted tentacles radiating an evil purple light intertwined.
Orochimaru and the Nine-Tails appeared in the sealed space. The moment they stepped on the tentacles,魍魉 within the seal suddenly awoke, and the surrounding quiet tentacles began to dance wildly.
Orochimaru's eyes twitched as he dodged a few attacking tentacles, and by the light emitted by the tentacles themselves, he finally saw what they were.
They were not tentacles at all, but purple chakra snakes born from the mass of twisted souls below.
The Nine-Tails swatted away a snake head that lunged at it and struggled out of Orochimaru's hand uncomfortably.
"Orochimaru, stay away!"
"This guy is much larger than that Void. I'm going to have to get a bit serious!"
Orochimaru nodded and quickly retreated far behind.
The Nine-Tails roared and its body suddenly expanded.
Its thick legs thundered down onto the ground of the sealed space, making魍魉's soul tremble.
"As a token of my gratitude for letting me see the old man again, I'll give you a chance!"
"魍魉, hand over your power!"
Beneath the Nine-Tails,魍魉's substantial soul trembled, seemingly frightened by the identity of the "old man" mentioned by the Nine-Tails.
After sensing carefully, the aura on魍魉's soul suddenly became ferocious.
"Hahaha..."
"That old guy is dead, what just appeared was only his soul, right?"
魍魉 cackled, and countless snake heads suddenly emerged from its soul. Some attacked the Nine-Tails and the Orochimaru in the air, while others frantically rushed towards the gaps in the seal.
"Give me a chance? Let me hand over my power?"
"Hahaha, without that old guy's suppression, who in the ninja world can stop Lord魍魉 from leaving the seal!"
"Just you two?"
"Haha..."
The Nine-Tails' expression turned furious. It roared and batted away a group of snake heads biting at it, then lunged down to bite at魍魉's soul below.
"You court death!"
魍魉 cried out in pain, and the snake heads swaying around its body immediately came to its aid, entangling and biting at the Nine-Tails.
Orochimaru flashed forward to block the exit of the seal, calmly dodging the snake heads that stabbed towards him with spikes on their heads, and then slammed a Four Symbols Seal onto the seal.
"Such precious power, even a trace leaking out from here would be a great loss."
"Stay here and become nourishment for Void's power!"
Orochimaru's lips curled into a cruel cold smile, and a wave of excitement rippled through the dark chakra within him, eagerly emerging from the seal.
Black tentacles formed a large net above the sealed space and then pressed down overwhelmingly towards the snake heads wielded by魍魉 below.
Unlike Void, which could absorb negative energy to strengthen itself,魍魉's strength lay in its vast chakra reserves and its terrifying ability to create and control an undead army.
If魍魉 were given the opportunity to force even a part of its power out of the seal, it could instantly awaken the tens of thousands of undead soldiers buried beneath the Land of Demons. Just as in the original story, with the characteristics of an undead army, sweeping through the Five Great Nations would be effortless.
But Orochimaru clearly would not give魍魉 such an opportunity. After cutting off the path for魍魉's power to escape the seal, he looked greedily at the chakra snakes below, struggling in panic under the absorption of Void's power.
"With this power, even if the Third Shinobi World War were to break out now, I wouldn't have anything to worry about."
"Can the legendary hundred thousand White Zetsu rival this undead puppet army of tens of thousands?"
魍魉, who was locked in a fierce battle with the Nine-Tails, suddenly felt a sense of foreboding. Upon closer inspection, the chakra snakes that had separated from its main body were being forced to retreat under the pressure of the black net.
The chakra snakes destroyed by the black net turned into smoke, showing no signs of returning to their origin, but instead merged into the black net, becoming its power.
A thousand-mile dike can be breached by an ant's nest!
While this part of the power was insignificant compared to魍魉's own massive volume, any loss was still a loss. If allowed to continue, the outcome was predictable.
魍魉 sensed the aura on the black net and let out an angry roar.
"Damn it, Void, it's you!"
"We are allies, why are you helping this damned human against me?"
"Give back the power you stole from me!"
The dark chakra remained indifferent to魍魉's angry accusations.
In fact, the name Void, mentioned by魍魉, seemed to please the nascent intelligence of the dark chakra.
As if in agreement, a joyful whimper sounded from the black net, and the speed at which it devoured魍魉's power increased.